Ice cube tray GENIUS, PURE GENIUS!! I just finished an outdoor season growing hot pepper plants. Forty 20 litre Kratky's and a 220 litre Kratky. I love rockwool and can justify one cube per plant for a 20 litres res. I came across your channel to find out how to grow basil with the least amount of rockwool possible. ..and man, your using way less than I could have imagined. GENIUS.
Great idea. I also found instead of clay pebbles I use 1/2" slices of a small diameter pool noodle. After taking a slice of pool noodle cut a small "V" out of it and it will fit right in your net cup and hold the plant. You can make about 100 of them for a buck.
Yo, I can't even begin to tell you how much money you just saved me! Bro, thank you so much! I don't think I will ever need to buy rock wool again. The ice cube tray is pure genious!
This has been the best info I’ve found on this. I’ve been growing in soil and coco for years, I just bought a two bucket DWC setup. I tried my luck at hydro many years ago, sometime in the 80’s when the Phototron, was being sold through High Times. I lived in the NE and after we used up the nutrients that came with unit we couldn’t find anywhere to purchase them. Now there is so much out there to choose from, actually I’ve been using Advanced Nutrients for a few years and switched to their Ph Perfect series. I’ve gotten great results and they can also be used in aDWC set up. So I figured Ide give it another go. I was looking for ways to properly terminate and place the seed in the basket, I don’t want to use a big block of rock will, I’m worried about damping off since it’ll always be saturated. The smaller piece seems more logical and a lot safer to prevent it from damping off. 4 year old post got me ready to get moving on this. lol gotta finish 2 Green gelato autos in mid flower right now. Soon as they are set in for the cure I’ll start my next run.
THANK YOU SO MUCH for this video! My husband and I are new to this hydroponic growing so we're watching a ton of videos and learning quite a bit. Love the ice cube tray idea also. Great tips!!
This is exactly what my brain was thinking when people are spitting out “4” cubes work the best”. If you have over a 4 “ seed then I could see why you would. I just printed out a seed germination thing on my 3D printer, it’s pretty similar to your ice cube tray idea but is nickel size instead of cube size. Hopefully it’ll work as good. Great video and spreading knowledge
That's a great video, exactly what I was looking for! So I want to set up a vertical system where the roots will go down inside the vertically placed pipe for what they have to be free to grow, but still easy to place after seeding. I search for many videos, but you showed a perfect way for that and explained everything quickly and in detail. Thanks a lot!
Good idea, tried it tonight lets see. If you use the whole cube it takes quite a lot for the roots to grow and get tru it. Not so worried about cost but time.
I've been doing that for years but I'm glad that I see somebody else do it I use a little bit in Coco coir and less chance of root rot smaller pieces they will grow out of it
I’ve been using 1/4 pieces of rock wool to start my seeds in plastic 2oz shot cups filled with water and LECA to get the root systems more mature. This saves space as I can start about 4-5 seeds this way in the shot cup. I’ll try using even smaller pieces of rock wool as per your recommendation. The smaller pieces of rock wool also require less pH correction than if you used a giant piece of rock wool. But i think it will depend on what plant I’m growing, the support needed, root size, netcup depth, etc.
Another good video! I have tried using the coir pellets and they just haven't worked well, but was avoiding using the rockwell cubes because of the cost. I know your other videos gave me good advise (we have pea pods :D ), I think this is another good video and I'll be buying the rockwell cubes now and using them as you've shown here! Thanks my friend!
If you want to start plants for hydroponics: ua-cam.com/video/HjOwOpKufG0/v-deo.html If you're growing in soil just put your seeds right in the soil and start there.
Jimmy, thank you for this investigative work! I might add two points: (a) Tikki O. on her channel shows that one can also use cotton balls instead of rockwool and (b) that I have used recycled egg cartons in place of the ice cube tray you used.
It worked perfectly. Cut the rockwool in half, half again until its a tiny cube. Pre soaked seeds for 24 hs. Coco Jiffys, Foam cubes, i even cut a hole inside a rockwool cube and filled it with substrat. This is by far the best method for hydro, the roots develop and come down from the net cup super quickly, they didn't with the other mediums, took them well over 10 days.
This is fantastic! I'm spending my Christmas money on hydroponic supplies ( I'm doing DIY DWC) and I would like for the whole process to be as sustainable and reusable as I can make it. Partly to get a head start on the new garden and partly so I can grow lettuce and other crops indoors over the winter months. Thanks for sharing.
