Rockwool setup suggestions word word

Grapefruitroop · Nov 18, 2020

Hey whaaaaaaat up!
Im looking to switch from soil to hydro for many reasons.....mainly efficiency.
Right now im running 60 pots to cover a 20 by 6 foot canopy with 4 lights (solida 5 by 6 footprint each)
My idea is to reduce drastically the numbers and run 4 plants x light....total 16....on maybe 8 inches blocks on a slab if necessary with a drip system DTW
Do you think is dooable? need the slab too? How long i should veg to have 4 plants filling a 5 by 6 area?
Thanks for the hints!
☠

RGconsulting · Nov 18, 2020

rockwool is amazing with top drip and recirculative solution
if you want the fastest growth use flock rockwool
rockwool cubes especially the 6' have tendancy to retain too much moisture, mostly at the beginning when plants are small
slow the start
if you have a water content meter you can figure it easily (around 90% WC, its much. best confort is between 70% and 50% in veg)
less water retention means more oxygene and faster growth

feed 3xday and once per night to start then you can bump it to a feed each 2hours or even each hour

do plenty runoff to reset the pH/EC values inside the rockwool each watering, and recover the runoff inside the reservoir

rockwool is great for sog grow .. you can reduce to 4 plants per 1000w but it makes longer veg time .. and more repoting
ideally you only want to transplant the clone once, then veg a few days and go 12/12

Grapefruitroop · Nov 18, 2020

Thanks for the answer !Thats pretty much what my idea was....except for the recyclin.... Right now im veggin for 2 weeks ina mix of 30 coco 30 perlite 30 peat 10 ewc....
I was wondering if ina month of rockwool set on multiple feedings like you said i could fill the canopy...i bet i could...but i read somewhere that roots can saturate the blocks and dont let it absorb water anymore when veggin for so long....or wondering about any other possible problems related to the longer veg time..!?
For what i understood i should repot gradually...
Why do u say that ideally i should just repot once?
I never handled rockwool except for insulation haha!
Of course is gona b a learin curve..but im in!!!

RGconsulting · Nov 18, 2020

Grapefruitroop said:
Thanks for the answer !Thats pretty much what my idea was....except for the recyclin.... Right now im veggin for 2 weeks ina mix of 30 coco 30 perlite 30 peat 10 ewc....
I was wondering if ina month of rockwool set on multiple feedings like you said i could fill the canopy...i bet i could...but i read somewhere that roots can saturate the blocks and dont let it absorb water anymore when veggin for so long....or wondering about any other possible problems related to the longer veg time..!?
For what i understood i should repot gradually...
Why do u say that ideally i should just repot once?
I never handled rockwool except for insulation haha!
Of course is gona b a learin curve..but im in!!!

if you go run to waste you will be tempted to do smaller runoff and then will come the problems

by recirculating the solution you can do big runoffs to start on fresh ec/ph value after each watering

the solution come back in the reservoir, you just need to adjust your feed accordingly

personnaly i prefer to make it return in a 2nd reservoir, so the main res stay at the same value
then every 2 days you adjust the 2nd reservoir ec/ph, add h2o2 if needed, and pour it back to the main res
the Air conditionner/dehumidifier condensate also flow in this 2nd reservoir

skilled growers always recirculate the solution, dtw is a pure waste for your money and terrible for the environnement

experience doing only 15 % runoff and measure the drain EC/ph just after the irrigation stop,
most of time you will notice the ec is still higher in the runoff than your feed
because fertilizer salt have tendancy to accumulate in the medium
that leads to deficiencies and bad quality on the final product ( black ash, bad taste ..)
if you feed 1.5mS, and measure 2.0mS on your runoff, then you are probably 2.5mS inside your medium

NOT good
if you give large runoff this will never happen
it will never hurt to make 100% or even 200 % runoff
its the insurance the ph/ec in the medium are exactly what you want it to be

rockwool well managed is the fastest grow medium it beats dwc easily and is 100 % easier to manage, root problem dont exist if you treat it well

Grapefruitroop · Nov 18, 2020

Very interesting tips bro!
I was thinkin DTW cause i read somewhere was better in menagement of eventual root desease, for not lettin it spread but this may be just a little aspect...

