Brown tips?

[Rye]

Taken tonight, I trimmed the Kale before dinner.

[GpsFrontier]

Hello Rye,
Water softeners that use salt still leave residual amounts of salt in the water. That salt is toxic to plants. Also I forgot to ask, by your reply it sounds like you think your water source may still be high in iron even after going through the water softener? Or do you mean high in iron before going through the water softener?

All you need to check both the water temperature and air temperature at the plants foliage is a simple $2 nutrient%20Solution%20Temperature/thermometer.jpg" target="_blank">glass aquarium thermometer. The new pictures don't look any better, most of the plant's look like nothing but stems. Honestly it looks like something ate them, perhaps even grasshoppers that can sometimes get in the house.

Are you saying the water level is 1/2 inch below the the baskets? Why does the rockwool look so wet/saturated if it's not touching the water? I attached three images of what I was specifically looking at.

[Rye]

I'm sorry, I meant high in iron before the filter.

The plants look like they are all stems because that's the kale and I cut it two to 3 times a week and have been since mid May. I cut about 16 cups a week of it. Honestly the kale is doing fairly well. It's the Romaine that started with curling tips and brown rot at the ends

The tanks you see now are a second adaptation. The first was a board with a long shallow tank under it. The rock wool got really wet there and stayed wet which is partly why I moved to these tanks. Yes the water is 1/4-1/2 inch under the baskets.


I'll locate a thermometer next shopping trip to Wally World.

[Rye]

I did do some additional reading in the traditional gardner forums..first, I think you are right, the brown tips were from Calcium defficnety as that has cleared since changing the thanks, though, the damage is done.

second, curled leaves meaning too high a nitrogen. So my mix was too strong. I'll need to make notes that 5 tsp for 3 gallons is the next try.

Last, my lettuce never grew hearts. They bolted so you are again, correct. The temperature is too high on the grow table for Romaine. The chard and Kale are fine, esp after raising the light up 10 inches. However it's still above 70 degrees and thus the romaine is going to bolt.

Is this why hydro growers typically grow bunch lettuce like butter crisp?

[GpsFrontier]

Hello Rye,
I'm glad your plants are getting better. I was waiting to hear about your pH levels and if it was fluctuating, as well as about the actual water and air temperatures before making final conclusions and recommendations. I don't like making conclusions about the specific cause of a problem without having the important information first because unknown factors can make a big difference. So I like to have all the pieces of the puzzle first.

Most lettuce plants are light feeders. I cant say for sure but I would assume kale is a heavier feeder than common lettuce because of the darker green color of the leaves and stems. When growing plants in the same system there are compromises and trade offs, so one or more plant may suffer more than others if their needs are different. I prefer butter crunch lettuce, but you can grow anything hydroponically if you provide the right conditions (both nutritional ans well as environmental).