Getting ready to start over after a not so good first attempt. I have questions before I go at it again. Any and all info is reallyappeciated. I'm doing dwc 20 gal, Rockwoodcubes, hydroton, and cyco grow and cycobloom. Growing auto fems. First question-best way to go from seed to pot. Sprout in rockwool? How deep in the cube? When to put it in the pot. Water and hydroton depth inthe pot? Second question- Nutes-- After the sprout is in the pot, how long do you runstraight water before adding nutes? Andthen what is a good ppm increase throughthe process. Third question- water preference??? And if your answer is RO ordistilled, how to deal with calmag def.Effectively. Please help Sent from my LG-H901 using Grasscity Forum mobile app
Soak rockwool cube in pH 6.0 distilled water for a few hours, change water and continue soaking until next day, do not. squeeze the cubes, allow to drain. Also soak the hydroton for a day. Set up your net pot with hydroton and cube, place seed in cube approx. 3/8in deep. Keep cube moist until seed sprouts. I then fill bucket to within 2in of top of bucket, once roots have grown though the net pot, lower water to 3/4 below bottom of net pot, an air chamber. Have a bottle of calmag handy, I add 1ml of Botanicare HydroGuard and SilicaBlast and increase to full dose in 14 days, I don't add nutrients for at least the first 10 days, and only a 1/4 dose at first, then I just watch and increase as needed. https://forum.grasscity.com/hydroponic-grow-journa...
If these are your questions after having already done a run with not so great results, my suggestion would be for you to get on the forum in the absolute beginner section and do some reading about the DWC grow/setup/etc. Everything you need to know is logged here about a thousand times over. Go look it up and answer your own questions. Until you have an idea about these plants and how they grow and can read what the plant is telling you when you have issues, you need more experience with growing the plant. Hydro is something that you have to have all your ducks in a row with to do successfully. You can kill all your plants in less than a day when attempting to grow with this method, so it seems to me like having absolutely all the info you can get BEFORE you start would be the way to go. Flying by the seat of your pants only will bring more disappointment. TWW
Thanks man, that's a lot of good info. I think I see the error of my ways. So to be clear your rockwool never actually makes contact with the solution at all. The video I watched had the cube pretty much right on top of hydroton and solution at the bottom of the pot. Well that and I started with my solution way too hot. Caused Brown spots and dry crunchy leaves. I didn't abandon my first attempt. I have since flushed my tank, reduced my ppm significantly, added calmag to my solution and reduced my level to below the pot. Happy to say she's definitely a survivor. Still a few Brown spots on older leaves, I'm sure due to some sort of root damage stemming from my rockwool being in contact with the high ppm solution early. Here's a couple pics. Let me know what ya think. Sent from my LG-H901 using Grasscity Forum mobile app
Harsh bro, just a perfectionist trying to find absolute best way. Been successful in soil for 20yrs just trying something new. Just needed a few small tips to eliminate or reduce problems in the future. Look at pics in this post and you'll see what I was considering a failure. She's good just not perfect. Yet.. Sent from my LG-H901 using Grasscity Forum mobile app
You have a handle on it, what are you using for root supplements? So watch the newer leaves, if they become dark, reduce the nitrogen, those water drops on the leaves can result in leaf burn, depending on your lighting water drops can magnify and burn the leaves. Check out this site, it really has great information and tutorials. http://www.growweedeasy.com/
I found rockwool completely unnecessary in my DWC grows. I just germinated till I got a gnarly taproot. Gently placed it in the hydroton raised the water level of the bucket halfway up the lid pot. Then let those bubbles blast.
That's what I was thinking about doing. I would love to eliminate that rockwool. My only problem with that is I hate bringing the solution way up into the pot. Seems no matter how well I wash the hydroton, I still get a bunch of the dust crap in my water. Any suggestions? Sent from my LG-H901 using Grasscity Forum mobile app
I boil my hydroton when it's new, that takes a lot of the dust out, I also reuse it over and over, boil it after each use. And as far as the rookwool, it does provide a safe and stable platform for the seed.
Boiling the hydroton is a great idea but impossible when you have over 100 gallons of rock. I wash mine in a Rubbermaid tub with water and I agitate then drain. I refill and rinse a second and maybe a third time when they are new. The dust is a pain in the butt and it takes a bit to get rid if it all.