Seedlings and Rockwool
by Tim
(MB, SC)
Would this work if I germinated the seed in a paper towel, then placed it in rockwool, then (last) take the little rockwool plug and put it in a cup and placed clay pellets around it? Or would I need to rinse the rockwool off the plant?
Answer: Tim- whenever you start seeds using the wet paper towel method, you want to make sure you transfer the seedlings to their new growing medium as soon as they sprout (and before the tap root gets longer than about 1/2 an inch long). There is only so much energy available to the seedling inside the seed itself, and it takes an incredible amount of energy for the little seed to put down a tap root. If the seedlings are not placed into the new growing medium in a timely manner and given a little seed-starting fertilizer, your success rate will be horrible.
Using rockwool as the growing medium for the new seedling has its own issue. Rockwool is notorious for having an alkaline pH. This can cause problems in all kinds of plants....full grown, and especially little seedlings. I recommend Rapid Rooter plugs, but if you are set on tying out the rockwool just be sure to pre-soak it for several hours in pH adjusted water first- or make sure you purchase a rockwool product that HAS been pH adjusted. Otherwise, your success rates (again) will be horrible.
Finally, once a seedling has grown roots through a growing medium, you want to disturb those roots as little as possible. If your seedlings were grown in a rockwool plug, you should not attempt to remove any portion of the rockwool. Simply transplant the whole thing into the next container and, as you indicated, support the seedling by filling in the container around the seedling with pre-soaked clay pellets.
It is important to pre-soak clay pellets,for a minimum of 20 minutes, because they absorb water slowly (and than drain rather quickly). Using clay pellets that are not moist enough may prevent roots from growing down into the clay pellets, even with regular irrigation cycles after that point.
If you are using the loose kind of rockwool, than your transplant will be much the same as transplanting a seedling grown in soil. You may want to loosen the root zone gently before transplanting, to promote the spreading out of the roots. If some of the loose rockwool falls away from the root ball in the process that is OK, but do not try to pick around the roots removing additional rockwool- simply transplant the seedling into the new container and treat it the same as if you had used a rockwool plug. I hope this helps you out Tim, and Happy Growing!
Comments for Seedlings and Rockwool
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AffordableGarden Design&Setup
Hi everyone, Jason from Jason's Indoor Guide here. When I got started with hydroponic gardening more than 24 years ago, my first garden used rockwool cubes and B.C. Nutrients....and I remember thinking to myself yeah, sure, there may be a lot of advantages to gardening with hydroponics, for example there are very few pest problems, therefore very little pest control, no weeding, no plowing or tilling the soil, no soil testing or having to add things into the garden soil, no watering the garden....but for someone who just wants to grow their own vegetables and have more control over their food supply and the quality of the food that they eat, the cost of constantly having to buy grow media and hydroponic nutrients makes this an expensive hobby for most people...
Epic Nutrient Change
I suppose when you take into consideration how much money you save NOT
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nutrients. Nevertheless, I didn't have a whole lot of money to work with
and I needed to make my efforts as affordable and effective as
possible....and in the last 24 years I HAVE learned a thing or two!
As you browse through Jason's Indoor Guide, you will notice all of the
systems that I use personally are homemade systems. As I got 3 or 4
years of experience under my belt, I quickly adopted a preference to
standing water systems and systems that use expanded clay pellets or
lava rock, because the media is re-usable and it eliminates a huge
operating expense. So once a hydroponic system is built, garden
maintenance is minimal- check and adjust the nutrient solution daily,
and to change it completely every 2 weeks....and the biggest operating
cost is the hydroponic nutrients. (and the electric bill, lol)...
Homemade Cloner
And, regarding the cost of the nutrients....I experimented for about 3 years with making different compost teas and nutrient teas, but there is still a lot of expense $$$ associated with making high quality nutrient teas....like kelp meal, liquid seaweed, rock dust, bat guano, un-Sulfured molasses, worm castings. You can eliminate a lot of this expense by becoming an expert at making high-quality colloidal humus compost, and use your properly made compost as the basis of your hydroponic nutrient solution.
Unfortunately, I have been gardening for over 24 years and I have only
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and decided to follow the instructions to the letter. I produced more
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increase the productivity of your food production efforts, while at the
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And when I say decrease operating costs, I mean decrease them to almost
ZERO, especially if you are producing your own nutrients...
High Efficiency
Hydroponics
The ultimate solution to eliminate the cost of your hydroponic nutrients: Imagine a hydroponic system that does not require you to buy any nutrients, does not require you to make your own compost, and does not require you to brew your own nutrient tea. Seriously! No cost and no effort as far as providing nutrients to your plants! Plus, at the end of the gardening cycle you harvest all of your garden vegetables, PLUS YOU HARVEST FISH from the system--->
Aquaponics
This solution is aquaponics. If you are serious about producing all of your own food and being self-sufficient, this is the ultimate solution for reducing expenses (as much as possible), reducing the total amount of work required, and maximizing the productivity of your gardening efforts. I have been gardening for over 24 years, and it is the perfect food production solution in my opinion.
Besides mastering how to make high quality compost, learning aquaponics is one of the top 3 things you can do to increase your garden productivity, reduce your total costs, and reduce your total work. The product that I learned from is called Aquaponics4you. With all of my hydroponic gardening experience, the first time I came across the Aquaponics4you product I knew immediately that it was something very special! Place an aquaponics system outdoors and use the sun instead of grow lights, and you have reduced every garden expense to nearly ZERO!
The Same System/ 10 Weeks Later!