RGconsulting · Nov 19, 2020

Grapefruitroop said:
Very interesting tips bro!
I was thinkin DTW cause i read somewhere was better in menagement of eventual root desease, for not lettin it spread but this may be just a little aspect...

as long you keep your reservoir far from the bulbs/out of the room you will never see root problems ( under 23 degree C)
loose rockwool is so oxygenated it keeps rot problems away

and if you use tap water it contains some traces of chlorine that will help to keep things clean
if you use well water/RO or condensate water from air conditionners then i advise to add some h2o2 ( hydrogen peroxyde) to the solution frequently

around 0.5 mL/L maximum of the 12% h2o2.. and dont use a airstone inside the res as it will be counter productive by dissipating the h2o2
your pump will turn on frequently and keep the solution moving

no ph constanty going up because of the airstones also ...

top drip irrgation with rockwool is really amazing

Grapefruitroop · Nov 19, 2020

RGconsulting said:
as long you keep your reservoir far from the bulbs/out of the room you will never see root problems ( under 23 degree C)

Yup yup...i live in a warm zone so i think a water chiller is mandatory.....then i was thinkin also about a ph monitor and adjuster...
A bit ago, thanks also to the help of some peeps here i designd the drippin system...
its happenin its happenin!
Im thinkin that manage a res for 16 plants should be easy as pie...but hehe....lets see...
Thanks for the tips!

tobh · Dec 4, 2020

RGconsulting said:
rockwool well managed is the fastest grow medium it beats dwc easily and is 100 % easier to manage, root problem dont exist if you treat it well

I can vouch for this. I made the mistake of thinking I could keep parent plants in rockwool (easy, clean, excellent adjustability, etc) and I've been proven a fool.

Keep us updated on your progress, I've debating running a recirculating f&d table with rockwool in place of the dutch buckets I'm running. Growth rates in rockwool are insane!

Grapefruitroop · Dec 6, 2020

Hell yeah!
So i taught that without never had handled a piece of grow rockwool in my life i would be a fool to start full speed and change the setup of the flower room....
So i bought a 150s of small cubes , 20 4" cubes, and 4 onemeter long slabs....to practice in the MOMs room and get the feeling about watering and ph ajustin...lets see if i can grow some healthy moms first.....
Cutted few clones and i got 100% success....now theyr veggin under T5s
For now im hand watering ... ill hand water also the 4" cubes but ill put a drip on the slabs...
With the slabs i wana try different numbers of plants in em and see how they do...
also if matters have a slab on a slightly inclinated surface of have it perfectly flat (on a draining mesh of course)

My goal are mainly reduce plant number.....amp speeed growth and of course.....eh eh bigger yields and less shoveling!

About the recycling water......im really doubting is necessary (but may b wrong) cause the amount of water in run off will be so little...my nutes are commercial grade cheap....i prolly i could just let the runoff evaporate like i do in soil and recycle the water by Dehum and A/C.......will see..
Ill post some pics tonite!

Grapefruitroop · Dec 6, 2020

Some more cutted yesterday...

Grapefruitroop · Dec 10, 2020

They are lovin it!!!
Megacrop A+B ph 5.5 solid after few days sitting...

But hey listen to this...
I just finished a back and forth with the costomer service of Cultilene and i sent em to hell cause they didnt want to tell me if theyr blocks need to be ph adjusted because i dont have a company!?!?

