Res aeration... how much?

Gquebed said:

Hey guys.... another question...

How deep into the net put should i be placing the clone plugs and how high, in relation to that, should i be flooding?

Id guess itd be unwise to flood up above the plugs themselves? Probably just below?

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HydroRed said:

I put the plugs as high in the medium as I can (and them still be anchored) as to where they can grow down and root into the hydroton. That usually ends up being just enough to get the tips of the roots wet when flooding. The roots will get a taste and find there way to the water quick. Seems to promote really fast rooting considering I'd never really veg once the cuts were transplanted and never had an issue with clones dying or wilting after transplant.

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Gquebed said:

So fill the pots right to the top with the clay balls i guess?

So you dont veg much... just pop em in and flip eh? Any idea what youre yielding on average per plant that way? I know...strain dependant, but curious.... i was planning to just flip straight away too, because i have headspace limitations, but trying to max yield as always. Just wonder how much difference between that and vegging for a week or two.
I got about 32 inches of headroom.

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HydroRed said:

On a heavy yielding strain, I get about 2-2.5 zips from a plant around 20-22" tall. My minimum is around a zip per basically no matter the strain.

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Gquebed said:

Aaaaaand.... next question... lol

How often should i flood, given that my room (due to very cold temps outside where i am at) humidity is down to 20-30%?

Once the plants get some foliage that will change quite a bit, but to start out... could be a problem...

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HydroRed said:

If you have larger plants that drink more/frequently etc, you will need to monitor this and flood accordingly. I think every 3-4 hrs when lights on is a safe place to start though. Thats what I start my floods out on when I transplant to the 1 gal pots and usually stay there til harvest.

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Gquebed said:

Thats in hydroton,? The clay balls.
I was planning to stay in the 6" net pots all the way through... bad idea?

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HydroRed said:

Yes, hydroton. 6" pots should work just fine too. Shouldnt matter what size pots really in regards to flood times, but more in how big (and thirsty) the plants are.

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Gquebed said:

Well... i figure for veg (18/6) ill start with just flooding every 4 hours for 20 mins, during lights on and off? It works out perfect on the timer...lol

I dont suppose there is any danger there, since ive read overwatering is near impossible with flood and drain?

Or???

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HydroRed said:

its virtually impossible to overwater with hydroton in F&D. Your RH may spike.

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Gquebed said:

So.... am i ready?

Below is a pic of my table flooded to low as possible ( due to the current drain assembly set up). Notice the water level is just below the rocks. Am i okay to set the clones (in rock wool) right on top there and then anchor them in by topping off with rocks? Should i worry about the rock wool getting to saturated and damping off the stems? Did i leave enough room for rocks to support the the plants when they get heavy with bud?
I expect the plants will not get taller than about 24 inches.

I get my clones delivered tomorrow.

Also, EC. is 0.8, or ppm at 420. Ph 5.7. Im glad to see no drift yet.
GH flora 3 part with a bit of cal mag. Am i all good?

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HydroRed said:

What size RW cubes are the cuts coming in? I didnt know you were using rockwool with the hydroton. I was under the impression that you were using all hydroton. In my opinion, rockwool kinda sucks for flood and drain. It holds moisture far too long, and has a high potential for dampening off. Id go 100% hydroton. Root in a bubble cloner and toss the rooted cut right into the hydroton. Heck, if you need to root cuts in a medium then use the spongey rooting plugs then transplant them to the hydroton pots once they have roots established. Anything but rockwool.
If you are already committed to rockwool & youre planning on just throwing a rooted rockwool cube up top of the hydroton pot, I dont think thats gonna work. The tops of my hydroton pots are always 100% dry...even while flooded. It dont "wick" water upwards like that. Your gonna likely have to bury the RW cube into the hydroton some so that the bottom of the cube just barely gets wet when flooded. Your going to want to consider the RW when you set your flood times. RW holds water far longer than any other medium.

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HydroRed said:

What size are the rockwool cubes? 4" Are they coming in RW plugs?

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Thundercat said:

Honestly if you keep the rock wool up out of the water line you might be ok. The clones will send roots down into the water line fast and start to drink and anchor. You may want to top feed them a few times if the cube starts to get to dry.

Personally I really prefer to root into peat pellets or rapid rooter plugs. I can nestle them nicely into the hydroton so the bottom of the plug is at the water line and then fill in around the edges with more hydroton.

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Thundercat said:

Honestly if you keep the rock wool up out of the water line you might be ok. The clones will send roots down into the water line fast and start to drink and anchor. You may want to top feed them a few times if the cube starts to get to dry.

Personally I really prefer to root into peat pellets or rapid rooter plugs. I can nestle them nicely into the hydroton so the bottom of the plug is at the water line and then fill in around the edges with more hydroton.

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