If a plant experiences a "negative change in health," do you ever transfer a stacked top Grodan cube into a dug out space in the larger cube?

Apostatize

Well-Known Member
Part of what I'm seeing has to do with the difference in two grow areas -- 6 bar lights v. 10. The 6-bar light space is more forgiving on plants not quite mature enough for bloom and/or positioned inches too close to lights for a particular strain. Anyway, some simple stuff growers do with soil seem to have an extra challenge/limitation with Grodan cubes.

Because I'm finding many more clones are needed to fill available/designated spaces in tents with mature plants -- round after round of perpetual bloom -- starting with little 3x3x2.5" cubes is a must. Don't have enough room to start all clones directly in 6 and 8" cubes. Part of it's accepting that filling tents with mostly immature plants and/or particular strains in the wrong spaces/distance from lights is just perpetuating the problem.... It will take time to fill all seats with mature plants. That's fine. One thing I want to avoid is sometimes I'll lose 1, 2, 4, 5 fucking plants suddenly -- most annoying is when I lose them either immediately before or after I want to put them in bloom tents. Brown roots.... Transferring little cube directly into dug out space in larger cube might make it easier to heal sooner, though it seems like a waste of cube $. Still, is the Grodan cube transfer I described common? Perhaps it's just a workaround to get through a round before you determine the ultimate cause. It could also be desperation. You might be thinking, wtf's the point of cubes if you're going to treat them like soil/coco mixes (i.e., not solid cubes).
 
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Apostatize

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For one, as a general rule, if roots aren't yet connecting top and bottom cubes, it's probably too soon to flip from veg to bloom...?
 

Apostatize

Well-Known Member
i mean, there's more root space in a Big Mama than a stack of 3x3x2.5" + 6" cube. So, is there any real benefit to stacking cubes? Yes, more room for cloning. But it seems like I'd be shaving inches from height (perfect) and each plant would be slightly less top-heavy without the goofy stack setup. Plus, the large square FloraFlex slow-drippers look weird on the 3x3x2.5" cube instead of directly on a 6 or 8" cube....

Cubes are nice and neat, but I just want to transfer small cubes into larger cubes -- for now, I mostly use Big Mamas with Gorilla Cookies, and everything else gets a 6". It might be wasteful digging in the the larger cube, I just think it will be so much easier to work with and the air pockets between rockwool pieces should be ok.

About 2 more hrs before Dark Horse releases, watch they're sold out of the ONE I really want out of like 15.
 
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Apostatize

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24 each regular Rocky Mtn Strawberries and UnderCaker. Nice complement to Gorilla Cookies, getting bored with most of my other strains (i.e., going for flavor now).
 

Tolerance Break

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It really depends if you can chop the grodan cubes without compromising the structure of the rockwool, which would prevent the roots from spreading throughout the cube.
 

Apostatize

Well-Known Member
It really depends if you can chop the grodan cubes without compromising the structure of the rockwool, which would prevent the roots from spreading throughout the cube.
Right, not like cleaning out a pumpkin; a more cautious approach might be to use some sort of "insulation knife" on a dry cube, and maybe cut the center cube hole out in 2 or 3 separate strips to avoid tearing out too much. I'm not a fan of stacking cubes.

Can probably save wraps and repurpose the cut out as a new starter cube.
 

Apostatize

Well-Known Member
Have you got any pics of your grow areas ? You should start a journal on here, I’d follow along for sure.
Thank you!! Getting there. Still too many broad stroke corrections to make before I can do that. Tonight's Dark Horse pick ups will serve as much-needed motivation. Knowing what I know now, my next setup bloom areas will probably be individual groups of 6 bar lights instead of 10 or more in one area. Heat seams to offset benefits, 6 lights per space seems a lot easier to manage.

So, any grow journals will still be a draft/concept for a later grow. Learning is frustrating! hahaha.

I do have pics on here, but mostly scattershot and nothing really recent. I want to see progress. About where I want to be with Gorilla Cookies and Taskenti, but now I'm kind of sick of Taskenti, a couple different Gelatos ... 5 Alive and Grape Ape are hanging in there. Glad to replace Bruce Banner # 3 and even the 2.0 back-crossed with Strawberry Diesel again ... new crosses, new excitement. Amazing how fast the genetics plateau and I get bored with a plant.
 

