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[Formula3]

Thanks for the replies guys and I do take on board your concerns regarding flooding the slabs, but it does work and it works well for Hydronaut over at uk420 http://www.uk420.com/boards/index.php?showtopic=39321 (yes i've tried contacting his for advice, hopefully he'll get back to me) and grodan themselves also have guidelines with regards to flooding the slabs http://hydroponics101.com/graphics/hydroponics/Leaflets/L2007E_English_Water.pdf

The next concern is the males. I had no other viable option other than to plant out the whole bunch and pull the males once they appear. I know it's far from ideal and it should be avoided whenever possible, but I have ran seedlings in similar setups on a few occasions and I find that as long as I give the leftover male root section a good soak with H2o2 then wait for 24 hours for the h2o2 to dissipate and then give it a good dose of Cannazym they are fine.

I went ahead and hand watered the top blocks last night and they seem to be picking up a bit of pace, theres still a lot of water in the slabs, more so in the bottom 1/3rd so I'll just keep hand watering for another week or until they're taking up water at a faster rate. I'll post up some pictures later on to show you their progress.

 

[texasluv]

I could use a little advice from the people that have been doing this for a while. I have a 2' x 4' tray with 50 rockwool cubes (3") for veg. I soaked the RW in pH'd water at 5.3 overnight before putting the clones into the cubes. Once I put the clones in the cubes I began watering for 5 minutes, 3 times a day. The next day the pH in the resevoir was 6.8!!! I dropped the pH to 5.7 and watered them all again, this time for about 10 minutes to try and flush all the higher pH water out of the cubes.

My problem is that my clones are getting burned, and I don't think it is from my lights. I've been using the same T5 fixture (4' x 8 HO bulbs) for two years and never had a problem before now. The leaves on the clones are getting "bleach spots" in the middle of the leaves. There is a round, dead section forming near the center of my larger leaves on all the clones except for 3. The 3 clones that don't have any signs of burn are in 3" pots filled with broken up rockwool that was soaked in the same pH'd water as the cubes. It looks like the same kind of burn you get when a leaf touches a light but the T-5 is 2" over the tops of the plants with a fan blowing over both the plants and the light. Temperature is steady at 79.6.

This is my first time with rockwool so I tried both cubes and broken up rockwool. Every single clone in a cube has the leaves burning up while the 3 that are in broken up rockwool are doing fine. I was flooding the tray to about 1/2" under the tops of the cubes- which is level with the tops of the pots. I lowered the flood level by 1 1/2" this morning in order to try and counter-act the leaf burn and the soak only the lower part of the cubes to encourage root growth.

Clones are freshly rooted- they were planted on Saturday. The clones had 2-3 little roots poking out the bottom of the 1.5" rockwool starters when planted. Did I plant them too soon? Should I wait for a more pronounced root system on clones before planting them? I'm used to rapid rooters that have a ton of roots poking out from the bottom and the sides. When I planted the clones that were in rockwool starter cubes they only had a couple roots poking out the bottom, none on the sides.

Personally, I think I made a mistake by getting overly anxious to play with my new toys (rockwool cubes) and planted the clones before they had an established root system. I'd like to hear from some more experienced RW growers to see if my hypothesis is correct.

 

[texasluv]

More questions for RW growers-

How important is water/nutrient temperature? I live in a place where it is summer year round and water temperature is my enemy. The coldest water out of the tap comes out at about 79-81!!! I hate my tap water- it is hot and the ppm is around 420 after going through a filter system to remove all the chlorine and larger impurities. Planning on getting an RO system soon.

Right now I hand water all my plants. Each time a make a 20 gal. nutrient mix (every 2-3 days) I have to add a ton of ice to drop the temp down to 68-70 degrees. This is not that big of an issue now as I use Promix in 3 gallon pots- which is pretty maintenance free. However, I'd like to start using rockwool because of how neat and tidy it is.

Water temperature won't be a big issue once the plants are in my "bloom room" because it has a cement floor for the reservoir to sit on and I can duct some air from the AC unit directly over/around the res to cool down the water. My issue right now is the veg room because there is no AC unit and the temp is right near 80. The plants are usually in veg for about 14-21 days and it would a pain in the ass to adjust the reservoir temp daily during this 2-3 week period. If my 25 gallon veg reservoir is 68 degrees at 8am, it is up to 77 by 8pm and back to 81 the next morning. Basically, it takes less than 24 hours for my temperature adjustment to be negated.

