Experiencing my first run with rockwool cubes, 4", in an ebb and flow system. The cubes just sit in the open tray w/o a lid, exposed to ambient air. I thought at some point, especially sometime mid bloom, I would have seen roots growing from the bottom of the cube out onto the tray. I kinda imagined a whole mass of roots outstretched on the bottom of the tray. I even made a little make shift cover for the tray out of some black plastic sheeting to give the future roots some darkness and a moister environment. Six weeks into flower the cubes look exactly the same, well with a little more algae I suppose, but no roots taking advantage of all that tray space.
The same goes for a couple of plants I've had vegging for over two months in a similar ebb and flow setup. I guess the roots just don't want to leave their home. The bottom of the cubes are filled with roots, though not as healthy as roots I'm accustomed to seeing with the flood technique of a tray w/ a lid and baskets with hydroton rock. When I grew with that setup roots would amass outside of the basket and grow down onto the bottom of the tray. Not so with rockwool I'm observing...unless I'm doing something wrong, over watering perhaps?
They get fed three times a day for 15min. Guy at the hydro store said to water up to six times a day to keep oxygen and nutrients pumping through. Though I thought the whole thing with rockwool was its superior air to water ratio, not needing to be watered as much and still allowed for plenty of oxygen exchange.
I guess I'm looking for feedback from experienced rockwool users as it pertains to watering cycle and root development. If the roots are just going to stay contained within the cube in my current ebb and flow setup I may look to change things. I believe the bigger the root system the better the plant.
Although, there is the possibility of incorporating larger cubes and maybe even those rockwool slabs for the roots to grow down into. I know some people like to use hyrdoton but I'm sick of that shit...no more for me. I'd rather go aero.
But I'd like to work with this rockwool for a bit more, put a little xp under the belt. Any suggestions, comments or criticism are warmly welcomed. thanks for reading.
The same goes for a couple of plants I've had vegging for over two months in a similar ebb and flow setup. I guess the roots just don't want to leave their home. The bottom of the cubes are filled with roots, though not as healthy as roots I'm accustomed to seeing with the flood technique of a tray w/ a lid and baskets with hydroton rock. When I grew with that setup roots would amass outside of the basket and grow down onto the bottom of the tray. Not so with rockwool I'm observing...unless I'm doing something wrong, over watering perhaps?
They get fed three times a day for 15min. Guy at the hydro store said to water up to six times a day to keep oxygen and nutrients pumping through. Though I thought the whole thing with rockwool was its superior air to water ratio, not needing to be watered as much and still allowed for plenty of oxygen exchange.
I guess I'm looking for feedback from experienced rockwool users as it pertains to watering cycle and root development. If the roots are just going to stay contained within the cube in my current ebb and flow setup I may look to change things. I believe the bigger the root system the better the plant.
Although, there is the possibility of incorporating larger cubes and maybe even those rockwool slabs for the roots to grow down into. I know some people like to use hyrdoton but I'm sick of that shit...no more for me. I'd rather go aero.
But I'd like to work with this rockwool for a bit more, put a little xp under the belt. Any suggestions, comments or criticism are warmly welcomed. thanks for reading.
