new seedling water

[hatecable]

Ive got a seedling going on thats been poked through the 1.5" rockwool cube 4-5 days now. I was going to just leave it in the cube by itself for until the first fan leaves were out good and then put it into a 4" block. However, the taproot is sticking out of the bottom of the 1.5" cube and I decided i didnt want to put the 4" bock into my W/F because it seems like water would stick in the 4" cube a lot longer than the hydroton that is supposed to be the main media. Now if have got the cube in a cup with hydroton around the 1.5" cube and holes in the bottom for drainage. The question is, how often do i need to give this thing water? And when can I give it its first nutes. I have read about people give their seedlings superthrive, or LiquidKarma. I have liquidkarma on the way but by the time some superthrive got here I probably wouldnt need it anymore. Also, I was planning on watering the planter cup by sticking it into a bowl of water and then pulling it out kind of like a manual ebb n flow. Opinions? Im afraid of giving it too much attention early on. Save me from myself!

[dopeedogg]

i put my seedlings into the biggest rockwool i could find( i think they're 6'' cubes) about 3 days after i got them. They were probably only one or two weeks old at the time. (about 1.5'' - 2" tall) Then i put that in a bucket with hydrotron all around it and covering the rock wool. The rock wool is pretty absorbant, but the hydrotron isn't very absorbant, i think it just helps keeps things moist and helps prevent the top portion of the rockwool/roots from drying out. i have mine on a continuous drip system that runs all day and shuts off at night.

as far a nutes go, i just used gen hydroponics "flora nova grow".
it has recipies for seedlings, early growth, mid growth, late growth.
just follow instructions on bottle. It's about 1/4 tsp. per gallon for seedlings. I just used that and watered the rockwool with it and put it all in a pie pan. then just checked everyday or so and felt the rock wool. when the nutes in the pie pan were all sucked up and dry i just watered a little more. just always make sure it's moist, but not soaking wet. I kept them like that for about 3-4 days, then put it all into the power grower buckets with the hydrotron.

im definatley a newbie, but this has worked good for me so far.i hope this helps some what.

here is my set up/grow log....
http://boards.cannabis.com/hydroponics/157439-newbie-hydroponic-cfl-system.html

[hatecable]

thanks for the input bud. Ive been afraid of the 4" cube rockwool i bought early on. Because of the absorption difference of the rockwool and the hydroton, I just imaged the soggy upper roots in rockwool getting rot and not even knowing. Now im trying to decide whether or not to go ahead and stick the 1.5" cube in even though I dont have the ability to change the 6.8 ph of the distilled water im using. The ph up and down are being shipped right now, but wont show up until sat. If i stick to the "if the cube is light, give it some water to soak up" method, it will be easier for my wife to know when to water while im out of town working. Im really wishing I had bought some superthrive when i did my last order. Is it even possible to buy that stuff locally? The closest thing to a hydroshop around here is a head shop, and I doubt they would have any nutes. Anyone ever seen it at Walmart or or lowes or something? I do have liquid karma coming, but Ive only seen Weedhound suggesting to use it on seedlings.

[dopeedogg]

I am Using regular tap water for mine. A lot of people talk about ph of water and stuff, but i've seen great results using straight up tap water. I've heard people using filtered water and i guess it's actually worse than tap water. For me, I just need personal medicine, thats why i grow, and regular tap water with compact flourescents are more than adequate. 3 - 3 1/2oz off 2 plants is pretty good. (well very good, 3oz will last me a very very long time)

About the nutes, i guess your best bet is just try to get your supplies off the internet. Where I live there are like 3 Hydroponic stores, but i always get better deals on the net.

Maybe think about getting a set up like mine. The "power grower eco" from hydro farm.
It comes fully assembled (you just have to plug in the tubings for the pump) & 2 months of nutes, it runs all by it's self. All you do is change the water/nutes once a week. Just set it and forget it. The bottom bucket is a 6.7gallon resavoir that holds the nutes, the top bucket is the 3 gallon grow bucket. the pump draws the nutes from the lower res. and pumps it up to the drip ring that is right above the grow bucket. then it drips down, the plant absorbs what it needs, then the rest goes back into the res and just keeps recycling the water/nutes. Then just once a week change the water and nutes. Couldn't be easier. I got mine for $55.

[hatecable]

yeah, i have a set up about like that. I built mine though. A lot of instructions out there for WaterFarms. On mine im actually going to running a waterstone too. As Xcrispi put it, "best of both worlds".

It looks like im going to have to go ahead and order some superthrive. I just hate having to wait until the middle of next week to get it when my baby needs it now.