Propagation: Starting seeds in rockwool cubes

I have just put some into small foamy sponges that I cut into one inch cubes, I just clipped a hold in the top of each cube and put in a seed. I will let you know what kind of luck I have with these. I have ordered some of the rockwool, but then saw a post about this method and decided to try a few this way. So far I all ready have roots popping on moonflowers, scarlett runner bean seeds, nasturiums, and love-in-a-puff seeds. I am really excited at the results of using the sponges so far and will let you know how the daturas that I put in progress. I did the moonflowers Saturday evening and all ready had roots popping Sundy evening. I am having a hard time leaving the bags closed I keep wanting to peek in and get a better look that I can get through the bag.

Heheh, Peeking is good for them Alice. When you peek they get some of your breath on them =)
Show is some of your seedlings when you can.
Take care,
Shirley

I did get the full sheet of 200 of the small cubes. I"m talking to the guy I bought them from to see if he'll let us all have the same price if we order from him and tell him we're from Dave's. It was $10.25 for 200 of the 1/1/1.5 cubes including shipping. They were packed into a box that was perfect when it got here, shipped priority mail, and I got them 3 days after I paid for them. Box was not even an ugly brown recycled box...stark white....great. He even put some hydroponic information sheets, relating to veggie growing in hydroponics and nutrient pointers, etc. in there. His name is shaun, and if you guys would like, I"ll see what kind of deal he'll cut our group. The cubes came in light green, like a light olive color, not crumbly.

I will shoot some photos today if I remember. I did some more last night and will record everything I have done on a new post and update to let you know what successes I have.

*jumpin up & dowm in excitement* ;~D



Kan't spel either =)

This message was edited Jan 20, 2004 12:46 PM

Okay everybody I posted seed sponge photos and explanations in the propogation forum it seemed like the best place to put it. I hope you will help me with the happy dance I am doing!!!!
I can't believe the results of this and it is so easy!!!
I can't thank everybody enough for not only all of the wonderful seeds!!!!! But for all of the wonderful "How-To's" This has to be the greatest site ever!!!!!
I think out of all of the seeds that I started only 4 of them are things I didn't get from DG users. Isn't that incredible in itself.

Is it possible for poppy to geriminate in 3 days using rockwool? We planted poppy on the 17th (DH did), and they were already sprouting hairy roots yesterday! I'm impressed, wow! DH said this is the way he likes to work in the dirt with seeds.

I work in a shipyard think I will go look at the rockwool we have and see if the density is the same as what I saw at the store.

We have lots but I think most is 2 inch thick I have thought about trying it for years but never seem to get around to it.

I have also considered it as a water retention devise in hanging baskets anyone done this? Ernie

I'd be interested in seeing how the hanging basket thing works out with rockwool too.

All very interesting and exciting.

space
How did you do the poppies? Just sprinkle on top? I did some real small seeds Monday night on the other type sponges that have the little bumps and holes (hows that for a description) and just kind of pushed them around into the little crevices.

When I did the moonflowers they germinated in less than 24 so I would say 3 for poppies sounds possible to me.

I am really anxious to hear more about the poppies!!!!

Hanging Baskets? How? I am thinking again!!!! Watchout!!!
You guys are amazing!!!!!

DH did blue boppies. He just wet his rockwool, divided it into 2 square portions, and spread seeds over the smaller divisions. Since poppies resent transplanting, we thought this would work best for them. We put the blocks into a covered salad bowl from wendy's, and they will stay there in their 2-cube groupings until they are about an inch high. We will be putting them into 6" pots, and hope they do well in there. It's our first attemps at poppies, and we're really excited about them. We usually buy a few from Home Depot in the spring. Sprinke and wait....that's what we did. Roots are about 1/4" long already. Looks like mold covering the rockwool, but it's roots. We'll thin them out before planting them.

Looked at the rock wool today seems like the perfect stuff to put in to he bottom of a five gallon bucket to grow cherry tomatoes in.

The more I think about I am sure enough it's right for hanging baskets. I am going to tear some up and replant them especially the wire ones with the fabric liner. I will replace the fabric liner with white plastic and pad the bottom and part way up the sides with rockwool, punching drain holes a third of the way up the sides or atleast above the rock wool. This should trap enough extra moisture and let it wick out the top to reduce the frequency of watering. So we will see.Ernie

Ernie, be sure to let us know how it works. We never know until we try some of these new things. Sounds like it should do okay if the RW doesn't drain out too much. I'd sure be willing to use it in a basket if it would hold the moisture better. Thanks!!

