dry rapid rooter in veg?

The pink slime doesn't "stay away" it is there in tiny amounts that cant be seen (single cell) but then over time it collects and colonizes the toilets like settlers around a lake and I have (that is my wife does it before I get to it) to clean it to get rid of the pink buildup that slowly appears after some time. It doesn't keep it away as the single cell organism is in the water in my well. It has been tested and is harmless, but its an ugly nuisance.

Glad to help, don't be afraid to ask questions

fortphoenix said:

hey guys I’m doing flood and drain in hydroton… i know you shouldn’t let your water level touch your rapid rooters ....

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I'm just trying an ebb and flow table and had intended to flood at least half way up the rapid rooter every 2 hours. Tons o' roots come out the sides of those plugs so I'm puzzled., sounds like it's okay to let the plug dry out?
(two kinds of roots, is that it?)

You say "Rapid Rooter", the ones I've dealt with are very small (1.5"x1.5"x2"). Are you working with larger cubes?

In hydro systems, you generally don't want to allow them to completely dry out (especially exposed roots). As Hydro solutions are generally highly aerated, there is little need to allow significant drying as the aerated solution has plenty of oxygen to prevent the roots from drowning. If you don't have the cubes and roots covered by something to prevent over-drying, you should cover them.

There are 2 types of roots. the shorter "feeder" roots stay shallower (generally) while the "water" roots (generally) reach deeper for the water. Growing in shallower mediums of hydroponics can certainly affect how these 2 roots grow and act.

Hushpuppy said:

You say "Rapid Rooter", the ones I've dealt with are very small (1.5"x1.5"x2"). Are you working with larger cubes?

In hydro systems, you generally don't want to allow them to completely dry out (especially exposed roots). As Hydro solutions are generally highly aerated, there is little need to allow significant drying as the aerated solution has plenty of oxygen to prevent the roots from drowning. If you don't have the cubes and roots covered by something to prevent over-drying, you should cover them.

There are 2 types of roots. the shorter "feeder" roots stay shallower (generally) while the "water" roots (generally) reach deeper for the water. Growing in shallower mediums of hydroponics can certainly affect how these 2 roots grow and act.

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Hey HP,
yup, those are the ones. If I stop the flow before the bottom of the plug seems to me it will dry out. Confusing, contradictions bug me
I can't pick out the shorter roots but i do see different root "patterns" in my RDWC on the roots between the bottom of the pot and the water level.

I wouldn't be concerned about the different roots as you are in hydro and the plants adapt to the different medium conditions. The one big thing that I have learned about doing hydro (or MJ growing in general), You have to experiment some to find the "sweet spot" for the plants in your specific environment. Depending on how exposed or how well covered your roots and rooter plug are will decide how you run the system. Don't be afraid to try different levels, run times, solution strengths, etc, as different strains will like different conditions. The trick is to only do 1 change at a time so that you can see how the plants react to the change. Doing more than one change at a time can quickly have you chasing your tail.

With Hydro growing, everything happens quickly. This is a double edged sword but if you stay on top of it, you will learn quickly to judge the plants and what they are telling you that they want. As I said before, as long as your water is well aerated (and the temps are kept in 65f-72f range), the plants will not drown. I have seen systems where water was literally standing 1/2" deep on top of the medium because the system was top feeding continuously, and the plants didn't suffer any issues.

You will get conflicting views and opinions on this because there are so many variations to grow methods, and many of these variations will work in their given conditions. You have to find the right one for your unique setup.

One thing to remember... Well rooted plants can take a significant amount of variations and will respond quickly enough to recover without issue if one method "tweak" is not the right "tweak". But if the clones (or seedlings) don't have well established roots, you have to be really careful with making changes. I try to keep those kids in a very stable environment until they are well established.

you always get more than you asked for from HP hahaha, thanks butI'm still hung up on whether I should let the rapid rooters get flooded
I'm not doing it, they won't dry out much in 2 hours

LOL Are you trying to kindly say that I am long-winded? I've never been accused of that..... too many times. Mostly by my wife and son. :doh:

I don't want to tell you, "do it this way" and then it crash and burn and you think what I said is wrong. You should try it one way and watch it carefully for changes (better or worse), better will take 4-7days to show but worse will only take 2-4days to show in the plants.... Then try it the other way and see if its better or worse. Then you've learned something about your plants that you can use in the future.

I personally would flood them to wet the rooters each time. but that's just me opinion

Hushpuppy said:

LOL Are you trying to kindly say that I am long-winded? I've never been accused of that..... too many times. Mostly by my wife and son. :doh:

I don't want to tell you, "do it this way" and then it crash and burn and you think what I said is wrong. You should try it one way and watch it carefully for changes (better or worse), better will take 4-7days to show but worse will only take 2-4days to show in the plants.... Then try it the other way and see if its better or worse. Then you've learned something about your plants that you can use in the future.

I personally would flood them to wet the rooters each time. but that's just me opinion

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Yes, I think they call them backhanded compliments. I'm not sure why I do that but I mean well, sort of hahaha
I say you're right, I'm flooding the rooters, I may extend the interval though
...way more fun than a train set
thanks

Do you currently have the rooters in something like hydroton, in the netpots to keep the roots covered? (man its hard to type when stoned. Only thing worse is texting)

Hey, I answered this one this morning ???

HP, yes, I love hydroton and I know ur cuckoo for coco though, but sarright,
please pop by
http://www.marijuanapassion.com/forum/showthread.php?t=73538