Transplanting from EZcloner to 5 gal eb and grow troubles.

This is my second run with an eb and grow system. Im transplanting from an EZ Cloner right into 5 gal buckets of Hydroton. Clones are about 8'' and a healthy 10-12'' root mass. I flood 3 times a day. I keep my feeding consistent with where they left off in the cloner. 400 ppm. I bump it up to 450 in the system. For the first two weeks, the plants are not responding well. You can tell they are probably a little shocked. Does anyone else have experience with transplanting into an eb and grow system? Im wondering if cloning into grow blocks would make for a better transition. For the second time now, it just looks like they are super shocked and its going take a few weeks to bounce back.

Your thoughts are correct! Transplanting into tron can take time and does work but your plants
are building a root mass and it shocks them a bit. Now with growdan theres alot less stress and
its faster to transplant.

Yes, the rockwool works very well. I start clones in 1" blocks then transplant them to 3" blocks once they've sprouted good roots. I condition the rock wool by soaking it for 24-48 hours in a mild nutrient solution (see chart below) before putting in the cutting or transplanting to the 3" cube.

When inserting them into the buckets with hydroton I first fill up the buckets to the lower of the two flanges around the outside top of the inner buckets. Then I turn on the system and make sure the flood level is just below the level of the hydroton. This allows the roots to drop from the block to seek the water but does not soak the hydroton with every feeding. This is important because a constantly soggy block of rockwool at the base of the stalk is not good.

Once I've got the hydroton level just above the filled water line, it's super easy to simply set the blocks on the hydroton and using an old pitcher (or a hand scoop) pour in more hydroton around the block. Once I cover the block it's done. Way easy and the plants have a stable root ball to work from. Hardly any shock at all. Takes a few days for them to drop the roots and start uptaking nutrients, so I usually bottom-water the rockwool block before placing them in the system (I use an inverted Frisbee to hold a bit of R/O water and dip the block into it for a few seconds, allowing the water to wick up into the rockwool).

Here's the rockwool soak (and feeding schedule) I utilize:
View attachment 2274075

Awesome, thanks for the help. So, sounds like I should make a flood and drain table for the blocks? I havnt used grow blocks ever. Would you still use the EZclone for the initial cuttings until roots show, or would you put your cutting right into the block?

Use the ezcloner to root them them move them put them in a 4x4 blocks on a flood table for vegging, once veg is complete move
the 5gal buckets for bloom

Right on, Thank You