Manually water Rockwool ?
- Thread starter Serotonin
- Start date
icecoldwoody
Active Member
Yeah it is, but it would be a major pain...
I think 3 times a day is how ofter you would have to water it..
they can die VERY fast if you forget
I think 3 times a day is how ofter you would have to water it..
they can die VERY fast if you forget
wafflehouselover
Well-Known Member
3 times a day? No way dude lol.
Serotonin, i manually water my lings, but i wouldn't want the process to continue till harvest because its alot of extra work u don't have to do. Find yourself a nice system to auto feed your plants that is hook up to a timer. Difference size plant and stages of their life take in different amount of water. Rockwool holds alot of water, ussually you just have to get the feel for it and know when to feed.
For example when i start my lings i wet my rockwool then plant the lings, it won't be till a few days till it dry out but you don't want it to dry out. Feed them after 3 days when you can feel the rockwool to be slightly dryer then before. As your plant grows it takes in more water so more watering is needed, just make sure you press your thumb or index finger and time them so that you will know when its needed to be water and then set that time on a timer.
Also whats good about rockwool is that its more forgiving then other hydroponic medium, it can go dry for maybe a day water it and your plant will come back to life.
Serotonin, i manually water my lings, but i wouldn't want the process to continue till harvest because its alot of extra work u don't have to do. Find yourself a nice system to auto feed your plants that is hook up to a timer. Difference size plant and stages of their life take in different amount of water. Rockwool holds alot of water, ussually you just have to get the feel for it and know when to feed.
For example when i start my lings i wet my rockwool then plant the lings, it won't be till a few days till it dry out but you don't want it to dry out. Feed them after 3 days when you can feel the rockwool to be slightly dryer then before. As your plant grows it takes in more water so more watering is needed, just make sure you press your thumb or index finger and time them so that you will know when its needed to be water and then set that time on a timer.
Also whats good about rockwool is that its more forgiving then other hydroponic medium, it can go dry for maybe a day water it and your plant will come back to life.
icecoldwoody
Active Member
How often are you supposed to water them then?
I'm wondering myself now, cause i read before that it could easily be 5 or 6 times a day.. Every 3 hours during the 18/6.
Just wondering for clarification
nongreenthumb
Well-Known Member
All depends really, but i use only rockwool to grow in and most of the time i water manually. Most of my younglings are now in 4" cubes and I have 4 plants that are in 6" cubes, now these cubes, they hold a whole shit load of water. With a 6" block it can be around 5 days between waterings which will off course reduce as the plant grows and uptakes more.
On my grow i'm just getting towards the end of I was feed them ever 3 days. Each plant was in 2x4" cubes with a slab of rockwool beneath it. I would give them around a 3 litres/0.75gal. This would usually last them a few days, bare in mind though that I didn't use any hydroton or anything like that which would then be different.
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On my grow i'm just getting towards the end of I was feed them ever 3 days. Each plant was in 2x4" cubes with a slab of rockwool beneath it. I would give them around a 3 litres/0.75gal. This would usually last them a few days, bare in mind though that I didn't use any hydroton or anything like that which would then be different.
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i have all my plants in rockwool and i love it...it's clean and easy to work with...i water them every other day...u'll get a feel for it once u get started...just pik it up, if u think it's too light, then water it...o ya i hand water it...plus what i do is i just take the plant in the rock wool and let it sit in the water for a few minutes so that it gets nice and wet underneath...that way the roots go down looking for water and nutrients hence the sturdy rooting of my plants...IMO
VictorVIcious
Well-Known Member
Woody, watering times depend on the medium involved and the method. Rockwool retains water very well as does coco-coir and soil mixtures. Even using flood and drain with rockwool I only water once per day.
For those of you that are hand watering, Mogie posted an easy way to do this using a small pump. Attach a hose with a shutoff a few feet from the end. Add a stick, I used a 3/8" dowel, used wire ties to attach, and you have a watering wand with a control that will reach those plants in the back and middle. One video i watched used this type of system. VV
nongreenthumb
Well-Known Member
Or you could build some kind of drip irrigation system which is pretty easy to do. I have this on my flowering section, but until the plants are ready to go to 12/12
Serotonin
Well-Known Member
Basically, my DWC failed terribly at almost 2 weeks. Not sure if its res temps or what... the only thing I didn't sanitize was the hydroton, I only rinsed it. Anyways, even with hydroguard and plenty of airstones and O2 in a reservoir that didn't go over 73 F (which is probably the problem anyways) I developed root rot.
First, I was hoping the slime was the hydroguard since it can initially cause that and I attributed the amber color to my GH Micro. Basically I was trying to be optimistic but yesterday I grabbed some roots gently between two fingers and ran them down the roots... sure enough hairs started falling off in my hand. FUCK!