Love to hear it! I built a large aeroponic system when I was first getting started, but had a lot more fun when I started growing greens in bottles and doing things on a smaller scale, then slowly building up! Best of luck with your plants hope you enjoy the hobby!
Very Clever! I like this as It seems like the extra rockwook around the seedling is just an empty space for algea and other microbial baddies to grow. I'm just unlucky like that. I like your floating seed starter. I have a cat litter pan filled with clay pebbles with a water pump flowing just a small stream of water below the surface and have been starting seeds in that. It's easy to lift the seedlings out from the hydroton and move to nutrient solution container. I think I'll try your floating tray method for some seeds where I don't want to broadcast because each seed is valuable and I wanna make sure each one grows. Thanks for your vid.
Jimmy, a big thumbs up. I like saving money and I just received my first order of rockwool cubes. Q: How is cannabis best served? Do you have any recipes you want to share?
awesome! giving us more bang for our buck, and thinking beyond the box ("individual" cube of rockwool)! i'm going to be experimenting with this! thanks!
One might be, is to use Depend UnderPads. They usually come 12 to a pack, and their sizes are 36" x 21". Now this would allow a lot of growing seed beds to be made from. Then there is the Pride Disposable Underpads, they come 50 pads in a pack and measure 36" x 23". One could make a whole more seed growing beds from or from one pad, a giant seed growing bed. Both are thin, easy to cut with a pair of scissors and hold in moisture. Just a thought...
@@catsmeow4003 doggie pads used in potting training is another great one. Not only are they thinner but bigger in size. There probably are more products and cheaper to use as well rather than those commercial products that take more of your money.
why not just cotton balls then? just take a pinch and roll it in to a ball around the seed and stuff it into the wicking hole? what is so special about tampons and sanitary napkins? aren't they just cotton?
@@Metqa Yes, it is true that cotton balls, tampons, Depends, & doggie training pads all have cotton as the main material. I find it easier to have, for instance, the doggie training pad moistened & filled with seeds is a lot easier than putting a seed on a cotton ball and placing it into a wicking hole. There is no need in having special seed germination containers, $$$$ for someone else - not money coming in for me. To me it is easier after the seeds start rooting to simply remove from the pad & either plant in plant soil or hydroponically. One questions remains, is one digging into the cotton ball to remove the plant or planting cotton ball & plant together?
God willing i will use this method. Another method i picked up will work for you and your kratky and it is use pool noodles to wrap the seedling with roots exposed then dunk into kratky.
Works great for cannabis. I don’t go as small with the rockwool as I did in this video, but you absolutely don’t need a full cube. 1/8 of a 1.5inch cube for cannabis has worked well for me.
Great video! Do you think you could scale this up and use a much bigger tupperware and float multiple ice cube trays with a big hole in the lid? And create a dome with another container flipped over top?
@@JimmyBHarvests Thanks! I am going to give it a go. Would you recommend a heat mat under the water container or would it be okay without? Ambient temperature in my house it 16-21 degrees. I am going to be doing it under grow lights - do you think the grow lights should be on from the start or only once the seedlings sprout/germinate after a few weeks? Thanks so much for any advice you can provide :)
If you simply search that on youtube you'll find plenty of content on the subject. I was forced to remove my content related to that plant in order to keep the rest of my channel monetized. It's a censored subject.
Great information Jason, thank you. How do you go from the small seedlings you show growing the ice cube trays, to installing them into your hydroponic system? I am getting small seedlings but not finding information about where to go from there? Do you move the small plant and root system and into a net cup? What medium do you use? How large do you let the seedling get before taking this step?
Seeds can typically go 2-3 weeks before they need any nutrition. There’s no real rule I follow as to when I move them. I typically wait for them to get a few leaves, then I move them into a net cup. I fill the rest of the net cup with clay pebbles for support. Then you can move that net cup into a container and start feeding the plant nutrients
Pool noodles are an excellent, cheap way to hold that little bit in place and you don't have to worry about light bleed. Also pool noodles are waaay cheaper than Hydroton
I don't use rockwool anymore and now just use 3 inch strips paper towels. Cut 1" x 3" strips, roll half to form a ball, let other half dangle in water as a wick, then place seed on top. Super cheap and easy.
