Rapid rooters watering Help? 1 week old seedlings

Hey this is my first thread. I'll try to keep it simple guys I am growing 5 different strains most are hybrids. I decided to go with RR as medium for seedlings. My whole goal is to get them rooting in DWC & That's it. Rapid rooters kept drying too much so I fed 3 Ml to the bottom of rooter when it started to feel dry about every 1 or 2 days depending where I cant pinch moisture out the top-if this is wrong correct me :Question 1 should RR be dark/black, medium/brown, or light brownish before watering. :Question 2 How many roots should be growing out the cube before transferring to Dwc bucket/hydroton I don't want them to dry out there are 4 small roots coming down the side of RR plug but not to the bottom yet is it the time to transfer to netpod.:Question 3 About top feeding I'm not using a line should I let them dry out a little before they touch bubbles/water because I heard of people top feeding every 3 hours for 30 mins that would mean they must be really wet? I hope this could help me d others with the same problem. PICS+ Included 10 days and 3 days 3 do ten days look normal??? one 10 day cotyledon is turning yellow and all purp stem
Growing environment
Temps 78/73 F day/night
RH 50/61% was 31%
light 400W MH Cool Tube 15" Above
5.9PH rises to 6.7 daily in DWC
110PPM nutes 1/8 GH Flora series 3 part
+1/4 tsp superthrive, and 1ml of 35% h202 per gallon
res temp 24c/75F

Anyone??

DJsmokz310 said:

Hey this is my first thread. I'll try to keep it simple guys I am growing 5 different strains most are hybrids. I decided to go with RR as medium for seedlings. My whole goal is to get them rooting in DWC & That's it. Rapid rooters kept drying too much so I fed 3 Ml to the bottom of rooter when it started to feel dry about every 1 or 2 days depending where I cant pinch moisture out the top-if this is wrong correct me :Question 1 should RR be dark/black, medium/brown, or light brownish before watering. :Question 2 How many roots should be growing out the cube before transferring to Dwc bucket/hydroton I don't want them to dry out there are 4 small roots coming down the side of RR plug but not to the bottom yet is it the time to transfer to netpod.:Question 3 About top feeding I'm not using a line should I let them dry out a little before they touch bubbles/water because I heard of people top feeding every 3 hours for 30 mins that would mean they must be really wet? I hope this could help me d others with the same problem. PICS+ Included 10 days and 3 days 3 do ten days look normal??? one 10 day cotyledon is turning yellow and all purp stem
Growing environment
Temps 78/73 F day/night
RH 50/61% was 31%
light 400W MH Cool Tube 15" Above
5.9PH rises to 6.7 daily in DWC
110PPM nutes 1/8 GH Flora series 3 part
+1/4 tsp superthrive, and 1ml of 35% h202 per gallon
res temp 24c/75F
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Question 2 - A few healthy white roots... maybe 5-6 roots that are 1-2 inches long. I usually keep seedlings for about 2 weeks before transplanting to DWC buckets.
Question 3 - Don't let anything dry out... water by hand once a day, maybe twice if the rapid rooters dry out.

For ph rising there are 3 things to ensure:

If this were my garden I would discontinue Superthrive because I don't notice any benefits from using it (I still have some I never use). I would discontinue h2o2 and instead run bennies like Aquashield, Mycogrow, Great White, or even just Pond-Zyme from petsmart/petco; much more effective and cheap. The point is to not have root rot which is usually the cause of rapidly increasing ph from what I've experienced and read. If you want to use sterilizers you may have to increase the dose or try bleach or zone... I am not sure on dosage since I have never tried a sterile setup.

Make sure you water stays below 70* ... you can buy a chiller or change out a bottle/jug of ice once a day. Wrap the res in a few layers of reflectix for more insulation.

Make sure res is 100% light proof. Wrap the res in reflectix or panda film or mylar for light proofing. Avoid aluminum foil; it reflects harsh angles which can create hot spots. It also tears easy and pretty much sucks balls after a few weeks.

thanks man that is really helpful stuff . just one more thing should the rapid rooter be close to the bottom or the top of net pod?. The water is above the net pod about 1/4 inch or so it looks really wet?

Towards the middle/top. Just deep enough so you can cover the rapid rooters with hydroton.

This is for cloning using rapid rooters. You might just want to water every day for new seedlings.