Apostatize

Well-Known Member
Let’s see some pics of your rooms :mrgreen:
Give me a little while. Just recently started topping more aggressively and getting plants to a uniform/desirable shape. Some look goofy right now. Put a handful in too early, they're not even in the strain proportions/ratios I want them. Have to wait for clones to catch up to the game plan. And as soon as that happens, the new strains will make their way into the stable.... For existing strains, I'll get shape down within the next round or so. Then, picture time!!!
I'm not setting myself up to get slammed for what's in there right now. Haha, almost there!
 

Apostatize

Well-Known Member
I've grown bigger but I think it was either from seed or was an easy growing, lower potency strain. Gorilla Cookies aren't just triangle clusters, so I'm trying to focus on flower shape, ripeness, hardnesses, colors, frost.
 

Apostatize

Well-Known Member
Your still using corks lmao
Sometimes. I have rubber stoppers but haven't put them together. Corks are easy. If you need to move a branch an inch or enough to clear away from another branch, cork it. London's Big Ben is calibrated with coins. Whatever works.
 

lusidghost

Well-Known Member
I'm not sure what you're hating on stacking cubes. You lose a few inches of height, but you pick up a ton of root space. Plus it's just cool how the roots will bind the two cubes together.
 

Apostatize

Well-Known Member
I'm not sure what you're hating on stacking cubes. You lose a few inches of height, but you pick up a ton of root space. Plus it's just cool how the roots will bind the two cubes together.
Top-heavy and isn't a perfect fit with the square FloraFlex drippers I spent too much on.... And maybe my f'ing corks tip them over. Haha. Generally, I'm accepting that I need to veg longer. Attempting perpetual, I just need more clones and time for them to mature. Don't out-kick my coverage. Every time I fill a tent with immature plants, it just ensures the next round won't be as prepared/veg'd as it could be.

It's me, not the stacks. I just have to stick to a rule that there have to be roots connecting the stack before I put that plant in bloom. I just have to cut back on the cut backs. Eventually, my clone counts will fill the tent. Gotta stop forcing it, otherwise 2+ lbs/month remains out of reach. All I want is 2, someday 3 ... but that will be somewhere else. Not just yield, strain has to be worth af and I have to be excited to grow it or I'll end up treating it cruelly. Probably need to talk to a shrink about that. Haa
 

lusidghost

Well-Known Member
Top-heavy and isn't a perfect fit with the square FloraFlex drippers I spent too much on.... And maybe my f'ing corks tip them over. Haha. Generally, I'm accepting that I need to veg longer. Attempting perpetual, I just need more clones and time for them to mature. Don't out-kick my coverage. Every time I fill a tent with immature plants, it just ensures the next round won't be as prepared/veg'd as it could be.

It's me, not the stacks. I just have to stick to a rule that there have to be roots connecting the stack before I put that plant in bloom. I just have to cut back on the cut backs. Eventually, my clone counts will fill the tent. Gotta stop forcing it, otherwise 2+ lbs/month remains out of reach. All I want is 2, someday 3 ... but that will be somewhere else. Not just yield, strain has to be worth af and I have to be excited to grow it or I'll end up treating it cruelly. Probably need to talk to a shrink about that. Haa
They aren’t top heavy once you add water. I could see it being an issue if your plants are too big and growing asymmetric to where the can’t stand on their own, but that would already be a problem. It only takes a couple of days for the roots and make a solid connection and about a week for the bottom cube to be all rooted out.

but I get it. You’re trying to find an alternative because you aren’t a stack guy.
 

Apostatize

Well-Known Member
but I get it. You’re trying to find an alternative because you aren’t a stack guy.
Six months from now, when I'm vegging ~6 weeks longer in general, I'll have fewer crap out/duds. Sure that's more likely it. I move plants around more than the next guy. If I'm not paying attention 100%, I've tipped a plant over. I guess I was deflecting/yelling at the stack. The stack didn't do that. Haaa.
 

lusidghost

Well-Known Member
Six months from now, when I'm vegging ~6 weeks longer in general, I'll have fewer crap out/duds. Sure that's more likely it. I move plants around more than the next guy. If I'm not paying attention 100%, I've tipped a plant over. I guess I was deflecting/yelling at the stack. The stack didn't do that. Haaa.
Have you ever used Unislabs? They're rectangle and low profile, so very hard to tip over. Plus you can leave them in the wrapper, so they would be ideal for moving around.
 

lusidghost

Well-Known Member
I bet you could sit a bare cube against the bare wall of the larger cube and have a sidecar type of setup. I've never seen anyone grow that way, but I've made a square out of 4 Unislabs sitting against each other and they all rooted together into one big slab. A sidecar cube setup would be pretty sick.
 
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