marski420
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F- aero cloners. Rockwool and a very little a and b, a little roots excell (or not) and time is all you need.
Heat mat will speed it up a bit but is not necessary.
I use GH micro and boom in very small amounts with R/O water. Bring it to about 250-350 ppm, ph of 5.8-6.1.
Prepare cubes by placing in a very light nutrient solution and roots excell (or not) and PH prep water to 4.0. Soak for 12 hours. Flush out cubes by holding lightly and do a modified throwing motion over the sink stopping your arm before it hits the sink. I do this 8 or so times per cube until 80% of the water is forced out of the cube.
I then PH adjust the water they were soaking in to 6.0 or so (the water will be very close to that PH already as the cubes alkalinity will naturally raise your presoak water's PH). I then use a siringe to apply a small amout of the PH'd water into each cube.
I then take each cut and place stright into cup of water with PH'd water for 10 seconds before placing in cube.
I use and 18/6 light schedule with florecent T5 lights. I get roots on 100% of my cuts using this method. Some take 6 days. Most take 10 days. Tough rooting strains have taken 3 weeks. But all eventually get roots.
Do not let cubes get too wet before roots appear. If you do they won't make roots. They don't drink much until they do get roots. So, you should only have to apply water on like the fifth or sixth day. But not too much! Use the weight of the cubes to determine whether or not they need water.
A couple things, I use the micro and bloom too but dont have a PPM meter. How much micro per gallon and how much bloom roughly? Im also a little confused about how you said to bring it to a ph of 5.8-6.1 but then say to soak the cubes in 4.0 light nutrient solution, is this a different solution or something and if so why am I making that batch of 5.8? If its the same solution wouldnt I just try and get it to 4.0 instead of making it 5.8-6.1? I dunno maybe Im reading that part wrong or something lol. One other thing is are you using a humidity dome and if so how often are you leaving the lid closed and how often do you give them air? Thanks a lot for your time bro.
The reason you pre-soak in a 4.0 or so PH solution is to balance the PH within the rockwool cube. Rockwool is naturally alkaline. Therefore, to bring it to an acidic level (we are shooting for between 5.8 and 6.1 ideally) we presoak in a very acidic PH. You will notice that the PH will have risen to like 5.5 or even higher on its own after a 12 to 24 hour soak. That's because the alkalinity of the rockwool raised the PH.
Sorry, I forgot to mention I do use a dome. Like Wayne said, you don't have to, and if you don't rooting will generally take longer. I vent the dome after day 4 or so partially, then full vent after a week. Once roots appear the roof is removed.
If you don't have a meter I'm guessing you're using tap and not R/O water. In that case I would say like 1 ml/gal of micro and 1 ml/gal bloom is what I would use. Hope you have a PH meter because if not its a shot in the dark as to your PH. Although PH wise with my tap and the additives I just mentioned I'm guessing the PH would come out at like 6.3.
Here ya go.. should answer your question.
ripped from Grodan's website:
Grodan Stonewool is pH Neutral!It is a common misunderstanding that Grodan is alkaline and that one has to continuously adjust the pH, when in fact Stonewool is pH neutral.The confusion stems from the fact that Grodan has some residual lime from production. Follow this simple procedure to remove this un-buffered lime. Begin by saturating the stonewool in pH 5.5 water ½ hour before use. There will be a rise in pH of about 1.0 from the residual lime dissolving. The final step involves flushing the "dissolved Lime" from the stonewool with your nutrient solution just prior to planting or sowing. From this point onwards, the pH neutral Grodan Stonewool will not contribute to any changes in the pH of the solution.Note: Ensuring pH values remain between values 5.5 – 6.5 is essential for optimum plant development and optimum substrate integrity. If you condition Grodan products with a solution pH lower than 5.0, you risk damaging the Stonewool, so take steps to ensure values do not go below pH 5.0Why does pH change ?When the plant grows the pH goes up because of the root activity involved in nutrient uptake of the plant. If the pH is not going up, your plant is not actively growing!When the plant gets ready to set flowers or fruit, the pH will briefly drop. So when you notice this drop, the plant is signaling that it is time to change to your bloom-solution.So in answer to your questions; You should always stay above pH 5.0 (better to use pH 5.5), because Grodan begins to dissolve below pH 5. You can soak the cubes on your table. You don't need to cycle, as long as the cubes are soaked initially. However, you do need to add the final step of watering from the top in order to flush out the lime residue. You should also get rid of the drained water, as it contains the lime residue.
marski420 generally if you're having problems rooting in Rockwool it's due to the Rockwool staying too moist.....
Let those cubes dry down some,but not bone dry.....those cuts need oxygen just as much as moisture to root.....
Good Luck!
Here ya go.. should answer your question.
ripped from Grodan's website:
Grodan Stonewool is pH Neutral!It is a common misunderstanding that Grodan is alkaline and that one has to continuously adjust the pH, when in fact Stonewool is pH neutral.The confusion stems from the fact that Grodan has some residual lime from production. Follow this simple procedure to remove this un-buffered lime. Begin by saturating the stonewool in pH 5.5 water ½ hour before use. There will be a rise in pH of about 1.0 from the residual lime dissolving. The final step involves flushing the "dissolved Lime" from the stonewool with your nutrient solution just prior to planting or sowing. From this point onwards, the pH neutral Grodan Stonewool will not contribute to any changes in the pH of the solution.Note: Ensuring pH values remain between values 5.5 – 6.5 is essential for optimum plant development and optimum substrate integrity. If you condition Grodan products with a solution pH lower than 5.0, you risk damaging the Stonewool, so take steps to ensure values do not go below pH 5.0Why does pH change ?When the plant grows the pH goes up because of the root activity involved in nutrient uptake of the plant. If the pH is not going up, your plant is not actively growing!When the plant gets ready to set flowers or fruit, the pH will briefly drop. So when you notice this drop, the plant is signaling that it is time to change to your bloom-solution.So in answer to your questions; You should always stay above pH 5.0 (better to use pH 5.5), because Grodan begins to dissolve below pH 5. You can soak the cubes on your table. You don't need to cycle, as long as the cubes are soaked initially. However, you do need to add the final step of watering from the top in order to flush out the lime residue. You should also get rid of the drained water, as it contains the lime residue.
I tugged on a couple of the cuts, a couple felt snug but a couple others were pulled out but had little hard white... best word that comes to mind is nubs lol
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