germination in rockwool

atcjon

atcjon

Well-Known Member
i germinated about 20 seeds in the paper towel method and once the tap root came out i put them in 1.5 inch rockwool cubes with pre drilled holes with tap root going down about 1/8 inch down. i put them in my dome on a heat mat until it emerged from the rockwool. the problem i have is the seed is still on when it sprouts. it doesnt even look like it wants to come off. i put them under light about 7 inches away(4 foot 4 tube floro with mixed bulbs).and give about 20-25 ml of water once a day. water is distilled water with 35% h2o2 in it at about 2.0ml/l. the plants barely grow and after 3 days the seed starts to fall off but no roots are growing. 10 tens later they look weak and havent grown at all. ( 1 inch or less). the pull the plant out and find the root didnt grow at all or very little. what the hell am i doing wrong. first pic is 1 day after srpout and second is at day 9
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they look fine to me. You aren't going to see significant growth in ten minutes lol. It will take about 10-12 days before things start taking shape.
 
I have never personally grown in rock wool.But they look ok to me.Remember to keep the light close to avoid stretching.Move it down about two inches in a couple of days.
 
too much water, Soak them to begin with then only water them once every 4 or 5 days and only enough to moisten them. You do not need the H2O2 at this time, only if there are pathogens present. Cover the tops of rockwool to seal out the light, they can grow algae if you don't. Last but not least and most IMPORTANTLY you are going to have to give them food, they will not grow on zero PPM water alone, they must have food. Start with 1/8 recommended amount of fertilizer for the first weeks soak, 450 PPM or so. Only fertilize once a week. Keep temps under 85F. You should see prolific growth in 10 days.
 
NoDrama said:
too much water, Soak them to begin with then only water them once every 4 or 5 days and only enough to moisten them. You do not need the H2O2 at this time, only if there are pathogens present. Cover the tops of rockwool to seal out the light, they can grow algae if you don't. Last but not least and most IMPORTANTLY you are going to have to give them food, they will not grow on zero PPM water alone, they must have food. Start with 1/8 recommended amount of fertilizer for the first weeks soak, 450 PPM or so. Only fertilize once a week. Keep temps under 85F. You should see prolific growth in 10 days.
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so you are saying to only water my 1.5 inch rocwool cubes every 4 or 5 days. if i use less than 20 ml a day they are dry to the bone so wont that kill them if i let them sit dry under lights for 4 days. i will take out the h2o2 and use only tap water with a ppm of about 280.
 
NoDrama said:
too much water, Soak them to begin with then only water them once every 4 or 5 days and only enough to moisten them. You do not need the H2O2 at this time, only if there are pathogens present. Cover the tops of rockwool to seal out the light, they can grow algae if you don't. Last but not least and most IMPORTANTLY you are going to have to give them food, they will not grow on zero PPM water alone, they must have food. Start with 1/8 recommended amount of fertilizer for the first weeks soak, 450 PPM or so. Only fertilize once a week. Keep temps under 85F. You should see prolific growth in 10 days.
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I thought you weren't supposed to fertilize at all for a couple weeks?
 
ok so i decided to try an experiment with my seeds. the 2 i had under lights i switched to 5.8 adjusted tap water with nothing else. i am gives 20 ml once a day unless its too moist then i will wait until it dries out some. i have 3 others that just sprouted today. i am feeding those a 1/8 strength solution in tap water adjusted to 5.8. watering the same. i also dropped the lights to 3 inches above the sprouts. all sprouts still have seed on
 
They are fine dude just let them be keeping an eye that the rockwool does not dry out, you should now be soaking your bigger rockwool for the small one to be placed into them, but they are all good you do always get 1 or 2 slow starters but they have more than enough time to catch up, its very early days and not for time for worrying as they are all cool, just sit back and let them do their thing ok, min fuss and attention.
 
Bangers999 said:
They are fine dude just let them be keeping an eye that the rockwool does not dry out, you should now be soaking your bigger rockwool for the small one to be placed into them, but they are all good you do always get 1 or 2 slow starters but they have more than enough time to catch up, its very early days and not for time for worrying as they are all cool, just sit back and let them do their thing ok, min fuss and attention.
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those pictures are from the old ones. they all died 2 days later from whatever it was that i was doing wrong. here are the new sprouts. 1st one is control group A ( with nutes). Second group is Control group B ( tap water only).the strains of the plants are big bud, bubbleious, pp all from nirvana
 

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atcjon said:
those pictures are from the old ones. they all died 2 days later from whatever it was that i was doing wrong. here are the new sprouts. 1st one is control group A ( with nutes). Second group is Control group B ( tap water only).the strains of the plants are big bud, bubbleious, pp all from nirvana
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Real shame of the loss, hope these ones show good for you dude, dont let the rockwool dry out, once them come through give them plenty light, dont have it down to low and fry them ok, just keep at it ok.
 
Try distilled water instead of tap. Unless you you know your water is pumped from Alhambra, don't trust it. What is it's ph? A gallon of distilled water is a buck or so at any local grocery store. I'm not saying that it was the cause of your problem, but it couldn't hurt to eliminate that variable.
 
smokingrubber said:
Try distilled water instead of tap. Unless you you know your water is pumped from Alhambra, don't trust it. What is it's ph? A gallon of distilled water is a buck or so at any local grocery store. I'm not saying that it was the cause of your problem, but it couldn't hurt to eliminate that variable.
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i was using distilled water. i switched to tap to see if that helps any
 
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