Phd Green THumb

HEY how is everybody doing?

I've been a guest of this site for over two years and I must say it has been of great importance in my life. This being my first post I only really have one question that needs to be answered.

I have looked on the grow guide and it was no help other methods resulted in less then optimal results, so this is my question...

How do you get the PH level down in Rockwool and how do you manage it after germination?

This in fact is my only problem that is stopping me from a hydro setup.

Right Wino

I'ts the Ph of the water you alter. If you buy a hydro kit, you should get the acid used to lower Ph and a test kit to check your waters PH both before and after altering it using the chemicals provided.
I've never germinated in rockwool, prefering the tissue method to start them, then when the tap root emerges, use a pen to make a small hole in the block, put in the seed (root downwards of course), then place the rockwool block in a plastic cup (polystyrene will doo nicely) with several drainage holes in the bottom. Use a square block in the cup allowing a tight fit, but with an air gap along the squares sides and under the bottom. When she shows her first leaves, cover the top with a peice of mylar or similar. This helps keep the roots slightly warmer and less evaporation occurs. When the cup is full of roots, put it in the hydro system.

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For goodness sake, it's only a flower!

cali-canuck

Hey ther PiledHigherandDeeper

I germed in rockwool and it worked out really well.

I soaked the rockwool while the seeds were cracking and adjusted the pH of the soaking water to 5.5 until there was no more upward drift.

Then I squeezed em out and dropped the seeds in as the Wino suggests (that name is still cracking me up)

I then laid down 1/4" of perlite into a 2 dollar rubbermaid 'shoebox' tub, topped it with saran wrap and stuck it under a 30W fluoro...

Cheers...

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Peace from cali-canuck
My First Ever Grow >>> Project Green Right - Resurrected! | Designing A Killa Cabinet | Building a Champion Bubbler

Phd Green THumb

Guys ty for the quick response, but I still don't quite comprehend it, so you're telling me that I shouldn't worry about pre-treating the rockwool with something like a mixture of nutes and Peter salt prior to droping the seed or plant in.

What I mean, is that if you do pre-treat it, how exactly do you accomplish this?
or,

You just don't worry about it and tend to the water.

Oh ya do you transplant when roots star showing or can you wait untill the plants start to show signs of stress?
When are you sopose to transplant?

Guys please be patient I did read the grow guide several times.

deviant

"What I mean, is that if you do pre-treat it, how exactly do you accomplish this?"
You need to soak your rockwool in p.h adjusted water.Adjust the P.h to 5.5 then leave it overnight.When you come back in the morning,re-adjust it,give the solution a good stir and leave for a further hour.

"or,

You just don't worry about it and tend to the water."
No,you'll need to adjust both the rockwool and all solutions to be ran in the system.Add your nutrients to the water first and then adjust the p.h.Imo 5.5-5.8 for growth and 5.8-6.2 for flowering are optimal fiqures.Although as a general rule you'll have no problems between 5.5-6.5,and a little drift is no bad thing.
P.H levels will drift as the plant absorbs nutrient and water from the solution so be aware that further adjustment is required if you are running a re-circulating system.

"Oh ya do you transplant when roots star showing or can you wait untill the plants start to show signs of stress?
When are you sopose to transplant?"

Well,when to transplant is to some extent dependant on what system you're running but generally you should transplant when you see roots comming out of the 1inch rockwool cube.

Finally;check st0neys thread on p.h at the top of this forum to see how p.h effects different nutrients uptake.
Hope this helps,
dev

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"And all Gods'angels beware-And all you judges beware-Sons of chance,take good care-For all the people not there-I'm not afraid anymore." J.D

Phd Green THumb

THANKYOU

THAT CLARIFYES EVERYTHING I NEEDED TO KNOW>