First Tomato Setup

[JHazzardB]

Just uploading some pics of the stages of Buds since transplanting.

First and lowest cluster: yellow and small. they fail and fall off.

Second cluster up: Green and hasn't failed yet. Still holding on, but not expanding.

Third cluster at top: Green and expanding with a stem.

Weird side note, some clusters of buds have leaves that grow on the end...

[JHazzardB]

These are just shots to show the overall growth. I'm please with the new growth. I'm losing the baby leaves and have more sturdy new growth coming.

[JHazzardB]

Just posting an update. I'm having a ton of bud failure. The buds are not developing into flowers. They turn yellow and brown and die. About 1/4 of the clusters have done this so far. But growth has been okay and some plants are filling out nicely while some are curling up. I ordered some new tomato seeds so hopefully the ones that don't appreciate my setup for them will be replaced with another plant who will.

Background for bud failure:
Temperatures: 75F during the day and 63F at night.
Humidity: around 35-45%
Water: Now set for 15 minute run time every two hours. It was constant 18hrs on.
lights: hps and MH, 16/8hrs.
nutrients: Nutrients that MHP gardener recommended. Strength about 75%.
https://www.morgancountyseeds.com/st...&productId=487
https://www.morgancountyseeds.com/st...&productId=475
Epsom Salt picked up from Target.

Not the prettiest tomatoes, but it's a learning experience for me. Thanks for looking!

[GpsFrontier]

How have you been doing to try and pollinate the flowers?

[JHazzardB]

Hey GPS! Thank you for replying to the thread

The buds haven't turned in to flowers yet. There have been zero flowers just a bunch of buds. The buds are failing before they reach flower-hood. It makes me suppose night time temperatures or nutrients are to blame.

I also forgot to mention that my reservoir is heated to 71F.

[finewoodstudio]

Have been growing tomatoes indoors hydo now for 5 years. lot of what you have is correct but one glaring error. Here is what I shot for, and my tomatoes were planted 12/1/14 and are now flowering. I pollenate them with a electric tooth brush.

PH 5.8 - 6.2
EC 2.5
PPM 1600-2000
temp night 65, day 75
humidty 55-75%
lights on 6am - 9pm.
I do provide CO2 for more growth. not an issue for you.
lighting 2700K and 6500-7000K (red and blue spectrum).
water temp 70. (heat in winter, cooling in summer).

Your humidity is too low. also how much light in lumens are the plants getting? Need a meter, or lower the lighting which will increase the lumens. Are you pruning the plants? I do not know how large they are but lower leaves should always be removed upto the first fruit, but not a issue for you! Also a larger reservoir will buffer the swings in PH, EC, and temp.
Cheers, RS

[JHazzardB]

Thanks for the response finewood!

The lighting each 4x3 area has a HID lamp that hovers about 15" above the tallest plant. One section has a MH lamp thats about 6500K and the other has a HPS sodium lamp thats about 2700K. They are both rated at 400W I believe. I can probably look up the lumen ratings in a little bit but I believe for how big they are, they should have ample lighting.

Yesterday my humidity ranged from 30%-58%. I got my new Mylar roll in the mail yesterday so I will finish enclosing them today to trap in humidity.

I noticed your EC is run a lot higher than mine. My EC is normally around 1.6 with its highest around 1.95. I'm going to assume I need to bump it up? More food for all the buds?

As for the CO2, I have a small gas heater in the garage that only gets vented when the garage door goes up (don't worry, it's not poisoning me ) Do you think this would add CO2 or is it just CO? Does it matter?

I am pruning the plants. Suckers are removed and any leaves (i call them branches) that have dried up or dying get removed.