rock wool

[butter111]

im trying to start in rock wool cubes two seeds grew about 4 inches and then fell over and died one is about 1and a half inch and looks to be doing better.
how do you prevent them from growing too fast before they set the roots?any help will be greatly appreciated.

 

[skate2him]

Put the lights as close to the sprouts as you can without the heat being too much. Compact fluorescents are realy good for this; they don't put out a lot of heat. The further away the lights are the further the plants will stretch to get more light.

 

[butter111]

how wet do you make the rock wool before you put the seed in it? is it supose to be soaking wet,damp oron the verg of dring out?

 

[JMS]

Put the seed in the rock wool and dip the rockwool into the water and squeeze about 70% of the water out. This is how I did it and my plants are not looking all that bad at this point.

 

[grobudd]

Also, try germintating your seeds first before putting them in the rock wool....I dip my rockwool in half strength Nute solution and then the roots move quick...what he said about the lights too...

 

[laserbrn]

Germinate your seeds outside of the rockwool....good advice.

Soak your rockwool in water for at least 24 hours before you put anything in there.

After they have soaked for 24 hours, just drop the seeds in there all wet and everything. Question, how big of a rockwool cube are we talking about? We are talking about a starter cube here right? 1 Inch rockwool?

Don't plan on watering right away. Wait until the rockwool is pretty dry to water again, probably a full 24 hours, really depends on how hot your lights are.

I like starting with CFL's or tube floro's as well for little seedlings.

Water once a day for the first little bit, once they start poppin roots out throw the 1 incher into a 6 incher and bada bing, you've got plants.

Good luck.

 

[skunk]

i would only start them in roockwool if i were going hydro. make sure they are not soaking wet and cold. also if you are on a heatmat put something between them, mats tend to be too hot. dont mist them as this will permote damping off as well as keep them from deriving water from there roots.

 

[butter111]

ok you guys are awesome i tried it again with most of the water out and now the root has come all the way out the bottom of the 1 inch rock wool and is looking like it is going to live. where im at it gets 100+ degreesF during the day it may be way too hot to be starting this now but i do have a much better root growing thanks to ya all ill let ya know how it goes and post some pics as soon as there is something worth looking at
any advice as to how to keep it growing would be appreciated also i dont have hydro im going to try to put it in pottoing soil once the seedling gets more roots. no $$$ yet

 

[grobudd]

If you live in a secluded place or can find a secret spot, you can transplant it out side. You can visit it with water and nutrients or even go "au natural"
it will take longer but it will have plenty of room..lol

with some research you can find recipes for home made ferts and things but be advised...this can make it taste like poop from whAt i here.

any size Cfl bulb will work, keep it covered, a clear plastic cup works well.
if no bulbs find a window with the best light and no neighbors..,.

If it is humid where you live, poke holes in the cup so you dont get mold.

when it is a sprout and there is good root structure poking throught the bottom you may transplant it out side. if you can finsd a spot with a mellow breeze that would be good(it sounds hot where you live)

keep the rockwool moist but not saturated, it should feel heavy in your hand when you pick it up but it should not drip or be mushy.

if you buy dirt, i hear good things about foxfarm and promix, miracle grow is not suggested.

a home made "bubbler" hydro system is cheap and easy search the threads for plans and info, i think there is a video in newbie central forum as well

whew....hop that helps, good luck

 

[laserbrn]

If it were me and I didn't have a "hydro setup" I would just hand water in Rockwool Cubes. PH a bunch of water and add nutes per the instructions on the bottle (no PPM meter required). Start them out under some CFL's indoors where the temps can be controlled a little better and transplant to soil in a month or so. You'll be glad you did.

 

[butter111]

ok so far soo good i have 2 small leafs and 2 tiny leafs growing now under one cfl 6500
and another one with 2 leafs and the root is coming out the bottom hopefully they have a chance

 

[butter111]

ok now i made a budget hydro setup when do you put the seedling in the 3 in net baskets? the roots are coming out the bottom of the rock wool also does the water ever get shut off? i cant find anywhere that says how to do it?

 

[obibongkanobi]

Rockwool has a higher PH then what you would want to start your seeds in. Rockwool needs to be presoaked and the ph of the water your soaking it in needs to be adjusted to 5.8-6.5

 

[earlymorninstonepeomp]

you can find R.W that only requires 30 min soak. just so you know, one of the selling points of R.W is it constantly retains plenty of o2 so don't sweat the how wet issue. You cannot over water R.W.
Gar-on Tee you put your seed in the cube move a little wool over it it's gonna germ.
Keep the basics simple. Because the "littlte things" medium, ventiltion ,food and especially light won't be cheap if you wanna maximize you're babies potential.

 

[stang]

If it were me and I didn't have a "hydro setup" I would just hand water in Rockwool Cubes. PH a bunch of water and add nutes per the instructions on the bottle (no PPM meter required). Start them out under some CFL's indoors where the temps can be controlled a little better and transplant to soil in a month or so. You'll be glad you did.

is this still reccommended?

 

[tyke1973]

I always wet the rockwool cubes in 5.0/5.5ph to get rid of some of the loose grit that the cubes contain.Then once i have done this i take them out and just give a small squeeze just to get a small quantity of water out then i put the clone or seedling in.But if you are useing rockwool for clones make a hole bigger than the stem.Cut the clone at 45 degrees or there about then put into some rooting compound[gel] can't be beat in my opinion but that is up to you.Leave them in the gel for about 20 seconds then slide them into the pre made hole.By makeing the hole that bit bigger than the stem you won't be pushing the rooting gel off the stem of the clone.Then it is best to put them under a propagator for the first 7/14 days keep misting the clones for the first 2 week and spray the lid inside this will help the plants draw in more water.Use water ph of 5.5 and add 1 drop of multithrive for the first week then after that i don't spray the leaves because i change over to plant start.After 7 days the clones will have small roots just give them a gentle tug and see if there is any resistance if there is then feed these plant start any that have not took hold yet carry on with your misting.I would still keep the clones in the propagator for the rest of the clones to take hold.But just soak the cubes in differant feed.And still mist the lid of the propagator this will not harm the ones that have taken root.once the clones have all got a foot hold then take the lid of the propagator continue with this feed for about another week then give them low dose of proper nutrients.Now is the time to make sure that you keep the cfl's has close has possible to your clones without burning them.This is why i always have 4 150 watt cfls cool daylight spec on the top of the plants with 3 more on each side of the plants for extra light and warmth.By useing this method the clones can touch the light without getting burnt.

 

[laserbrn]

is this still reccommended?

oh man, no. This is a really old thread and that wasn't sound advice at all.

Just soak the rockwool cubes in ph 5.5 adjusted water for about 30 min. There is no need to leave them for 24 hours as many people will state. Even Grodan now says it is not necessary to do this.

Don't add any nutes until about the 3rd or 4th set of real leaves and at that point add VERY little and raise it slowly. Less is generally more when it comes to nutes.