What ppm for rockwool cubes for seedlings please

Hi could anyone tell me (soon I pray) what ppm I should take my water to to soak my rockwool cubes that i am going to put my seelding into.

I have currently put 1Ml of canna for 3L of water and the ppm is currently 170, what should I aim for please?

Ah well was a little unsure what to do so had a quick search about, added another 2ml of canna and settled for soaking them in that which was 420ppm in the end

Rockwool cubes should be soaked in ph 5.5 water only. 420ppm probably won't hurt. For the first few times you water them after they sprout, I use a root enhancer only with phd water around 5.8. after a week or so I would start adding ferts @ 1/4 strength along with the root enhancer and graudually build it up to full strength. VV

VictorVIcious said:

Rockwool cubes should be soaked in ph 5.5 water only. 420ppm probably won't hurt. For the first few times you water them after they sprout, I use a root enhancer only with phd water around 5.8. after a week or so I would start adding ferts @ 1/4 strength along with the root enhancer and graudually build it up to full strength. VV

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Hi VV thanks for the help. I was told by a couple of people to use a weak solution of nutes to soak them, hopefully your right and 420ppm wont hurt and the water was ph'ed to 5.4 - it was 5.5 but adding the nutes seemed to lower it (is this something that happens all the time?)

I was also told to just keep an eye on the cubes and when they get a little bit dry to dip them into a weak nutrient solution again to moisten them, is it spray watering that you recommend?

Could you recommend a root enhancer? Could I use rooting hormone which I have purchased to use with cuttings?

Thanks

Most lines of nutrients have root enhancing solutions. Since the entire line, grow bloom,etc, are made to work together, its best to use the one that matches your nutes. I do recommend misting your plants a few times a day. It is esential that you do this for clones. Its the only way they get water until the roots form.
I have always top watered. Gravity will force the water down to the bottom, moistening the entire cube. Drain any excess water from the tray after 5 or 10 minutes, if it is in contact with the bottom of the cube, so air can reach the cube. I use a baster to water my seedlings and clones. They are cheap, you can get them at the dollar store. I can usually water, four or five cubes with one baster full.
I have thought about using the rooting gel. I don't see why you couldn't, but how much to use. The Green Fuse I use only takes 3/4 teaspoons for a gallon of water so a quart bottle lasts a long time. Much cheaper in the long run than the rooting gel would be.
Don't water too often, even though you can't overwater with rookwool or coco, as long as you remove any excess water from the tray. Go about two or three days between waterings. This forces the roots to fill the cube looking for water and aids in early root development.
I don't want to pass myself off as an expert at this, I just started growing last year at about this time, and if it can be done wrong I have done it. I dropped an entire trays of seedlings once and replanted them. They all made it through. I wouldn't say much for the yield I got, but they did all live.
Read a lot, try a little. VV

High all, Dugout here. I was told not to use any nutes for first 2 weeks. Now I read about you guys adding nutes to seedlings. I don't understand what you guys are saying so could you break it down for me. I have an organic mixture of bat seagull and worm guano this is a very potent nutrient. Also I am using a 400 watt haylide bulb how far away should the light be from the seedlings. I am using a drip system with clay pellets and the bucket is about the size of a square 5 gallon bucket. I have a 1" rockwool cube that I cut down a little bit to fit in tray to start and then transfer to unit with cube put in 4" cubes that have been cut down also because I was told that a 4" block would retain to much water for roots. Well any information that you can give will be appreciated. Burn one for me the ole Hippy DUGOUT

Im in the same position as you GreenGro, my seed hatched yesterday & Ive left my tap water out to release chlorine but my ppm meter reads the water at 1oo & now Im confused if thats 100ppm or other hope you can help me with this as my seed is still in paper towels until someone responds.

Also would it be wise to use Growth technologies "Formulex" for the seedlings? Is that a daft question...

Bump. IMHO, regular nutes not needed for 2wk old seedlings in soil, but very light nutes needed for 2wk old seedlings in rockwool. I'll put a 250ppm balanced N-P-K, and trace minerals at 7, 11, and 14 days. I always transfer to soil between 7 and 14 days.