New to grodan (rockwool) and switching a light to test

Slimjimham

Well-Known Member
@Blue brother how many of those plants for wach light and how long did you veg to get them there?

That's looking great, very similar to what I'm looking for..so here's even more questions for ya ha... Are you using bigger than the 6x6 blocks?

How much calmag do you find yourself using as a starting ppm with that 700ppm ec?... Do you keep it the same through flower or change the calmag rates?

Also doesn't look like you have an algae problem... Is it because of subirrigation?

I'm going to be using floraflex caps but already bought the 6" ones so I'm locked into that size for now

I just pulled the trigger and got a bluelab ph controller!!!! Pumped to take that part out of the daily equation... For one light now anyways

should have bought them a long time ago. Bought one, will buy more if they work well/ to ease the sting of buying 4-5 @ one time... Paid $377 Amazon warehouse which usually just means open/dented box

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00QV852OO/ref=ya_st_dp_summary
 

Blue brother

Well-Known Member
@Blue brother how many of those plants for wach light and how long did you veg to get them there?

That's looking great, very similar to what I'm looking for..so here's even more questions for ya ha... Are you using bigger than the 6x6 blocks?

How much calmag do you find yourself using as a starting ppm with that 700ppm ec?... Do you keep it the same through flower or change the calmag rates?

Also doesn't look like you have an algae problem... Is it because of subirrigation?

I'm going to be using floraflex caps but already bought the 6" ones so I'm locked into that size for now

I just pulled the trigger and got a bluelab ph controller!!!! Pumped to take that part out of the daily equation... For one light now anyways

should have bought them a long time ago. Bought one, will buy more if they work well/ to ease the sting of buying 4-5 @ one time... Paid $377 Amazon warehouse which usually just means open/dented box

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00QV852OO/ref=ya_st_dp_summary
it's 7 rows of 3 under 3 600w hps so 21 plants in 4x8

6x6 grodan Hugo blocks.

I don't use any calmag I have 0.3ec tap water which is classed as moderately hard. I only use canna aqua base nutrients and a bit of canna pk13/14.

the lack of algae is due to running a sterile system. Bleach and ozone in the water
 

Slimjimham

Well-Known Member
That sounds perfectt for what I'm doing then, I'm also going to be running uc roots (basically bleach, but omari listed) in the system, with the water chilled to 65*...don't think it'll work the chiller much, I'll prob make some kind of blanket for the res.

I'm a bit concerned 12 may be too much under one light in a 4x6 tray but I'm trying to keep them smallish and figure the end will be aunderlit till I throw in another light...
 

Slimjimham

Well-Known Member
... Clones just went in.... Like said they're aeroponic clones that I put in the rockwool starters with slits, then pot those in the hugos... A bit concerned this isn't ideal but I'm sure the roots will dig into the grodan... If they're not wilted over in the morning when I check on them I assume they'll be transplant fine... Getting so pumped and imagining big things in the future!

Do these need to be heald up with nets in flower or will they stand on their own without falling over when the grodan gets drier?
 

Blue brother

Well-Known Member
they do fall over if it gets dry but not when moist, don't let it get dry. Once you're getting it sussed you can let em have brief dry spells towards the end of flower, this forces the plant to cover itself in resin as a kind of seal to slow transpiration. My blocks fit my trays snugly so they don't tip when they get lighter. You may or may not need support I don't know.

learn to clone innrockwool if this is gonna Be something u choose to do in the future. Makes life easier, I don't experience any transplant shock... Ever, the rockwool block and cube systems are pretty good for that.
 

Carolina Dream'n

Well-Known Member
... Clones just went in.... Like said they're aeroponic clones that I put in the rockwool starters with slits, then pot those in the hugos... A bit concerned this isn't ideal but I'm sure the roots will dig into the grodan... If they're not wilted over in the morning when I check on them I assume they'll be transplant fine... Getting so pumped and imagining big things in the future!

Do these need to be heald up with nets in flower or will they stand on their own without falling over when the grodan gets drier?
Raise the humidity in your room to 75-80% the first few nights to help acclimate them.
 

Slimjimham

Well-Known Member
Well they must be happy and rooting, plants are looking happy so far!

Oh and that bluelab ph control that I got came with the connect stock when it wasn't supposed to.... Score! They sell for a bit over $100. No I can check my ph on the phone!
 

