Well this is my first post on here. Hoping to get some advice on my first grow, its still a build in process. I started my seeds in rockwool pods and trays i got from a local hydro store. some of the seeds started and some didnt. I just put them inside my homemade ebb and flow system. I bought a rock wool slab and cut them down to 4x4 pieces. Ive pushed those inside the cups, which have holes throughout them to get water inside. i drilled holes in top of rockwool to place the pods inside there hoping the roots would continue to grow inside of the big piece of rockwool. I am using just miracle grow plant food solution. I mixed it up in my resevoir, which is about 7 gallons. Since i dont have a lid for the top i have it filling 4 times a day every 6 hours, is this enough or to much? Also for now i have just two t8 day light bulbs overtop but im hoping to buy a grow light in the next couple of weeks. I also am planning on building a box around here soon. Any info would be appreciated. thanks guys.
I dont recommend using any nutes or fertilizer on seedlings. Only ph correct water for the first 3-4 weeks. You also can get starter cubes for germinating or clones which work very nicely.
so should i just go ahead and change water and put in that with just ph correct. Thats what i used was the seed starting cubes. just placed them inside the big cubes for under the light. id also like to keep this grow in as small of a space as possible, so im still researching on what i can do there.
are you keeping a journal? im interested in trying a similar set up and would love to see how it plays out
I was just planning on keeping track of it on here. i got my enclosure built around it tonight. i will be posting some more pics tomorrow.
Rockwool holds a lot of water so using it with flood and drain will not be simple. You could do with covering the flood table with plastic to block out the light otherwise your rockwool and water will be full of algae in no time. I didn't know miracle grow did a hydro nutrient. Are you sure it's for hydro? I start clones and seedlings on an EC of 0.20-0.25 and adjust it accordingly
Make sure you don't flood too often, at a guess I would say right now you won't need to flood more than once every few days. Allow the rockwool to dry out quite a bit to allow air in there. Wet rockwool won't take long to drown your plants
Gold grower, thanks for the advice. i have been researching what nutrient to use and i just thought i could give it a try. On the miracle grow box it says its water soluble so i didn't think it would hurt. what is a good compound to use for a flood and drain? If you are saying that i will defintly cut my watering back. and i have a lid for the top just need to do something else differently with it to hold my cups in place. I also have some pictures of my new box. once again, still a work in progress.
Those nutes may or may not work, I really don't know. You will probably have some macro nutrients missing as hydro nutes are complete and soil nutes rely on the soil providing enough. Some soil nutes rely on the soil's bacteria to break the compounds down to elements the plant can utilise. Either way you will be better off with hydro specific nutes if you can buy some, if not, try the miracle grow, if you have an EC/ppm meter you won't overdose them and that's usually miracle grow's major drawback. I like growth technology products, they're top quality with a low price tag. I use their ionic grow and bloom nutes, I'm getting some awesome results with it. Just simply draping some blackout plastic over the top with come cuts in it for the plants will work great, that's what I have done with mine, I'll see if I can find a photo
What is that you are using to support your plants? and how would i support seedlings in something like that or just keep them in rockwool pods? I dont have one but i can look into getting one, get one at a home depot or lowes? I did get the lid cut for the cups to slide down in i just have to get the plastic to cover around the cups now. And yeah i figured this was my first not try the miracle. ill definlty get hyrdo specific for my next go around.
It's expanded clay balls, it has many names depending on the manufacturer. It's pretty standard for flood and drain set ups. It doesn't hold much water so most people are able to flood every 4-5 hours. I don't though. My system is sort of a cross between DWC and F&D. I flood for 15 minutes then drain for 15 minutes. I dicked about trying to find its perfect flood times but I was getting PH and EC problems as the film of water on the roots and clay balls started to dry out. I also had a lack of oxygen. I thought fuck it I'll just run it constantly like RDWC, but because of the clay balls the solution wasn't mixing perfectly. I figured a full flood and drain would ensure all of the water got replaced regularly this weird system may not be for everyone but it certainly works for me. Growth is faster than I have ever had under a 250w lamp I don't like rockwool so I use peat pucks to root clones, but you could use rockwool in there. I would either set it to flood only when the rockwool it dry or just do it by hand.
Could i go ahead and switch them over to clay balls you think? I dont think it be stressful on the plants that kind of switch because there staying in there small base of rockwool. I also dont understand how you set it to flood for 15 and drain for 15. isint that the same as just running the pump for the ebb and flow? I just need to read more.
yeah i would set your rockwool so the bottom is just a few mm above the flooded waterline so it doesnt get sodden yes it is flood and drain but most people flood for about 15 minutes and then drain for about 4 hours. to be able to drain for just 15 minutes you need to fully infuse the water with air as if you were doing DWC
OK, i have it set to just flood for 15 min a day now, one time a day and that it. I also do have a air stone with pump inside my reservoir, hoping that way is constantly putting air into the water. Also, right now the way i have the rockwool inside the cups. when the system does flood the water only comes up onto the rockwool about a quarter to maybe half inch on the bottom of it. so the rockwool isint getting fully soaked everytime it floods.
After the full 15 minutes is the rockwool not completely saturated? If not that might work quite nicely. I have never used rockwool for flood and drain so I don't know how long it takes to need flooding again but I guess when the plants have gotten bigger it shouldn't take too long
it is completely saturated after 15 minutes. i have let all of my seedlings die actually. the miracle grow was just to strong. all the leaves had gotten real dark brown spots, i also think i just had to many. I already have new seeds set so they should be sprouting in a couple of days. I went to my local store today and i got some actually hydro nutrients along with a ph control kit that has up and down with a tester. I bought some flora grow, flora micro, and flora bloom. One of my buddies told me he had good look after using this stuff. Ever used it or any luck with it if ya have? I also got some stuff called rocks growing media. it seems to have the same properties and the clay balls. im going to have a system set up close to yours because i put a shelf in my box today to hold my top container also, figured be much easier access to my reservoir to test water and add any if i needed to.
Ive grown in rockwool for years now and have had excellent results (400/oz shit).ill walk you through the process. PM me
You will need an EC or ppm meter to measure what the plants are taking up. Very important to get the solution the same strength as the plant's are using