Hand Watering Big Mama

Top water Big Mama by hand

Do you want to skip using a container? Transplant a Gro-Block into the Big Mama Gro-Block. First start your seed or cutting in a Grodan Starter. Then place the seedling into a small 3" or 4" Gro-Block to make a transplant. Once you have a good transplant established, follow the directions below to grow a plant without a container. You can also buy a transplant in soil; just rinse off the soil a little before transplanting.

Shopping list

  • One Big Mama (8" Gro-Block)
  • A plant growing in a Gro-Block; ready to transplant (or in soil)
  • 10-12" plant saucer
  • Plant ties
  • Watering can
  • Plant nutrient
  • pH and EC meters
  • Bamboo stake (or similar)
Hand Watering 1
  1. Soak the Big Mama in pH 5.5 water for at least a 1/2 hour, as you would any Gro-Block. Remove the soaked Big Mama and let it drain. 
Hand Watering 2
  1. Make nutrient solution at pH 5.5 with EC around 1.5 for transplants. Flush through to waste by top watering with this solution using a watering can. Flush through with at least twice the volume size of the Big Mama. If you have a lot of Big Mamas that you need to condition, follow our instructions.
Hand Watering 3
  1. The Big Mama is now ready to use. Place it in a plastic saucer that is slightly bigger than the block (10-12" saucers work great). Remove some of the wool from the top of the Big Mama so that your Gro-Block can snugly fit in the Big Mama.
Hand Watering 4
  1. Remove the Grodan plastic wrapping from around the smaller Gro-Block before inserting in the Big Mama.
Hand Watering 5
  1. Insert a bamboo stake in the Big Mama, then tie up the transplant to the stake.
Hand Watering 6

  1. Make nutrient solution initially at EC 1.5 with a pH around 6.0. You shouldn't water for the first 

    3-7 days. Allow the transplant to start rooting into the Big Mama before watering. After that, a watering of every 2-3 days is sufficient in most situations while the plant is rooting in more. Once the plant is well established, then increase watering to once per day; giving enough water to just barely get any runoff. When plant starts flowering, you will need to switch to a Bloom solution. Increase EC gradually as the plant grows. You can also set up the Big Mama in a drip system for an even bigger plant, see instructions here.

    With a little set up, you can grow a good size plant cleanly and without a container!