Ebb and Flow Water Schedule

[MasterKush22]

I have a 3x4 foot growing tray, filled with hydrotin and rock wool cubes. I was wondering how many times a day i should have my tray flooded? Also how long should it stay flooded each time? Thanks :rasta:

[GoldenGraham84]

check out the same question i asked. think its called "advice on flooding schedule"

[MasterKush22]

is it a bad idea to put the sprouted seeds in the plugs and then the plugs into the cubes right away?

[GoldenGraham84]

are you talking about the rapid rooter plugs? if so, i'd wait until you can see roots emerging from the plug. it should only take about 1-2 weeks. remember, 1/4 strength nutes at first!

[MasterKush22]

These,

http://www.hhydro.com/images/items/SP325.jpg

[GoldenGraham84]

oh the macro plugs... ok yeah i'd still give it about ten days. give them roots a chance to develop and get ready for nutes.

[MasterKush22]

By the amount of water im am flooding and the amount of hydrotin i have they would be floating, is this a problem?

[GoldenGraham84]

i'd find a way to secure them down. floating wouldn't necessarily be bad, as the rockwool should wick the water up through the entirety of the plug/rockwool. but the plants could meander around and possibly bunch up, tangle their roots, et cetera... i'll think about possible ways to secure each one. perhaps add some vertical supports to the bottom of your tray?

[MasterKush22]

Well i guess considering the plugs would fully absorb the water they would retain no higher than the level of hydrotin, would that be okay? The seeds just sprouted today and I just placed them into the plugs, I did fill the resirvor up with about 1/4 of the nutes today as well.

[MasterKush22]

1/4 strength that is.

[GoldenGraham84]

hold on man. rockwool holds moisture exceptionally well. maybe i read wrong. can you clarify what you mean by that first part? if the seeds just sprouted today, then no nutes.

[MasterKush22]

when the plugs soak up with water, they wouldnt be floating above the surface. did you think i meant floating above the hydrotin, so that the whole plug wouldnt be absorbed?

also i put very small amount of nutes in, it was on this feeding schedule i read, ill try to find that for you

[GoldenGraham84]

yeah i thought you meant floating above it... sorry, i'm kinda baked. well as long as they don't show signs of nute burn, but i'd be VERY careful (i'm sure you are) with nutes with a freshly sprouted seed.

[MasterKush22]

I started a timer to flood for 15 minutes twice a day for the next two days. How does this sound, should i keep it that way longer or increase floods per day already?

[GoldenGraham84]

that sounds good man. i'd check the rockwool/plugs every 1-2 hours and see where their moisture level is at. i think you could get away with 3 floods/day.

[trinitybound]

If you just planted seed you might want to handwater once or twice a day for a week or so overwatering now can cause damping off and that is death to plants. Good luck

[MasterKush22]

Two of them have sprouted and are doing good, a couple others have sprouted but they are located in the middle of the plug and the sprout is still not visible above the plug. Should i assist it and place it higher in the plug so that it is visible above and can start growing?

[GoldenGraham84]

one of my fav quotes from Tenacious D & the Pick of Destiny.
"patience young grass-smoker"

[MasterKush22]

haha, i actually saw that on tv the other day.

[stinkyattic]

RW plugs hold more water than HT pebbles.
Soak your medium at pH 6.0 until stable before use.
Do not let the RW get soaked during flood. Young seedlings and new clones need to be hand-watered until they are rooted well enough to reach the flood level.
Flood 6x/day for 15 minutes. More or less depending on temps and plant size.