Rockwool - Seedlings and cuttings - Need advice pls.

[Jedi]

OK . hard facts with peeectures !

3 Days / 1 sprouting in syringe (4 days total )

in the left hand corner...Mr No-Nute / straight tap water(we got good water btw)

on the right, soaked in nute 0.2ec/ph +- 6.0 ..

Excess water "shaken -out / spun out"
Temp +- 82 F / 30.c
Humidity dome .yes !!

 

[tokenbanker]

Jedi,

I mentioned your results to a guy I bumped into at the library while browsing the horticulture section. He thought it would be interesting to further compare germination in plain pH adjusted water versus pH adjusted and nutrient enhanced.

 

[Jedi]

Jedi,

I mentioned your results to a guy I bumped into at the library while browsing the horticulture section. He thought it would be interesting to further compare germination in plain pH adjusted water versus pH adjusted and nutrient enhanced.

hi. cool for the post

well i did a similar experiment with coco a while ago.

first straight tap.....they'd crack , show a root , and then stall.
only 0.2 nute......better.
0.2 ec / ph 6 ......best.
but i started to get root rot.... decided to go with RW ter that.


Experiment time !!!!

got a few swazi seeds that i can use for testers..

what variants do you want ???

 

[Scrogerman]

Its all here:
http://grodan101.com/sw62665.php

 

[rasganjah]

I've been working with rock wool for 2 1/2 years with great success. Here are a few of my pointers and observations. I used to use some light nutrient solution but I find that using Reverse Osmosis water pH'd to 5.8-6.0 works the best. You should soak for at least 2 hours or more before you use them, in order to allow them to become pH adjusted and stable to the desired range. For cuttings use your chosen rooting gel or powder and for both seeds and cuttings make sure the cubes are not too wet. I find the best way to tell when they are perfectly moist is to give them a good squeeze to remove the excess water, then a little shake. If water still comes out when you shake it (more of a flick of the wrist than a shake) then it's too wet, give it another squeeze. They should be evenly moist but not soggy. For cuttings, you can feed 1/4 strength vegetative nutes as soon as you see roots poking out of the starter plug. For seedlings you should wait until the cotyledons begin to show signs that they are dying off, usually by the time they have a few sets of leaves or are a couple weeks old. The cotyledons are your best gauge of when to begin feeding your seedlings, since the time in which they take to yellow will vary by strain and growing conditions. Temps are best if kept in the 70's.

That's it. No rocket science. Keep it simple and they will give you perfect results every time. Rock wool is great; It's inexpensive, reliable, widely available, and versatile.

 

[tokenbanker]

The Grodan videos are extremely helpful in terms of cementing the concept of growing in rockwool. But they are a bit generic and aren't specific to growing certain types of plants such as what is hypothetically discussed here.

I want to do naughty things to the Grodan girl.

Maybe I'm splitting hairs but I think it would be interesting to see seedlings started in three different solutions:

1.) plain pH adjusted water
2.) pH adjusted and EC 0.2 nutrient enriched
3.) pH adjusted and EC 0.5 nutrient enriched

The guy I talked to started his seedlings in plain pH adjusted (5.5-6) and then for the first watering at Day 5 went with GH Bloom at EC 0.5. He said that seemed to work well. The seedling stems were strong compared to starts he's done in peat pucks in unadjusted water and grew faster. Sorta makes sense I guess considering he said his tap water is pH 7.2. Also he said the water mixed with GH Bloom tested right at pH 5.5-6.0 with no adjustment.

PS- rasganjah: Your post came up as I was writing mine. Thanks for the advice. Rock wool seems like a no brainer as long as you keep it simple and stick to the basics.

 

[Jedi]

Ta Rasganjah !! very usefull info.

It seems that PH is the important factor for seedlings and cutting !!