Dissolved oxygen levels decrease as water temperatures increase, so you can’t let it get too hot. I keep my reservoir in normal room temperatures and it does fine.
I haven’t had any issues with it. You don’t need to be as extreme as I was, going so small. Cutting them into larger bits will still greatly extend the value you get vs the manufactures size
Great tips. Really enjoyed the video. Hey if you start a plant that will get significant root production in the 3 inch cup wont the roots choke themselves leading to root rot? What do you suggest for starting a seedling in a 5 inch cup? I feel like the spacing of the cup perforations should be bigger, allowing for proper growth, aeration and irrigation on these net cups. I had a plant get root rot because the pebbles were on top of some roots. Should I start the seedling in a five inch cup in rock wool with the clay around it? Thanks again!
I don’t think a 3 inch vs 5 inch cup is going to impact much. I agree that the holes on the sides/bottoms of cups are often pretty small. Cutting out a piece or two of plastic would likely help roots to get a bit thicker. I think the most common cause of root rot is overwatering. With hydroponics, try to leave some room between the beginning of your roots and the top of your water so there are roots exposed only to air. The roots need to breathe in this way. Best of luck with your future plants!
Nice! With regards to cannabis and using the ice cube tray with a small piece of rockwool,do you just put the seed on top of the rockwool piece or do you make a hole for the seed to sit in and cover? Thanks
I typically just place the seed on top. I find the root will often emerge and enter itself down through the cube. If it doesn't, the plant will just be sitting on top of the cube- at that point I'll cut a slice through the cube and insert the mini plant into the cube. Hope that helps.
Love the suggestion and minimizing the rockwool use. I'd like to see you do a video for Growclouds by Verashift which are a biodegradable alternative for hydroponic substrates. Hit me up and lets get something done champ.
I have read somewhere the water you need to use should be at 5.5 which is slightly acidic. Is this step not really necesary? It says that it takes 7-12 days for my tomato seeds to germinate, but how do I know when to transfer them to my bucket? Also I chose to maintain the original 1" x 1" size mainly because it has a hole in the middle and my dutch bucket system is purely perlite so I am thinking the extra rockwool should help with the starting stages of moisture. I'm new at this but this is just what I thought for my set-up.
5.5ph is not necessary at best and misinfo at worst. Here's how I start seeds / manage transplanting them. These were peppers but I do the exact same with tomatoes. Best of luck! ua-cam.com/video/HjOwOpKufG0/v-deo.html
![Lp. Сердце Вселенной #60 РОЖДЕНИЕ ЛОЛОЛОШКИ [Финал] • Майнкрафт](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/YoR0pAV9FVQ/mqdefault.jpg)
I appreciate how clear and concise this video was. No long intro, no diversion from the topic at hand. Great job! 👍 You've gained a new subscriber.
Love it, thanks!
Ice cube tray GENIUS, PURE GENIUS!! I just finished an outdoor season growing hot pepper plants. Forty 20 litre Kratky's and a 220 litre Kratky. I love rockwool and can justify one cube per plant for a 20 litres res. I came across your channel to find out how to grow basil with the least amount of rockwool possible. ..and man, your using way less than I could have imagined. GENIUS.
Glad you enjoyed it Andrew! Good luck with your basil!
I like that there's also way less surface area for algae to grow on
What a great point!
Great idea. I also found instead of clay pebbles I use 1/2" slices of a small diameter pool noodle. After taking a slice of pool noodle cut a small "V" out of it and it will fit right in your net cup and hold the plant. You can make about 100 of them for a buck.
Great idea, thanks for sharing! I've seen some others having success with that too
This is a fantastic video. So useful to know that we can be environmentally friendly while growing plants and becoming self sufficient! Love love love
Ice cube tray is brilliant!
😁🙏🙏
Oh fuckyeah thanks for that idea!!
BRAVO to you, young man, for thinking outside the box! I will be cutting my rockwool cubes accordingly.
🙏🙏🙏 thanks Ruff!
Yo, I can't even begin to tell you how much money you just saved me! Bro, thank you so much! I don't think I will ever need to buy rock wool again. The ice cube tray is pure genious!
That ice cube tray is genius. Hoping to I remember to steal that idea for myself next time I start some seeds!
😂🤙
Whoa! This is a game changer!! Thanks so much.