 

[Harry Gypsna]

once youve soaked ur cubes, you also need to pour in a normal soloution to run all the lime out of it......
i soak mine, then i put them on a cake rack over a bucket and pour ec 0.8 ph5.5 feed water though unitl the runoff pretty much matches the levels going in.......much the same as for flushing. if you dont rinse em, when you put em in ur system, all the lime the presoak loosened up is going straight back to ur tank if you are recirculating.

 

[texasluv]

So I went home yesterday and made up 20 gallons of fresh pH'd water, added a ton of ice until the temp came down to 68 and mixed up a very weak (300ppm) nutrient solution (Grow Big, Big Bloom, superthrive) and flushed all the rockwool with it. I let it run for about 30-40 minutes, dumped it out in the yard, and made a fresh batch. Sure enough, the last batch raised .6 just from flushing out all the old improperly pH'd water from the cubes.

Checked them before I went to bed and they looked fine. I looked at them this morning and they seem to have perked up a little, no more leaf burn. Hopefully when I go home today it will be in the same shape, if not better.

 

[Harry Gypsna]

yaaay....
Once you remedy any problems things get better pretty rapidly

 

[Yerba]

What is a good way to soak RW cubes and what do you use to adjust the ph. If anyone has time can you give me a rough step by step how you prepare your RW cubes. I see there could be problems with ph and improper soaking and any help to avoid ph swings would be nice.

 

[Formula3]

What is a good way to soak RW cubes and what do you use to adjust the ph. If anyone has time can you give me a rough step by step how you prepare your RW cubes. I see there could be problems with ph and improper soaking and any help to avoid ph swings would be nice.

Heres a link to a few grodan leaflets that cover it. http://hydroponics101.com/sw60859.asp

 

[Yerba]

thanks for the link it answers alot of questions about using RW

 

[texasluv]

I followed the link that was posted and I am having some issues with the info in the link vs. info in this thread.

In the link it says to only water the cubes once a day or every other day when the plants are just starting off. In this thread there are lots of recommendations to water 2,3,4 or more times a day. I've been watering mine 3 times a day for the past 3 days now, and they seem to be getting better as far as the burn goes, but they are still not looking 100%. All of the stems are purple, leaves are a lime green color (lighter than usual), and the leaves are curling downwards all along the outer edge of the leaf. The edge of all the leaves that are curling is a purple color. Honestly, they are the coolest colored plants I've ever seen but they don't look as healthy as they should. Perhaps it is because they've only had 2-3 days in optimal conditions.

I will keep track of them throughout the weekend. I have another 100 or so clones I just clipped a few days ago so they should be mostly rooted by the end of the weekend just in case the ones in the rockwool don't pull through. I'd like to switch over to rockwool from Promix but I'm not going to switch my entire operation over (5000W) until I get the rockwool dialed in. I can't afford to lose a crop- I'll lose my car and my house....

 

[Harry Gypsna]

Hi texasluv
The watering several times a day is once they are in the slbs...and that is also depending on ur style of irrigation...some people prefer little and often, some prefer a lot and less often..... The basic rule for run to waste is however much you put in, you should get 10 percent in run off. this helps keeing salt levels in check as the run off takes the older salts aay, and sucks new air into the slabs.
When ive planted into my 3 or 4 inh cubes they usually havent needed wtering more than once or maybe twice before being ready for the slabs.....i suppose it depends on ur enviroment with with decent temperatures and light theyve had roots busting out of the cottom of the cubes withn in 3 days....
Its important you dont transplant the just rooted clone in a 1 inch cube to the 4 inch cube too soon as well, dont do it as soon as 1 root appears out of it...wait until roots are coming out of all sides of the 1 inch before you transplnt them.... otherwise they seem to stall and sit in the big wet 4 inch RW cube while they finish rooting the 1 inch and then move into the bigger one...IME..... Likewise on the 4 inch to slab/pots of growcubes/mapito transplant dont do it on the 1st root shooting out of the cube, wait until there are some all over the bottom and out the lower edge of the sides.....
Temperature in the rockwool does has an effect same as any set up... sitting in too cold wet RW will slow growth and can totally stunt bud development, while also being pefect for mold to grow. Likewise, sittin in too warm wet RW can encourage root rot and all sorts of probems with oxygen...... The ideal in RW growth media like most is 18-20 degrees, a couple of degrees either waywont be too bad but much more than that and problems are likely.
What EC and PH are you running??.
Your problem sounds nutrient related, check out the infirmiry or Mandala seeds website has a great nurtitiional section with some excellent pictures of feed problems....

