dry rapid rooter in veg?

[fortphoenix]

hey guys I’m doing flood and drain in hydroton… i know you shouldn’t let your water level touch your rapid rooters and I’m pretttu sure people don’t hand water the plugs the whole way through veg either so at what point should you stop hand watering them? my plants are 2 weeks from germination and even if i give the rooters a good hand watering they will be dry again in 2-4 hours under my 400w a/c hps. and not only that, the rapid rooter is like impossible to evenly water. any tips on how to evenly water? … so basically my question is, do you just let your rapid rooter dry out in veg? and at what point do you stop moistening it and let it dry out? any help is appreciated!!

 

[pcduck]

Roots reach water is when I quit.

 

[sopappy]

hey guys I’m doing flood and drain in hydroton… i know you shouldn’t let your water level touch your rapid rooters and I’m pretttu sure people don’t hand water the plugs the whole way through veg either so at what point should you stop hand watering them? my plants are 2 weeks from germination and even if i give the rooters a good hand watering they will be dry again in 2-4 hours under my 400w a/c hps. and not only that, the rapid rooter is like impossible to evenly water. any tips on how to evenly water? … so basically my question is, do you just let your rapid rooter dry out in veg? and at what point do you stop moistening it and let it dry out? any help is appreciated!!

Your 400W HPS (MH or T5 6500K is better for veg) is drying them out fer sure, I use a T5 and can't use it without a fan blowing on the fixture and plugs. I'm unsure why you find them hard to water. Take an empty dry one and syringe drops of water on the top... it soaks it up like a sponge and you can see the plug saturate.
I use a heating pad under a hydroton filled tray and all up in 4 days flat.
I don't start in my net pots (thanks THG) as they are just too easy to transplant

 

[Hushpuppy]

If you already have your seedlings/cuttings sitting in their pots of hydroton, then you need to bury the plug down in the hydroton so that the light doesn't suck all the moisture out of the plug between waterings.

 

[fortphoenix]

Your 400W HPS (MH or T5 6500K is better for veg) is drying them out fer sure, I use a T5 and can't use it without a fan blowing on the fixture and plugs. I'm unsure why you find them hard to water. Take an empty dry one and syringe drops of water on the top... it soaks it up like a sponge and you can see the plug saturate.
I use a heating pad under a hydroton filled tray and all up in 4 days flat.
I don't start in my net pots (thanks THG) as they are just too easy to transplant

yeah i didn't realize how much the 400w was for seedlings so last night i raised it as high as possible its probably like 18-20in above the canopy but my t5 is already being used by some other plugsthat just sprouted so lesson learned i guess but yes I've used a syringe but noticed it never waters evenly or it seems like I'm just over saturating the top of the plug and its funny you mentioned net pots... some guy told me once the rapid rooter sprouts and has roots that i can i put it in a 5” net pot with hydroton under my 48w of T5 and hand water for a week or 2 then transplant to the 1 gallon pots and surround the net cup with hydroton and start flooding under the 400s

 

[fortphoenix]

If you already have your seedlings/cuttings sitting in their pots of hydroton, then you need to bury the plug down in the hydroton so that the light doesn't suck all the moisture out of the plug between waterings.

thanks for the response!! I'm going to just put hydroton all the way to the top of the 1gal pots and hopefully that will help solve the problem but my plugs are sitting like a 1/4" above the flood line, so is it the roots responsibility to wick the water to the rapid rooter once it gets into heavy veg?

 

[The Hemp Goddess]

Another reason to bury the plugs is that algae can grow on the plugs. I always cover them with hydrotron.

 

[Growdude]

my plugs are sitting like a 1/4" above the flood line, so is it the roots responsibility to wick the water to the rapid rooter once it gets into heavy veg?

Once the roots are coming out that 1/4 inch, a few days at most, the rapid rooters job is done. The roots will grow down into the hydroton.

