what can sub for rapid rooter plug

[skullcandy]

i am ready aside from a plug what can i use any ideas i am thinking dirt and just washing in warm water before going into the DWC

 

[ozzydiodude]

That'll work

 

[skullcandy]

yeah i think so too i clogged my air lines with dirt from the other ones but am willin to give it a try

 

[The Hemp Goddess]

I wouldn't even wash the dirt off if I was going into a bubbler. If you have a water pump of some kind that recirculates the water you won't want any dirt in the res, but otherwise, it won't hurt the air stone and you may get way less dirt in your solution than you think you will.

This is what I did with the last plant I had in soil from my summer organic grow.....I had a plant in a party cup, but it was getting into fall and I wanted everything hydro. So when I got ready to transplant, instead, I knocked what dirt would come off easily without disturbing the roots too much and stuck that into a 3" net pot. That went into a small DWC I made from 5 gal totes. I figured that the dirt would slowly wash away into the solution and I would just add hydrotron as the dirt washed away. Imagine my surprise when the dirt did not wash away. It pretty much stayed in the net cups and the roots grew through the net cup into the nute solution like plants started with rapid rooters. This proved to be far less stressful than carefully washing the dirt from the roots (which is always difficult to do without loosing a lot of small roots).

If running DWC though, I clone with no medium. I only use rapid rooters/rockwool cubes/soil for seeds.

 

[Hushpuppy]

I wouldn't use it myself as I don't like rockwool but I would think that you could root cuttings right in the 6" RW cubes. Just water them very lightly until you see them begin to grow leaves then look for a root or 2 popping out the bottom or sides then go straight into the net-pot in the DWC system. Just make sure you soak the cubes in water that is set at 6.1pH for 24hrs before putting in the cuttings.

However, if you are planning on using hydroton for dwc system medium then I would clone in a bubble-cloner and let them get a real good root mass before setting them into the hydroton and just bury the roots very gently with the 'ton until the pot is full and solidly supporting the plants.

 

[KoDak]

so if ur going in soil and NOT in hydro and u take clones and the root growth is good, do u simply just transport it into dirt and start vegging the plant?

 

[skullcandy]

TY for the info I am going to clean out my tent and start the clones i will post when i get a few weeks .in

 

[Hushpuppy]

so if ur going in soil and NOT in hydro and u take clones and the root growth is good, do u simply just transport it into dirt and start vegging the plant?

Yes that is correct. When the clones have a good root mass going and are showing new veg growth activity, you can take them from their "rooting chamber" and put them straight into what ever medium that they will finish in. You just have to be gentle with burying the roots so that you don't damage them in the process. Never press down the medium on the newly set plants as that can break roots and compress the medium too tight.

 

[YYZ Skinhead]

Of course I would recommend Oasis foam cubes, but I cannot really be objective as I have only germinated and grown in Oasis cubes since 1998. I only grow in rockwool when I get a clone that has been propagated in a rockwool cube because one has to PH adjust unused rockwool.

 

[Hushpuppy]

Did I give wrong information there? I thought I read that 6.1 for 24hrs is good for conditioning RW cubes. You have more experience with those than I do, so I stand corrected :

 

[skullcandy]

I have not seen any rockwool in the locol stores where i shop, online seems to be the way. oh well i like the internet

 

[skullcandy]

I wouldn't even wash the dirt off if I was going into a bubbler. If you have a water pump of some kind that recirculates the water you won't want any dirt in the res, but otherwise, it won't hurt the air stone and you may get way less dirt in your solution than you think you will.

This is what I did with the last plant I had in soil from my summer organic grow.....I had a plant in a party cup, but it was getting into fall and I wanted everything hydro. So when I got ready to transplant, instead, I knocked what dirt would come off easily without disturbing the roots too much and stuck that into a 3" net pot. That went into a small DWC I made from 5 gal totes. I figured that the dirt would slowly wash away into the solution and I would just add hydrotron as the dirt washed away. Imagine my surprise when the dirt did not wash away. It pretty much stayed in the net cups and the roots grew through the net cup into the nute solution like plants started with rapid rooters. This proved to be far less stressful than carefully washing the dirt from the roots (which is always difficult to do without loosing a lot of small roots).

If running DWC though, I clone with no medium. I only use rapid rooters/rockwool cubes/soil for seeds.

THG i tryed the seeds in a solo cup in soil i even removed as much dirt as i could it still clogged my air stones i clogged three then got an air line that i had to rud it to clear the cloged holes everyday no fun but i must try again

 

[The Hemp Goddess]

I don't think that the dirt could be clogging your air stones--the dirt has no way to really get to the air stones as they are always discharging air bubbles. What kind of air stones are you using that has holes that you can clean? Every airstone I have ever used had micro pores and cleaning the airstone by cleaning out the holes is not possible. How is it that something that is blowing out air can get clogged with dirt?

 

[skullcandy]

air line it is a flexable line comes in 3and 4 foot lengths they do have micro pours and not sure if the dirt clogged them but something did, all they need is to be wiped/bent to unclog them which is easy but a pain in the back to do everyday