Any Rockwool/Grodan Growers Here?

[Nematode]

Originally Posted by PureHarvest

This one shows 4 holes. Do you just not use one of the holes, or did yours have 3?

http://www.riococo.com/index.php/riococo-300-growbag

Do you flush the bag with water before 1st use?


How many ounces or gallons are you dripping per emitter per day for a full grown plant?


I'm wondering if you could get away from having to use the 4" RW cube to pot on with. Like maybe go from 1' cube seedling right into the bag?

Bags don't have holes when they arrive, propane torch or utility knife are good hole makers. bags need to be slit 3 places in the bottom for drainage.

i no longer measure feed rates, the plants use what they need, usually i set a schedule, and when the bags get light or plants get droopy, i up the feed schedule, when it turns cool and the days shorten i reduce hydro solution usage

No flushing, I just rehydrate with the drippers, by the time the roots are in the bag its been flushed with nutrient.

I use the cubes more as a space management tool, once the seedlings are too large for the 1" cubes, I stick them in the 4" delta blocks in a heated hoop outside, then when its warm enough they go into the coir slabs. the plants do not need the delta blocks at all.

[Nematode]

its important to use .5gph drippers
too fast and you get false drain which is nutrient running past the coir, not wicking into it.

[FourOaks]

Thanks for the link Nematode!

Very interesting product.

PureHarvest, I think were on the same page with the questions. Instead of RW, I wonder about using Netcups? I have used those in the past with Hydro and know for a fact that roots will grow out.

Of course, it might just be easier to use the RW cubes.

[PureHarvest]

Nematode, good stuff. i follow you. I am just trying to figure on how much total solution you pump in a day per bag when the plants are mature.
I know that my vertical bags use about a gallon a day when mature. Sometimes more when it is hot.

FourOaks, netcups would for sure do the trick, I'm just looking at expense. I already start the seeds in sheets of 1" rock wool cubes. Would be nice to not have to also buy hundreds of 4' blocks too. There is something to be said for not trying to put out the biggest transplant you can produce. The large field growers, as well as the tunnel researcher that I talked to a couple weeks ago use a small 5-6 weeks old (from day of sowing) transplant. They all say the younger/smaller seedling is more vegetative and transitions more seamlessly with much better results. I went smaller last year than 2015, and will do even younger again this year (sowing later but planting out the same date). For sure, I've never installed a seedling with flowers or buds showing.

[Ricky Shaw]

I'm excited to see this in service, keep us posted on this Nematode. A thread would be great.

[PureHarvest]

Could you do 2 single stems per hole?
If not, it seems like I would have 50% less plants per row in my tunnel. My media cost and labor would be cut way down, but so would my production.
Or is it that you could put your rows closer together with single stems in each bag, so it still is the same population per tunnel?

[Nematode]

Trial it.
Big greenhouses can do 6 plants/bag.
I do a double row of 3 per bag.

[PureHarvest]

Originally Posted by Nematode

Trial it.
Big greenhouses can do 6 plants/bag.
I do a double row of 3 per bag.

Right on.

You mean you have two bags laying side by side? How far apart?

I figured that I would need 8 rows of layflats (3 plants per bag) with rows 3.5' apart to get the same population as 5 rows of my bags.

I run some math and see what the media/labor costs would be of one versus the other.

[AKmark]

Nematode, could you post a link that shows how a GH doing 6 plants a bags manages their plants? I am wondering how they would lower the plants? With two per bag one goes one direction the other 180 in the opposite direction.

[Nematode]

http://www.myriadint.com.au/Turkey%2...esentation.pdf

the whole presentation is quite good.
page 11 or so shows the tomatoes doubled up in delta blocks, 6 plants/bag

[PureHarvest]

Here is one that show what looks like three blocks per bag, but with 2 stems per block.
Not sure if that is what we are calling 6 plants per bag.

vertgrow.jpg

[AKmark]

Thanks Nematode, I was trying to imagine 6 plants in a 5 gallon container, it makes more sense in a meter long bag. LOL

[PureHarvest]

Originally Posted by Nematode

http://www.myriadint.com.au/Turkey%2...esentation.pdf

the whole presentation is quite good.
page 11 or so shows the tomatoes doubled up in delta blocks, 6 plants/bag

WOW. Great reminders. I have read a lot of the steering/water/temp stuff before, but it is well presented here.

I remember talking about steering last year, and considered doing many small waterings throughout the day instead of one biggie in the morning or 3-4 medium ones throughout the day. It says pumping a lot in the a.m into a dry bag causes a lot of root pressure, forcing it into the fruit. This could help explain my major splitting issue during the hot afternoon during our 2 heat waves last summer.

Also good stuff on leaf removal and timing. I never took off more than 3 leaves per week, so I guess I was on the right track.

The challenge for us is trying to steer using accumulated light without a photon measurer and controller. But their graph that shows how the frequency picks up from roughly 10-2 pm is invaluable.

Also interesting to see that it is ok/needed to have drier bag after 4pm and before 8am. I used to worry when getting home after 5 and my bag were somewhat dry going into the night. Sometimes I'd manually run my pumps to "catch up" with watering so that bags were not dry heading into the night. Or I'd bump up the first watering duration at 730 the next morning. Then there is watering to false drain. Says first 2 waterings should not cause drain

Also #2, interesting that he notes to never flush with plain water. I've done that too. Implied that the EC changes too much in the rootzone and shocks the plant.

Lots to consider:
1. Start feeding at 8 am (2 hrs after sunrise). Last watering at about 4 (2-3 hrs before sunset)
2. Feed for 2-3 minutes per feeding, putting out no more than 3.19 ounces per plant per watering.
3. Feed 20 times per day using rate in #2. I need smaller gph drippers 9.5 gph like Nematode mentioned earlier)
4. 14 of those feeding occur between 10 and 2.
5. Don't flush with plain water.
6. Media should not become saturated until 11 am (80% water content) and start losing weight at 4pm. By 6 am it should be about 70%. Will be hard to do this by weighing a bag every day and night in our somewhat uncontrolled environments/summer conditions.
7. Don't remove more than 3 leaves per week, and only have one truss exposed.

Lastly, they clearly have 2 stems per hole/block. So that would be a big savings in media and filling up empty bags for me. Nematode, what was your cost per bag with shipping? I gotta try some this year. I already bought a pallet of Promix HP, so I'll try a few lay flats and see.

[Nematode]

if you are growing with the normal season I dont think steering will have toooo much effect.

its all cool stuff but dont let it put you off of what you know, maybe add and tweak...

these guys go 12 months and get 100lbs/square meter of fruit or something like that.

[PureHarvest]

I hear you. That was the problem I faced last year. My tunnel had no sides or endwalls and it was hot summer. Sort of hard to do.
The dude I talked to last week said he watered at 8, 12, and 4. Equal amounts at all 3 and kept his bags from being either bone dry or saturated. Pretty much didn't worry about drain etc. Was hitting 25lbs per plant in the Mid-Atlantic area in a high tunnel.
I still think I will more closely mimic the frequency of what those graphs show though. Probably leaning to wetter in the afternoon, as some of our evenings were 80+ after dark...