Rapid Rooters in a Drip System?!

[GDS StonerBoy]

Does anyone ever has problems with Rapid Rooters in a drip system? My entire experience with Rapid Rooters so far has been horrible. I have seen atleast 11 seedlings succumb to death for several different reason's due to RR's. Now for some reason im thinking that one of my C99 seedlings died from damping today and i'd rather not have any others succumb to this. Is there anyway i can prevent this from happening in a drip system?

[hydrohut25]

Rapid Rooters are the only type I use. The only issue I sometimes are either algae or the root becoming tangled inside the rapid rooter b/c of some of the material is not so giving. To remedy, I make sure the rapid rooter is completely covered when in the system. To help with the seedlings, after a day or 2 after the seed germs. I open the rooter a little to help the roots untangle. Hope this helps.

[TMusic]

I'm using RR plugs and Hydroton in a top feed drip system in my current grow.

Chances are, its another variable. What is your other medium?

Are you putting the seedling in the drip system right away? If so...

How often are you watering?
Does the RR get saturated every time you water?
Does the drip land directly on top of the RR? If so, does it run into the hole at the top?

If not...

how is the humidity in the space?
Are you foliar feeding/spraying directly on the leaves?

Are you using nutes?

[palerider7777]

rr are by far the best starter plugs to use, i think the rocwool drys out to quick and u have to be careful as to soak them in ph'd water, and they are just to much to deal with. now rr on the other hand works real good iv'e had near 100% success with them. the key is not to soak them but to keep them damp as with any other.and i germ my seeds by starting out soaking the rr in ph'd water 5.5 for 1 hr then i shake off the excess water to make the rr damp not soaked, then i take my seeds 1 in each plug then i tear a lil off the side of the rr to plug the holes in the plugs where the seeds go.

then i put them in my seedling dome under 2 cfls 150w each for 18/6 and in about 3 days i have sprouts now sometimes like hydrohut said i have to open the top alil and help the seedling by turning it the right way as sumtimes the plugs are alil tough and the root can't break through other than that no probs but thats just me i'll never use rocwool again

[TMusic]

rr are by far the best starter plugs to use, i think the rocwool drys out to quick and u have to be careful as to soak them in ph'd water, and they are just to much to deal with. now rr on the other hand works real good iv'e had near 100% success with them. the key is not to soak them but to keep them damp as with any other.and i germ my seeds by starting out soaking the rr in ph'd water 5.5 for 1 hr then i shake off the excess water to make the rr damp not soaked, then i take my seeds 1 in each plug then i tear a lil off the side of the rr to plug the holes in the plugs where the seeds go.

then i put them in my seedling dome under 2 cfls 150w each for 18/6 and in about 3 days i have sprouts now sometimes like hydrohut said i have to open the top alil and help the seedling by turning it the right way as sumtimes the plugs are alil tough and the root can't break through other than that no probs but thats just me i'll never use rocwool again

Listen to this guy, he knows his shit...

[palerider7777]

i would'nt say i know everything, but i read alot i mean a ton. lol im still a noob sumwhat with about 6 mo under my belt,and befor that iv'e never grew anything in my life. theres people on here that knows alot more about plants and botany than i do for sure, but i learn very very quick but that seems to be in everything i do im pretty much self taught in everything i do .so no phd for me like alot of people on here or atleast i think??lol who knows

[hydrohut25]

I use hydrotron in the waterfarms. I have 4 modules, I use the 13 gal res and have it recirculationg. Once my seeds germ, I place them in the RR until they sprout approx. 1.5" out of the top of the RR. I then place them in the waterfarms and cover the RR with hydrotron. My guy informed me to set the drip timer to come on for 15 min and off for 45 min. I will up that to either every 15 min or continuous once they are strong and at least 6-8" tall. Hope that ws helpful.

[crazywill]

I use them to root clones and seed.I had to throw together a bubbler the clones were wilting and got them back with this shoe box size plastic box with a lid.I cut holes in it and use this flower foam and cut them to fit the holes the the top and cut holes in thr foam for the rr plugs.It worked great,had 50 roots popping out of the plugs.In the hydroton net pots into the cab in ebb&flood.Heres a pix . the ones in the cab are the same that are in the shoe box.The RR plugs work better for me.You just have too keep them moist not wet and they work just fine.PEACE
Forgot 3 are clones and one seed.Peace

[GDS StonerBoy]

Well i have lost yet another C99 to the rapid rooters. This has been my worst growing experience ever. I really dont understand this, my last grow with Rockwool was perfect. I'm gonna take pics of the last C99 victim! They do good for a few days and then they just fall over. Then they wont ever stand up again.

