Mini Rockwool cubes as medium

[TrichomeChaser]

hey guys looking for a little advice. I decided to give the little Rockwool cubes a try to see how they are. I do like the way they are growing. Put 3 seedling into 3x3 Rockwool let them settle 4 days and then into 2 gallon pots with the mini cubes about 20 days ago and already have sex showing. When I got rid of one of the males I noticed the roots had not yet made it to the bottom of the pot but the cubes in the lower 1/3 of the pot held a lot of moisture. So my question is how often would you recommend watering? I was watering everyday in small doses but the plants started to show an overall yellow appearance so I felt I was overwatering. Currently I have 2 plants in soil and and 2 in the mini Rockwool in 2 gallon pots. Under a 600w MH. Setting up a 424cfm intake with carbon filter (here in 2 days) and a 440cfm exhaust with fan controllers so I can adjust accordingly. Any advice on watering or general plant care running in the mini cubes would be great. I'm using general hydroponics 3 part.
Thanks for any and all help

Picture shows the yellow overall appearance on male I removed yesterday.

 

[Johnny Lawrence]

Is this hydro? I'm guessing it is.

I run mini cubes, but I run a 2 inch layer of hyrdoton in the bottom of my 2 gallon buckets. The mini cubes are in the middle, with a 3 inch layer of hydroton on top. But that's just me personally, and what works for my style of growing.

The hydroton on the bottom helps with drainage, and the hydroton on top helps prevent algae. With an ebb and flow setup, I water once every 3 hours during their light cycle.

 

[JDMase]

I feel like you've read my thread already.

4 days in the 3" cubes isn't long enough.

I had my autos (that weren't stressed and messed up) in the starter plugs for a week or two until there were a good inch or two of roots coming out. Then into 3" cubes until they were like 2-3 inch root bound, then into the plant pots with the small cubes. Once they are into the plant pots with small cubes I water daily but probably should do 2-3 but I really don't want to (lazy) hence getting a drip system soon lol.

You wanna top feed at least once a week with low nutrients to leach (not flush) salts.

I personally dip my pots into a bucket of my nutrient mix as EverestF does on his youtube channel. I use just floranova nutrients and due to their stress a little bit of potassium silicate.

When you dip the plants in the water some waterings I only go half way. U want some "dry back" to encourage root growth to the bottom of the pot. Im 5 weeks in on my youngest 3 and my autos are root bound

If you don't dip in buckets and U have a tray then Id say 1 water a week just put some water in that tray. The medium should "wick" up some of it and encourage roots to search for that nutrient and water mix.

 

[TrichomeChaser]

Thanks Johnny Lawrence that does sound like a good idea to help with drainage.

Jdmase
I have not read your thread. Have not been on the site much in a good amount of time. So you recommend watering by just dipping pots into my nutrient mix and letting it soak up what it needs and take it out. And you only say to do this once a week?
I agree I did transplant them early. But it was intentional because I had a few other things going that were taking up my time. I had good amount of roots at the bottom so I knew they would be fine. The plants are not stressed or messed up. I had been over watering for a couple days. I let them dry out and they are right back on track. Can see my roots at the bottom of the pot in a few spots now.
Thanks for all advice

 

[JDMase]

Thanks Johnny Lawrence that does sound like a good idea to help with drainage.

Jdmase
I have not read your thread. Have not been on the site much in a good amount of time. So you recommend watering by just dipping pots into my nutrient mix and letting it soak up what it needs and take it out. And you only say to do this once a week?
I agree I did transplant them early. But it was intentional because I had a few other things going that were taking up my time. I had good amount of roots at the bottom so I knew they would be fine. The plants are not stressed or messed up. I had been over watering for a couple days. I let them dry out and they are right back on track. Can see my roots at the bottom of the pot in a few spots now.
Thanks for all advice

I dip them in a bucket daily, i leave them for like a couple minutes depending on how big they are but I find it more efficient than watering with a watering can. But one water a week is a top feed with a watering can with low nutes to flush salts.
Ah good going! Well check out my thread growing with rockwool as a medium and there's some good advice there.

I done a side by side with soil and have so much better results with the rockwool already.

 

[TrichomeChaser]

Okay so just let the pots sit in my solution for a couple minutes a day. And just top water with low nutes to avoid any buildup. That makes sense thank you. Yeah I'll defiantly say that growth has been much quicker then usual especially from seed. I am liking them. I will def check out your thread.
Thanks again

 

[TrichomeChaser]

JDMase, I Previously I was watering every day. But then the plants started to get a overall yellowish look so I began letting it dry out. I have not watered in a couple days now and as I mentioned earlier the roots are now at the bottom and the plant is looking healthier overall. Was my everyday water only harmful because my roots were not filling the pot yet?

