Growing chilli peppers in rockwool |

January 27

Cultivate chillies in rockwool

in collaboration with fatalii.net

One of many methods to cultivate in hydroponics provides for the use of a substrate of rock wool, versatile and manageable, which offers the possibility to monitor the best the seedlings.
This article aims to help novice farmers start to their crops.

Start Indoor

Such as vermiculite, expanded clay and other inorganic materials, the rock wool is a medium neutral and inert that does not contain any nutritious, but with a high power of absorption and maintenance of the water.
As the name suggests the rock wool is made up of rock melted by the heat and then solidified fiber inside special containers, which is then cut into practical forms that our garden gives us confidence as the classic plate, the cubes in various sizes and panels.
It 's important to remember that only the rock wool marketed specifically for use ortobotanico can be used in the cultivation, and that the one sold for other purposes, for example as an insulator, is treated with chemicals and oils that would kill the plants.
The choice of this material is also dictated by the fact that even when it is water-saturated maintains a large amount of air between its fibers, thus averting the danger of rotting in the roots; also is a substrate sterile, that does not seem pleasing in mushrooms weeds, lightweight and easy to handle and not dirty.
Obviously there is another side of the coin, for example the fact that a neutral medium requires constant monitoring of pH values, but also the need to stick to some simple rules.

Security

Although the theory that the rockwool would carcinogen has been denied by some, it is good to take precautions to avoid the irritant effect that this material is handled when dry.

Note again that is a good idea to spray it with water before handling, wear gloves and avoid breathing the dust, because the fibers have a mechanical action on skin and respiratory tract that can cause redness, itching, and irritation.

Flavor

Well, how do we established a short introduction to popular prejudices about the taste of the products produced hydroponically.
Many people associate the classic tomato "that does not know anything" or water for growing vegetables fuorisuolo, forgetting that the factor that most affects the taste is genetic selection.
The economic product in the supermarket it is usually a fast cultivar that matures quickly, making sure the pay received for fruit and vegetables to see beautiful, disease resistant and transportation, are often picked green and ripened in dark containers.
It 'obvious that with this in mind we will never have the dish tasty but bland vegetable delicacies, they are grown in hydroponics or in soil better.
A plant grown with skill and care by a good gardener will have an aroma hydroponically with nothing to envy to the bio organic cultivation, ready in half the time.

pH and EC

If you have decided to become a good hydroponic grower the first thing to worry about is the nutrition of plants: to find out if you are working properly is crucial to monitor pH and EC.

The symbol pH (potentia hidrogenii) indicates the degree of acidity of the nutrient solution. A value of 7.0 determines a neutral solution, while with a pH of 0.0 would be totally acidic and with pH 14 totally basic.
In cultivation on earth the optimal value is around 7, but in rockwool is preferable to a value between 5.5 and 6.5, so that nutrients are easily assimilated by the roots.
With a pH below 5, the plants begin to suffer, and to 4.5 in the roots are irreparably damaged.

CEs means electrical conductivity, or electrical conductivity, and allows to measure the amount of dissolved salts through the ability of a solution as an electrical conductor: Distilled water has an EC value of 0.0.
For adults it is advisable to keep the chillies EC between 1.4 and 1.8, while the newly germinated seedlings and cuttings must be kept within a narrow range between 1.0 and 1.2.

Noting values above 2.0 have a clear indication of sovrafertilizzazione, also verified by the symptoms of the plant, such as rolling and necrosis of leaves, which are brown and dead ends. Using an inert substrate such as rock wool, we are certain that in no way alter the values that interest us.

Equipment Needed

In light of what has just said are you absolutely must get a meter and a pH of EC (or a combo version) that will allow us a perfect control of the nutrient solution, without them, failure is virtually assured because it would be impossible to counteract fluctuations in values . The brand-cost and reliable advice is-Milwaukee.