Brugie Your concern of the water draining to fast, I believe to be a valid one. There are two reasons I said I would line the wire type with plastic.

To stop water loss from excess draining and to reduce the surface area exposed to the air.

I intend to tear a basket apart this weekend just to see how it goes but not much will really be learned untill summer heat is on the basket. However I will be able to get a better idea of it's chances to improve what I have been doing.Ernie

If you have a camera, could you take a picture of just how you are doing it. I can imagine it, but pictures make it so much easier. I think it will work. Make sure you wet that RW before you start tearing into it so it isn't flying in the air you are breathing. Would hate to see you get that stuff in your lungs.

Shirley

I've been talking to my pot supplier ( alright you guys, behave. lol) about selling RW. Seems I can not convince him, but he is sending me some of the coir cubes he sells to experiment with and compare to RW.
Yay! another project ;~D
Heheheh..Free is good too..
IMHO =)
§

spacecowgirl - did you ever hear anything about getting more RW? I would like some...it sounds wonderful

Brugie
How is it going with the rockwool? Are you still pleased with the results?
How long are you leaving things in before you move them into soil?

Alice, I love the rockwool. I have canna seedlings that are three or four inches tall, still growing in the rockwool. I also have brug seedlings that are 5 or 6 inches tall growing in them. I've moved some seedling cubes to soil, but have run out of room, so I'm letting them grow as they are. Working well so far. I've given them a small drink with fertilized water only once because I don't want algae to begin growing on the cubes. Before long, I'm going to have to do some planting. Just hate to as long as everything is growing well the way it is. What is it they say...don't fix it if it ain't broke???

That is definitely an advantage of the rockwool then, I haven't been able to allow anything to get that large in the foamy sponges. They just do not hold the moisture like the rockwool does.
I am getting ready to post some results of the experiments I have been doing using both, but its still to early to tell much.
Thanks for the updates!

Poppies did not take transplanting into soil at all. Dwarf Nasturiums did great, as well as campanula. Still waiting on brugs to sprout. Also did Pink campion and it seems to be holding it's own really well.

My RW is on back order at bghydro.com.

Oh ! Oh !
........Sounds like they are starting to feel the squeeze we all have put on them.

I just tracked my UPS package and my 3 rd. order will be here tomorrow. This one took about 4 days longer than normal. Sure glad I did not soak seeds ahead of time or they would have all been rotten by now.....Whew !
..............Hang in there girl =)
§hirley in Smalltownredneckfreezingcoldtractorville, Wisconsin ;-P

Shirley, I hope you are not getting the cold we are getting. Wow, third order? You must really be in a planting mode. I'm still working on using what I bought the first time. I think I like the slabs where I can make my own cubes.

Shirl, sounds good and I prob would try it if I had an idea of what 'you' are doing =)

Yee-Haw...I planted some radishes and mini-lettuce yesterday.....NO ,not in rockwool !!! LOLOLOL

This message was edited Jan 29, 2004 9:47 PM

I'll try to remember to email you tomorrow. It is past my bedtime now. Yep, I'm early to bed and late to get up.

Could someone point out to me the difference between rockwool cubes and Oasis rootcubes? The localplant store has the oasis cubes but not rockwool. From the pictures I have seen of each product, they look anout the same to me.

If I am accurate the Oasis cubes are a bit more expensive. I would love to try them as an alternative to see if they would do as well as the rockwool, but haven't purchased any yet.
Maybe they have all ready been tried without much success and that was the reason for Brugie trying the rockwool.
I will have to check now and see if there is any chance I can get the Oasis or some of the other types locally without the shipping and handling charges they would be much more affordable.
I am sure Brugie will be around before very long and let you know!

Oasis and others are made of coir, a by-product of the coconut industry. Coir is popular as a substitute for peat, being that peat is a non-renewable resource.
....Alice is right about the cost being higher . One of my horti suppliers is sending me some Oasis to try out so I will post my opinion of the product after trying. I just hope I get enough to get a good comparison test going.

