Drain To Waste Top Watering by Hand Rockwool

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schuylaar

Well-Known Member
Hand Watering Big Mama



Top water Big Mama by hand


Do you want to skip using a container? Transplant a Gro-Block into the Big Mama Gro-Block. First start your seed or cutting in a Grodan Starter. Then place the seedling into a small 3" or 4" Gro-Block to make a transplant. Once you have a good transplant established, follow the directions below to grow a plant without a container. You can also buy a transplant in soil; just rinse off the soil a little before transplanting.

http://grodan101.com/growing-tips/grow/hand-watering-big-mama

I've got 3 years under my belt with soil and am over it. I decided to go with the above RW Top Water By Hand (drain to waste). I've just finished my first week with the clones and have fed at 1/4 nutes with 5.5 adjusted water.

The BIG question is how often do I feed? I have the FF Feeding Schedule for hydro..should I just follow this? 1x per week? just like soil?

Does anyone do this method?

Any advice will be appreciated!

Thank you.

<3
 
TubePot

TubePot

Well-Known Member
That can work for sure IMO. (8 x 8 x 8 ) The Big Mama can even be placed in a bucket (hempy style) even a Autopot?
 
S

schuylaar

Well-Known Member
TubePot said:
That can work for sure IMO. (8 x 8 x 8 ) The Big Mama can even be placed in a bucket (hempy style) even a Autopot?
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Thanks for your answer..i was just going to use the 12" drain trays i have for underneath the pots..just want a system that i can keep simple..I looked up Autopots..I'm moving to an apartment from my house.

So is feeding 1x/week sufficient for RW?

Also, is this basically the simplest method for hydro?
 
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Squidbilly

Squidbilly

Well-Known Member
NO you need to feed full strength nutrient solution everytime you water in rockwool-it's an inert medium.

If your hand watering from the top you need to water everyday with full strength nutients(or full strength depending on plants life cycle) until run-off.

I would suggest just doing little coco containers, especially if your first jump into hydro is gonna be rockwool-that stuff can get tricky if your not experienced and plants can die in the time it takes you to scratch your head and think of why.

The biggest advantage for rockwool is cash cropping> one person can unload enough rockwool to grow in a warehouse with one hand, they eliminate containers, and blocks and slabs are easily brought into a home undetected as well as dispossed of easily. Rockwool is also good for recirculating systems.

Look around, not to many people are using the hand water rw method. It can work and I am bias against rw(it's done my dirty more than once), that is just MHO.
 
S

schuylaar

Well-Known Member
Squidbilly said:
NO you need to feed full strength nutrient solution everytime you water in rockwool-it's an inert medium.

If your hand watering from the top you need to water everyday with full strength nutients(or full strength depending on plants life cycle) until run-off.

I would suggest just doing little coco containers, especially if your first jump into hydro is gonna be rockwool-that stuff can get tricky if your not experienced and plants can die in the time it takes you to scratch your head and think of why.

The biggest advantage for rockwool is cash cropping> one person can unload enough rockwool to grow in a warehouse with one hand, they eliminate containers, and blocks and slabs are easily brought into a home undetected as well as dispossed of easily. Rockwool is also good for recirculating systems.

Look around, not to many people are using the hand water rw method. It can work and I am bias against rw(it's done my dirty more than once), that is just MHO.
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yeah, i like that they eliminate containers and can be brought into home..i'm downsizing from house to apartment.

not sure about the watering everyday full strength nutes the 8x8x8's hold over 2 gallons and i can't imagine having to water/feed everyday that amount doesn't make sense..you can only do DTW with the 8x8x8's; ebb and flow won't work and is specifically advised against from manufacturer.

currently, i cloned the momz then flipped into flower..the clones are doing well, i followed the grodan instructions.

i'm going to back up the grow with some seed to pop for soil just in case..i can always take those, shake off the dirt and plug into the Hugo 6x6x6's if all goes well and nothing dies.

the blocks are already on it's way so i'm committed now.
 
Squidbilly

Squidbilly

Well-Known Member
I have 4 gallon containers of coco that get watered everyday even though they hold a TON of water and they aren't even close to dry when I water them again.

Once you have roots through the cube they will drink ALOT and you will have to water everyday or they will be completely dry.

The reason you have to water everyday is to draw in fresh o2. When they are small you might get away with watering every other day.

Remember, rw is suppose to be used with a continuous drip, or other automated hydro system where it is constantly being saturated with o2 rich nutrient solution. Constant being the key word.