 

[texasluv]

When ive planted into my 3 or 4 inh cubes they usually havent needed wtering more than once or maybe twice before being ready for the slabs

That is the first mistake I made- I've watered the 3" cubes about 12-15 times over the past 6 days. Sounds like I've WAY overwatered them, which could explain the lighter green color and the curling leaves.

Its important you dont transplant the just rooted clone in a 1 inch cube to the 4 inch cube too soon as well, dont do it as soon as 1 root appears out of it...wait until roots are coming out of all sides of the 1 inch before you transplnt them.... otherwise they seem to stall and sit in the big wet 4 inch RW cube while they finish rooting the 1 inch and then move into the bigger one...

Mistake #2. I got excited to use the rockwool and jumped the gun. Most of the clones only had 1 or 2 little roots just starting to poke out of the bottom when inserted to the 3" cubes. I planted a couple more this morning before work- they had roots out all 4 sides and the bottom.

What EC and PH are you running??.
Your problem sounds nutrient related, check out the infirmiry or Mandala seeds website has a great nurtitiional section with some excellent pictures of feed problems....

Not sure on EC, I'll get back to you on that tonight when I compare the EC/PPM on my truncheon meter. The ppm was reading ~600 on the last batch of nutes I made them.

Although I don't know much about rockwool, I'm thinking my problem is overwatering just based on what I've learned from your last post. I'll browse the infirmary this evening to try and pinpoint my issue.

 

[paulobaca]

Ive been growing in 4in RW cubes for my last 5 grows. I use 3x3 beds with the RW's and Hydroton around them. Remember that RW retains a ton of water and nutes. In my system, I have 550 pumps that can fill my beds in 1-2 minutes. I simply flood my beds for 2 minutes 1 time a day. Seems to be the perfect amount of water. My ppms never go above 1400 on a grow, (keep em med strength until the end)

Crazy how many different techniques will work for rw. Seems to be huge variation in feeding frequancy. From Mountain's 4x a day to Bacon's once a day. Bacon do you only feed once a day the whole way until harvest? I suppose the slabs are what allow you to feed only once a day since they get so soaked.

 

[Guest]

From Mountain's 4x a day to Bacon's once a day.

Haha...I'll get back to this thread one of these days with the info I promised. I've also watered once a day. That was when double cropping in 3 gallon pots with rockwool croutons. Basically I had 2x as many plants as would fit under the lights. Every 12 hours I would remove the plants under the lights and place in a dark area and move the ones from the dark area to the lights. It worked great as you almost double your yield but it's a grind for 2 months as you need to be there every 12 hours to exchange the plants. No biggie as I'm a hermit and just love growing plants. This system worked great as there was a large medium volume. I watered the plants immediately after putting them under the lights this way 12 hours later when it was time to put them in the dark room the rockwool had drained and the pots were pretty light and not a pain to move.

Double cropping is just one of the things I've tried. Great when you have little $ for equipment but a little extra space to keep the other set of plants. A flipflop would have been nice but double cropping is perfect for some situations. Hell...there's so many ways to grow herb it's just amazing.

Water 4x, 1x or whatever...it all works .

Right now I'm messing with 100% organics in soil but do keep my moms in a coco/perlite mix with GH 3 part nutes. It's almost idiot proof. I water every once in awhile...usually one feeding at about 1400 ppm then two plain waterings. Each watering is about 4 days apart but this is under fluoros and am sure if they were under HID's I'd need to tighten the watering schedule and probably kick the nutes up a bit but after 2 months under fluoros with the program I currently use the moms are so big I always have too many cuts. When I keep moms in rockwool croutons I water every day. You can get away with every other day when smaller but when bigger they'll probably wilt if you don't douse them every day but keep the temp down and every other day may be fine.

