2Hearts
Well-Known Member
When i first stuck a seed in a 1.5" rockwool cube the words "Keep it moist not wet" resounded from every thread. The general practice seemed to be- Saturate the cube then flick it like your flicking the water out of a paint brush before planting seed.
I dispute this as that led to too much air and i think most like me would expel a large percentage of of that volume of water in fear of overwatering. Even worse still i was doing this for most waterings.
Ive not cloned in rockwool yet but ive tried many seeds and i think a more accurate approch would help others in my situation and show how rockwool is hard to overwater.
So i believe that rockwool is 80% water 15% air and 5% rockwool when saturated. Two flicks of my wrist and ive thrown out 15 to 20% of that water easily bringing the air levels in the cube upto about 35%. Thats more than enough for good growth and wont kill a seedling.
A few more flicks and were adding more air than water which is going to start hindering root growth. My cube gets lightish and a decent percentage of water has gone then its time to saturate, couple of shakes and all done.
I was flicking the cube till lightweight and moist, about ten times, and wondering why i wasnt getting roots at the bottom of each cube but after leaving more water in the cube roots exploding everywhere.
Tried giving measured amounts with syringe but this method beats it hands down. Sorry to bash on peeps advice but i say leave them cubes more wet than dry or moist as thats too much air.
I dispute this as that led to too much air and i think most like me would expel a large percentage of of that volume of water in fear of overwatering. Even worse still i was doing this for most waterings.
Ive not cloned in rockwool yet but ive tried many seeds and i think a more accurate approch would help others in my situation and show how rockwool is hard to overwater.
So i believe that rockwool is 80% water 15% air and 5% rockwool when saturated. Two flicks of my wrist and ive thrown out 15 to 20% of that water easily bringing the air levels in the cube upto about 35%. Thats more than enough for good growth and wont kill a seedling.
A few more flicks and were adding more air than water which is going to start hindering root growth. My cube gets lightish and a decent percentage of water has gone then its time to saturate, couple of shakes and all done.
I was flicking the cube till lightweight and moist, about ten times, and wondering why i wasnt getting roots at the bottom of each cube but after leaving more water in the cube roots exploding everywhere.
Tried giving measured amounts with syringe but this method beats it hands down. Sorry to bash on peeps advice but i say leave them cubes more wet than dry or moist as thats too much air.