New Ebb and Flow Question

[moses224]

I recently switched from soil to ebb and flow its been 7 or so years since i ran rock-wool...my clones are all well rooted (rapid rooters) and started to root into the 4" rockwool blocks...new growth is steady on daily basis on top of plant 2 inches or so since i stepped into RW...

However,,,,leaves appear shriveled or wilted ...they are green and grow steady but just don't "reach" I have the 4" RW block in 6" pots with 2" layer of hydroton at bottom of pot for 40 and other 40 are rockwool on tray and last 40 are in straight Hydro-ton and have NO issue....all Rock-wool appear to have the shriveled look. I am watering or flooding once every two days...is this normal till roots establish in blocks or what am i doing wrong...plants are 7 days old (7 days since well rooted clones where put into rockwool).

thanks in advance...
Rock Wool


Soil Perfect ??

 

[moses224]

Pic two or middle pic reflects issue most

 

[moses224]

running 3 600 MH (for E&F only) as lighting raised 24" overhead with cfl as side light ing where moms get light from RW veg

 

[CovertCrops]

How well rooted were the clones before they went into the 4" RW blocks? My initial thoughts are that the plants have not developed enough roots in the 4" block to remove enough water from the blocks. I would water the blocks when they feel light. On the other hand I would flood the ones in just hydroton every 3-4 hours the lights are on.

It looks like the ones in rw are starting to gain a foothold. Good luck.

 

[gr33nthumb]

Covert is right, you should be flooding 4-6 times per day. I'm guessing the ones in rockwool just don't have long enough roots yet. Hand water the cubes every other day and the roots should be long enough to be reached by the flood and drain cycle within a week.

 

[moses224]

yea one in rockwool are just now taking hold of the 4" block ..they where well rooted rapid rooters but appear to be taking there time rooting into blocks...i am going to take advice on hydrton and just foliar feed all RW until they root and can compenate for water in blocks....

 

[!!!]

If that were the case, wouldn't they exhibit symptoms of being water logged? When I had a similar issue, it was because I didn't soak the RW long enough in pH 5-5.5 water.

 

[moses224]

i soaked for a few hours in 5.5 ph water ....are you recomending longer?

 

[moses224]

Also if a few hour soak wasnt good enough should i resoak the 40-50% of rockwool that still havent fully rooted to rapid rooter only 24hrs this time?

 

[moses224]

Screw it im goin to go and buy another 80l of hydroton and just run all hydroton..i switched 20 from RW ro Hydroton last night and the plant already stopped willting....earier to transfer to hydroton then risk losing this crop...

 

[jack DA reaper]

How well rooted were the clones before they went into the 4" RW blocks? My initial thoughts are that the plants have not developed enough roots in the 4" block to remove enough water from the blocks. I would water the blocks when they feel light. On the other hand I would flood the ones in just hydroton every 3-4 hours the lights are on.

It looks like the ones in rw are starting to gain a foothold. Good luck.

Yup typical leavig the block to wet , not letting um dry out enough and let the new roots chase the moister and engulf the wool

and lets hope he prepped his wool

 

[moses224]

Wool prepped and watering once every 2-3 days depending on water retainage......not sure what to say...all leaves are green growth is steady just no "reach"

 

[!!!]

I soak rockwool for at least 12 hours. First in pH 5.0 for 6 hours, and then I change the water to pH 5.5 for the next 6 hours. I use Grodan rockwool. I heard GH brand doesn't need to be soaked.. no experience with that myself, but after killing a few (very expensive) seedlings I'll stick to soaking, or maybe just use peat pellets instead.

Also take a look at Sure To Grow. It's white and very soft, looks like pillow stuffing. Comes in blocks and shredded form. Haven't tried it myself, but it should be pH inert and ready to use, at least from the promotional vids.

 

[moses224]

Yea i used rapid rooters to root and clone then soaked the 4" in 5.5 with mild fert solution...only soaked for an hour or so....i had already put a 2" layer of hydroton in bttom of pots so I went ahead and pulled rapid rooters from 4" RockWool and will just water lightly (force roots) for first week then put them on timer normal hydroton times 3-4times daily

 

[moses224]

Heres pics after i topped and transferred all rapid rooter except 6 to hydroton...looking better imo...
AFTER

Just left algae caps on to retain moisture in rapid rooters....probably just pull them off. Im headed to get more hydroton to finish the last few that are either in smaller pots or still in RW

 

[beatster]

all hydroton is where its at!
i just do like buying shit i can get good results without(rw rr)
plus you can wash rocks and use them again and again cant do that with rw gotta buy more

 

[moses224]

yea 50l washed 30 l to go (2 bags of 40l) its a bitch but noticed instant results....will run this time and save my 4" and 8:rw for another show