Nutes every watering, water everyday. You need to treat it just like coco! Same exact principal/concept just different medium. Water everyday with full strength nutes.
 
Squidbilly

Squidbilly

Well-Known Member
I think the blocks will work good, and I gotta say after mixing my last batch of coco and perlite, big rw blocks sound really nice : )

Just treat it like any other inert medium- fresh nutrient solution until run-off everyday=happy and healthy plants.
 
S

schuylaar

Well-Known Member
Squidbilly said:
I think the blocks will work good, and I gotta say after mixing my last batch of coco and perlite, big rw blocks sound really nice : )

Just treat it like any other inert medium- fresh nutrient solution until run-off everyday=happy and healthy plants.
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yeah that makes sense about the fresh o2..so far i've only had the clones to contend with they're still alive after 1 week..my water is 7.0 and i ph'd down to 5.5 with lemon juice with 1/4 nute solution(recommended by manufacturer)..with clones how often should i top water..every few days with increasing nute solution?
 
Squidbilly

Squidbilly

Well-Known Member
I know it's counter intuative if you've been growing in soil, but in a DTW system watering everyday with full strength nutes(full strength meaning whatever ec/ppm you reach, not full strength based on bottle) until run-off is key.

Clones-that's a little different since we are trying to establish new roots-if we keep the cubes too wet it will either take forever to show roots or they will die.

Yeah, you want to check them everyday to make sure they aren't getting too dry, but you also don't want them too wet. When I used rw for cloning I think I would have to water them every 2-5 days. This was dependent on how many cubes/clones I had in my tray-the more cubes in the tray the longer they all took to try out. If I only had a couple in the tray I would sometimes have to moisten the cubes every other day.

I like to dip the bottom of rw cubes in water just for a couple seconds to get them wet again-not soak them.
1/4 strength nutes is good, slowly increase> you got the idea.
 
S

schuylaar

Well-Known Member
Squidbilly said:
What do you mean by calculation? Converting ppm to ec or vise versa?
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yes how do i properly calculate and why is the tall one yellowing?

they are one week old fed yesterday at 1/4 with 5.5 top back, on partially vented to start reducing humidity..when should i fully take the cover off? when should i feed again?
 
Squidbilly

Squidbilly

Well-Known Member
Your clones are looking good. Regarding when to water them, keep this in mind; If you leave them too wet they can stay alive in the moist cube for quite some time. I had a buddy who's clones always took about 20 days, give or take, to finally root. We realized he was keeping his cubes too wet because I was getting roots in about 7-10 days using the same method, just not watering as much as he was.

Ideally you want to water the cubes and let them get pretty light before you water them again. This forces the clone to send roots out in search of the receding water. If your cubes stay to moist the clone will stay alive for quite some time without ever growing any roots. So if your clones are alive for over 14 days and they aren't signs of roots, then that is a good sign you are over watering your cubes.
 
S

schuylaar

Well-Known Member
Squidbilly said:
Your clones are looking good. Regarding when to water them, keep this in mind; If you leave them too wet they can stay alive in the moist cube for quite some time. I had a buddy who's clones always took about 20 days, give or take, to finally root. We realized he was keeping his cubes too wet because I was getting roots in about 7-10 days using the same method, just not watering as much as he was.

Ideally you want to water the cubes and let them get pretty light before you water them again. This forces the clone to send roots out in search of the receding water. If your cubes stay to moist the clone will stay alive for quite some time without ever growing any roots. So if your clones are alive for over 14 days and they aren't signs of roots, then that is a good sign you are over watering your cubes.
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thank you :)..when should i take the top off completely? and how do i figure the ec/ppm?..or is there a general link you could recommend?
 
Squidbilly

Squidbilly

Well-Known Member
Ok, about the ec/ppm...

First, they measure the same thing. It doesn't matter which one you use. They are for YOUR reference, to be used as a general guideline. A TDS meter, which measures ppm, actually reads the ec of your solution and does the calculation into ppm for you.

Every strain is different, but starting off they all like the same things, IMO. Here is a general rule I go by when using an inert medium like rockwool, coco, hydroton, etc. NOTE: Even from seed, an inert medium needs to be fertilized from day 1, just with a really low ppm/ec.

I have always used ppm, and this has always treated me well with any strain I have ever grown...

Week1: 50-100ppm
Week2: 100-250ppm
Week3: 250-400ppm
Week4: 400-600ppm

From here it is grower and strain dependent, if you plan on increasing your ppm above 600, then just go slow and watch your plants for signs of burn.
 
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