Maybe I'm splitting hairs but I think it would be interesting to see seedlings started in three different solutions:

1.) plain pH adjusted water
2.) pH adjusted and EC 0.2 nutrient enriched
3.) pH adjusted and EC 0.5 nutrient enriched
.

OK great stuff !!
i,m also interested to see how stronger nute and different ph will affect seedlings.


i,l germ some(swazi) seeds and drop them in RW tomorrow .

 

[hippydan]

@Jedi: The first test you did, where the 6pH, .2EC seedlings sprouted faster than the regular tap water.. Did the 3 started with plain tapwater end up sprouting? Were they just a little behind?

 

[Jedi]

@Jedi: The first test you did, where the 6pH, .2EC seedlings sprouted faster than the regular tap water.. Did the 3 started with plain tapwater end up sprouting? Were they just a little behind?

btw, i germ them to make sure i get a root before dropping in a medium.

The 3 (left)with plain tap water died after roots have sprouted , no development and discarded .

My only gripe with RW is.. i,m having these long stems and the seedling fall over without support.
Otis(test seeds) is known for being lanky and i prolly had them too far from the light this first week , but it doesnt realy matter as soon as the go into Hydroton i,ll bend and adjust them to level with the surface !

 

[Jedi]

another thing..
i dont think everybody's tap water is of same quality . recommending straight tap water would give different results for different areas.

I think it would be fair to use bottled water for this experiment. , since seeds dont need loads of water to start.

 

[hippydan]

Thanks for all the updates! All my equipment to start a grow has arrived, just waiting on tds/ph pens to arrive.. it's been 2 weeks. I plan on germinating straight from rockwool. Going to use bottled water adjusted to 6pH and a weak nutrient solution. I'll post my results here if you don't mind! It won't be a side by side as you are doing, as I don't have "extra" seeds to experiment with. Stay safe!

 

[187020]

i prolly wouldnt squeeze the cubes into those trays. not that it wont work, but i'd rather let some air get to the bottom of the cubes. the taper of your tray is just pinching them slightly at the bottom while restricting some airflow.

you'll prolly be fine but since we are discussing the subtle details i'd just add a little suggestion.

 

[Jedi]

I'll post my results here if you don't mind! . Stay safe!

hey pls do !! the more results , less seeds failing on members.

 

[CannabisDog]

They say not to squeeze excess water out of the cubes as squeezing them removes the mini air pockets in the rockwool cubes, but I think I'll take t33to's advice and squeeze out a bit, maybe up to ~25%.

Who is they? Seed rot in the cubes if you don't squeeze out the access water.

 

[hippydan]

Who is they? Seed rot in the cubes if you don't squeeze out the access water.

It was just from what was being said in the official Grodan videos that were mentioned earlier in this thread. It was the 7th post, just scroll up!

 

[CannabisDog]

When you squeeze the water out of the cubes it's only logical that when you release O2 would get pulled back into the cube. Unless you squeeze it out under water.

 

[hippydan]

When you squeeze the water out of the cubes it's only logical that when you release O2 would get pulled back into the cube. Unless you squeeze it out under water.

Maybe it creates air pockets instead of being evenly distributed through the cube? I don't know, I was just repeating what was said in the official video. Personally I'm going to squeeze/shake a bit of water out anyway and go from there. Tired of waiting on the pH/TDS pens I ordered from eBay, so I ordered a Nutridip Tri-meter today, should arrive monday or tuesday, will update with my results when it happens.

 

[Jedi]

OH btw.

the 3 seelings dried out and died .
healty roots started to appear and was about to slip them into the hydroton today.

guess i have to water more often !!!!!!

 

[Jedi]

you shake it (more of a flick of the wrist than a shake) .

i like this method !!!!! word !!!

 

[paladin420]

since my first babies from a ez machine I stay away from RW as much as possible. If I must use them.(a) I NEVER use any pre formed hole, I make my own.(b) I never bury the cube, I try to keep it out of my water on top of the hydroton.(c) I always treat it first for pests from the store... Good luck