Sick seedlings, what am I doing wrong.

FFNOMORE

FFNOMORE

New Member
soaked cubes in distilled water, dropped in seeds, put heat mat on and put in dark. 3 days later all popped up an inch. Put under light, still with heat. They have been under light just a few hrs a day, The light is a pretty strong led for seedlings in my opinion, so a few hrs a day to let them get used to it is what I was thinking. Anyway, it's been about 5 day's and they seemed to have stop growing. stem is red as hell, stress?? no tap root coming out yet. I have had some die on me this way before. I'm in panic mode right now so I removed the heat mat and pulled the dome cover. give them air and light is my thought,
 

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Nobody responded to ya so I'll give my 2 cents.

Rockwool is made using gypsum. It's highly alkaline. I met/had an extended conversation (over dinner) with the main Grodan rep years ago and she told me that 99% of the problems folks have are because they only SOAKED the cubes in pH adjusted water.....they didn't RINSE THROUGH the cubes. She told me that she runs tap water through the cubes until she is sure that the gypsum has rinsed away BEFORE doing the 24 hour 5.5 soak. She said failure to do this only puts the gypsun in suspension and then it just returns to the cube....and the pH starts to rise....often to detrimental levels.

I know that likely won't help you @ this point with these seedlings...but it may be worth a try in the future(?)

Anyway...good luck
 
Old ST1R

Old ST1R

Grow Yer Own Stone
stiickygreen said:
Nobody responded to ya so I'll give my 2 cents.

Rockwool is made using gypsum. It's highly alkaline. I met/had an extended conversation (over dinner) with the main Grodan rep years ago and she told me that 99% of the problems folks have are because they only SOAKED the cubes in pH adjusted water.....they didn't RINSE THROUGH the cubes. She told me that she runs tap water through the cubes until she is sure that the gypsum has rinsed away BEFORE doing the 24 hour 5.5 soak. She said failure to do this only puts the gypsun in suspension and then it just returns to the cube....and the pH starts to rise....often to detrimental levels.

I know that likely won't help you @ this point with these seedlings...but it may be worth a try in the future(?)

Anyway...good luck
Click to expand...
They should include that valuable information on their fucking instruction sheets, FFS!
 
inthetrees

inthetrees

Active Member
I've never heard about rinsing with tap water either... I only had issues when I followed the broscience to shake the excess water out lol.

For me *personally* this is what I've done with both seeds + clones in RW cubes and since doing so have had no issues whatsoever...

5 gallon bucket filled with 4 gallons of water (RO). Clonex for cloning, or calmag + mild nutes for beans. 250 - 300 ppm. pH to 5.4, and drop in the cubes and soak for 1 hour. Pull 'em out + dont shake or squeeze out the excess water. Drop in the clone or the germinated bean into each. Humidity dome with vents closed and heat mat underneath until roots show. Take off humidity dome twice a day to get some fresh air in. Once roots show I open vents fully to help acclimate for a few days then domes off.

If it were me I would give 'em a dunk in pH'd mild nute solution, put heating mat back underneath, and leave the dome on so that humidity is right up. They will push roots bro.

Also make sure your light is way the f up lol. I have my trays in the corner of the room with only indirect light until roots show
 
Skunkle Justin

Skunkle Justin

Active Member
Well, I have to admit... I’ve been growing for quite some time now and have never heard that. It makes perfect sense. I have been less successful with rock wool and have always preferred peat pucks for that reason. Thanks for the knowledge drop, @stiickygreen!
With that being said, seeds when growing under artificial light, need to be germinating under the same light cycle they will spend veg in. Not “for a few hours”. This is gonna cause some hormonal conflicts within an already struggling baby seedling. Maybe try 16-18 hours while they’re breaking the surface and adjust the light intensity with with a dimmer or raising it higher. I’ve never heard anyone have a nice to say about meeting a plant’s DLI requirement by blasting it with max lignin minimum time. I haven’t tried that myself, but maybe I should. Anyone have a cultivar recommendation that would tolerate that the best? Or worst?
 
I AM

I AM

Active Member
The two in the middle are what I normally see. The two on the right might raise an eyebrow.
The one on the left is still going to grow.

I would foliar feed only.
 
Turpman

Turpman

PICK YOUR OWN
RW can also be over wet and prevent normal root growth rot sets in. Water sparingly till the plant is using that water.
For cloning i would soak with phed water and calmag then spin that water out in a veggy spinner. Water after with a 1 milll dropper.
 
Skunkle Justin

Skunkle Justin

Active Member
Turpman said:
RW can also be over wet and prevent normal root growth rot sets in. Water sparingly till the plant is using that water.
For cloning i would soak with phed water and calmag then spin that water out in a veggy spinner. Water after with a 1 milll dropper.
Click to expand...
See, that’s what’s up! I love it when people dig in and really have fun with this shit. You’re using veggie spinners and shit for your rock wool and dropping 1ml at a time. Finding the missing holes and setting specific guidelines. Nobody does that shit unless they are trying to enjoy their hobby AND be awesome at it. And it’s impossible to learn the best ways to take care of your plants without taking that kind of time to do it. Others will just say fuck it and cut a few extra clippings, add some clonex into their bottle of Aquafina and move on with their life. Folks like you are the ones who are always the first to bring some new knowledge to the table. Cheers 👍🏻
 
Turpman

Turpman

PICK YOUR OWN
Thanks for the kind words.
Should also mention i cut a 1in off of a Rw flat. Cut that into 1in. So they are 1x1x3in lots of moist contact area fot the stem.
Just spun a few in the salad spinner today. Weding cake and GMO cuts are being slow in coco perlite.So trying the RW out. These ones im hanging in a bag by the clone light. Im always trying different ways of cloning. I like the set and forget for week or so.
 
H.A.F.

H.A.F.

a.k.a. Rusty Nails
If you are set on some sot of starting cube instead of a peat/soil medium, I recommend Horticubes.

www.oasisgrowersolutions.com

HORTICUBES® | OGS

OASIS® Grower Solutions Foam Medium Fast, Clean, and Consistent Growing Media for Hydroponics A lower density and higher drainage foam, the Horticubes® growing medium is specially engineered for the hydroponics seed germination of vegetables and herbs. The Horticubes® higher drainage design...
www.oasisgrowersolutions.com www.oasisgrowersolutions.com

They have some on Amazon as well
 
H.A.F.

H.A.F.

a.k.a. Rusty Nails
The horticubes are perfect for clones, and I have had ~100% success rate with them.

I don't care for them for seedlings (prefer plain seed-mix soil) but they work. I just had issues transitioning them to soil successfully so I cut out the middleman.

It would be exactly the same as what you are used to with the rockwool cubes though.
 
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