Strait to Clay Pellets? Or RockWool First

Hey Guys.... Im planning on replanting these later this afternoon, should I put them in RockWool first till they have developed their first leaves or Can I Place them Strait into my DWC Hydro System With Expanded Clay pellets? Thanks guys PS this is my first grow! Any tips and Criticism welcome!

My suggestion would be to go with the rockwool. However be careful with the rockwool when it's in the DWC. I've heard people say you couldn't overwater in DWC, but I call bullshit if you don't have enough root mass already out of the rockwool. I transplanted my seedlings from the propogation tray I had too early. With the air pump on the bubbles were keeping my rockwool cubes too saturated and my plants were basically drowning in them. It stunted the shit out of my plants until they grew enough roots outside of the starter cubes. I had to cut my air pump off until my cubes could dry some and I had some happy plants again quick.Bottom line, don't be all premature like me and save yourself a week of stunted growth. Rockwool is an excellent starting medium. It just can be overwatered easily if the roots aren't developed enough.

GrownUp420 said:

My suggestion would be to go with the rockwool. However be careful with the rockwool when it's in the DWC. I've heard people say you couldn't overwater in DWC, but I call bullshit if you don't have enough root mass already out of the rockwool. I transplanted my seedlings from the propogation tray I had too early. With the air pump on the bubbles were keeping my rockwool cubes too saturated and my plants were basically drowning in them. It stunted the shit out of my plants until they grew enough roots outside of the starter cubes. I had to cut my air pump off until my cubes could dry some and breath I had some happy plants again quick.Bottom line, don't be all premature like me and save yourself a week of stunted growth. Rockwool is an excellent starting medium. It just can be overwatered easily if the roots aren't developed enough.

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Thanks for the fisrt hand advice. Will start with the rock wool with a slow drip from the DWC.

No worries and good luck. Keep a close eye on the slow drip though and make sure it's extra slow. The only negative about rockwool is it retains moisture almost too well.

Will do on my way to go pick up some rockwool will watch them close!

So my seeds are in rock wool as of yesterday afternoon. This morning one had all ready she its shell got it on a nice slow drip with a timer giving water only every 2 hours for about 10 min. Feeling much more confident about this batch!

BigCheesy said:

So my seeds are in rock wool as of yesterday afternoon. This morning one had all ready she its shell got it on a nice slow drip with a timer giving water only every 2 hours for about 10 min. Feeling much more confident about this batch!View attachment 4025500

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I noticed that there are 2 & 3 seeds per cube? This will be a problem once they root and all the roots grow together, there wont be any seperating the seeds then. They wont be itty bitty for long so you dont want to try and grow 3 plants from one cube all cramped in the same space. I would do 1 seed per cube.

As mentioned already, rockwool retains water really well. It seems like you are still a bit heavy with the drips just going off the picture you provided. I'd recommend waiting until it they have dried out a bit (you can feel how heavy it is wet vs when it needs water) and just hand water until you get roots from the rockwool. Then transplant into your hydroton and begin using an automated drip. Roots do better to get a little "thirsty" before they really grow & search for water.

HydroRed said:

I noticed that there are 2 & 3 seeds per cube? This will be a problem once they root and all the roots grow together, there wont be any seperating the seeds then. They wont be itty bitty for long so you dont want to try and grow 3 plants from one cube all cramped in the same space. I would do 1 seed per cube.

As mentioned already, rockwool retains water really well. It seems like you are still a bit heavy with the drips just going off the picture you provided. I'd recommend waiting until it they have dried out a bit (you can feel how heavy it is wet vs when it needs water) and just hand water until you get roots from the rockwool. Then transplant into your hydroton and begin using an automated drip. Roots do better to get a little "thirsty" before they really grow & search for water.

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Hi Yea I was thinking about this to. Guess im being stingy on the rock wool. All the cubes have two seeds in the third hole was just to get some water down the cube. They should not have digged in to deep so Ill try and replant them in separate cubes. Ill adjust the water down to... Thanks for your comment!

Pretty good going with the germ process well done dude ,Good luck jha bless

tyke1973 said:

Pretty good going with the germ process well done dude ,Good luck jha bless

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Thanks man, got a few nice tails so I happy! Ended up only planting 8 of the 9 but will see how many Veg. Blessed love man!

So I was not able to take one seed out from each rockwool as they had allready dug in quite tight did not want to risk breaking the stems. I did adjust down the water.... then got a call I need to leave town for the weekend.. Have to leave my little ones alone for 4 days.

So I had to leave my guys alone for 4days in rock wool un attended I was happy with the results when I came back.

They did seem a little wet and over watered. So I decided to start the CFL's and reduce the water a little let the roots look for it hope to increase the rootage so I can flush and replant into the DWC in the morning.... I don't know what I did but I must have killed the water supply completely by accident, burned all them to a dry shell. The image was taken about an hour after putting back the water supply and trying to hydrate the plants again.
After about two hours the three to the right looked better but still decided to chuck them as I didn't want to stall my main grow * Think I should have done more?



I saved two and decided to just let the rest RIP as i think the recovery time would have been to long. I flushed and replanted the Two Survivors in DWC one has a slight kink in it but I think It will make it. So Im left with the following Pictures taken this morning.

BigCheesy said:

So I had to leave my guys alone for 4days in rock wool un attended I was happy with the results when I came back.
View attachment 4028040
They did seem a little wet and over watered. So I decided to start the CFL's and reduce the water a little let the roots look for it hope to increase the rootage so I can flush and replant into the DWC in the morning.... I don't know what I did but I must have killed the water supply completely by accident, burned all them to a dry shell. The image was taken about an hour after putting back the water supply and trying to hydrate the plants again.
View attachment 4028041 After about two hours the three to the right looked better but still decided to chuck them as I didn't want to stall my main grow * Think I should have done more?
View attachment 4028043
View attachment 4028044

I saved two and decided to just let the rest RIP as i think the recovery time would have been to long. I flushed and replanted the Two Survivors in DWC one has a slight kink in it but I think It will make it. So Im left with the following Pictures taken this morning.

View attachment 4028045 View attachment 4028046

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Again, you really gotta chill on the water. You completely drown them in the rockwool killing the sprouts. The cubes just need to be barely moist, not wet and you should still be able to see the fibers of the rockwool once moistened. They are baby sprouts so they dont use up any moisture in the cubes. If anything your environment would affect the dryness of the cubes before the sprouts will. Stop trying to automate such a simple processs and just hand water them until they are big enough for transplant into the hydroton containers.
When a sprout gets really long like that, it is searching for light. How far is your light from the plants? Maybe you can move your light a bit closer?
I'd suggest maybe reading up a bit on some of the basics of hydroponics, lighting and the general requirements for growing. Gotta walk before you can run.