Sponges??

bigd921 said:

again doctor I have to disagree, it says right on the package DOES NOT REQUIRE LONG SOAKING TO ADJUST PH......... but regardless I soaked them for 24 hours in water ph at 5.8 prior to using and as i stated this is my second go around using them and I have a side by side comparison in 2 different systems, plus all of us that have posted in this thread cant all be nuts....... maybe you guys that it works for are just lucky

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since when is 24 hours a long time?????
if that's the case... man, i've been around a long, long, long, long, long, long, long, long, long, long, long, long, long, long, long, long, long, long, long, long................(about 10,200 more longs in there) time......

after writing it that many times i realzie how funny that word is.

not to mention i've never seens anything but a barcode on my rockwool packages.....

your right though i guess

i have no idea what i'm talkin about

there are instructions on my package, and my point is the package said they only needs to be rinsed with ph'd water i went ABOVE AND BEYOND and they still didnt work out I wasnt saying 24 hours is a long time, but it is alot longer than the instructions indicate are necessary

YES YEs Yes you can use sponge as a grow medium. The only thing I dislike about this forum is the hijacking of the thread. 3 pages and no one answered the mans question. I am doing a bubbler right now, no fancy grow shop shit, all wal-mart baby. I get three inch plastic pots and cut large rectangular holes in it, almost looks like a biohazard sign when im done. I simply use natural sponge as a media, just like the ones they use for painting and sell at all arts and crafts stores. I then cut a diameter of coco to fit in the pot and around the plant and no problems. And its perfect, ive used hydroton and rockwool before and will never go back dude. just make sure its NATURAL sponges.

kushkilla props to you thanks for the answer and man you are right I hate when people hijack threads with BS I will be hitting walmart in the morning good luck on your grow, you got a journal?

There wasn't any hijacking here, we were just correcting your assumption that the rockwool is your problem. You say you are running water with no nutes, and correcting pH twice a day. What is the water, and what are you using to adjust pH? That will lead to a solution for you.

Otherwise, you just have to be lucky like us.

HTH

you cant correct me I no whats happening with my grow, and I know what information I need, r/o water and proper non citric acid ph down,to answer your question tho (amazing concept ANSWERING THE ASKED QUESTION) I had identified my issue before posting but thanks all the same and it is hijacking when your post isnt answering the question but starting a new topic altogether, and you didnt answer my question and werent helpful thus HIJACK anyway got the answer I needed thanks to kushkilla. no more rocwool for me

sorry bigd921........

i have been hated.

never any hate brother only love, nothing personal friend happy growing and take a puff for me............

bigd921 said:

never any hate brother only love, nothing personal friend happy growing and take a puff for me............

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hahaha yeah i know..... i am sarcastic sometimes....

much love to all the growers.

potroast said:

I don't know anything about sponges, but I've never had a pH fluctuation while using rockwool. It's inert, just like sponges, or coir. The pretreating is in case there is some residual lime in the rockwool, so a soaking in low-pH solution will fix that. From there on, it's your nutrient soup buffers, and your water, and the plant itself that causes the fluctuations.

HTH

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Well, my experience, using rockwool and RO water, pH adjusted, is that I cannot keep my pH from rising to levels that are not ideal for nutrient absorption. I knock it down to 5.5 or so and within 4 hours it's back up. And there's no end in sight. Rockwool has a powerful alkaline reserve that cannot be overcome in the long term. It is not inert, but I doubt that 'sponges' will allow free root growth, discourage microbial proliferation, or otherwise avoid the many problems associated with early plant growth in hydro systems. I understand that coco coir does not have these issues, but I have no direct experience to confirm that.

In Short, Rockwool Sucks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!lol


Never Again!!!!

well my weed plant i started i spliced the sponge with a cut half way into the sponge both left and right across the center and placed my small 2 round leafed plant into it then used a peice of plumbers tape around it to hold it tight so the roots are not exposed to light now whats funny is ive had it like this for 4 days and it isnt dying its green looking healthy and has grown two more leaves but the pointy type ^.^ or 2nddary leaves if u will anyways they are getting bigger this is my first grow i admit im using a yellow commercial u know the ones most kitches have without the pan scrub side that is often blue but it seems to be doing just fine the aerogarden uses the same type of sponge cept its grey colored and round but it seems my ghetto setup is doing just fine XD ill keep u updated but i wonder i put a post in the same newbie section detailed explain of what im using ect but i wanna know someone suggested using little sugar or molassece i know i butchered that 2nd spellin but the fact is he sed use alittle in the water to help it grow if that true and if so what else would help that i didnt mention in my other post thanks!