At about midnight last night I pulled the plants out of the netpots (leaving them in thier 1 inch RW cubes). I cut off all the nasty looking roots which pretty much left a small mass within the rockwool and roots just outside of it. These were all strong and white. I treated 4" rockwool cubes with some pH adjusted water for about a half hour then planted the plants in these bigger cubes and flushed it with a weak nute water.
Over the past week I've spent countless hours learning all I can about root rot and aside from trying h2o2 (which I didn't have time to do) I can't feasibly think of what I could do to prevent the rot. So, I'm doing this rockwool as an attempt to save these plants and finish the grow.
I'm getting 2 aquatrays for the 6" x 36" rockwool slabs. I'm going to just do 2 plants per slab and use drain to waste method for these. I've burned so much fucking money on this DWC that I can't afford any shit for a drip system for now... so I'll be manually watering.
First, I was hoping the slime was the hydroguard since it can initially cause that and I attributed the amber color to my GH Micro. Basically I was trying to be optimistic but yesterday I grabbed some roots gently between two fingers and ran them down the roots... sure enough hairs started falling off in my hand. FUCK!
At about midnight last night I pulled the plants out of the netpots (leaving them in thier 1 inch RW cubes). I cut off all the nasty looking roots which pretty much left a small mass within the rockwool and roots just outside of it. These were all strong and white. I treated 4" rockwool cubes with some pH adjusted water for about a half hour then planted the plants in these bigger cubes and flushed it with a weak nute water.
Over the past week I've spent countless hours learning all I can about root rot and aside from trying h2o2 (which I didn't have time to do) I can't feasibly think of what I could do to prevent the rot. So, I'm doing this rockwool as an attempt to save these plants and finish the grow.
I'm getting 2 aquatrays for the 6" x 36" rockwool slabs. I'm going to just do 2 plants per slab and use drain to waste method for these. I've burned so much fucking money on this DWC that I can't afford any shit for a drip system for now... so I'll be manually watering.
wafflehouselover
Well-Known Member
i just got me a "DiG" drip system at homedepot for 11w/tax! can do 10 plants.
Serotonin
Well-Known Member
Gonna check that thread out now, and yea NGT is helping me out. Much thanks goes to him!
TheNewBreed
Member
I am growing in Grodan rockwool cubes and pretty much mimicing the Greenhouse seeds co grow. For now i'm watering by hand but growing in large 25 gallon containers. I think I might set something up where I can just turn on a pump and have Hoses running to each plant. Anyone have suggestions on that?
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younggungrower
Active Member
Its pree Simple... Once they get dry.
stangerpower
Active Member
very simple to do an really doesnt cost much heres a list of things you''ll need
1/2 inch hose (home depot) garden section or the plumbing section bout 10 bucks for 50 ft or you can see if theyll cut you length you need id just buy the hole role so if you wanna do other things down the line youll have it
1/4 inch black tubing same thing as above but 7ish bucks for 50 ft same sections in home depot
get you a 1/2 inch plug aswell so you can tap off the line at the end of hose, also you can get little stake squirters or what ever youd like they have plenty options to choose from
now get you some 1/4 inch fittings they are couple bucks a pack of 4 -10 in each get you some elbows / t's / an also some straight ones
get you a 150/250 gph pump an also a air pump with stone ,. you can use what ever size tub you want or bucket for your reservoir
Heres what you do , put the pump in you reservoir attach the 1/2 hose cut a hole in the lid so you can slide the hose down on top of the pump, measure out how long of a hose youll need , i like to run the hose on the sides of the row or if you have alot run them in the middle of your rows, after you do that , grab some of your 1/4 hose an cut proper lengths youll need to reach each plant from the 1/2 tubing, i like to go atleast 1- 3 extra inches over what you need so you can adjust were you want it from time to time, now get you a nail an a lighter .. burn the end of the nail get it red hot then stab the 1/2 inch hose gently an make a even nice hole by melting it , dont go to far . grab one of your 1/4 inch barb'd fittings an gently shove it in until you hear it snap in , dont make the hole to big or youll have leaks , but if any leaks just run to a auto parts store an grab you some blue rubber gasket sealer bout a few bucks in a little bottle to seal up any leaks you might have, works great .. Now get your 1/4 inch strips you just cut an attach them to fittings , then attach whatever nozzle or stake you bought to the end an put it where ever you want it in pot or cube .. make sure you put a plug at the end of your 1/2 hose , if your doing run off to waste just fill your reservoir as needed, if our doing a recirculating system on a tray or something just put your reservoir under neath your tray with a drain fitting an screen all works great you can build any of this stuff for very cheap.. also add in a air pump to your bucket system or reservoir during your feed time get you a timer an set the number of times you want to feed a day pretty simple once you understand it good luck