Grow Mediums Smegheads 2nd grow | DWC | Dutch Passion Auto Mazar | GN MS0006

[DWCocha]

another good idea is get some root riots or rockwool 1" cubes for the seedlings to go into the net pots bro ....can't help thinking that baby will have a tough time amongst those jagged rocks without any protection :Sharing One:

 

[pop22]

Hailea V20 ordered! Water level is 1 inch above the bottom of the net basket. Gonna drop the bean, root side down into the net basket tomorrow. How deep do I want to place the seedling in the net basket and how much cover do I want on top of it?

Everyone does it different, but trying to start them directly into hydroton is tricking. Rockwool is really a better way to start IMO. For my two grows, I germed in paper towel,. when there was at least a 3/4" tap root, I slipped the seed into a slot in a piece of soft foam and floated the seedlings until they had 3-5" of root. Then, I placed them into the net pot wih a little root sticking out through the bottom of the pot. I then filled with hydroton. I filled my res so that the netpot was 1/2 submerged. No need for a drip setup this way. I'm going to use rockwool for my next grow, less handling of the plants, Just grow the seedlings until they have a nice root out the bottom of the cube then place it in the net pot. The root should easily reach to or thru the bottom of the pot. page one on this link shows my foam method. I used a small tote for new seedlings, no nutes just ph'd water and an airstone. Usually, it only take about 4 days to get a good root. you could use this same setup with rockwool cube. Just keep about a 1/2" of water in the pan/tray with a small airstone. Change the water everyday. You'll see roots coming out of the cubes in no time! https://www.autoflower.org/f24/northern-lights-photo-grow-30089.html

 

[Smeghead]

I have a Rockwool cube ready to go. Not sure how to use them. I drilled out the hole all the way thru clean and what I'll do is cut a slit on one side so I can open it up and place the seedling in. Then, do I soak it in PH water or just moisten it?

How far down the net pot should I place the cube? Here's a pic of the drip system in action. I do still have reservations about a rockwool cube and drip feed or submerging in my rez with the low powered pump that I have.

As you can see from the pic the drip feeder system drops right around the edge of the netpot, not directly on the middle. So, it's pulling oxygenated water from the bucket and dripping it around the edge so I'm hoping that water is oxygenated enough not to water log the seedling.

 

[Smeghead]

Well, I just dropped the seedling into the netpot directly without rockwool. Put it in as near an upright position as possible. I'm using Growstones as my medium. I used them last time in my coco grow with a 1/3rd layer at the bottom and some mixed in with the coco/perlite and they did a pretty amazing job. The bottom layer of growstones were just saturated with feeder roots and came out of the autopot as a square block. The coco/perlite mostly fell off.

We'll see how we go. Stay tuned!

ETA: the seedling case already started to split open. I hope I didn't put her down too deep in the stones, I think about 1 inch or less is on top of the top of the seedling.

Here also is a pic of my tent setup with the GN at the rear and highest point and running on the middle module and the bucket at the far front of the tent.

 

[Smeghead]

Hey guys,

What should my water levels be with my setup? Right now I have the rez half way up the net pot and the top drip feed system running. Should I lower the rez level to right at touching the base of the net pot or should it be higher?

I pulled the seedling up higher and put the smallest growstones around and on top of it and bigger ones around the sides. Just would like to know what is best in my situation and I'll follow the advise.

Smeggy

 

[DWCocha]

at the base of the pot should be good if you have the dripper running bud :Sharing One:

 

[Smeghead]

Thanks D-Dub. Done deal, I've lowered the water level so it's touching the base of the basket. I've also uncovered the little seedlings head so it's poking out, not sure if this is a good idea or not at such an early stage but it's already shed it's shell.

Should I cover it up with one more rock or leave it exposed to light? I need to search on how many lumens it should be getting at this stage, I have a hydroponic light tester android app and it says 312 if I'm directing the camera lens toward the plant, 1200 something if I point the lens up toward the light. I should also set the light schedule to 18/6 or 20/4.

 

[DWCocha]

You should leave the seedling alone now its in the pot mate ... very delicate right now.

Make sure the GN is no closer than 36" & you will be good to grow :Sharing One:& disregard the lumin app lol....they put out a lot more than that :thumbs:

 

[Smeghead]

All's going good but the PH keeps going up. Once or twice a day I have to put a 2 drops of PH down to get it down from 6.1 or 6.2 back down to 5.8.

Anything to help stabilize the PH long termish?

Also, DW...you mentioned before to add 10 mils of grow A/B and Voodoo Juice to 400ppm. Can I do that now as a baby seedling or should I wait 2 weeks?

 

[Smeghead]

Day 2 update. The little girl is poking her head out. Do you guys think the cots and baby leaves are too wet? Does it matter or is it all good if the tap root is getting enough oxygenated h20? The color looks a nice deep green. Any critique on her progress?