Equally essential are the nutrients, hydroponic-specific: no reason to ever use fertilizers generic or designed for other substrates or contaminants in the good crop in the ground (ox blood, egg shells, ash).
In fact, hydroponics, a type of crop being "clean" are absent from fungi and bacteria useful for the decomposition of these fertilizers that end up rotting.
To keep under control the pH is necessary to be equipped also of special solutions conditioners, calls usually pH down and pH up, even if usually the tap water tends to be too basic for via of the elements dissolved in it, thus making necessary the only use of a product acidifier (pH down).
For the determination of the various products and get yourself some dosing graduated pipette or syringe, making sure they have a scale comprising the milliliters.
Peri nutrients, the pH down-up and dosing my brand reference is General Hydroponic Europe.

Water Quality

Initially will be well to determine the water quality at the disposal, hard (with high percentages of calcium and magnesium) or soft.
Hard water has a high pH and EC: You should check it regularly, and lower values with the pH down, but you can save time and effort with a tank capacity (about 40 liters) that will be enough for a week and a half / two.
In rare cases of water with large concentrations of carbonates can be really difficult to maintain the pH stable, but can be remedied tooling up with a reverse osmosis filter.

The nutrient solution

As we said the rockwool does not contain any nutrients, so the farmer will be given to what the plant needs water by adding a controlled pH.
The choice of fertilizers have to read labels and see that the set of primary nutrients NPK containing the particulars, or nitrate, phosphorus and potassium (Nitrate, Phosphorus and Kalium).
Also a good product will signal the presence of all the secondary nutrients useful.
In my personal experience I particularly appreciated the three-component fertilizers, made from just three bottles each containing a different formula, two of which refer to a different stage of growth and the third rich in trace elements.
Using this type of fertilization is possible to have complete and direct control over every stage of plant development: rooting, vegetative stage, flowering stage, fruit production.

In the case of chillies at times the latter stages may overlap, because it happens that the plant continues to flourish even during the growth of the fruits.
Each stage has specific needs, for which in the rooting increases the need for phosphorus, in the vegetation that of nitrates and potassium, during the fruiting must administer more potassium and decrease the nitrates to keep the leaves healthy.
Many hydroponic fertilizers are designed to feed plants for medical use and emphasize the very stage of flowering, with a focus on active resulting in our case, however, what interests us is the result, it is good to start with a half dose than indicated on the label, the EC measure and verify that everything is normal.
Then we can go ahead and fix the pH.
It 's highly recommended to keep track of what we do, so you will not be forced to proceed by trial having scored the right combinations and quantities suitable.
If you were to grow during the pH adjustment always remember to do so gradually, too sudden a change would ruin the solution acidity and damage the plant.

Preparing the wool

To work well and maintain their own characteristics, the wool must be conditioned before use, then prepared a solution of water with a pH stabilized around the value of 5.2, then soak the rockwool and let it soak 24 hours.
This will ensure that water penetrates into every fiber and stabilize the pH of the substrate. Now let drain squeezing if necessary, and then wetted with nutrient solution.

Watering

The rock wool can be used in systems Ebb and flow or with dripper, but not in Deep Water, where the roots rot or suffocate.
The best choice remains the combination rockwool / dripper, where the solution can be administered from one to multiple times in one day, in such quantity as to drain about 10-20% of the solution itself to each watering so as to eliminate unwanted deposits of salts.
Every one or two weeks you get wet seedlings with pure water at pH stable, to rinse any residue.
Obviously you can do all'annaffiatura hand, according to time and criteria similar to those of cultivation land. In rooting can help dry a little cube of rock wool, because the roots grow in search of more water.

The preparatory phase of cultivation in rockwool requires a bit 'of work will be performed several measurements, so that you know well, in advanced stages, what are they and how should they be the solution values.
The samples collected with a syringe from the cube will be a bit 'different from the solution in the tank, with a higher pH and EC lower.
An EC high will mean that there is an unwelcome deposit of salts that must be immediately rinsed away with pure water at pH stabilized.
A high pH instead tells us that water has not been adequately or sufficiently correct decanted prior to use and have made basic carbonates.

Transplant

One of the major advantages of the chosen substrate is that we can directly take the cube where the seedling has germinated and simply toss it into a larger cube, which in turn will be placed on the plate.
No dirt and no shock to the plant then. Immediately after transplantation is good practice to deliver more phosphorus and less nitrates to encourage rooting, while keeping in mind that nothing should ever lose all or deficiencies arise.

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