🤙🤙
This has been the best info I’ve found on this. I’ve been growing in soil and coco for years, I just bought a two bucket DWC setup. I tried my luck at hydro many years ago, sometime in the 80’s when the Phototron, was being sold through High Times. I lived in the NE and after we used up the nutrients that came with unit we couldn’t find anywhere to purchase them. Now there is so much out there to choose from, actually I’ve been using Advanced Nutrients for a few years and switched to their Ph Perfect series. I’ve gotten great results and they can also be used in aDWC set up. So I figured Ide give it another go. I was looking for ways to properly terminate and place the seed in the basket, I don’t want to use a big block of rock will, I’m worried about damping off since it’ll always be saturated. The smaller piece seems more logical and a lot safer to prevent it from damping off. 4 year old post got me ready to get moving on this. lol gotta finish 2 Green gelato autos in mid flower right now. Soon as they are set in for the cure I’ll start my next run.
Used to cut them in quarters but this is amazing. The ice cube trick is pretty cool. Thanks!
🙏🙏 thanks!!
THANK YOU SO MUCH for this video! My husband and I are new to this hydroponic growing so we're watching a ton of videos and learning quite a bit. Love the ice cube tray idea also. Great tips!!
Love to hear it! Thanks for the support! Best of luck in your new hobby!
This is exactly what my brain was thinking when people are spitting out “4” cubes work the best”. If you have over a 4 “ seed then I could see why you would.
I just printed out a seed germination thing on my 3D printer, it’s pretty similar to your ice cube tray idea but is nickel size instead of cube size. Hopefully it’ll work as good.
Great video and spreading knowledge
Thanks Chris! Love to hear it best of luck with your plants going forward
This is HUGE, Saving money and the environment. 10/10 video
Thats the goal! Thanks for the support! 🙏
That's a great video, exactly what I was looking for! So I want to set up a vertical system where the roots will go down inside the vertically placed pipe for what they have to be free to grow, but still easy to place after seeding. I search for many videos, but you showed a perfect way for that and explained everything quickly and in detail. Thanks a lot!
Happy to hear it helped! Best of luck getting your system up and running!
Good idea, tried it tonight lets see. If you use the whole cube it takes quite a lot for the roots to grow and get tru it. Not so worried about cost but time.
Best of luck!
I've been doing that for years but I'm glad that I see somebody else do it I use a little bit in Coco coir and less chance of root rot smaller pieces they will grow out of it
Big respect...that´s real sustainable use. I like that.
TOTALLY AGREE 100% I stress this in my hydro classes. This is a super cost savings! I love ice cube trays/dollar tree !
I’ve been using 1/4 pieces of rock wool to start my seeds in plastic 2oz shot cups filled with water and LECA to get the root systems more mature. This saves space as I can start about 4-5 seeds this way in the shot cup. I’ll try using even smaller pieces of rock wool as per your recommendation. The smaller pieces of rock wool also require less pH correction than if you used a giant piece of rock wool. But i think it will depend on what plant I’m growing, the support needed, root size, netcup depth, etc.
Another good video! I have tried using the coir pellets and they just haven't worked well, but was avoiding using the rockwell cubes because of the cost. I know your other videos gave me good advise (we have pea pods :D ), I think this is another good video and I'll be buying the rockwell cubes now and using them as you've shown here! Thanks my friend!
Thanks for the kind words, Laural! Glad to hear you’ve got pods- hope they taste great.
@@JimmyBHarvests They do! And I've more pea plants coming on
More useful than all these 20 mins videos out there, like really I’m not even a fan, it’s my first video from your channel, and done, subscribed
🙏🙏
OUTSTANDING!!!!! Going to use this method starting now!!!
Love to hear it! Best of luck with your plants and thanks for sharing!
Hey thanks new to gardening and trying to get more information please so can you transfer them seeds to potting as usual after germination
If you want to start plants for hydroponics:
ua-cam.com/video/HjOwOpKufG0/v-deo.html
If you're growing in soil just put your seeds right in the soil and start there.
@@JimmyBHarvests
OK thanks 😊
Jimmy, thank you for this investigative work! I might add two points: (a) Tikki O. on her channel shows that one can also use cotton balls instead of rockwool and (b) that I have used recycled egg cartons in place of the ice cube tray you used.