The drippers are on as long as the lights are on because there plugged into the same timer. The drippers are at a very slow drip though and i dont have them dripping directly onto the RR's. They drip onto the surrounding hydroton. I'll take pics tomorrow but this entire experience with the RR's has been horrible for me. Unless someone can help me figure this out, i'll only use them for cloning.

[PharmaCan]

Soak your rapid rooters in a Ph'd solution of Clonex for an hour or two before using, Make sure the RR isn't too wet when you put the seed in it.In a dome the RR should stay moist for a week to ten days. Don't give it anymore water until it is almost dry. If it needs water, give it one or two squirts with your mister. When the plant starts using water, it will dry out the RR in one or two days. Again, only mist the RR, but you can start using 2-4 squirts from the mister.Once the RR has about one inch of good root growth - not a couple roots but good root growth, then change it to your other medium.

Rapid Rooters do damp. Rapid Rooters don't do wet.

PC :smokin:

[Goat]

I use rockwool cubes in hydroton, home-made bucket bubblers, no problems yet* 3-part GH nutes w/ Cal-Mag + Liquid Karma.

What are the advantages of rapid rooters?



*approx. 30 plant sample size

[PharmaCan]

I use rockwool cubes in hydroton, home-made bucket bubblers, no problems yet* 3-part GH nutes w/ Cal-Mag + Liquid Karma.

What are the advantages of rapid rooters?



*approx. 30 plant sample size

It's easier to poke the cutting into them. :D

Aside from that, they work about the same.

PC :smokin:

[palerider7777]

i'll stick with the rr im thinking ur problem is'nt the rr's but something else

[Help_Needed]

The drippers are at a very slow drip though and i dont have them dripping directly onto the RR's. They drip onto the surrounding hydroton.

I'm wondering if this isn't your problem. The space between hydrotron pebbles is pretty big, which mean you're not going to get much capillary action to distribute the water. If your clone's root system hasn't grown far enough beyond the rapid rooter then they're probably thirsty.

I used the rapid rooters in a DWC drip system, surrounded by hydrotron with my grow. When the seedlings were small I had the solution dripping just on the edge of the rapid rooter plug to ensure that the little plants were getting enough water. Once the roots grew into the main reservoir it wasn't as important to be sure the rapid rooter stayed moist.

[palerider7777]

^^^ sounds right to me as if the water/nutes can't reach the roots then it's not gonna stay healthy and if ur gonna do the drip i'd leave it going 24/7 but then again we don't have pics to see whats really going on either so get sum pics....

[palerider7777]

but really if u don't have a good root system yet, it should'nt be in the hydroton yet, well i guess u could but i'd still use the mister/sprayer and hand spray them, keep the rr moist not wet but moist/damp and it should be fine...get sum pics.

[GDS StonerBoy]

Ok here's some pics. The First 2 pics are of the dead C99 that fell over yesterday and the other pic is of the sole surviving C99.

[palerider7777]

let me ask u this where did u get the rr's at?? were they that size or are they the ones from home depot/walmart type where there compressed and u have to soak them in water?? if there the compressed ones then i know what ur talking about there junk and i don't like them i use the real peat moss rr from gh but i've noticed the compressed ones stays to wet or too dry u can't seem to get them just right.other than that ur set up looks fine i was thinking u had the 5inch net pots but the drip line looks fine where they are to me

[palerider7777]

i myself would have kept them in a dome, being that young i think ur set up is more for cloning and abit older of a seedling. do u have nutes in the res too?? that seedling is too young for to much nutes, i was using ph'd water with a drop each of the 3 part and a drop of st much more than that and ur taking a chance.

[TMusic]

those things look weird don't they? All that loose crap and the white stuff definitely should not be there.

Oh palerider... my girlfriend saw the end of your signature and loved the argue with an idiot line.

