gardener60
Active member
Newbie question. How long should you flood if you are using RW since it absorbs so much water?
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Rock Wool and Moisture
- Thread starter gardener60
- Start date
Copperfield
Member
I flood 3 times a day for 20 mins..., just make sure u have sufficient light!!
I use polished ornamental stones from Dollar Store. It is fast draining which allows me to feed every 60-120 minutes. More meals equals faster growth
Also easy to remove, clean and reuse after harvest
1/ 10/26
View attachment 339817
2. 11/07
View attachment 339819
Also easy to remove, clean and reuse after harvest
1/ 10/26
View attachment 339817
2. 11/07
View attachment 339819
gardener60
Active member
My cube sizes are 1.5 and they are in the veg state and i want to put them in 4x4 cubes. I have roots that are 1/2 long. My lights are 2 inches above the seedlings. I hope this helps a little.
Hi gardener, ignore the noise. RW needs only a few floods per day .. they can be short, just get it wet. It stays moist, unlike f***ing polished rocks, for many hours. I flood 4 to 5 times per 24 hr period, no more is required.
Excellent idea!!!
When rock wool is thoroughly saturated, roots cannot breathe as well unless you have air stone or something to oxygenated rock wool water logged medium. Plants that have an established root system, it works well. Early growth, not so much.. Heavy & dense I used to mix 2/3 perlite: 1/3 shredded rock wool mixed well. Worked like a charm.
plutosmoke
Member
my two cents, you'll have to start learning from experience to know how much to flood.
Overall, it depends on your root mass, size of plant, relative humidity, and size of cube. If your environment is dry, it will dry faster, if you have small plants and small root mass, it will dry slower.
The only way for your to know and feel is when you start picking up those wet cubes and compare the weight to the cubes when its drying up and you start to see wilt. For rock wool, when it starts to wilt your very borderline to killing it, so thats when you;ll know to feed it about 12 hrs before wilt start to show.
As you experience with these levels of moister and how much it takes to keep the plants healthy, you'll begin to tune the feeding times accordingly to the above factors.
Happy Rockwooling!
Overall, it depends on your root mass, size of plant, relative humidity, and size of cube. If your environment is dry, it will dry faster, if you have small plants and small root mass, it will dry slower.
The only way for your to know and feel is when you start picking up those wet cubes and compare the weight to the cubes when its drying up and you start to see wilt. For rock wool, when it starts to wilt your very borderline to killing it, so thats when you;ll know to feed it about 12 hrs before wilt start to show.
As you experience with these levels of moister and how much it takes to keep the plants healthy, you'll begin to tune the feeding times accordingly to the above factors.
Happy Rockwooling!
gardener60
Active member
Thanks for the info.
gardener60
Active member
Thanks for explaining this.
Hi Aridbud
sorry, but that's absolute nonsense. In a flood and drain system anyway (which is, I believe, what the OP was asking about.)
ebb/flow systems naturally infuse the water with oxygen and don't need any air stones or bubblers.
Rockwool is superb at retaining moisture for long periords and allowing a near ideal mix of moisture, nutrients and oxygen to be delivered to the plants roots ... that is exactly why it is the preferred methods of the vast majority of commercial indoor growers.
True, and it is unique to the particular set up, as you say .... but set 3 to 4 floods in a 24 hour period and you'll never get within miles of wilting plants .... with hydroton/pebbles, yeh, they dry out faster, but not with RW.
Copperfield
Member
Fz