Love the egg carton idea thats fantastic! And cotton balls work pretty well, have done that myself too. A very thrifty alternative
Wow amazing video..thank you!... i'm a first time user of rockwool indoor gardening..
Awesome- Good luck with your grows!
This was very informative! Thank you for taking the time to test this out and make a video c:
Glad to hear you enjoyed it! Thanks for the support!
I knooooowwwww!!!! I always grow my seeds in small pieces of rockwool! 😄👍👍
🤙🤙
It worked perfectly. Cut the rockwool in half, half again until its a tiny cube. Pre soaked seeds for 24 hs.
Coco Jiffys, Foam cubes, i even cut a hole inside a rockwool cube and filled it with substrat.
This is by far the best method for hydro, the roots develop and come down from the net cup super quickly, they didn't with the other mediums, took them well over 10 days.
Love to hear it! Good luck with your plants
Thanks for this. Exactly what I needed exactly when I needed it.
Truth!
I make four now from one .
In the past 25 years I've seen
better results using less everything.
Im failed using rockwool. The idea for ice cube tray was great. Will try soon. Tqvm
🙏🙏 Best of luck!
If you use a polyester wick cord you can just put it directly into the hydroponic system without having to worry about the water level
This is fantastic! I'm spending my Christmas money on hydroponic supplies ( I'm doing DIY DWC) and I would like for the whole process to be as sustainable and reusable as I can make it. Partly to get a head start on the new garden and partly so I can grow lettuce and other crops indoors over the winter months. Thanks for sharing.
Love to hear it! I built a large aeroponic system when I was first getting started, but had a lot more fun when I started growing greens in bottles and doing things on a smaller scale, then slowly building up! Best of luck with your plants hope you enjoy the hobby!
Hi Jimmy! What a great idea about using less rockwool and the ice cube trays! What a great video! Thanks! :)
Thanks so much! Appreciate the support! 🙏🙏
ice cube tray is brilliant! subbed
wonderful...not into hydroponics but great idea...mygreathanks and blessings
I find it easier to germinate seeds or roots clones in jiffy pellets. You can transfer them into Rockwool cubes just the same as the mini rockwool.
Super glad i only used like 5 cubes. Thanks for the info bro!!
🙏🤙
love the ice tray ! ... thanks
Hope it works for you!
Thank you for sharing. I appreciate it. Very good in cutting cost. from Philippines.
Very Clever! I like this as It seems like the extra rockwook around the seedling is just an empty space for algea and other microbial baddies to grow. I'm just unlucky like that. I like your floating seed starter. I have a cat litter pan filled with clay pebbles with a water pump flowing just a small stream of water below the surface and have been starting seeds in that. It's easy to lift the seedlings out from the hydroton and move to nutrient solution container. I think I'll try your floating tray method for some seeds where I don't want to broadcast because each seed is valuable and I wanna make sure each one grows. Thanks for your vid.
A man after my own heart. I do microgreens, and I use less grow medium than anyone, lol.
Jimmy, a big thumbs up. I like saving money and I just received my first order of rockwool cubes. Q: How is cannabis best served? Do you have any recipes you want to share?
Dried flowers in my opinion! Best of luck growing!
Brilliant! This totally changed my nid about how to start seeds!
Glad to hear it! Good luck with your plants!
Bravo! I will copy your genius strategy. Thank you for sharing!
😂🙏🙏🙏
amazing video!
awesome! giving us more bang for our buck, and thinking beyond the box ("individual" cube of rockwool)! i'm going to be experimenting with this! thanks!
Good luck!
You are a bigshot.
Tons of thanks for helping society 🙏.
😆😊 thanks for the kind words
Saving resources one piece at a time 👍 ✌️ the ice up e tray is a nice addition 🍻
Great video... Thanks for the info , will have to try with my lettuce !
Best of luck with your plants! This works great with lettuce!
You can do the same thing with rapid rooters also. FYI. THANK YOU.
love this experiment :) thanks for sharing it!!
This is incredible! Thank you so much!
So much info in a 3 minute video. thanks
🙏
Super video - Scientific, easy to understand - Thank you!
🙏🙏
Great vid/tips!!
Question; do you add nutrients to your water when sprouting the seeds?
Thnq!
I typically add nutrients after the plants have had a week or two to grow. They have enough nutrients stored in the seed to get started on their own
@@JimmyBHarvests Thnq!!