[GDS StonerBoy]

let me ask u this where did u get the rr's at?? were they that size or are they the ones from home depot/walmart type where there compressed and u have to soak them in water?? if there the compressed ones then i know what ur talking about there junk and i don't like them i use the real peat moss rr from gh but i've noticed the compressed ones stays to wet or too dry u can't seem to get them just right.other than that ur set up looks fine i was thinking u had the 5inch net pots but the drip line looks fine where they are to me

No there the GH RR's! They just look smaller because i flipped them upside down and cut a new slit in the bottom of it to start my seeds in. After doing this i had like a 90% germ rate. The white stuff on them is the Perlite that the RR's was in when i started the seeds. I didnt clean them good because i figured it wouldnt hurt the seedling. I think the problem may have been that they were too wet though. I dont know if you could really tell but i'll get pics from different angles tomorrow so you could see if the RR was over saturated. But i have recently began to drop my pumps on time dramatically. Due to the over saturation i only keep the pump on for like 5 hours a day total until the seedlings start absorbing more water from the RR's.

[TMusic]

you might want to cut the water even more than that. Once they're wet, you don't need to water them until the top starts turning light and doesn't show water when you squeeze it or push on the top. Are you pre-soaking them in anything before you put the seeds in?

In the pic of the dead C99 seedling, it looks a little shallow in the plug. Make sure it is in there at least 3/8 - 1/2 and inch. If the seed is too close to the top of the plug, the root system will not grow properly. I lost 1 to this recently. This is an easy mistake if you flip them upside down and cut a whole, it has to be as deep as the hole in the other side.

You should really hold off on putting them in the drip system until the tap root shows through the bottom of the plug (at the very least). The plastic starter trays with the 6" clear dome works great. Once they have they're 1st or 2nd true leaf set, then into the system, but same concept, keep the plug moist, not wet. Once the roots grow away from the plug, increase the water, but don't get the plug wet anymore. Be especially careful that the top of the RR plug is not getting water directly, the water will pool in the hole and around the stem, and your plant will fall over...and die...

You can learn alot if you pull open the plug of the dead seedlings, you can see what was going on in there and if it was a root system problem, this will help you eliminate problems in the future, and put your mind at ease (relative).

[GDS StonerBoy]

Thanks Tmusic that was a very informative post and i think just about everything you stated was most of the causes of my problems. Although i did transplant after i saw the taproots showing throught the RR's.

It's been about 2 weeks that the survivers have been in the drip system and i havent given them any nutes until last night. I just want to know should i hold off even longer on the nutes? I gave them a little amount but the pics will tell you why i did. Is this problem because of no nutes? Or is it something else? I use Spa Ph downer and its made for pools!, do you think this could be part of the problem? My last grow though, i used it all the way through and had no problems.

The 1st pic is of the C99 seedling, the rest are pics of PPP.

[TMusic]

I think you need to get rid of that ph down for pools. I'm sure someone will pop their head in here and tell you why really soon. But get some ph down made for hydroponics.

I started mine out (2nd set of true leaves) at 150ppm, Technaflora basic 3 part (Boost/Grow/B1 Red) and burned one of them, so, just like everyone else said, take it easy with the nutes.

Just so you know, your setup is almost identical to mine, althought I'm using 5"square pots, the concept is the same. I'm about a month ahead of you, check my thread out http://boards.cannabis.com/hydroponics/130276-1st-timer-w-hydroton-could-use-little-help.html, it may be helpful. Some problems I ran in to with the RR plugs, hydroton, and top feed drip system are well discussed.

Good Luck

...these are 2 weeks+??? Are you sure.

[TMusic]

Maybe its not the rapid rooter...you know, we kinda jumped the gun with this rapid rooter thing and failed to ask you about all the other variables that could possibly cause you problems.

Have you decreased the water yet? A few posts/days ago you said that you run the water for a total of 5 hours. I'm flowering my 12"-15" plants right now and the pump is on for a total of 5 hours. If you have roots into the hydroton, you should be at about 5 minutes, every 4 hours of light for that little seedling. You're on 18/6 right?

[Big len]

I like to germinate my seeds in a paper towel then I slit the side of rr and place seedling in than put in my hydro system, never had a problem with them so far also do the same for dirt this is what works best for me.