Yeah, that is what I thought. Thanks!
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I don’t know what you can or can’t use in hydro, it’s something I want to try someday but my ignorance is front n center on this one… sorry guys
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@justinsloan what type of hydro system do you have?
The tiny rockwool cubes for the seeds, ppm, or EC*700 i soak at about 550, 600 with about 300 ppm of that being cal-mag. Ive tried lower, but see signs of deficency sometimes before i transplant them to the bigger cubes.
I add about 2ml per gal connie grow A+B advanced nutrients and double hydrguard, and benifical bacteria and 4ml per gal barley straw extract so algae cant grow to attract gnats.
When i transplant to the 4" cube, sorry i said three last night “bourbon lol” i up the soak solution to 600 ppm, with about 4ml grow A+B . Cal-Mag and bennies and barley stay the same.
I use the same ppm for soaking the tiny grow cubes in the net pots and stick into the system with about 700 or 750 ppm solution. I will “water” the net pots like dirt “with” the solution from the system untill they grow into the solution.
Whats key is you HAVE to let it dry out, or you will overwater them and they show signs of burn or problems. my air stones are in the resivor not the buckets, to keep the rockwool dry and oxygenate the solution.
Once the roots get into the solution good, and you lower the water level to have good airspace overwatering is not an issue. Mine water level about 8 inches from the net pot going into week 1 of flower. I had to learn the concept of the airstone not being able to provide enough air no matter what and i have a 3750 gph airpump “ole thumpy”. The airstones keep O2 up so certain things wont like to grow, but thats about it honestly.
Even though i know this i still overwatered and stunted Girl Scout Cookies this run “small plant in pic”
A few pics for context -
Fingertips are just hitting the water.
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Yes, I understand what you are saying about the PPM’s. I have not been measuring those and have started my second trial as I said. I thought for various reasons, if I had added calcium and magnesium, that I would run into nutrient burn because it is so young and does not need that stuff yet for various reasons perhaps.
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You have to provide everything the plant needs in hydro. Cal mag, silica and base nutes are necessary. Mykos is fine to use but not worm casting tea. Your air pump should deliver a ‘rolling boil’ and bubbles of solution will mist the bottom of net pots. This is transported to the root mass via hydroton. If net pot is immersed you will inevitably have damping off issues. Also; blue air stones are superior to all others as they produce a finer bubble.
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Whew! I knew there was plenty of help available here… just gotta know who to tag (thanks everyone)
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Your correct in that the seed has what it needs for “insert mystery duration here” Most will tell you just use water, and that works, but i dont. My method is to soak the cubes and let the plant dry them out or close before stepping up to the next cube. Super down in the weeds tweak i use also is when i go from germination cube to 4" i will let them sit a day first because the rockwool actually holds to much water.
Well, right now, I have a weaker air pump so I really feel like I have to go an inch above the net pot. My air pump seems to only ripple the water. But, I would like to upgrade, I just have to wait for the budget to reup. For the worm casting tea, it should do nothing more than make a more biological environment. I have heard really good things about it. But, right now they are seedlings, so I just gave them the bare minimum which was worm casting tea, ph water, and a bit of root solution and I think that is the best for where they are at, but with a ppm meter I think reasonably it should be okay to introduce nutes when they are first placed into the hydroponics system. I think it is too early for anything now, even cal mag.
You’re going about this the wrong way. In hydroponics, you’re not creating the same environment you would be in soil. You will flush out your biological environment every time you do a water change, so it’s kind of a moot point to try and establish a beneficial bacteria colony.
Note, I’m NOT saying you don’t want to add microbes or mycorrhizae. They do serve a purpose, because they do still eat bad nasties off your root zone and promote root health. But what I AM saying is you need to add a fresh round every time you change your water, once a week or once every two weeks.
I see no point in using worm castings - whether tea or otherwise - because it won’t exist in your system long enough to break down and help your plants in any way. Same thing for organic nutrients. They often aren’t readily bioavailable for your plant.
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Yes, well, that was for the germination stage in what I soaked the rockwool cube in, it was highly recommended as something a bit better than hydrogen peroxide. But, you are probably right about the hydroponics reservoir solution. The work castings work good as a foliar spray, that I know, whether in hydro or soil.
Hydro is a different way of growing than soil and what I used when I grew in soil I don’t use in hydro. I’m sure you’ll figure it all out. In your thread people have given you excellent advice. It’s up to you to learn by our mistakes or you can find out by making your own. Good luck.
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