When to start giving nutrients to new clones?

[tonyh]

I just transplanted 2 new clones (platinum OG and cookie frost) from their rockwool cubes into red solo cups filed with coco! I didn't rinse the coco before I transplanted which was probably a mistake but I watered them with distilled water (pH adjusted to 5.8) right after I put them in the cups. The ppm was tested at about 10. Is that normal? Should i be giving my plant some sort of nutrient already like calmag or micro/bloom? Also, how often should I be watering my plant? I have heard everyday but maybe less for clones with undeveloped roots? Thanks for the advice!!

Update: I just checked on them and the platinum OG is looking very droopy! It was not like this when I checked it a few hours ago. Could it be a transplant shock or overwatering? Maybe not enough nutes?

 

[Weasel]

Yeah they'll need some nutrients because there is nothing in the RW or the coco.
I'd give them around 50-100 ppm of veg nutes. The specific ppm amount isn't super important as long as it's very light.
Don't worry about the 10ppm reading. It's just meter error or whatever....
There are rooting nutrients for this type of situation, light nutes such as Thrive Alive, etc. I don't use them anymore I just use plain water with calmag added. The calmag base I use contains 2% N so it works fine as a veg nutrient for young plants. I run my grow on rainwater and I mix calmag into the reservoir in my veg room. I use that as is for all young plants. But any light veg nute watered down will be fine.
Do not water every day unless you are just talking a few dribbles around the edges. In reality you shouldn't have to water much at all within the first couple weeks except to touch up now and then.
Roots grow best when they are in quite dry conditions- only lightly moist. Conversly, overwatering is the number one killer of seedlings, and very young plants and clone cuttings in rockwool and coco absolutely can be overwatered and die because of it.
I find that roots grow best in RW/coco when it's about 10- 20% saturated- ie- very light and almost dry. It's a bit of a balancing act when they're this small. Later on when they develop a large root system you can't overwater.
Normally what I would do is just premix coco to the right moisture level using a light nute mix, and then they're pretty much good for the first couple weeks, with just little touchups around the edges and surface if they're drying there.

 

[tonyh]

Thank you for your comment! What do you mean by "meter error" ? It was only distilled water with pH down added. Was my meter suppose to read more than 10?

 

[Weasel]

Ok miscommunication. I mistakenly thought you meant it was plain water and were confused about why it said 10 ppm instead of zero.
Sometimes I get a reading of 10 or twenty on plain water but attribute it to meter error or contamination from the container.
So I'm still not sure what you meant by 'is this normal' but I think the answer is 'yes'.
Bottom line is- 10 ppm is almost a meaningless measurement its so slight.

 

[tonyh]

Ohh, gotcha! Thank you