One might be, is to use Depend UnderPads. They usually come 12 to a pack, and their sizes are 36" x 21". Now this would allow a lot of growing seed beds to be made from. Then there is the Pride Disposable Underpads, they come 50 pads in a pack and measure 36" x 23". One could make a whole more seed growing beds from or from one pad, a giant seed growing bed. Both are thin, easy to cut with a pair of scissors and hold in moisture. Just a thought...
Thanks for sharing, good idea 👍
Tampons and kotex napkins good as well?
@@catsmeow4003 doggie pads used in potting training is another great one. Not only are they thinner but bigger in size.
There probably are more products and cheaper to use as well rather than those commercial products that take more of your money.
why not just cotton balls then? just take a pinch and roll it in to a ball around the seed and stuff it into the wicking hole? what is so special about tampons and sanitary napkins? aren't they just cotton?
@@Metqa Yes, it is true that cotton balls, tampons, Depends, & doggie training pads all have cotton as the main material. I find it easier to have, for instance, the doggie training pad moistened & filled with seeds is a lot easier than putting a seed on a cotton ball and placing it into a wicking hole. There is no need in having special seed germination containers, $$$$ for someone else - not money coming in for me. To me it is easier after the seeds start rooting to simply remove from the pad & either plant in plant soil or hydroponically. One questions remains, is one digging into the cotton ball to remove the plant or planting cotton ball & plant together?
God willing i will use this method.
Another method i picked up will work for you and your kratky and it is use pool noodles to wrap the seedling with roots exposed then dunk into kratky.
Thank you for the cannabis shout out at the end. I was wondering if it was effective with those plants.
Works great for cannabis. I don’t go as small with the rockwool as I did in this video, but you absolutely don’t need a full cube. 1/8 of a 1.5inch cube for cannabis has worked well for me.
great, thanks for sharing your idea, I still have 10cubes left that I can slice into more small piece for more seedlings, very informative
Love to hear it best of luck with your plants
Great information,I thought to try this✔️💪🏽
🙏🙏 good luck trying it!
Nice idea especially for seeds!
Awesome, thank u :) i try alot of different ways atm, will def try this too :)
Best of luck!
Great video! Do you think you could scale this up and use a much bigger tupperware and float multiple ice cube trays with a big hole in the lid? And create a dome with another container flipped over top?
No reason to think that wouldn't work!
@@JimmyBHarvests Thanks! I am going to give it a go. Would you recommend a heat mat under the water container or would it be okay without? Ambient temperature in my house it 16-21 degrees. I am going to be doing it under grow lights - do you think the grow lights should be on from the start or only once the seedlings sprout/germinate after a few weeks? Thanks so much for any advice you can provide :)
Id to know how to grow cannabis for informational purposes.. do you have any links 🔗 / how to grow
If you simply search that on youtube you'll find plenty of content on the subject. I was forced to remove my content related to that plant in order to keep the rest of my channel monetized. It's a censored subject.
and could you maybe make a video about the effects of shorter or longer waterchangecycles
Will look into these! Thanks for sharing the ideas!
Thanks for that.🥰
Absolutely brilliant!! Thank you very much for sharing!
🙏🙏🙏
Excellent, excellent idea!!!
🙏🙏
Good job young man..
🙏🙏
Great information Jason, thank you. How do you go from the small seedlings you show growing the ice cube trays, to installing them into your hydroponic system? I am getting small seedlings but not finding information about where to go from there? Do you move the small plant and root system and into a net cup? What medium do you use? How large do you let the seedling get before taking this step?
Seeds can typically go 2-3 weeks before they need any nutrition. There’s no real rule I follow as to when I move them. I typically wait for them to get a few leaves, then I move them into a net cup. I fill the rest of the net cup with clay pebbles for support. Then you can move that net cup into a container and start feeding the plant nutrients
Pool noodles are an excellent, cheap way to hold that little bit in place and you don't have to worry about light bleed. Also pool noodles are waaay cheaper than Hydroton
I'm new to this...
That's what I thought but your confirmation made my day loll 🙃👍
FWIW- paper towel or a slice of cotton ball work as well and are much cheaper than rockwool
I don't use rockwool anymore and now just use 3 inch strips paper towels.
