?'S: Watering, Regulating Temp, and LST

[Seamaiden]

Hehheh, that's ok. You didn't know what to call them, and the rest of us were spinning hard on the whole gypsum/drywall thing! And I kept thinking, "If it really were drywall, we wouldn't see a plant at all... would we?"

So, they start their cuttings in Oasis! :D

 

[MissGreen]

Yup! Haha

 

[woodsmaneh]

Yup oasis cubes in RR. ;)

Couple suggestions :cool:

use the same medium to clone as your growing medium. So Rock wool starter cubes and than into the larger Rock Wool cubes, your plants will thank you.

If this is a flood and drain you should be flooding 3 to 5 times in a 24 hr period depending how big they are. For example just before lights on, than 6 hr later and than just before lights out. Flooding every 3 days is not enough and hand watering 3 times a day?

cover the top of the cube with sand or black plastic, this will cut down on fungus gnats and green algae.

Can you tell me more about how your growing, do you have a flood table and pump?

Go to StarBucks or places like that the internet is free.

were here to help so don't be bashful

Peace :)

 

[MissGreen]

Lol, at a coffee shop now! ;)
Alright! Well, I have a small 25gal res w pump for a 4x8 tray. I just don't see why they would need to be so wet as to water them even on a daily baises... Maybe my plants just aren't growing very fast?
I check them daily and add water to light ones as needed (every day/every-other day).

 

[woodsmaneh]

In an ebb and flow system you are flooding a tray or pot full of nutrient solution to feed the plants in your system. You do not want to keep the roots flooded for too long or you will risk drowning delicate roots. A good rule of thumb for watering in an ebb flow system is to water just long enough to completely flood your tray or pot with nutrient solution and then let the system drain. Most readily available timers have 15 minute increments so you may have to flood the tray for a little longer than it takes to reach the overflow level. This is fine as long as you do not keep the roots completely submerged for longer than an hour. Roots like oxygen, and keeping them submerged for too long cuts off the oxygen supply and can have fatal effects on your plants. So just remember to water only long enough to fill the system completely, and don't keep the roots submerged for too long.

You want your medium to be moist but not drenched and you want your medium to dry out somewhat between watering. So, if you watch your plants before and after watering it will be very easy to tell if you are watering too much or too little. If your plants wilt before you water, but perk up immediately after watering, you may want to water a little more often. If your plants wilt just after watering than you are watering too much, and you should allot a little more time in between watering. A good general rule of thumb is to start plants being watered about 2 to 3 times a day and increase as plants show signs of needing water.For more info just google how often to flood ebb and flow. You will find much the same answer as ^^^^.

PS your not growing in dirt, so much of what you know does not apply to growing with water. For example pH in dirt is 6.2 to 6.9 but in hydro you want 5.5 to 6.2.

 

[woodsmaneh]

 

[MissGreen]

Okay. Thank you for the watering tips. :)
It must be completely different with the medium I'm using because it takes a couple days for them to start drying out. They stay wet for a while...