Removing male plants from nft?

does anyone know how to remove plants from a nft system without damaging the other root systems, can you leave the rockwool and the roots in there or will they rot and cause problems? :confused: Also how does one topup the tank every time it goes down? for example , amounts of nutrient used per litre, mix it in or out of the tank etc. I have 6 plants in my nft system and ive ended up with a 50/50 F/M ratio so any help on what to do would be much appreciated, i will post some pics of my setup soon.

Many Thanks :D

Fallenbythe

get em out carefully

when you say carefully, what do you mean, it seems imposibble to getthe rockwool out without damaging the roots of the females?

pull out the roots below your rockwool of the males. If they are caught in the roots of your other plants, carefully remove them. Don't worry about breaking and losing some roots to the plants you are keeping. Roots can be trimmed without damage to the plants. You can even cutt all the roots back to just above the water line. Some people have had bigger and better results with this.

Just cut away what you can and leave the rest. Watch the runoff and check with your Ph pen if there is any problems you will know.

thanks ever so much you guys that seems like good advise, ill try it, shouldnt the dead roots break down anyway? i should go and do that now really,
many thanks again!
Fallenbythe

For the most part they will just die off but there are those that can affect the Ph too so just monitor your run off water if you see any problems in your other plants.

thanks Zandor, you seem like you know your shit ; ) once these girlies are harvested i will regenerate the best k2 and the best cali o', clone them grow them and then ill have some mothers, can you see any potential problems with this?
At the moment i only have one 400w hps for all six (or three now the boys have been chopped) plants but there should be another one arriving this week to up the stakes a little. Ive been using bio-nova nutrients thus far and do not have any experience with other hydro ferts, next time ill probably use the canna aqua series because these seem to have good results everywhere. do you use nft? dripper? aero? id love to know. What scale is your operation, if you dont mind me asking? i might get another tank soon so i can have 12 girls on the go at once or stagger the cycle and harvest 6 each time. Ive been looking for a solution with nft to veg in a different room ive got a 220w four tube eco-lite thing which i got from 3 counties hydro and i was wondering if that could be used for veg, this would allow me to stagger my cycle as i was saying but do they need time in veg once in the nft tank to develop a good root system or can this be done in a smaller room with something like an aero propagator under the florescents so the roots can grow before i put them in the nft? Anyway, sorry to ask so much of you zandor but you seem like your the guy that i need to be talking to with these queeries and ill quite happily send you a phat one when its all done to say thanks, thats if your ok with giving me somewhere to post it obviously not 'your' house but somewhere annonymous, Are you from the U.K? I live within 15 miles of Bristol,

Cheers,
Happy 'whatever'
Fallen

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Originally Posted by fallenbythe

thanks Zandor, you seem like you know your shit ; ) once these girlies are harvested i will regenerate the best k2 and the best cali o', clone them grow them and then ill have some mothers, can you see any potential problems with this?

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Not really, that's the long way but it works, just make sure you leave plenty of leaves on her. It will take about 45 day's or more before you should have enough to clone with out hacking her up. I have mothers that I can take 100 clones off and can hardly tell. She recovers in about 7-10 day's and is ready to give more.

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Originally Posted by fallenbythe

do you use nft? dripper? aero? id love to know. What scale is your operation, if you dont mind me asking?

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Well I'm running several experimental systems right now for a series of project books so I am using Aeroponics, drippers and a drip/NFT turbo system as well as a few in dirt.

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Originally Posted by fallenbythe

can this be done in a smaller room with something like an aero propagator under the florescents so the roots can grow before i put them in the nft?

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Yes I use Aeroponic cloners and I swear by them. I don't understand why anybody who grows clones is not using one. Yes flouriescent lights are best for cloning 6500k.
Root them in an Aerocloner then move them into your NFT tray.

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Originally Posted by fallenbythe

Are you from the U.K?

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Nope I'm in the USA California.