Cut 1" x 3" strips, roll half to form a ball, let other half dangle in water as a wick, then place seed on top. Super cheap and easy.
Brilliant! Thanks for sharing, will definitely give this a try
Could you use cardboard in place of rock wool?
Hmmm haven't heard that one before.. not sure. Cotton balls are a great low cost alternative i have tested and had success with
Do you have to be concerned about maintaining the temperature of the water?
Dissolved oxygen levels decrease as water temperatures increase, so you can’t let it get too hot. I keep my reservoir in normal room temperatures and it does fine.
So funny I was just thinking about cutting them down. Although I had expensive seeds and didnt want to take a chance
I haven’t had any issues with it. You don’t need to be as extreme as I was, going so small. Cutting them into larger bits will still greatly extend the value you get vs the manufactures size
thanks for this tip! it's very useful
Happy to hear it!
Great tips. Really enjoyed the video. Hey if you start a plant that will get significant root production in the 3 inch cup wont the roots choke themselves leading to root rot? What do you suggest for starting a seedling in a 5 inch cup? I feel like the spacing of the cup perforations should be bigger, allowing for proper growth, aeration and irrigation on these net cups. I had a plant get root rot because the pebbles were on top of some roots. Should I start the seedling in a five inch cup in rock wool with the clay around it?
Thanks again!
I don’t think a 3 inch vs 5 inch cup is going to impact much. I agree that the holes on the sides/bottoms of cups are often pretty small. Cutting out a piece or two of plastic would likely help roots to get a bit thicker. I think the most common cause of root rot is overwatering. With hydroponics, try to leave some room between the beginning of your roots and the top of your water so there are roots exposed only to air. The roots need to breathe in this way. Best of luck with your future plants!
Does the ice cube tray not need to be covered with the dome
you are master what to say thanks for the video my man
Thanks so much bro always appreciate your support!
Cool video. How to you keep algae from growing?
Paint the jars. Adding a little hydrogen peroxide to your reservoir will kill any algae as well.
Nice! With regards to cannabis and using the ice cube tray with a small piece of rockwool,do you just put the seed on top of the rockwool piece or do you make a hole for the seed to sit in and cover? Thanks
I typically just place the seed on top. I find the root will often emerge and enter itself down through the cube. If it doesn't, the plant will just be sitting on top of the cube- at that point I'll cut a slice through the cube and insert the mini plant into the cube. Hope that helps.
@@JimmyBHarvests Thanks
Nice and zmazing video.
Thank you for sharing.
Very cool. Does the ice cube tray sit in water to start the seed? Constantly wet?
Thank you
Yes the rockwool should always be able to touch the water. It will then wick moisture throughout the entire cube
@@JimmyBHarvests thank you
Awesome. Thanks. Do you make a hole for the seed or just place it on top?
On top is just fine! Both will work
excellent video!
🙏🙏🙏
Awesome idea. Subscribed.
😁🙏🙏
Cool. Would tiny pieces of rockwool work equally well for tomatoes or peppers?
Yep ive done plenty of both
Outstanding!
🙏🙏
Damn man, you're a genius. Do you just set the seed on top of the rockwool that is wicking up water? You dont put a hole in the top of the rockwool?
Yep- I just set it on top!
Thank you so much ❤
Genious! Thank you!
Love the suggestion and minimizing the rockwool use. I'd like to see you do a video for Growclouds by Verashift which are a biodegradable alternative for hydroponic substrates. Hit me up and lets get something done champ.
Haven’t heard of those before, will look into it! Thanks for sharing
I have read somewhere the water you need to use should be at 5.5 which is slightly acidic. Is this step not really necesary? It says that it takes 7-12 days for my tomato seeds to germinate, but how do I know when to transfer them to my bucket?
Also I chose to maintain the original 1" x 1" size mainly because it has a hole in the middle and my dutch bucket system is purely perlite so I am thinking the extra rockwool should help with the starting stages of moisture. I'm new at this but this is just what I thought for my set-up.
5.5ph is not necessary at best and misinfo at worst.
Here's how I start seeds / manage transplanting them. These were peppers but I do the exact same with tomatoes. Best of luck!
ua-cam.com/video/HjOwOpKufG0/v-deo.html
Thanks for this tip! what water pH level is most ideal for this process?
5.5 to 6.0 max
Thanks for sharing!
My pleasure 😁🙏