rock wool?

[m8ty]

...bennies of all different brands...

This cracked me up thank you for making me smile :)

 

[Pisces]

Nef, sorry if it takes me a while to respond at times.
I'm a busy guy and I hardly ever log in here….

To answer your Q's … I start all my clones in Root Riot plugs…. once rooted, they get x-planted into 4"x4" RW cubes.

Once roots get established in the 4x4" cubes, they get x-planted into 8" mesh bottom pots filled the rest of the way with with 1/2" Grodan RW Grow cubes (what we like to call Croutons)

In these, you can hand water daily until harvest……. I did this before I set up my irrigation and everything was perfect.

I only set up my pump and irrigation to relieve me of having to manually mix nutes and water all my plants by hand.

Now I just do it in the flip of a switch!



Now, if you don't mind me asking….. what PH are you feeding your plants and what at what strength nutes?

Do you have a PH/EC meter?

 

[Capulator]

Rockwool is awesome.

The key is this:

Short cycle timer. 10-20 seconds off, and an hour off. TOP FEED ONLY.

When you first plant them let them dry up a bit before a second watering. Once you have some decent roots coming out the bottom, start the short cycle. Also, if you have space go directly in to a 6" cube from a 1.5".

 

[Nef420]

Nice. Sorry if I'm asking dumb or anoying question but I just want to make sure I'm good. Thank you for the time and help! My ph is around 6.0 I don't have an electronic meter but I use the little bottle that comes with a ph up& down kit. I bought a ph and ppm meter today with the calibrating solution so I can get that down to the point. I'm using GH butes with b-52 and some cal mag added. I mix a 5 gal bucket that gets used in about a week. Wich also reminds me to ask how much should I feed each plant? I give them 2 20oz bottles of nutrients daily they are also on a 250w Mh bulb and I have a 600w hps for flower. Should I just run hps all the way? Thanks again for your time and help!!!

 

[Pisces]

Not dumb Q's at all …..

1st, go and get yourself a small bottle of Pro-tekt Silica…… (you can get other silicas but I prefer Protekt)
I use protekt, not only for plant health but also as a natural PH up.

The very first thing I add to my RO water is Protket Silica, this raises the PH in the RO before adding Magical and base nutes which naturally lower the PH.

So when all is mixed together, you should NATURALLY have a PH of 5.6-5.7 without Ever having to add PH adjusters!
And, your nutes will stay stable for a few days, so if you need to store some off to the side for a few days until next water, your nutes will be fine and the PH will not fluctuate because of how stable this recipe is!

Then, if you get around to it, go ahead and ditch AN's b-52. (or keep it but use it sparingly at half the recommended dose and only once a week)

The Only other things I'll recommend you get is some stuff called Mycostop for root/plant health and some MicrobLift for Fungus Gnat control.

Mycostop I use once, every two weeks, at only .1 gram per gallon! (or 1 gram to every 10 gallons)
So a little bit goes a loooooooong ways!

Also Microbelift I only use once a week and only at a ratio of 1 ml per gallon.
So again, a little bit goes a looooong ways!

This stuff has kept bugs out of my rooms for nearly two years now….no bullshit!

Then for nutes, All i use is;

Protekt Silica
Technaflora Magical
GH Micro
GH Bloom

And I mix these nutes In this order….Respectively!!!!

PH should be no higher then 5.6 to 5.7 max!

EC should be no higher then 1.2

Water each plant "Once a Day" until there is a significant amount of runoff….. there is no wrong way to do this unless they are not getting enough runoff.

If you do not properly water them each day, (water until runoff) your plants will begin to show signs of wrinkled and twisted leaves (signs of PH fluctuations in the root zone) and deficiencies (caused by lock out)

As for your light, I would stick with the MH until your ready to flip, then switch over to HPS.

 

[Nef420]

Pisces your fucking awesome. Thank you for all the info! You really explain things good. I will be heading to a store to buy all that today.! And I'll keep posting pics along the way for you to see my progress if you'd like. Once again thanks for your time and help!

 

[Nef420]

One more thing. Lol your nutrient setup. Do you use that for veg and flower? Or does the bloom change for grow in veg?

 

[Pisces]

No Prob Nef…… it's why we're here right?

Here is my current feeding schedule….. respectively!

From Veg to Week 4 bloom ~

.6 ml. Protekt Silica
1 ml. Magical
6 ml. GH Micro
9 ml. GH Bloom
1/4 tsp. Epsom

From Weeks 4-6

.5 ml. Protekt
4 ml. GH Micro
8 ml. GH Bloom
1/4 tsp. Epsom

Weeks 7-8

.3 ml. Protekt
2.5 ml. GH Micro
8 ml. GH Bloom

Week 9

.3 ml. Protekt
8 ml. GH Bloom

Week 10
Flush

 

[Nef420]

Nice! So is there really a need for the GH grow ?

 

[Pisces]

Nope…. No need for GH grow at all with this recipe.