 

[fortphoenix]

Another reason to bury the plugs is that algae can grow on the plugs. I always cover them with hydrotron.

yes ma'am i just washed some extra hydroton and threw it on top of the plug and made the hydroton level, leveled. thanks for that, algae is definitely not some thing I'm trying to look at every time i open the tent lol

 

[fortphoenix]

Once the roots are coming out that 1/4 inch, a few days at most, the rapid rooters job is done. The roots will grow down into the hydroton.

thank you very much for your reply sir! i think thats why one of my seedlings look so overwatered, the rapid rooter kept drying out and i kept wetting the damn thing lol lesson learned, thanks again!!

 

[sopappy]

yeah i didn't realize how much the 400w was for seedlings so last night i raised it as high as possible its probably like 18-20in above the canopy but my t5 is already being used by some other plugsthat just sprouted so lesson learned i guess but yes I've used a syringe but noticed it never waters evenly or it seems like I'm just over saturating the top of the plug and its funny you mentioned net pots... some guy told me once the rapid rooter sprouts and has roots that i can i put it in a 5” net pot with hydroton under my 48w of T5 and hand water for a week or 2 then transplant to the 1 gallon pots and surround the net cup with hydroton and start flooding under the 400s

I shouldn't give advice, I got confused re the plugs: During a germinating nightmare I was actually weighing and measuring the amount of water it took to keep a plug moist, yup, I know, ridiculous. I was sure I saw some wicking going on, both ways too, but I imbibe.
I love the things though, with the hydroton, they sure make for easy transplant.
Did the layer of pellets do the trick? If it's still baking, you could try a piece of white/black panda film. I cut pie plates (with holes for stem and slit to get there) for my surfaces. White side up (unless you want to keep them warm)

 

[fortphoenix]

I shouldn't give advice, I got confused re the plugs: During a germinating nightmare I was actually weighing and measuring the amount of water it took to keep a plug moist, yup, I know, ridiculous. I was sure I saw some wicking going on, both ways too, but I imbibe.
I love the things though, with the hydroton, they sure make for easy transplant.
Did the layer of pellets do the trick? If it's still baking, you could try a piece of white/black panda film. I cut pie plates (with holes for stem and slit to get there) for my surfaces. White side up (unless you want to keep them warm)

yeah i actually did some similar experimenting the other day and i found that that once the rapid rooter was really dry the only way to get it even somewhat moistened evenly was to dunk the plug in water and squeeze it, nothing i tried could water it evenly though and its like impossible to get water past the top 1/4" of the plug once its dry yes i think covering worked, the plant has shown some growth since i stopped watering the plug and covered it with hydroton, growth is still slow though, i hope i don't have root rot or something. my problem with the 1 leaf tip on one of the plants only got worse, the rest of the plant seems pretty healthy and I've noticed some growth but one leaf on its first set started curling up (the tip) then it started turning white/yellow and now its totally dry/crumbly and it looks like the leaf was rotting. i hope the plant can be salvaged

 

[sopappy]

yeah i actually did some similar experimenting the other day and i found that that once the rapid rooter was really dry the only way to get it even somewhat moistened evenly was to dunk the plug in water and squeeze it, nothing i tried could water it evenly though and its like impossible to get water past the top 1/4" of the plug once its dry yes i think covering worked, the plant has shown some growth since i stopped watering the plug and covered it with hydroton, growth is still slow though, i hope i don't have root rot or something. my problem with the 1 leaf tip on one of the plants only got worse, the rest of the plant seems pretty healthy and I've noticed some growth but one leaf on its first set started curling up (the tip) then it started turning white/yellow and now its totally dry/crumbly and it looks like the leaf was rotting. i hope the plant can be salvaged

That's it alright. Once they dry out, you can't really get them back. You must have dried them out under that light.
Why did you say these plugs can't sit in water? I let it collect on the bottom of tray for almost a week when I sprout seeds.
Can't you gently pull the plant out of the hydroton and have a look at the roots?
That crumbling sounds awful... PICTURES?... I found the advice here so valuable that I ran out and got a decent camera and tripod, ya gotta give them something to work with.

