Have A? About My Rockwool And Drip System

I have a couple of purp i'm get going as my mothers. They're in a drip system where the rockwool is flat on plastic. should i have them elevated with air in between?

I have a similar problem- just been trying out rockwool lately and have a few kind of neglected since I went and transplanted most of em into sunshine4 mix. However one plant I ended up transplanting into a larger rockwool cube, it has since grown into it and the roots have been growing over eachother on the bottom end of the cube, which is resting on a plastic lid/tray. The roots have managed to grow just fine this way- sandwiched. The tray is mostly dry but the underneath of the cube always has a decent level of moisture and humidity that they flourish except for at the edges, where they do dry up. I feed mine manually but just today figured I would transplant it into a bucket with perlite along the bottom so the roots have somthing to grow into rather than being 'pruned' by the perimeter of the cube. I hope this helps- I have no results as of yet but suspect they will do fine using this method. I opted for perlite due to manual feeding, but in your case something more porous would be ideal. good luck, j

Why not put them in net pots with the rockwool suspended in hydroton pebbles? It'd give your roots loads of space to "breathe" without being submerged in water all the time.

A simple soultion could be simply putting hydroton in your tub. If you place the hydrton at the base of the rockwool and about an inch up onto the plastic it would be suffice. Simply let your roots play around in the hydrotona once they grow out of it. Also you might want to cover the top of the rockwool cubes with either a plastic cover or you could use hydroton and just use the pebbles to cover it up so that you dont start growing algae/bacteria on the top of the rockwool.

i have a ? im starting a ebb and flow grow soon never done it before , ive always grown in basic soil and pots hand fed ect, my ? is where do the roots go when they outgrow the pots will they just sread about the table in the hydratron?

one method i found that works good for your roots is cover the whole tray with plastic and tape down all around edges cut x's for your plants to come thru.. the benifit of that is you will have higher humidity on your roots and they will never be exposed to light..

Cool thx guys, it's been days since a posted this and finally got loads of feed back. I wanted to leave the plants just in rockwool with free hanging roots for when i set up my flowering room i was going to do ebb and flow in hydrotron pebbles. i dont want the roots to hold onto anything so i can more easily transplant. Now i have them raised by some lil strawberry net baskets i cut down to an inch high.

reggaerican said:

one method i found that works good for your roots is cover the whole tray with plastic and tape down all around edges cut x's for your plants to come thru.. the benifit of that is you will have higher humidity on your roots and they will never be exposed to light..

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BEAUTIFUL blue nose pit by the way.I have a little destroyer too. a little lt. gold brown red nose.

reggaerican said:

one method i found that works good for your roots is cover the whole tray with plastic and tape down all around edges cut x's for your plants to come thru.. the benifit of that is you will have higher humidity on your roots and they will never be exposed to light..

Click to expand...

I've seen some people with their entire trays covered in plastic. Any idea what kind of plastic you can use? I'm sure something stiff enough that wouldn't droop into the tray. I'm close to starting my 1st grow and still on the wire if I will cover the 1st couple inches of the tray with rockwool or just place the blocks in the tray with nothing.

yea, this is where i'm at now. idk if should keep'em on the green trays tho. let them sit in solution or let them get air.

AutonomousCannabis said:

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yea, this is where i'm at now. idk if should keep'em on the green trays tho. let them sit in solution or let them get air.

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There are many that just leave the cubes in the tray. It really just might come down to accessibility for me. I will more than likely just place the blocks in the tray with no hydroton. This will allow for me to move plants a little easier if needed. After a harvest I won't have to rush to sterilize the hydroton. I can just wash the tray and keep it moving. So really, preference may be the determining factor.

I was going to go down the hydroton route until I started following homebrewer's journal and seen that his blocks were just stand-alone. Take a look, maybe it will help
https://www.rollitup.org/grow-journals/358562-dyna-gro-vs-general-hydroponics.html

nixusr said:

I've seen some people with their entire trays covered in plastic. Any idea what kind of plastic you can use? I'm sure something stiff enough that wouldn't droop into the tray. I'm close to starting my 1st grow and still on the wire if I will cover the 1st couple inches of the tray with rockwool or just place the blocks in the tray with nothing.