Here is where I get my MicrobeLift ….. if you can't afford the 1 gallon jugs, then get something smaller.
I just buy these because it's a better deal the more you buy.

MICROBELIFT

___________________


And here is where I get my Mycostop….. I buy the 25 gram pouches, again, for the better deal.

MYCOSTOP

These two items will keep your garden in check for you…. I have been using them for a few years but know of seasoned growers that have been using them for much longer and swear by them.

And, so do I….

 

[Nef420]

Awesome thank you. If you don't mind me using your recipe please? Lol I just wanted to ask is that per gallon for the list of nutes above?

 

[Pisces]

Yes, that's per gallon of RO water.

So if your only making nutes in a 5 gallon bucket, then I would mark the bucket to the 4 gallon line.
Then you'll have plenty of room in the bucket to stir the nutes without them spilling over.

So now each time you want to make nutes, just fill the bucket to the 4 gallon line and then add the following;;

2.4 ml. Protekt
4 ml. Magical
24 ml. Micro
36 ml. Bloom

In this order!

This should hopefully bring your PH to around 5.6 and your EC to 1.2 which is perfect!

If you wanted to, you can even just start adding Magical every other feeding, because well, in the beginning and mid Veg, they should have plenty of Cal & Mag in just the Micro & Bloom alone without having to add any extra.

I honestly just add it when I know they need it…… but it also won't hurt them at all to just add it every feeding either.
This, i'll leave to your discretion…….

As far as PH goes……. after your done adding everything, if for some reason the PH is off by a few points in either direction, you'll know from that reading how much Protekt Silica to add next round.

In other words, if the PH is too high after mixing everything, then next time you go to mix your nutes, just add a little less Silica that time to bring the PH back down……. if it is too low, then next time you go to mix, add a little more.

The Silica here, is what will determine where the PH is going to land and fall when all is said and done!
Make sense????

Hope your having a good day man….. i'm about to Vape some ChocoD Shatter and have some coffee and wake up a little bit.

 

[Nef420]

Makes a lot of sense. Nice! My vape broke. Lol
NO bullshit tho man. THANK YOU for all your help! And I'm having a great day! For me ima just roll me a fattie of some Girl Scout cookies and enjoy it with a glass of OJ.

 

[Pisces]

Oh, and fwiw, be sure to keep notes….. on a daily!

I went to Target and bought a daily planner, and in it, I write down Every little single thing I do and am going to do that is Garden related.

That way I can prepare ahead and not be surprised by anything….

With my system, I can literally sit down, and map out the next year and know when my harvests will be and when I'll need to re-up on nutes and what not..,

So yeah, It really helps to keep notes……. :)

About to go hit the Big Box store so I can buy PVC and fittings and a Flow Pressure Regulator which will all be for my main line on my new RO unit.

Went ahead and bought a new one and will keep the old one for new parts and up-grades!

That Cookies sounds nice….. haven't had the privilege of growing her yet but was able to score a few nugs a while back. Wasn't bad at all.

Welp, take er easy,
Peace~

 

[Nef420]

Wats up Pisces! So I bought all of what you said. Lol spent a good amount. But I got it all when I started to wonder, if you don't mind another question but are my 6x6x4 cubes big enough to go from baby clones all the way through harvest. Or would i have to keep them smaller? Thank you.

 

[Pisces]

I don't believe they'll be big enough bro….. I actually Never grew out a plant from start to finish by just leaving it in the cube.

I always x-planted into the 8" mesh bottom pots w/ RW grow cubes.

That's how I was taught this set up years ago, and I've been doing it this way since.

 

[Nef420]

Ok cool. I'm guessing u mean what you said you like to call croutons? The small 1"x1" cubes? Or are there smaller or a specific size? I was thinking of trying to grow them in the cubes or stack two cubes for added space for the roots. What u think?

 

[Pisces]

This is what I use as my medium once roots are established in the 4x4" cubes.

2 cu. ft. - Grow Cubes - Stonewool - 1/4 in. Cubes - Grodan RW91003


Here are the 8" mesh bottom pots I use….

Premium Round Mesh Bottom Pots Black


There are the mesh bottom pots with the added large holes on the bottom and sides of the pots…. YOU DONT WANT THESE!!!!

You want the Premium pots w/o the larger holes so that no RW will fall out.


I honestly couldn't tell you if that would work or not bro…. I doubt it will…. just buy a couple of pots and a 2 cu.ft. bag of croutons and call it a day!

 

[Nef420]

Thank you. I want to make sure I am succesful so I will be buying the mini grow cubes. Im going to get pots in a bit. Lol as soon as the store opens. Lol

 

[north knect]

hey folks..random Q lol..this will b my first small 2pot dwc run..just germed and put my beans in 1.5"rw cubes lastnight..they poped up bout an inch now..how long should b expected aprox till the roots start popin outa the cube? i will be usin expanded clay pellets and hear i should b givin the clay a good soak and rinse in ph'd water before puttin my cubes in the setup?..i see theres alota expeirenced hydro peps on this thread figured id ask here dont wana steal the spotlight lol