So a friend here in Colorado turned me on to Rapid rooters and what he showed me was:
in the rapid rooter tray you actually submerse 1/4 to 1/3 in water the whole time when rooting. (3 part tray inner tray to hold rooters, outer bottom water tray and Dome)
I also soak (rooters) the night before in PH'ed (5.9-6.4) and 600 ppm or less (N & K) fert. Don't have to have (P) at this time but it won't hurt if you do. When you shove the clone into the rooter you actually squeeze the rooter so the hole opens more and you are feeling for the slide in when it grips the side of the clone. If the clone spins it is not making contact and needs to be redone. Roots grow where it makes contact from what I have read. 10-21 days later roots should be sticking out the bottom. I also add water after 10-12 days just to top off for evap. After that place the clone in the DWC and go from there.

Also not that you need to know but for those who don't after you make the 45 degree cut scrape the lower sides of the stem lightly (1 inch to the end) with the razor to take off the plenum of the stem or rough it up a little helps it root faster. This is before you shove it into the rooter. Also found that if you only leave 3-5 leaves at most you have better success. Leave the dead and dieing leaves attached until you have roots becauser the clone wil use the dieing leaves stored sugars for food when no roots are present.

Temperature: I have found that if the tray has a heat pad that after 12 days I can turn it off and just use room temp. Warmer at first seems to get things going from the research I have seen. 78-82. Didn't need heat during summer months but the rest of the time it helped. Especially in winter.

That will keep them from drying out and plenty moist.
Hope that helps.

Hello I am also just starting out using rapid rooter plugs. I currently have two plants. They are in 2" nedi pots with the starter plugs. I have distilles water just touching the bottom of plugs and that seams to make the whole plug absorb the water so I don't have to water it at all, but I check it daily to make sure it's not drying out and also to squeeze the plugs to let the water drain from the plugs. The plants are about 3 inches with one root each that is about 6 inches long that poke through the bottom of the plug and is emerged in the water. I was wondering when should I add nutrients. I bought moon dust and also a ph kit. I keep the plants about 2-3 inches from the cfl lights and keep a 20/4 light schedule.


So my questions are when should I add nutrients and what ph level should I start out with. Also I plan on transfering my plugs to Hydroton leca clay with 4" nedi pots. Is a 4" pot a good size or should I go bigger? I see in the pictures in a post earlier that i can place the whole rooter plug in the hydroton without causing a problem or disturbing the roots in the plug. I only have a limited space in my stealth box that's why I am only growing two plants.


Any help will be much appreciated. Thanks.

swp4lfe said:

Hello I am also just starting out using rapid rooter plugs. I currently have two plants. They are in 2" nedi pots with the starter plugs. I have distilles water just touching the bottom of plugs and that seams to make the whole plug absorb the water so I don't have to water it at all, but I check it daily to make sure it's not drying out and also to squeeze the plugs to let the water drain from the plugs. The plants are about 3 inches with one root each that is about 6 inches long that poke through the bottom of the plug and is emerged in the water. I was wondering when should I add nutrients. I bought moon dust and also a ph kit. I keep the plants about 2-3 inches from the cfl lights and keep a 20/4 light schedule.


So my questions are when should I add nutrients and what ph level should I start out with. Also I plan on transfering my plugs to Hydroton leca clay with 4" nedi pots. Is a 4" pot a good size or should I go bigger? I see in the pictures in a post earlier that i can place the whole rooter plug in the hydroton without causing a problem or disturbing the roots in the plug. I only have a limited space in my stealth box that's why I am only growing two plants.


Any help will be much appreciated. Thanks.

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I like to add nutes at first sign of yellowing.. the plant progresses a little slower than hitting it up right away. But, it's how i do it. I would rather see a plant go just a little hungry than over feed..

I used rapid rooters for the first time recently. I don't know. I'm not the biggest fan. I am all about the oasis cubes..

I also am a believer is younger plants and cuttings liking a higher ph than flowering... I like 6.3 or so... even in hydro with young plants. Especially with cuttings..
I might be off... but, it's what I do.

HeartlandHank said:

I also am a believer is younger plants and cuttings liking a higher ph than flowering... I like 6.3 or so... even in hydro with young plants. Especially with cuttings..
I might be off... but, it's what I do.

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Precisely. I keep my pH in the 6.1-6.2 range for Veg then drop it to 5.8 for flowering in my RDWC setup, the ladies absolutely love it.

http://parkseed.com/120-pack-refill-sponges-for-the-original-60-cell-planting-block/p/06565-PK-120/

park seed sells a seed starter system. back iin the day i used them because they dont effect ph and do not need to be soaked in nutrients. Just bury the plug with a sprouted seed ,leaves up and covor with rocks. Just a suggestion.

Blessings,

JP

Perfect time to water the rapid rooters would be when they are about 80-90% dry. You seedlings look good! Please remove that ballast from the tent unless you really really need the heat from it . Even if you do keep it in the tent, get it off the floor where it can get wet. Lightproof your vessels and use Zone or bleach instead of h2o2.