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i just like to use panda plastic... one friend of mine goes as far as using mylar..

and yea man unless your growing huge plants them 4x4 rockwool cubes can hold a shit load of roots in them

AutonomousCannabis said:

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yea, this is where i'm at now. idk if should keep'em on the green trays tho. let them sit in solution or let them get air.

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im not sure if that clear plastic will keep the algae away.. but she is a nice looking healthy girl

reggaerican said:

i just like to use panda plastic... one friend of mine goes as far as using mylar..

and yea man unless your growing huge plants them 4x4 rockwool cubes can hold a shit load of roots in them

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Hah! Thanks man. I wasnt hip to panda plastic so I am checking it out. I think I'd rather go that route and just place white plastic cube caps over the tops. That should keep light out of the tray and light from the top of the blocks to prevent algae.

fo shizzle man i cant wait to see them ladies grow now that algae isnt an issue

AutonomousCannabis said:

View attachment 1247897View attachment 1247898

yea, this is where i'm at now. idk if should keep'em on the green trays tho. let them sit in solution or let them get air.

Click to expand...

Looking like a great start! raggaerican is right though, the clear plastic is not going to stop the algae since light is still getting to the block. You need something that is not see through. Preferably white to reflect light back upwards.

High all , just wanted to say Menards has 4X8 white plastic sheeting its about 1/8th an inch thick and has like a plastic inside glued inbetween two fairly solid plastic sheeting outsides . its near the 1/4 inch panaling and sheeting, around the plywoods.
Ohh and Home Depot doesnt seem to carry it here anyway Lowes may though not sure?
They actually wanted like double at a grow shop around here for the same exact stuff from Menards! From the side it looks like cardboard but a little thicker and all plastic. I think i paid around 15-18 bucks. for a 4X8 Then i just cut it to fit nice, it has one side with faint lines to help in cutting and the other is a duller flat white.I also cut 2 pieces about 4" wide one the length of the tray, the other 4" by the width of tray.I Cut a slot in one of these and slide the other into it, making a sort of cross. Very important tho ya have to cut at least a few areas away from the side of the insert that is going to be resting on the tray to allow the water to flow under the stabalizing insert. This goes in the tray to help support the cover from underneth, once all the plants weigh on it sometimes it may sag a little but taping around the edges helps that a little too.

This stuff is deffinitly the best stuff ive found it is tough stuff, can be used more than once, Totally washable and its affordable too!!
Last i just drill it with a hole saw and drop in net pots, a little tape around them, the heavy duty duct normally will stick for an entire cycle easy.
Anyway i know im rambling but i hope i was of some help.. If anyone else has found anything else good or great, and its fairly affordable id love to hear..
I know it really isnt necessary and i can make it tougher to get in and out of.. but not really too much in my opinion, when all the pots are taped in its easy to either untape individual ones, or just the tray top real quick and just pick up.
Peace Nickel

i got this idea from someone a while back.. what i might try to do is take a 4x8 ridgid sheet of plastic drill holes in it for my clones and turn my edd and flo into a fogger...
just something i been thinking about, but will have to wait untill i get more time and expendable money to play around with...

This is deffinitly the best option, short of getting an actual lid botanicare or whatever. The stuffs light tight, rigid enough to last a few times and affordable, Menards you'll see it it's pretty much the only viable option there too, but at least there is something that'll work there. I can't seem to find anything in 4X8 thats ok in rigidity and thickness as well as light tightness.

yeah im thinking about checking out the Nutramist? there was one on ebay around 400.. Anyone fermiliar with these or even heard of any results from them?
Peace Nickel

i might just go to tapplastic and see how much they would charge for 1/4" thick solid white plastic sheet... that should keep the light out just fine...