open minded garderner question about rockwool

[IwannatokeNbone]

im gonna start doing blends n running expirements with my mediums, i want to add some rockwoo croutons and im wondering if need to pre charge them, rinse them alot or do anything else special to them before i add them to my mix?
apriciate the shared wisdom

 

[IwannatokeNbone]

24 views and nobody knows how to treat rockwool before planting?

 

[singularity]

from what ive read in the past, you need to presoak rockwool in water ph'ed to 5, but there is conflicting arguments on this. ive tried both, soaking and non soaking, never noticed a difference.

 

[rocket high]

This is what i do ....24hr soak in ph'd water ,no nutes- squeeze rockwool lightly -insert your seed/cutting then your good to go

 

[Ursus]

yesssss, soak the rock wool cube in ph'd water! make sure you ph right to whatever medium you are using tho!

 

[geoponics13]

taged

 

[FreezerBoy]

Been using Rockwool close to 20 years and have never pre treated it.

 

[noreason]

Rockwool is great
I just wash it for 30 seconds in pH'ed water (if they are small pieces) or let it soak for a couple of hours for bigger pieces.

Don't let the pH go under 5.5 or rockwool fibers will be damaged and don't squeeze it too hard or you will modifie rockwool structure.

 

[MIway]

what would you be mixing the croutons with? they still hold quite a bit of water.

 

[Shulman]

I rinse the rockwool in a phd solution of about 5.5.My first indoor grow ever I used rockwool and the seedlings had stress or shock from the medium from not rinsing.I did not use PH adjusted water until the seedlings went yellow and then I realized how important it was.I have also read that a high RH will help with sprouting some hard to crack seeds in rockwool?If anyone can comment on that?

 

[MIway]

It's the calcium carbonate that results from heating & spinning the basalt... needs to get flushed out, or it will raise the pH. Soaking doesn't really help, it just needs to get flushed.

 

[rocket high]

The Grodan website has a wealth of information..... if your unsure how to prepare it ...jus a tip

 

[noreason]

The Grodan website has a wealth of information..... if your unsure how to prepare it ...jus a tip

 

[Mr Eckted]

I soak them for a few seconds in ph'd water before i use them.

 

[IwannatokeNbone]

freeze so you dont ph u just pre feed n plant,i like your style. my friends ran it in the past, they just soaked them n planted i beleive, i didnt ask questions though so im not completely sure. i dont ph anything in soil or coco, i think ph is b.s to be honest for most of us, all nutes ive tried all ph at 6 with my tap, and if i use just water then the residual salts in my medium will bring my tap of a 8 to a 6 the same way they do when there not in my medium but in the bottle of nutes and mixed in a jug in front of me, im not sure if this will fly with rockwool though as im not sure what ph it keeps indypendant of nutes. what we call ph problems is usually over or under feeding.

 

[Phaeton]

Rockwool croutons for 13 years now.
I do rinse them with tap water (216 ppm) before using, they need to be damp or they fly everywhere.
Nothing is mixed in and General Hydroponics 1-2-3 is the only nutes used. Package directions always.
I do a lot of light testing and need standardized everything else, I cannot complain about consistancy with this combo.
The croutons don't seem to hold salts and fresh nutes every week keep the plant flushed and healthy to the max.

 

[trichrider]

what we call ph problems is usually over or under feeding.

what ph imbalance does is lock out nutrients causing symptoms of over or underfeeding...because that's what's happenin'!

 

[FreezerBoy]

Outdoor plants blow their nose on pH. Indoors, our buckets don't hold millions of tons of organic soil, worms, bugs, squirmy thingies etc. Indoors, pH needs to be respected.