Cuttings in rockwool dead after transplant to coir

[liquidcooled420]

Hey Everyone,

I am hoping someone might have some idea of what could be going on with this problem.

I have been using rockwool and coco coir for years and never had this problem. In the last month or so I have lost multiple batches of clones from transplanting.

The cuttings are rooted in 1.5" rockwool cubes, sublbc style, until they have nice white healthy roots. Then I transplant into 2 gal pots of coco. The next day after transplant they are all wilted or dead. The rockwool and coco is still moist and when i pull the cube out of the coco the roots still look white. I don' know what the hell is going on. There will be like 1 out of 10 cuttings that take just fine and don't wilt but almost all will be dead within 24 hours.

I have tried smaller pots of coco and still the same thing. They do just fine if transplanted into a 4" rockwool cube, but something wierd is going on. I know the coco is not to dry or to moist because I have done this process for years with no problems. Tried giving them low light and still the same thing

Anyone have any ideas?
Thanks

 

[_tessarecting]

You should transplant into 4x4's of coco instead of 2 gallons off the bat. It gets more oxygen and root development this way. It could use some perlite too. My guess is overwatering caused fusarium to kill your plants. You might want to sterilize your room and increase ventilation and air flow as well.

 

[Treetroit City]

Humidity change? Are they coming from a dome with high humidity to a lower humidity environment? That would do it...

 

[_tessarecting]

You could also check the conductivity of your coco and flush out salts if you need to.
It's sometimes a problem with coco...if its the case it would have shocked them to death

 

[Granger2]

After transplant, do you saturate the coco or just give a small amount of water?

 

[chronosync]

Is the coco a new brand? Sounds like toxicity

 

[Lester Beans]

Humidity change? Are they coming from a dome with high humidity to a lower humidity environment? That would do it...

^this would be my guess.

If not, I think the cubes are either wetter or dryer than the coco. Try to transplant according to the moisture level in the cubes. If they are soaked, soak the coco.

Going from a small light to a large one will make them melt as well.

What is the humidity differences?

 

[liquidcooled420]

Thanks for the replies.

_tessarecting, I did try 4x4 pots as well for the reason you said and still the problem. I am going to test the conductivity next because I don't know what else it could be.

Treetroit City, Lester Beans, They are staying in the same room as before transplant and they have been out of the dome for a few weeks. I wanted to make sure they were hardened off in case that was the problem. They are also under the same lighting fluorescent shop lights.

Granger2, I tried smaller amounts of water and soaked also. The weird thing is when i pull the dead cube out the rockwool cube hasn't lost any water, even if i only dampen the coco. At first I thought the coir was wicking the moisture out of the cube but it isn't.

chronosync, I have tried two new brands of coco both work great with my tomato greenhouse and keep in mind a few of the plants will transplant just fine with no signs of toxicity. Still, I suspect this is what is going on. I am going to test the salt levels and pick up some different coir and also some promix to see if I get different results.

I'll let y'all know how i make out. This is perplexing because I have used rockwool and coir for years without issues like this

 

[stoney917]

It could be choking them out.... Try not to cover bury the cube wet the Coco n dip the bottom 1/2 of the cube and just sit the cube on top.... Leave space to add more Coco to cover later.. another possibility could be not having enough roots I don't tp until it's got roots busting out not 1 or 2....

 

[liquidcooled420]

I'll try sitting them on top to see if it helps. They did have nice white roots coming out the sides and bottoms.

I just tested the runoff from a few pots with new unused coir and it was at 4000ppm using .5EC conversion. I never tested my new coir before so i can't say if this is normal but this is looking like the problem.

I remember years ago everyone said to flush new coco because of salts, but I though most brands today are pre-flushed. The brand I tested is Millennium Soils Coir which sells to large greenhouse growers. I will test the other brands I try to compare.

 

[Treetroit City]

I'll try sitting them on top to see if it helps. They did have nice white roots coming out the sides and bottoms.

I just tested the runoff from a few pots with new unused coir and it was at 4000ppm using .5EC conversion. I never tested my new coir before so i can't say if this is normal but this is looking like the problem.

I remember years ago everyone said to flush new coco because of salts, but I though most brands today are pre-flushed. The brand I tested is Millennium Soils Coir which sells to large greenhouse growers. I will test the other brands I try to compare.