How to prepare rockwool?
Did you know that ROCKWOOL is already a commonly used term for basalt, or stone wool, because the company of the same name was one of the first to process this material for horticultural use?
Which type of rockwool will you use?
The range of recyclable stone wool products is very varied. You can choose whether to use, for example, propagation cubes wrapped in plastic film or without it, various growing cubes with holes, or very practical growing mats. Growing mats are becoming increasingly popular among growers, which is why we have devoted a separate article to them, which you can read HERE.
Preparing rockwool
- Prepare the rockwool propagation medium that you want to prepare for use.
- If the product is wrapped in protective film, clean and disinfect it. For disinfecting the substrate, you can use, for example, a cloth with a potassium permanganate solution or Purolyt.
- Have standing water ready at least 24 hours in advance.
- Adjust the pH value to 5.1 – 5.6 (the exact value always depends on the properties of the water, which may come from your own well or from the mains, as well as on the properties of the specific RW).
- Above all, make sure that the pH of the soaking solution is not too low, as this could undesirably damage the structure of the rockwool.
- For soaking rockwool, definitely use the proven BioNova FreeFlow wetting agent.
- After about a quarter of an hour, the pH value should stabilise at the required level.
- Provided that the rockwool will be used immediately for planting, in addition to adjusting the pH it is also advisable to check the water temperature, which should be around 24 °C.
- When lowering the pH of water, always use only suitable products, such as BioNova pH- or Canna pH- growth 17%. A common mistake is, for example, using products intended primarily for aquarium care.
- Electrical conductivity of the solution (EC) is measured using an EC meter. For soaking rockwool, its value should not exceed 0.8.
- At this point, we therefore have water prepared with an EC of up to 0.8, a temperature of approximately 24 °C, and a pH in the range of 5.1 – 5.6. It is time to immerse the rockwool in it for 24 hours.
- Beginning growers sometimes tend to squeeze rockwool after soaking. This damages its fibres, and as the structure degrades, any aeration of the propagation medium also disappears.
- The best approach is to stack the rockwool cubes on top of each other and simply let the water drain away naturally.
- A separate chapter are growing mats, which, after soaking, should be moved straight from the water into the Libra planter.
- Finally, it is important to note that the soaking itself should also take place in a suitable container, which should always be chosen with regard to the size and quantity of the rockwool being soaked.
If you have any questions about ROCKWOOL, please do not hesitate to send them to the well-known address info@higarden.cz. We are here for you!
We also recommend these products:
- Grodan - propagation cubes (from CZK 1)
- Growing mats (from CZK 89)
- BioNova FreeFlow - wetting agent (from CZK 429)
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