 

[DesertHydro]

im trying these mini cubes out as well. i think it would be hard to over water considering all the gaps and cracks the substrate makes but then again they get watered they are heave as shit. bottom watering is good because it will encourage the roots to go downward to the moisture. once roots come out the bottom i would top water to help flush but thats just my personal preference. some people bottom water the whole time and simply top flush once in a while. i think once they get fully rooted they will blow up. rock wool does work. i used to run monster trees in 5gal buckets of loose rockwool when i had my own building.

 

[ThaiBaby1]

im trying these mini cubes out as well. i think it would be hard to over water considering all the gaps and cracks the substrate makes but then again they get watered they are heave as shit. bottom watering is good because it will encourage the roots to go downward to the moisture. once roots come out the bottom i would top water to help flush but thats just my personal preference. some people bottom water the whole time and simply top flush once in a while. i think once they get fully rooted they will blow up. rock wool does work. i used to run monster trees in 5gal buckets of loose rockwool when i had my own building.

probably didn't even need 5 gallon.

 

[DesertHydro]

probably didn't even need 5 gallon.

not at all lol. the grow i was emulating was doing 2+ lbs per tree, each one with its own dedicated 1k hps. i was running vert bare bulb. it wasnt all the way full but i was still rocking at least 3 gal of rockwool in there

 

[ThaiBaby1]

not at all lol. the grow i was emulating was doing 2+ lbs per tree, each one with its own dedicated 1k hps. i was running vert bare bulb. it wasnt all the way full but i was still rocking at least 3 gal of rockwool in there

yeh, i gotta get back to rockwool, best growth i ever had. I ran vertical too at one time.

 

[JDMase]

Okay so just let the pots sit in my solution for a couple minutes a day. And just top water with low nutes to avoid any buildup. That makes sense thank you. Yeah I'll defiantly say that growth has been much quicker then usual especially from seed. I am liking them. I will def check out your thread.
Thanks again

My bad I should of specified I only water daily once they're in their last container full of the mini cubes. My autos haven't shown any signs of stress since the beginning. I was over watering in the plugs and slightly in the 3" cubes to start with.

Also don't use nutes for seedlings for like a week or two, I fucked up there too.

And bottom watering you can do or what I do is just not let them sink into the bucket just hold them there at half way.

For my plants that are in flower with pre flowers they get 5-10 minutes for my biggest with buds im giving them 15 minute dips now. Seems to be working really well.

 

[TrichomeChaser]

im trying these mini cubes out as well. i think it would be hard to over water considering all the gaps and cracks the substrate makes but then again they get watered they are heave as shit. bottom watering is good because it will encourage the roots to go downward to the moisture. once roots come out the bottom i would top water to help flush but thats just my personal preference. some people bottom water the whole time and simply top flush once in a while. i think once they get fully rooted they will blow up. rock wool does work. i used to run monster trees in 5gal buckets of loose rockwool when i had my own building.

Thanks for the input desert hydro. I felt the same way. I didn't think they would get overwatered so was doing small waterings everyday. After about two weeks or so the plant was showing a slight yellow look all over. So I cut back and didn't water for a couple days and they bounced back. This was really just a little experiment to try the mini cubes. I do like them so I will probably expand and get a full setup going.

My bad I should of specified I only water daily once they're in their last container full of the mini cubes. My autos haven't shown any signs of stress since the beginning. I was over watering in the plugs and slightly in the 3" cubes to start with.

Also don't use nutes for seedlings for like a week or two, I fucked up there too.

And bottom watering you can do or what I do is just not let them sink into the bucket just hold them there at half way.

For my plants that are in flower with pre flowers they get 5-10 minutes for my biggest with buds im giving them 15 minute dips now. Seems to be working really well.

Thanks for specifying. So you dont actually let the pot sit in the bucket of nutrients its soaking in. You hold them for 15 minutes each half way in the bucket? Seems like that would be a verrry long process running more then 5-10 plants.

 

[JDMase]

Thanks for the input desert hydro. I felt the same way. I didn't think they would get overwatered so was doing small waterings everyday. After about two weeks or so the plant was showing a slight yellow look all over. So I cut back and didn't water for a couple days and they bounced back. This was really just a little experiment to try the mini cubes. I do like them so I will probably expand and get a full setup going.



Thanks for specifying. So you dont actually let the pot sit in the bucket of nutrients its soaking in. You hold them for 15 minutes each half way in the bucket? Seems like that would be a verrry long process running more then 5-10 plants.

Only to encourage root growth to the bottom of the pot. Otherwise I just let em sit. You'll find your own methods man this is just what I do and I run 7 plants. You could always use an automated system