My girls are dying!

I have never attempted to grow anything, and for my first time I've chosen to do hydroponics! After hours of reading and countless videos I have started my very own project. There are a few questions I was hoping a few of you experienced growers could answer. Please, bear with me.
My veg. closet is housing 3 seedlings as of now (3 more on the way) and they don't seem to be doing so well. Two of them I'm pretty sure are dead; the other on the way. I started with a flood/drain that I pieced together and this morning I converted to drip. They are all sitting in rock wool.

-Should the wool cubes be dry by the next feeding? ( Twice daily) I think they are getting way too much water/nutes. Leaves on the one are dark green and droopy.

-What are some signs that may indicate they need a third?

-I also think I may have put them under the light too soon--When is the best time to do this? I put them under as soon as I saw the seed poke through the cube...

-I've noticed little black things on top of the cubes...they don't have legs and they weren't there when I started. Should I be concerned?

-How long should the drippers be on? I understand the roots need oxygen. So, what is a simple way to determine when enough is enough?

-The drippers aren't pointed right at the stalk, but kind of behind it; Is this ok? Will they be fed properly?

Well, this is all I can think of for now. If anyone can drop a few lines to point me in a better direction than Im going now it is appreciated. Thanks.

up!

Ive had my problems with rockwool, and im sure opie yutts will pop up to tell you how horrible it is, too!

its pretty impossible to NOT overwater rockwool, at least the hydroponic stuff. natural rockwool wants to repel water, but they condition the hydroponic stuff to just soak the shit up.

I wouldn't use drippers directly on the cube, have the cube in hydroton with the dripper on the hydroton directly around it.

If your plants seedlings and are drooping, they are most definately over saturated.

also when you say feed, do you mean feed straight water, or are you giving them nutrients?

plants shouldn't be given nutrients until signs of deficiency or until the cotelydons start to shrivel (usually 2 weeks or so)


i've noticed the little black things, its just things that are in the rockwool.

the cube should never have a dark appearance. take a cube and soak it in water to see what it looks like 100 percent saturated.

the cubes should be slightly moist to the touch, not wet. just liiiightly moist

also im sure you know, you need to treat rockwool in pH corrected water (4.5-5.5) and soak it for 24 hours before use, then shake the cubes so they get rid of excess moisture

Rockwool is a tough medium for a noob. It has to be pre-treated to deal with pH issues. I'd start your next batch of seeds in a type of plug called rapidrooters that's made of a spongy bark substance and holds exactly the amount of water the young seedling needs, and can go into hydro. With seedlings, rockwool should ALMOST dry out between waterings but it's such a yucky medium for starting seeds that I can't recommend it for next go-round.

Put seedlings under the light as soon as you see them show their cotyledons above the medium surface. The light should be a flourescent at that stage- t12 tubes are fine. They can go under the halide when they are older and have better roots.

There's a constant-flow system in hydroton and plugs that you might want to take a look at, look under basic growing then grow logs then look for stinkys adventures in noob hydro. It might be on the second page. I've been lax.

Nice thing about rapidrooters is that you can just stick them in a tray under a shop light until you see the roots poke through, as long as they have enough moisture, and you don't have to mess with the hydro system for almost 2 weeks.

Did you SERIOUSLY just bump this post because no one had replied for a WHOLE 5 minutes? Don't do that.

....I appreciate you guys taking the time and giving me some good info. Now, all I have to do is change EVERYTHING...but if it works then so be it.

-Sadly, yes, I have been giving them nutrients--1/4 strength. The two i have left under the light, are they hopeless? They're not even 2 weeks old!

If I start with rapid rooters can I then place them directly in hydroton?

Yes,. RR goes very well into hydroton... seriously check out that thread. It's a system you can replicate with the parts you already have.
Hydroton needs pre-conditioning too; it's in the thread.
Wait until 4 sets of aduilt leaves are fully unfolded before giving food.

i check out that thread stinky...holy crap! i like that setup. i remember seeing in there that drip isn't good with hydroton? i just picked up a bag of it and some rapid rooters....just wondering if flood/drain would be the better route...

Note** The 2 I thought were going to die made a turn for the better! #1 is looking good with its 4th set of leaves just starting while #2 is reaching for that sunshine! this strain is even stronger than i thought.

Hydroton is pretty well suited to a constant flow 'waterfall' which is technically NFT rather than drip. I had originally planned to do a drip on that but the constant flow was a suggestion from rhizome, who is usually right... and was in this case! lol.