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)

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.

2) 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 here.

3) 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.

4) Remove the Grodan plastic wrapping from around the smaller Gro-Block before inserting in the Big Mama.

5) Insert a bamboo stake in the Big Mama, then tie up the transplant to the stake.

6) 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!