Slimjimham

Well-Known Member
I got the controller/ dosers... so all systems will be hooked up with it

But these girls are going into flower thurs/ friday... gotta setup the table & drip lines (ive been top feeding them in veg)

Anyways drilling holes for the table, should i drill them in the side or the middle? Any reasoning behind the choice?

Anyone comment on their average watering schedule the first part of flower? Im thinking once a day will do it at first but ill have to keep an eye on them.

Any disadvantage to dripping longer than the recomended 20% runoff i think it was (goint to have to double check this #)

Gonna have the res hooked up to a float with ro topoff to keep the water level stable i think, prob going to try it without at first but i expect the ppms will continuously rise in the res?

Also going to have my chiller set up in the res tank with the bluelab ph controller set up to keep the ph locked at 5.8

This all sound good to you guys?

Also what should my starting flower ppm be? Going to go back through the posts, think this ones been answered ha

Thanks! Im pumped to see how these flower! Ill start keeping you updated with pics when flower starts
 

Slimjimham

Well-Known Member
Ok, so the shows going to start.... just put them in flower (tore down old system, cleaned up, set up the new system, drip lines)

Been a crazy day and didnt get started till late, ran 30 min over lights off so i didnt take a pic. Will update tomorrow.

Wasnt thinking and mixed up a normal batch of flower nutrients.... will prob switch that out with veg nutes since thats what they should get the first week of flower, but might let it ride because i dont wanna freak them out going back and forth

Feed was 18 ml magical (50 ppm)
150 ml canna substra flores (soft water)
25 ml uc roots (no ppm increase)

Was prob 20 gallons ro water... total ppm was 530 on 500 scale

Still gotta hook up the chiller tomorrow if i have time

Heres where i need you guys who knows whats up jumping in to push me in the right direction!

Pics coming SOON
 

Slimjimham

Well-Known Member
Here they are, thats the worst looking corner in the room, dont judge my tape job ha

And an ovegrown shot of the 4 big girls in rdwc next to them... quite the difference, but think im going to like rockwool much better... we'll see


My question is how do i foliar and spray oils like azamax? I wouldnt do this if they have buds but wont the foliar end up on the table and in the feed?

Should i place a waste bucket under the table and spray the table down after a foliar? Seems like this could be a pain... how are you guys doing it?
 

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ThaMagnificent

Well-Known Member
I'm going to switch my ebb and flow setup from hydroton over to rockwool blocks. Does this sound doable? I veg on a 3x3 table and then insert then in 1gal pots which are suspended inside 2gal ebb and grow buckets. What do you think?
 

Slimjimham

Well-Known Member
Here's the update, almost two weeks later and things are looking allot different! Was feeding in the 500 ppm's (500 scale) to start, just changed the tank and upped it to 630ppm for the second week of flower. 50ppm of that is magical (cal mag) the rest is Canna substrate a & b for soft water

Any advice? Input on feed strength and how things are going from anyone that's doing this?
 

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LandAndHeir

Well-Known Member
Grab some massive bloom booster by greenplanet and be prepared to be amazed. Feed 15 ml per gallon week 3-6 then leach..
 

Slimjimham

Well-Known Member
Have any comparisons or care to go more into detail? Thinking about running this round with no bloom boosters so I have a good base line to go by, them I might try to find one good additive that's low cost... I used to use moab in soil, think it worked well (but was using many more products in those days) so that might be the first is try

Anyone have any experience running any bloom boosters specifically in rockwool and any tips on what did and didn't work well
 

LandAndHeir

Well-Known Member
Sure in a 4" stacked onto a 6" with 9 plants per 4x4 ebb n flow using supernatural brand mute my average is 1.4-1.7 strain depending. After adding massive the last 2 runs its looking more like 1.9-2.2 a light. The stuff is almost other worldly to watch work.
 

LandAndHeir

Well-Known Member
One guy I gave some of the blue dream I grew like that told me " he knows my soil is good " so if that's isn't an indicator of quality taste and smoke I don't know what is. I never tell people unless they ask that its all Rockwool hydro..no terpinator or any of that crap either. Just bloom , super boost, and massive. 14 day leach and bowls burn white and taste great.
 

Slimjimham

Well-Known Member
Exactly what do you mean by 14 day leach? Are you just giving a lower ppm feed like 200-300 or 0 ppm ro water?

Also plants and Roots look great but I have a bit of a "fish tank smell" in my res... anyone experience this? Is it a big deal? And should I be cooling my water?

Water is 73* but I figure with 4/5 feeds a day might be pointless to run the Chiller all the time
Im using 0 ppm uv filtered water as a base...
 
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