With moms in rockwool I feed with about 1600-1800 every time with good runoff. In the coco/perlite I mentioned with irregular feeding I shoot for just a little runoff.

 

[Formula3]

How ya all doin, I'v e got some pics of my rockwool slabs, I upped the nutrients to 0.9 ec and they seem to be making some good progress. I have a new problem though, new growth is healthy and green but some of the lower leafs have some spots on them, it looks like nute burn but it also looks like nutes have splashed on them too, probably from my messy hand watering.

Im unsure if I should flood them every day to maintain ec levels and prevent them from rising due to evaporation and the plants using up nutes or just keep hand watering them when the slabs get a bit lighter.

Heres some pictures of the lower leafs and a view of them all from above.

 

[texasluv]

Formula- I like your setup.

I haven't really decided what I'm going to do with my plants once they outgrow the 3" rockwool cubes. They are just now starting to show roots out of the bottom of the cubes. I'm debating whether or not I want to go with slabs or if I will use individual pots full of rockwool croutons. I'm leaning towards the pots full of croutons because it would be easiest with my current table setup.

Are there any differences in growing in rockwool croutons as opposed to rockwool cubes? From my very little amount of personal experience it seems to me like the cubes retain water more than the croutons. I guess all the extra airspace around the little rockwool pieces makes them dry up faster. All the plants I have in croutons need water 2x a day or they start to droop, while the ones in the cubes only need water once every 3 days.

 

[Guest]

The croutons have their place. I like em for moms or if I have plants that are gonna need to be moved. They do offer much better drainage in pots than using slabs. That's one of the things I don't like about slabs.

 

[gonejah17]

hey everyone - semi new to icmag but I been on GC for a minute here, Im gonna need some help with the RW I think - been growing moms in soil and now I setup two diy ebb and flow systems with Hydroton and rockwool - Ill post some pics but just wanted to say GREAT to see the thread here ill be hittin it up for advice!! great pics everyone!!!

PS is it cool to just use fox farm (growbig in the veg tray and big bloom in the flower tray) with RW and HT in and ebb and flow???? Ill post some pics.

 

[gonejah17]

heres the pics of the veggin clones and the flowering clones - Im using FFgrowbig in the vegging tray and FF big bloom in the flower tray - I have a male clone in the flower tray just to experiment with - it is showing no sign of sex I just know sex from the farther. I will be pulling the plant in a week or just when it shows sex I just only have one other viable clone that I think is female and I dont want to kill her with experiments.

So in short Im a noob to the dro but just wanna see how it works first hand then Im gonna start budding my clones.

pics


vegging clones



one viable clone that I think is female


And my male clone that Im flowering just to see WTF Im doin

 

[texasluv]

I'm no expert but I've always used Grow Big/Big Bloom together for veg and Tiger Bloom/Big Bloom for flowering. Definately invest in the 3-part solubles by Fox Farm (Open Sesame, Beastie Bloomz, Cha-Ching.) They are worth their weight in buds.....

As far as growing strategies go, what do you all do? I was discussing with a friend of mine using the 3" cubes then setting them on slabs and using drippers to feed 2-4x a day. He recommended against slabs saying that he prefers placing the 3" cubes on top of a pot full of rockwool croutons then using a 1" layer of hydroton over the rockwool. He also uses a round ring made of 1/4" tubing with a few holes in it to top-feed more evenly. He said this method requires more frequent waterings but he swears it works better than the slabs. The guy has a lot of experience, but he is definitely biased against slabs- he hates them for some reason. I guess "to each his own..."

I've read a lot of good things about slabs and seen quite a few setups on this site using them successfully as well. I just have no experience with them which is why I'd like some long-time rockwool users to post up their experiences, veg/bloom schedules, and any other information that will help all us rockwool newbies out.

Just in the past 4 pages of this thread I've learned a lot about rockwool, and anyone who reads it can learn from my mistakes as both the problems and solutions have been laid out. I know I didn't start this thread, but I'd like to keep it alive so I can learn more about growing in rockwool.