Spoke to The Auburn Garden Club 
the other day. It’s an annual talk I have been giving for the last 10 years or so. It’s always about what’s new and exciting in the garden center world. This year we discussed starting seed indoors. What with our foray into indoor gardening we had all sorts of fun items that most of the audience knew nothing about. Have you seen rock wool cubes before?
Rockwool is made out of rock that has been heated and spun into various shapes. Considered organic it is used in commercial horticulture for starting seed and cuttings. I had never used this stuff until this last year. My seed success rate when using this is almost 100%. It is used in commercial horticulture and it’s huge in indoor gardening.
Much less messy than using soil less mixes. You can grab the cubes and see the roots coming out the sides, even before they are well rooted. My audience was quite interested in it and I sold out of the dozen or so slabs that I brought with me. While the indoor growing crowd has been buying this for years, my garden club members felt like they we’re discovering this for the first time.
After having been in the horticulture business for 30 some years, it’s fun to see and learn about new things. There is all sorts of this stuff out there. Even if you are familiar with this, or have used it in your operation, most amateur gardeners don’t know about it. There is all sorts of stuff like this to be found. You just got to know where to look.
Its all about the magic and fun.
Comment by Don — February 26, 2010 @ 3:21 pm
Intriguing! But I’m confused. Some websites say to insert a soilless mix into the rockwool. Are you propagating seeds in straight rockwool? What about the warnings that pH or the rockwool pots could shoot up two points if they are sitting in water? You should put on a demo at the nursery!
Comment by fred hoffman — February 26, 2010 @ 7:09 pm
For cuttings or seed starting, Oasis cubes are more user-friendly (they’re inert) and half the cost. Never liked rockwool.
Comment by big kumara — February 27, 2010 @ 8:00 pm
I also have used rockwool, but must tell you that it is not biodegradable and will spend almost forever in the landfills. My conscience just won’t let me use it any longer.
Comment by Kristi — March 9, 2010 @ 9:07 am