Problem with seedling taproot in rockool.

Hi everyone!

So I've been having problems with my seedling lately in rockwool. I'll start from the beggining.

I'm planning on trying my hand at DWC so I got me a seed and did the following:

-Germinated the seed in papers towels and in the mean time soaked the rockwool cube in 5.5 pH'ed water for about 8h,
-I then gave the rockwool a fair shake three to four times using a arc like motion with my arm to get rid of the excess water, being careful not to squish the RW,
-made a small hole and popped the cracked seed inside TIP DOWN and placed the rockwool in a humidity dome making sure to open it a few times a day and keep that RH high,
-after about five days of waiting the seed emerged but things were going really slow... I also noticed that taproot had made a u-turn and was starting to grow UP,
-after two days I noticed that the tip of the taproot broke... not much, but still.

So basically I didn't do much with it, and once the cotyledons showed I placed the seedling under some 6500k cfl's (to assist with root production?)

TODAY I took a peak inside making sure to not touch the seedling itself and I noticed a rather peculiar sight:
the tip of the root has now started to grow seperate ways, it resembles a snakes tounge! (unless I must of made a mistake) So after a sigh of relief knowing that the root is healing I noticed that the cotyldeons have started to yellow... could that be a sign of lack of nutrients?

So my question arises: what should I now do? I'm really scared that the root will not be able to break the bottom of the rockwool and will once again start growing up. I don't think my seedling will take a second muck up again.

I was thinking of cutting as much rockwool as I can from the bottom to somehow aid the roots journey down by minimising the amount of medium it has to push through.
Or maybe just cut more bottom off and completely expose the bottom root and move the whole cube to a DWC system so that the water splashing will help the roots recognize what direction to grow to. The half of the cube would be just a support system for the seedling in the rockwool.

Thank you guys for your time and happy new year! (bit early for that)

Here are a few pictures. The lights are on a 24/0 schedule at the moment.

The cube itself is always damp, not wet. The PC box is just for the time being.

Roots divide after healing just like the tops do. My experience with RW sucked until I bought a seedling mat. How warm is it and is it where it can be humid?

Hey hotrodharley.

I had no idea roots divide at such an early stage, but that's one for the books. Only until I started experiencing problems did I find out that RW has a bad reputation among most growers.

Hmm... well it's around 26C/78F inside the humidity dome, so the RW is probably colder due to the moisture. I cover the plastic tray with cling film, which keeps the RH at 80%. i uncover it a few times a day to change the air.

Would you suggest to cut the bottom part of the rockwool off so that the taproot is exposed? I could then transfer it to the netpot.

Bumpty bump.

Gregor Eisenhorn said:

Would you suggest to cut the bottom part of the rockwool off so that the taproot is exposed? I could then transfer it to the netpot.

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I would wait if the top of the plant is alive. Myself.

hotrodharley said:

I would wait if the top of the plant is alive. Myself.

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Thanks harley for the help. The seedlings roots are recovering but they are still growing slowely.

I was wondering, what is you take on seedlings that have been stunted? Will they ever be able to recover and grow as if they have never been stunted? Or will they be slow growers till the end?

Gregor Eisenhorn said:

Thanks harley for the help. The seedlings roots are recovering but they are still growing slowely.

I was wondering, what is you take on seedlings that have been stunted? Will they ever be able to recover and grow as if they have never been stunted? Or will they be slow growers till the end?

Click to expand...

2 of the most potent plants I ever chopped were stunted. One by a ferret attack (twice in fact) and one that got forgotten for a week behind a planter.

Wow, do you have a pet ferret? I always wanted to have one. Anyway, so it seems like a good idea to ride this one and see how she recovers? If my plant is still going to be growing slow after recovery then I can always pull it out. Thanks man.

I was just thinking a good start in Eazy Plugs might eliminate possibilities of stunted growth. I'll see how this one goes.

Gregor Eisenhorn said:

Thanks harley for the help. The seedlings roots are recovering but they are still growing slowely.

I was wondering, what is you take on seedlings that have been stunted? Will they ever be able to recover and grow as if they have never been stunted? Or will they be slow growers till the end?

Click to expand...

I have had a lot of recent RW experience and I have came to the conclusion that once they break the cube in the slightest it's time to transfer, or the roots will go back into the cube or die back...I use dirt and don't water the first day or two letting the moisture from the cube excape into the surrounding soil. This slow drying of the soil makes the roots burst out in hopes of finding more water!
If your looking to go into DWC which if you read some of my other post I have way too much experience with, I would suggest not using RW...coco works well as does hydroton, or grows stones. Personally I would look into using an aero misting for seed starting or dwc after seeds pop with no or low nutes and plenty of aeration! RW does well for water retention but water movement is horrible, and I fear in a dwc will be come anaerobic with out air penetration.

Hey Buzz, thanks for the input.

I've seen a lot of people use aero cloners with fantastic success, but I just didn't really think of buying one earlier on. Next time I start DWC I'll try using some coco plugs/rapid rooters etc. and see which one produced the best results. Although I've heard that those plugs that already have some nutrients in them are the fastest at growing seedlings.

Gregor Eisenhorn said:

Hey Buzz, thanks for the input.

I've seen a lot of people use aero cloners with fantastic success, but I just didn't really think of buying one earlier on. Next time I start DWC I'll try using some coco plugs/rapid rooters etc. and see which one produced the best results. Although I've heard that those plugs that already have some nutrients in them are the fastest at growing seedlings.

Click to expand...

Yes they do work as long as it is very low nutes...like .5 - .5 - .5 look up diy aero coiners also very cheap to make...only problem is finding the correct timer for 1m on 5m off...usually run $80 or more .......I have have had a lot of success going right into dwc from seed...moving from Areo to DWC or Dirt seems there is always a shock period so be aware! This is the main reason I started going directly to DWC seeding.