 

[fortphoenix]

That's it alright. Once they dry out, you can't really get them back. You must have dried them out under that light.
Why did you say these plugs can't sit in water? I let it collect on the bottom of tray for almost a week when I sprout seeds.
Can't you gently pull the plant out of the hydroton and have a look at the roots?
That crumbling sounds awful... PICTURES?... I found the advice here so valuable that I ran out and got a decent camera and tripod, ya gotta give them something to work with.

yeah they definitely dried out but its working i guess since I've seen more growth now then since i was watering the plug (and seeing no growth at all) but i meant i don't let the water level in the flood tray reach the plug and when i have them in the seedling tray i just make sure the plug doesnt dry out and keep the humidity high with the dome on and airholes open but i guess i could pull them out the hydroton and check out the roots but i really don't want to stunt their growth any more then i have lol the new growth looks healthy though, its weird I've notice when the new sets of leaves come in they have like a brownish/purplish color when the first tips of the new set of leaves start to poke out and they're only like half a milimeter thick. hopefully you cans ee the pics idk how to add them directly to this site so hopefully it works

 

[fortphoenix]

http://postimg.org/gallery/20m612ihe/566f19a8/

 

[sopappy]

http://postimg.org/gallery/20m612ihe/566f19a8/

I get a CAPTCHA thing using that link, I hate those things. I see them a lot with TOR browser, I won't do it, paranoia
Click on that Manage Attachments link down there in the additional options or Go Advanced button if you use the Quick Reply

 

[fortphoenix]

sorry for some reason i couldn't remember how to use it, you should be able to see them now

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[sunakard2000]

it seems the biggest problem with hydro or at least a big problem i see a lot of people doing, is trying to move too quickly... now i grow organic but if i was doing hydro i would sprout seeds in rapid rooters, keep them in a rapid rooter nursery tray until they have a nice blasted cluster of roots, at least 2-3 inches long... you want a lot of roots, and i would also put them into solo cups with hydroton for a week or so until the root system really builds up better, THEN transplant it into your veg net pot, that way you ensure there is a nice, healthy, and large established root system so things like this dont happen. when i did some DWC i found the net pots to be a pain in the butt with very young plants, so just used a tray and some solo cups with good drainage, kept a small amount of water in the bottom of the tray, keeping the bottom of the tray warm with nothing more then a pair of old jeans, just to keep the air flow from directly touching the bottom and cooling the water off more... personally i found it easier to work with if the plants had established root systems rather then just a few scraggly roots poking out of rapid rooters. remember although typically veg goes a bit faster since the nutes are always readily available to the roots, but you cant rush things, take it slow and let the roots really build up before transplanting. hope this helps

 

[fortphoenix]

it seems the biggest problem with hydro or at least a big problem i see a lot of people doing, is trying to move too quickly... now i grow organic but if i was doing hydro i would sprout seeds in rapid rooters, keep them in a rapid rooter nursery tray until they have a nice blasted cluster of roots, at least 2-3 inches long... you want a lot of roots, and i would also put them into solo cups with hydroton for a week or so until the root system really builds up better, THEN transplant it into your veg net pot, that way you ensure there is a nice, healthy, and large established root system so things like this dont happen. when i did some DWC i found the net pots to be a pain in the butt with very young plants, so just used a tray and some solo cups with good drainage, kept a small amount of water in the bottom of the tray, keeping the bottom of the tray warm with nothing more then a pair of old jeans, just to keep the air flow from directly touching the bottom and cooling the water off more... personally i found it easier to work with if the plants had established root systems rather then just a few scraggly roots poking out of rapid rooters. remember although typically veg goes a bit faster since the nutes are always readily available to the roots, but you cant rush things, take it slow and let the roots really build up before transplanting. hope this helps

yes thanks for the info i actually have a new plan to transplant to 5"netcups with hydroton first once they're rooted and hand water them until the roots are more established then put the whole net cup in the 1gal pots once they're ready to start being flooded

 

[Hushpuppy]

Yeah I totally agree with Sunakard on this. I think the problem you are currently having is the roots have dried out too much and the seedlings are having to rebuild them. Don't worry at this point about the leaves that are browning off as that is a result of the roots drying out. Get some "Root66" or other "root tonic" and add a little bit to your water and that will help them repair their roots quicker. Any time you see new plant growth, that is a sign that they are still viable plants.