Laters, §

I've used the RW cubes and the oasis both this year and had very few seeds germinate in the Oasis. It doesn't retain the moisture as well as RW. I also had problems with fungus gnats in it. I think they might like to eat the stuff. LOL! I would not waste my money on the oasis cubes again. As expensive as the RW cubes are, I'm finding that the slabs of RW can be cut easily and here is what I do. My RW slabs are three inches thick. I cut off a hunk of it about six inches long. I slice that in half so I have two hunks 1-1/2 inches thick by six inches long. Then I score it so I have sixteen cubes that are only held together by the bottom half inch. This makes the cubes 1-1/2 inch size. I'm hoping that when the seedlings are ready to plant that I can tear them apart easily. Keeping the slabs of cubes inside a plastic bag until germination occurs means no watering and no fungus gnats. It has worked well for me and I'll use it from now on. The slabs I bought are 36 inches long. They will make a lot of cubes. Here is a picture of what the slabs look like: http://www.bghydro.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=GMS6&Category_Code=GM

This message was edited Jan 30, 2004 10:51 AM

I knew you would have better answers than I did!!!! I think I will order the slabs next time. I ordered the 1.5 cubes and I was able to cut them in half and only meke them half as deep but they are not going very far at all.
I am trying really hard to figure out how you are cutting to get that many, but I must be dense, because I am getting it. I think I will use the rockwool for the things I have the fewest of and don't want to take a chance of loosing, and I will also use some of cellulose sponges, that seem to be holding moisture well and are only slightly behind the rockwell cubes in propagation tests.
I hope everyone is remembering that if you are using rockwool or sponges, you are saving the expense of root starter.
I used a lot of seed starter last year, and ended up having to add a lot of it to the compost pile because seeds didn't grow.
One of the best parts of any of these methods is being able to see what is happening

Never thought of that Shirley..."I also had problems with fungus gnats in it. I think they might like to eat the stuff."...
...Duh !! After all coir is a vegetative product. Oh well when I get my samples I'll use them any way but I will keep "Dag-Nabbit Gnats" in mind..LOL
These D-N Gnats are our own strain in Smallfrozentownrednecktractorville, Wi ;-P

This message was edited Jan 30, 2004 11:31 AM

Alice, after you cut a six inch piece off the slab, cut it so it would look like two layers of a cake. Then work with one of the layers at a time. Without cutting all the way through, cut it into quarters. Then you will slice through each quarter at the halfway mark in both directions. That will give you sixteen cubes in each six inch slab or four in each quarter. This way you get 32 cubes from a six inch piece of the 3 ft. slab. If you do it the same way each time, this will give you 192 cubes from a $7 slab of rockwool. That is very cheap compared to buying the individual cubes.

Brugie Thanks so much I think I got it now, and yes that would make it much less expensive.
I cut up the 1.5 cubes the other night when I was doing the comparison experiment, because I wanted to have everything as close to the same size as possible. I think I should be able to get at least 4 out of a cube, but I really don't like handling the stuff. Guess I had better put some gloves on and get it done though.
Thanks again

I've notice a little white mold on a few cubes...what do you do with that? It's on the brug seeds that I didn't peel, just soaked and nicked.

Spray the cubes with a little one to ten mix of Clorox and water or a fungicide if you have one on hand. I've not had the mold on the cubes yet, but I did soak my seeds, cork and all, in a hydrogen peroxide/water soak for a few minutes. Some of my plants are getting some good size to them now. This brug picture was taken on Jan. 20th. Yep, it still hasn't been planted in soil. I want to see how long they will survive in RW.

Brugie: If that isn't the cutest baby brug. Very healthy and vigorous looking. Do you cut the RW when it is wet or dry.

Brugie: Your Brug plant is lookin' good! Just be aware that RW is NOT providing your very young plant with any nutrients. Are you supplementing your plant with fertilizer? If so, what are you using?

Debby: RW should ONLY be handled with gloves/mask (the choice is yours) when it is WET! Please re-read the lengthy threads that we have had on RW and the possible carcinogenic concerns if not handled properly!

Deb, I cut mine when dry, using a serrated knife. It slices like butter.


Shirley, I have only used a mild dilution of a water soluable fertilizer two times on this brug.