Rockwool transplant into hydroton aircube, Please Help

[Letsbelievein]

I’ve spent Countless hours looking for an answer, please help as I haven’t found a clear answer to my particular set up. So I’ll try and just give my info and pray. So thank you thank you thank you for any help.

6 site Air Cube Ebb and Flow
Seedlings 1.5-2 inch tall and healthy in rockwool starter cubes in a tray with 1/8 airgap between rockwool starters and the drip tray.
Attempting to transfer cubes into a Net pot then into Hydroton at the same time.

Questions are how do I check for root growth and rockwool water levels without pulling and disturbing the cubes every time and how bad is it to do that? (I’ve been using a nutrient syringe to put 2.5ml top water 1x day)

Should I be dipping the tray to water or top watering to prepare them for ebb and flow system?

And lastly, when can rockwool be put into the hydroton and how close should the water level be to the bottom of the rockwool without touching it when I transfer it (or start by having the water touch the rockwool for a while) but my rockwool seems to stay wet for days so this seems like a bad idea)? Will the roots just know to grow down for my ebb and flow cycles. My big misunderstanding and concern is my roots will just dry out and I won’t know because I can’t see if they’ve reached down into the water and don’t understand how it works.

Thank you so so so much, I’m trying to love this and I’m passionate about it but I’m obsessive and can’t stop wondering if I’m doing anything right.

 

[jadins_journey]

All of our resident experts have gotten on the coco kick so there aren't many of us f/d guys left. Got to run ATM but click on the link to the cattle trough below and read a bit if you want to

 

[jadins_journey]

I’ve spent Countless hours looking for an answer, please help as I haven’t found a clear answer to my particular set up. So I’ll try and just give my info and pray. So thank you thank you thank you for any help.

6 site Air Cube Ebb and Flow
Seedlings 1.5-2 inch tall and healthy in rockwool starter cubes in a tray with 1/8 airgap between rockwool starters and the drip tray.
Attempting to transfer cubes into a Net pot then into Hydroton at the same time.

Questions are how do I check for root growth and rockwool water levels without pulling and disturbing the cubes every time and how bad is it to do that? (I’ve been using a nutrient syringe to put 2.5ml top water 1x day)

Should I be dipping the tray to water or top watering to prepare them for ebb and flow system?

And lastly, when can rockwool be put into the hydroton and how close should the water level be to the bottom of the rockwool without touching it when I transfer it (or start by having the water touch the rockwool for a while) but my rockwool seems to stay wet for days so this seems like a bad idea)? Will the roots just know to grow down for my ebb and flow cycles. My big misunderstanding and concern is my roots will just dry out and I won’t know because I can’t see if they’ve reached down into the water and don’t understand how it works.

Thank you so so so much, I’m trying to love this and I’m passionate about it but I’m obsessive and can’t stop wondering if I’m doing anything right.

This system is how I started growing indoors. Granted that was a couple decades but its the same system. Can you flood the system with the pots empty? If the flood level is high enough you can transfer now to maybe avoid injury to those seedlings

 

[Letsbelievein]

This system is how I started growing indoors. Granted that was a couple decades but its the same system. Can you flood the system with the pots empty? If the flood level is high enough you can transfer now to maybe avoid injury to those seedlings

I’m planning on transferring tonight because last night I pulled the plugs and there’s roots all over them. I’ll run test fills to try and get the levels right but I’m mainly concerned about how close I need the water to the rockwool for the roots to reach to it without saturating the rockwool plugs and how to know if they did so I know when to stop top watering or if they’re getting water from the buckets

 

[jadins_journey]

The rockwool gets soaked part of it. If there’s a root mass the rockwool has done its job.
Fill the system with cleaned Hydroton to the level of the water, set rockwool cube on the rocks with the bottom in the water. Continue to fill container up to the first leaves, covering that long neck.
There’s picks in my thread couple pages back about cloning, same process

Good luck

 

[Letsbelievein]

The rockwool gets soaked part of it. If there’s a root mass the rockwool has done its job.
Fill the system with cleaned Hydroton to the level of the water, set rockwool cube on the rocks with the bottom in the water. Continue to fill container up to the first leaves, covering that long neck.
There’s picks in my thread couple pages back about cloning, same process

Good luck

Thank you very much for this, if I’m flooding hydroton every 2-4 hours and rockwool is getting wet too won’t it stay too wet and rot my stem or roots?

 

[jadins_journey]

No more than your dealing with, no it won’t be a problem. I flood 8 times a day, 30 minutes each flood.
Ppm’s 500 then up. Feed veg nutes until stretch stops.
You’ve got a small root mass in that bucket so I wouldn’t veg over 6 weeks