Vertical Slab Growing*

Vertical 1
  1. Fill tank with pH 5.5 water. Attach a long piece of ½ inch hose to the pump.
Vertical 2
  1. Water each slabs with the hose; approximately 15-20 liters using side-to-side motion across the top to ensure good water spread. For every 6 slabs; refill tank as needed and adjust water back to pH 5.5
Vertical 3

  1. Wait for all slabs to drain (max 10-15 minutes). Discard the drain water.

    Some fine particles made of tiny inert rock may wash out of the slabs during this process. This is normal and will not adversely affect the plants or the growing system.

Vertical 4
  1. Mix nutrients for the tank (E.C. 1.5). Run continuous irrigation for 1-2 hours.
Vertical 5
  1. Insert the AO cubes with the plants. Run continuous irrigation 24/7. Continue this routine for about the first four weeks until the plant is well rooted into the slab. Immediately following transplanting, there will be no roots in the slab to slow the downward movement of water. So to achieve the best results, it is crucial that one waters continuously in the beginning.
Verticle 6
  1. During the first 7-10 days slowly increase the grow-nutrient strength to E.C. 2.4. To do this, add fertilizer 3 times to raise the concentration in the tank as follows: Day 3 - EC 1.8; Day 6 - EC 2.1; Day 9 – EC 2.4. Keep pH between 5.5 and pH 6.5. Once the plants are well rooted, switch the watering to 5 minutes OFF, 15 minutes ON 24 hrs/day. Increase nutrient strength if you see dull color leaves.
right way wrong way

Right Way (good water dispersion as shown by uniform blue color through the slab):

  1. Using a hose to wet up the slabs resulted in perfect water distribution (see blue area).
  2. Immediately following transplanting, there will be no roots in the slab to slow the downward movement of water. So to achieve the best results, it is crucial that one waters continuously in the beginning.

Wrong Way (bad water dispersion as shown by blue color through the slab):

  1. Wetting up a dry slab using only the dripper will result in very poor water distribution that will, in turn, prevent the plant from rooting.
  2. After planting, stopping the irrigation for longer than five minutes will prevent the plant from growing well because all the water will have settled at the very bottom of the slab.

 

Tips

  • Clean the filter once per week.
  • Change the tank water every 5-7 days.
  • Every 2 weeks, use the ½” hose to flush each slab from the top.

*The recommendations provided here are based on experiments performed at a Grodan facility using the Eco System™.