Wet feet- rockwool

pegboy

pegboy

Well-Known Member
Anyone have any good tips on how to draw some of the water out of my rockwool? Got some 3 week old seedlings/plants in 6x6x4 cubs and they are not responding great to the amount of water in the cubes. I'm only watering every 4ish days not because they need it but just to get some fresh water in there, BTW I'm running classic ebb and flow. I'm thinking about folding up some paper towels and placing them under the rockwool to draw some of the water out? Any other ideas? Thanks

Heres a look at my unhappy/overwatered plants. Ha.

g 11-21-1.jpg
 
Wastei

Wastei

Well-Known Member
pegboy said:
Anyone have any good tips on how to draw some of the water out of my rockwool? Got some 3 week old seedlings/plants in 6x6x4 cubs and they are not responding great to the amount of water in the cubes. I'm only watering every 4ish days not because they need it but just to get some fresh water in there, BTW I'm running classic ebb and flow. I'm thinking about folding up some paper towels and placing them under the rockwool to draw some of the water out? Any other ideas? Thanks

Heres a look at my unhappy/overwatered plants. Ha.

View attachment 5440814
Click to expand...
Every 4-ish days sounds off. I think you transplanted in to too big cube early on. You need way smaller volumes in RW, even smaller than growing in Coco coir. A smaller cube fed several times a day and when you got good root development all over the cube you transplant in to a slightly larger one.

You should feed at least two times a day and adjust your medium volume according to that. You're treating a hydro grown plant like soil and that will cause all sorts of problems. Do you aerate your nutrient reservoir and how do you feed the plants? How long is the flooding and how do you draw the water out? With regular feedings and the right volume it's pretty hard to over water rock wool.
 
pegboy

pegboy

Well-Known Member
Wastei said:
Every 4-ish days sounds off. I think you transplanted in to too big cube early on. You need way smaller volumes in RW, even smaller than growing in Coco coir. A smaller cube fed several times a day and when you got good root development all over the cube you transplant in to a slightly larger one.

You should feed at least two times a day and adjust your medium volume according to that. You're treating a hydro grown plant like soil and that will cause all sorts of problems. Do you aerate your nutrient reservoir and how do you feed the plants? How long is the flooding and how do you draw the water out? With regular feedings and the right volume it's pretty hard to over water rock wool.
Click to expand...
No doubt. I'm no stranger to a bit of overwatering early on in some of my grows. However these cultivars seem a bit more sensitive to it than most. I do aerate my res and bottom feed with ebb and flow. I think they will grow into the blocks in a week or so but until then I wouldn't mind wicking some of the water out for a few days.
 
T

Triplefastaction

Well-Known Member
As Star Dog mentioned, set your wet block on top of a dry block. The dry block will wick the water out of the wet block.

having said that, you need to water every day in rockwool to draw in fresh oxygen. Otherwise you will suffocate your roots. It may seem counterintuitive, but by not watering you are slowing root growth and exacerbating your issue. Good luck.
 
pegboy

pegboy

Well-Known Member
Not that anyone cares but here's a quick update. I simply held the blocks sideways for a bit and let the excess water drain off. That and some strategic pruning and voila .......happy plants. Sometimes just a touch more oxygen to the roots makes a huge difference. Not to mention the root system grew a bit more into the blocks. That definitely helps.

g 11-27-1.jpg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top