Me :
Hi there!
Im using your Cultilene PC blocks and i was wondering if they need to be presoaked and rinsed in ph adjusted water in case you use alkaline binders....or they already come neutral and ready to go?
thanks
Cultilene :
Can you tell what is your company name / where did you purchase these items / for which crop you use the blocks?
Me:
hi
no company here, dont remember, carrribean hot chili peppers
i have the PC cubes
do your products are alkaline and need to be washed with ph adjusted water or are they neutral?
thanks
Cultilene: PH between 5 and 5,5
Me:
hanks for the answer, but i dont think i explained myself very good...
im not asking what would be the ideal ph of the crop im growin but if your cubes need to be rinsed first to get rid of eventual limestone or alkaline binder leftover from manufacturing it...
Other way to say it......whats the ph of the cube as it is fresh from the factory?
thanks again, sorry for my english!
Cultilene :
I am sorry but if you do not have a company I am not able to help you anymore than this. You should ask the company who sold you the blocks."
Me:
you guys are ridiculous....i already had answered the question from Grodan, theyr costomer service is much more helpful and less sketchy than you guys....
unbelievable....LOL!

Whatever.....just sharing for laugh....this humans behind the desk are so funny!! robots will replace em soon!!

Grapefruitroop · Dec 13, 2020

Im tryin to see how long they can stay healthy in those tiny cubes.....
Right now they got bigger and faster than the clones i used to transplant in 3 liter bags of soil!!!
Still hand watering 2 times a day....time to setup an ebb and flow...
Wanted to keep some moms on 4 inchblock on recirculatin bucket and some others ona slab ona drip.....see whats upp
Do you guys think that 50w of led tubes could be enough to veg an area of rougly 2' by 4' ?
This morin i found a couple plants on the ground cause they fell so i stuck a toothpick in em to anchor em to the PCblock...

tobh · Dec 14, 2020

Grapefruitroop said:
Wanted to keep some moms on 4 inchblock on recirculatin bucket and some others ona slab ona drip.....see whats upp

So just a heads up, because I too had this brilliant idea. At least in my space, I've found that 4" blocks in a f&d is NOT ideal for keeping moms. The growth rates are just too damn fast. If one has space, sure I could see it working well, but in smaller spaces (my parent room is a 28" x 40" closet) it's just not sustainable. Thought I'd give you a heads up before you're doing like me, giving em "haircuts" weekly and throwing out perfectly good cuts because you don't have the space/use for them.

bighempn · Dec 14, 2020

Grapefruitroop said:
Hey whaaaaaaat up!
Im looking to switch from soil to hydro for many reasons.....mainly efficiency.
Right now im running 60 pots to cover a 20 by 6 foot canopy with 4 lights (solida 5 by 6 footprint each)
My idea is to reduce drastically the numbers and run 4 plants x light....total 16....on maybe 8 inches blocks on a slab if necessary with a drip system DTW
Do you think is dooable? need the slab too? How long i should veg to have 4 plants filling a 5 by 6 area?
Thanks for the hints!
☠

I’d run higher numbers like 9 per light. Less veg time= lower power bills and more runs per year. Run 4x8 trays and 6” or bigger on the rock wools. I’ve seen guys run just cubes or slabs under the cubes. Just depends on how often you want to feed them.

Grapefruitroop · Jan 8, 2021

They are growing ridiculously big and healthy...still watering em by hand but im about to install the F&D trays
Seems that the 3inches cubes are able to grow some monsters...even the one inch!!
All Megacrop A+B , epsoms and mag nitrate

Dub_City405 · Jan 8, 2021

I love rockwool

Grapefruitroop · Jan 8, 2021

Niiiiiiiice! How wide are those trays ?

Dub_City405 · Jan 8, 2021

The pads are 8x8x2 or something like that

Grapefruitroop · Jan 12, 2021

The room is pretty wet, so the big cubes cant get more than 2 watering a day.....but still im very happy with the rate of growth.
Also, they are fighting to get to the light, they could be much bigger with proper spacing...atthe point that im doubting if they really need a slab....I feel like it could slowdown the dryback such a big substrate and this 4 inch cube could get much bigger once in the flower room with less humidity...it could totally get 4 watering a day....
will see...
ill transplant 2 ona slab and other 2 ill keep em growin in the same cube...

PpmOver9000 · Jan 12, 2021

Im in rockwool as well, will be following along! Lookin great so far, keep it up good sir.

Rockwool setup suggestions word word

Rockwool setup suggestions word word

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Rockwool setup suggestions word word

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