rockwool?

hey guys, im startin my first hydo and i wat to clear up how to put a seed in rockwool and how to prepare the rockwool so the seed wount stave(something i heard of) do i germinate the seed? do i soak the rockwool in water or water with some hydro nutrients in it? or do i just shove the seed in there? haha.

First, I recommend that you get some product called Oasis. It is a foam type cube material, similar to rock wool but much better IMHO. It comes in sheets of 30-1 1/2" cubes with a hole in the center about 1/2" deep. (I punch two holes in them to get two plants in one cube using a chop stick) Same for rock wool and Oasis: pre-soak the cube completely in fresh water NEVER ANY NUTES IN THIS STAGE, EVER. Or with cuttings, EVER. Anyway, drop in seed and do not close the hole over but leave it open, making sure the seed is sitting firmly at the bottom of the hole. Keep cube wet, warm and under flourescent lights. Use a seedling heat mat available at most greenhouse and hydro supply stores. And place the cubes in a seedling tray with a clear plastic (tall) cover. Put the cubes in the tray with some water in the bottom, not too much, place the whole enchilada on the heat mat. Both light and heat mat on a timer 18/6. Keep the cubes damp, not soggy. Don't let them dry out! Seeds should sprout in a couple to a few days, roots showing in a week or week and a half. Once well rooted, transplant to final bucket, bag, whatever. Don't touch the sprouts at all, just the cubes. Keep the lights right down almost touching the plastic cover as they are not hot. Good luck.

i should have no problem keeping them moist sense i have a drip system and my lighting is a 400 watt hps or a dumb 40 watt floro. can i use my hps for it? and they come in some small rockwool cubes so do i make like a hole myself?

Use a cheap flouro for this process but do try to get a heat mat to put under your seedling tray, keep moisture in the tray at all times with the cover on. These are available at any greenhouse or garden supply store near you. Don't start your seeds under full hot lights, even the 400. A 40 w Gro Lux bulb works fine and you keep the bulb almost touching the cover on your tray. I would hand water, not the dripper system, yet. That's for when you have them under the big light. The idea is to keep it moist but not soggy and high humidity when they are sprouting and when you have some roots popping out of the cube, that's time to transplant the whole enchilada into your final grow vessel. With Oasis the hole is there, with rock wool, you just punch a hole with the end of a chop stick or pencil with no lead showing. About 1/2" to 3/4" deep.

o and you know when they say that the water from the bucket part of the system should JUST touch the bootom of the tray. should the wool sit rite on top of that or should ther be a layer of rocks on it then the wool? and should the top of the wool be covered with rocks wen i get a seedling or should i leave it open?