Propagation trays + water crystals?

[MrTwister]

2 part question- should be pretty straight forward. I've seen people use perlite underneath Oasis propagation medium - it seems that the perlite would wick away extra moisture not deliver it. Is this the intention?

Also, i'm trying to use the oasis wedges in individual wells. The big issue is the low water retention and specifically when the roots pop. i've tried a few solutions and at this point i take scissors and cut the bottom of the plastic wedges off and i used a fogging disc to deliver moisture on a cycle timer. It works but it's not too good at keeping the rootzone warm and the design because complex very quickly. I am looking at dropping the tray over a mixture of water crystals and/or vermiculite and/or perlite. I am going to try the water crystals on their own and see how they do. Has anyone tried this? does anyone have an opinion on this? It seems like a super easy solution.

 

[LexLuthor]

I don't know much about hydro, but it just sounds like a bad idea. Those crystals are made to expand and hold water then release it in soil over a long period of time, I'm talking days here. I think most hydro setups give water to the roots all day or multiple times a day, those crystals would just hold the majority of the water and they wouldn't release it quick enough for what your plants need. Thats just my guess and I never had experience with this so I'm obviously not positive.

 

[MrTwister]

lol ok well I just put a layer of crystals down. 1 tbsp + 32 oz water in a tray. Then I layered chunky perlite. Set the oasis on top and they popped roots in 48 hours and the cubes feel just perfect. i think there are a few hundred girls voting the other way ;)

 

[ralphy]

Let us know how you go.

 

[LexLuthor]

lol ok well I just put a layer of crystals down. 1 tbsp + 32 oz water in a tray. Then I layered chunky perlite. Set the oasis on top and they popped roots in 48 hours and the cubes feel just perfect. i think there are a few hundred girls voting the other way ;)

Good luck bro, I was just guessing based on how I understood it, its obviously different then what I thought. You used only 1 tbsp and mostly perlite, I thought you would use like a whole bag of crystals by itself with no other media so thats the main reason I thought it wouldn't work. Now that you explained it better it makes more sense :)

 

[quin]

So the water crystals are kinda used as a rez??

 

[MrTwister]

Lex-- that's cool you're allowed to guess that's what I posted this thread for. The crystals tend to be wet all the time and replace water that is lost to the surroundings whether it be dry air or thirsty roots. Amazing controlled release!

Okay well its still a work in progress. i'm comparing the crystals with various levels of perlite. I've tried a bunch of things-- killed few clones --- but I've found a few things so far. I'm hell bent on using the oasis "wedges" - I cut the bottom plastic out because i'm a control freak and i like to see the roots pop. I originally ran this tray over a fogging disc on a cycle timer but it took too much space and got too complicated. it was also hard to dial the heat in, exchange the air, etc. The idea was to replace an "aero cloning machine" with the oasis tray, stabbing the cuttings all the way through the medium. This was an excellent system but it still wasn't very expandable. Plus I wanted something that was mobile and would shelf for awhile. Not that anyone cares but the clubs won't take 'em unless they survive for a week or two and I'm not going to do rockwool.

the crystals were intended to (1) transfer heat from the seedling mat and (2) transfer water and nutrients in a time-released fashon. The only problem was that it would be too wet without adding a buffering layer to mix a bit of air in there. also I toyed around with different levels of water loading the crystals and I just thought that the 32oz to 1tbsp felt right (its probably 70% loaded). I did not know what I was going to get, so I just went ahead and tried it.

I found that with my little nutso experiments it is essential that I take care of ALL of the other variables, so I have the room dead on balls 1650ppm CO2, 76 degree canopy, 73% humidity (80% in dome), regular air exchange, and 80.0 deg.F in the oasis medium. I also took the cuttings with an x-acto and scuffed the meristem. the mother plants were jumping fast and I pulled back the nutes for a week, drenched them the day before, took the cuts in the morning (textbook).

Now I am just sortof making rules up as I go but it's coming out much better than I had expected. The canopy looks thriving! Tomorrow I'm going to put the rooted trays over water crystals which I will treat with a start charge at 1.5 microsiemen (rapid start and/or canna start). The roots will search for both water and nutes- I expect some serious movement. Perhaps I can try cannazym. I doubt a living organism will survive a water crystal and I am just not interested in trying! I realize I sound way too goddamn particular but I'm studying this so that I can pull all of my tissue cultures out into a non-sterile environment. I have a very effective system of propagating but it don't do much good unless I figure out ex-vitro rooting. I refuse to baby a pot plant.

 

[LexLuthor]

Sounds like fun, I hope you accomplish your goal, good luck.