How I started new Afgaani seeds with rockwool...

[redfoxx]

So after reading around the net last night I found a very useful video on google (google rockwool there you'll find it). Apparently, a lot of new hydroponics growers do not realize or are not told about how rockwool is neutral medium and that it needs to be Ph & PPM/CF balanced before planting any seeds in it. Basically my first 6 seeds were wasted in my bubbleponics system from SH because I didn't know what to do. So I'm posting this, hoping it will help someone as well as get feedback if I'm doing everything correctly. I germed my Nirvana Afgaani seeds (beautiful seeds which grew 1/4" tap root in 48 hrs on my router). So last night I collected a gallon of Brita filtered tap, used Ph stick which came with the system, checked the Ph only AFTER I mixed a tiny bit of nutrients (bloom & micro) and used a little of Ph down to make the Ph of water 5.5 as that's the most recommended Ph level for rockwool seed propagation. The adding of the nutrients was trial and error b/c I didn't have a CF/PPM meter. That is one of the first things any newbie hydroponist needs to get b/c otherwise you will kill your plants and will never know what the quality of water is. So I had that water stand and evaporate overnight, soaked 2 rockwool cubes, made small 1/4" holes on top and placed my germinated seeds in them, just slightly covering the top of the seed. I also made sure to squeeze the rockwool cubes just a little before to give the seeds more air and avoid drowning them. Now i've read how some people said it's ok to put the cubes into the hydro system right away, I don't agree as that didn't work for me. I have placed these 2 cubes on a plate, put some water on the plate which I have prepared the night before, covered the plate with a clear plastic saucer from Homedepot and placed it on top of my router again where it's warm and dark. This should produce sprouts which I will then transfer to my 6 gal hydro tank. I also bought a heater from HD which only cost 50$ and it has a nice thermostat on it so it'll allow me to keep the temperature at the exact level I need. I'm going for 72-77F right now as that seems to be the most favorable for marijuana germination and sprouting. Wish me luck

 

[nongreenthumb]

So after reading around the net last night I found a very useful video on google (google rockwool there you'll find it). Apparently, a lot of new hydroponics growers do not realize or are not told about how rockwool is neutral medium and that it needs to be Ph & PPM/CF balanced before planting any seeds in it. Basically my first 6 seeds were wasted in my bubbleponics system from SH because I didn't know what to do. So I'm posting this, hoping it will help someone as well as get feedback if I'm doing everything correctly. I germed my Nirvana Afgaani seeds (beautiful seeds which grew 1/4" tap root in 48 hrs on my router). So last night I collected a gallon of Brita filtered tap, used Ph stick which came with the system, checked the Ph only AFTER I mixed a tiny bit of nutrients (bloom & micro) and used a little of Ph down to make the Ph of water 5.5 as that's the most recommended Ph level for rockwool seed propagation. The adding of the nutrients was trial and error b/c I didn't have a CF/PPM meter. That is one of the first things any newbie hydroponist needs to get b/c otherwise you will kill your plants and will never know what the quality of water is. So I had that water stand and evaporate overnight, soaked 2 rockwool cubes, made small 1/4" holes on top and placed my germinated seeds in them, just slightly covering the top of the seed. I also made sure to squeeze the rockwool cubes just a little before to give the seeds more air and avoid drowning them. Now i've read how some people said it's ok to put the cubes into the hydro system right away, I don't agree as that didn't work for me. I have placed these 2 cubes on a plate, put some water on the plate which I have prepared the night before, covered the plate with a clear plastic saucer from Homedepot and placed it on top of my router again where it's warm and dark. This should produce spruts, stand by!

Personally I would soak the cubes first in just ph 5.5 to adjust the ph, take them out drain them and use them as is, then add diluted nutes later, but its just me.

 

[redfoxx]

Personally I would soak the cubes first in just ph 5.5 to adjust the ph, take them out drain them and use them as is, then add diluted nutes later, but its just me.

Actually I did soak them in 5.5 Ph water. The amount of nutes I've added were really trace amount, a tiny tiny bit. I did this as it's recommended in almost all books and videos on hydroponic rockwool seed germination b/c rockwool and clean water do not contain all the nutrients a seedling needs after it pops out, so this is more like giving it a little boost. I was very careful with this. I always try to underdo rather than overdo with plants. Thanks for your comments! It very helpful when experienced growers add their tips. I might be crazy but I've also ordered a heated seed mini greenhouse in case my current 2 don't sprout as well as a 6-in-1 water monitor (this is a must). This hobby is really growing on me, extremely fun stuff, I bet yields make people even more excited. Can't wait. Thanks to everyone here!

 

[intensive]

i just put a germinated seed in a 1''er rockwool and saturate it with the distilled water from wal-mart. it has a ph of less then 6 and very very lil ppm if any at all? that works so far

 

[nongreenthumb]

Actually I did soak them in 5.5 Ph water. The amount of nutes I've added were really trace amount, a tiny tiny bit. I did this as it's recommended in almost all books and videos on hydroponic rockwool seed germination b/c rockwool and clean water do not contain all the nutrients a seedling needs after it pops out, so this is more like giving it a little boost. I was very careful with this. I always try to underdo rather than overdo with plants. Thanks for your comments! It very helpful when experienced growers add their tips. I might be crazy but I've also ordered a heated seed mini greenhouse in case my current 2 don't sprout as well as a 6-in-1 water monitor (this is a must). This hobby is really growing on me, extremely fun stuff, I bet yields make people even more excited. Can't wait. Thanks to everyone here!

I meant more for the fact of the high ph level of rockwool plus whatever else your supposed to rinse out, chance are those nutes you put in have been locked out now, because of mixing with the rockwool. As i say soak it first and then add nutes.

 

[redfoxx]

Well I decided to do a little experiment and germinate 3 more Afgaani seeds and plant them in regular pots with soil. See how they sprout/grow compared to hydro. Will be interesting and I'm just becoming paranoid about RW. Btw I'll make this my journal.

 

[Emosdoom]

Keep us posted. I'm getting ready to try Rockwool for the first time myself and am still a little confused as to how wet the cubes are supposed to be. I've read anywhere from just a dash of water to soaking for a while. Al B. Fuct I think had an interesting thread about using a salad spinner to spin water out after soaking and went with a specific weight for the cube with water. What did you do?

 

[redfoxx]

Keep us posted. I'm getting ready to try Rockwool for the first time myself and am still a little confused as to how wet the cubes are supposed to be. I've read anywhere from just a dash of water to soaking for a while. Al B. Fuct I think had an interesting thread about using a salad spinner to spin water out after soaking and went with a specific weight for the cube with water. What did you do?

Heya Emos,

I actually started a grow journal about this and so all the info as well as rockwool pics and my setup are there. Here's the link:

https://www.rollitup.org/grow-journals/27066-newbie-stealthhydro-bubbleponics-grow-cfls.html

I read about squeezing rockwool cubes. I did it and it worked fine. Basically also check out an EXCELLENT video on google and just type in rockwool. Shows a guy germinating flower seeds in rockwool and he gently squeezes the moisture out of the cube until it doesn't freely leak anymore AND the top of the cube becomes a little lighter. Personally I was very paranoid about rw cubes at first, but in the end it seems to be working fine. Have 2 sprouts and another one coming up. Feel free to comment my journal.

 

[illusionz1]

I've been using rockwool over the past few months repeatily experimenting with bag seed and have never had a problem not Ph balancing the RW cube before germing since I guess the water it gets everyday is balanced... but I've done it time and time again with balanced well water!