Rockwool or grow wool.....

[Buddy]

I recently had some clones sent to me that were rooted in Rockwool, it seemed to keep its shape better than grow wool and didnt stay water logged.

 

I've just started to play around with growing from seed and I'm, trying to get a good foolproof method going.

 

I like to see whats going on each day so I dont use soil and so far I'm not real impressed with the grow wool blocks that I,m using now......when I squeeze the excess water from them, they stay squashed and look like they could suffocate the newly emerged seedlings roots.

 

Any one else use grow wool ?.....any tips ?

[nouseforaname]

hey buddy,

 

I find the main difference in the rockwool mediums is how well they are cleaned of excess salt and grit...

 

Those individual cubes are alot cleaner than the mass blocks of 75-100 cubes... also helps to leave sit in water overnite then drain before use.

[WhiteSkunk]

hey buddy.....use to use grow wool but found same probs as u so i changed to rockwool with both seeds and clones i soak the cubes in dutch masters 'penatrator'then leave them to drain on a cake cooler over nite and now dont have any probs...goodluck

[wassily]

yo buddy,

I too start seeds in rockwool blocks - the 1 inch grodan extra block - these are a little dearer but a lot cleaner.

I still rinse them under a tap before I soak them for 24 hours in a half strength bloom mix, ph adjusted to 5.5

Around the day I soak the blocks, I put my seeds into

distilled water to soak for at least 24 hours. Some seeds may pop in the water, others may not. After a

day I take them out and put them on a moist paper towel on a plate. I fold the towel over the top of the seeds and cover it in glad wrap to keep it moist. I then put it somewhere dark and warm, or in my grow room, covered in black plastic. Soon as I see the white tip pops from a seed I put it in a block, tip pointing down, and pinch closed the rockwool over the hole. I put these on a heating mat if it's cold, or in summer just in my cloning dome. As soon as the leaves open, I pull them out and grow them on in a tray. This method has worked really well for me. I stopped doing it this way for a while, but my success rate dropped a lot, so it's back to the way I know best. Happy sprouting

Vazseedular

[Ferre]

I grow everything in rockwool, clones, plants,... and am doin that for years now, it's been the best medium that I've been using in the 25 years of growing.

[sols]

g'day; i use 3"sq rockwool cubes, put seed into dry cube, water with nutrient mix and watch it grow, i've never once pre-soaked cubes, do not squeeze excess nutes/water from rockwool cube.i often like to have cubes sitting in 1cm deep puddle of nutes mix, totally saturated, i have great success rooting cuttings this way.

i bought 1" cubes once, never will i waste my money again on 1" cubes. i use a skewer or kebab stick, to poke hole in cubes for cutting, stops damage from insertion.

i start seeds and cuttings under grolux fluoro only.

[Buddy]

Well thanks for your experiences and tips fellas.

 

I'll buy the rockWOOL cubes in future but never the less, my seeds are doing ok so far in the GROwool but it doesnt seem like the roots would be getting a lot of o2.

I've been checking them every three hours to make sure they dont keel over but Im confident they will be ok. The serated leaves are about 1 cm but no sign of roots showing through the wool yet.