Large plants in Hugo

Roadblock007

Well-Known Member
How big of a plant can a Hugo block support, and if it's not that big can you double them up, at the moment I'm in 3-gallon fabric pots and have large plants doing great wondering if the Hugo blocks are an option.

Cheers
 

J. Rocket

Well-Known Member
how big do you want?
6x rockwool blocks are big enough for a large plant. plenty of space for roots.
but size is relative.
8x are out there and yes you can stack blocks/slabs.
from sprout to harvest in 6x for me.
 

J. Rocket

Well-Known Member
that'll be super top heavy, you'll need to support it.
ive gone to maybe 1.25"- 1.5" but typically dont veg longer than 4 or 5 weeks before flip and they are 4'+ in the end.

if your present method is doing great why change?
 

Roadblock007

Well-Known Member
Yeah I have a support frame and net over them.

The main reason Im thinking of Rockwool is the consistency in the water holding from pot to pot and no issues with salts competing like with coco, every batch off coco always end up with some pots holding a lot more water than others And Rockwool is a lot less messy setup and clean up.
 

J. Rocket

Well-Known Member
its a "neutral medium" if soaked and flushed before use. if there's anything in there, you put it there. I like the simplicity of that.
watering can be tricky until a couple weeks in but its easy to weigh the blocks (wet and dry) to get a gauge.
they can hold a lot of water, better part of 2 kilos total weight for the 6".
never noticed more than about 100 g. difference block to block soaked.
6x block unused bone dry is around 250 g. with plug.
if you think you over watered set the block on a dry towel and watch it get wicked away.:blsmoke:
 

TheWholeTruth

Well-Known Member
How big of a plant can a Hugo block support, and if it's not that big can you double them up, at the moment I'm in 3-gallon fabric pots and have large plants doing great wondering if the Hugo blocks are an option.

Cheers
Ive had 7ft plants in hugo blocks. I did have to secure the base by putting the blocks in 10ltr tubs wich wernt much bigger than the block and threw in some clay pebbles to fill up the gaps. I only did this because with the plants being so big (7ft tall and about 4ft wide) they were at major risk of tipping over, so i made sure the bottom rot ball was weighted enough to suppourt the structure. I suspect i could have easily got them to about 9ft and 5ft wide without issues sticking to the same base and the watering system i had set up.
 

TheWholeTruth

Well-Known Member
I wouldnt stack hugo blocks on top of each other. I have tried this in the past and what i found was due to the size of the block the water wasnt able to wick properly to keep mosture even between the top and the bottom block due to the size/hight and gravity. The top one could be near enough dry with the bottom one soaking. The hight of one hugo block is built right and is probably at the peak end of wicking against gravity to keep water near enough even in the block.
 

TheWholeTruth

Well-Known Member
I also used to flood and drain via drip pies from the top (drain out the bottom)the whole block during light hours 3 times a day. It used to keep ph very stable. With the way the hugo blocks built and its size and gravity i found towards the top it would retain very slightly less water, so even when the block holds its maximum capacity of water the air to water ratio in the root level is right to keep the plant roots healthy. The way the blocks are built they will always hold enough air for proper growth. They cant be over watered as that air holding capacity is always there. But i found even if the block was totaly up to its max water holding capacity that constant regular watering would keep the ph stable, would flush out the old water and feed and renew it fresh. Would stop any salt build up too.
 
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