Newbie here saying hello

[shillamus]

I bought a big bag of black seeded simpson lettuce seeds from the hardware store.

They were easy to sprout in grow block on a tray and took root in severe hot weather in my outdoor system.. But the lettuce was really leafy

I want to find some real good iceberg or romaine seeds.

newbie.. GPS has said many times here.. the only way to learn is try
I am looking forward to my second year of growing

I believe hydropnic gardening will become more prevalent with climate change

[newhydro16]

Yes, from seed, Buttercrunch.
I had them in soil until I decided to try my hand at hydroponics, so I carefully pulled them and rinsed them. Have to admit, I have spent a lot more then I thought I would on getting going.
Water temp is a little low I have a heater ordered, and, GPS, I ordered a two bulb t5 light.

[GpsFrontier]

Hello newhydro16,
Growing your own produce hydroponically is all about being economical. Pot growers make $1,000 to $2,000 a pound for their product so they don't have to care about being economical. But if your going to grow produce, you need to think about being economical, everything from the choice of hydroponic system and how you design it, to the type of growing media, to how you test pH, the nutrients and pH adjusters you use, and especially your lighting. It's all about maximizing your resources, and minimizing your costs.

But don't be discouraged, you learn by doing, and you'll learn more about how to be economical as you go as well. Almost every new hydroponic gardener winds up spending much more than they need in the beginning. Most Hydroponic shop salespeople don't help you be economical much either. They aren't in the business of helping you be economical, their in the business of selling as much product as they can. So they try and convince people you have to have the best of everything. Some of the sales people don't even know much about hydroponics to begin with and only work there. I'm not saying that hydroponic shops and/or all the people that work there are crooks. But they do have an agenda, and that is to sell products so they can make money and stay in business.

So it takes time to learn what you don't actually need and what you do need, as well as sourcing out economical products, and how you can repurpose things to build hydroponic systems with. The first lesson in being economical is only buy what you have to at a hydroponic supply shop. General that means only nutrients, pH adjusters, pH drops, possibly growing media depending on what type your using, and only if you have to and your not using florescent lights artificial lighting. Manufactures typically feel if you add the word "hydroponics" to the product, it's automatically worth twice as much. Even when you have to buy from a hydro shop, when it comes to nutrients and artificial lighting there's often a big difference in price depending on where you buy from. Just because it's expensive doesn't make it better. It's all about sourcing out the right vendors.

The optimum water temperature for plants is between 68 and 75 degrees Fahrenheit. That's just the optimum temperatures, you can easily be a little above or below that without any problem. if the water temps start regularly going below 60, and/or above 82-84 you'll want to start worrying about it. Lettuce is a cool weather plant, so you'll want your water temps to be on the low end (under 80).

I don't know where you ordered your heater or lights from, but a inexpensive fish tank heater you can get at any pet supply place and can get for $10-$20 is all you need. You can even get them at Wal-mart in their pet supply section. T5 lights you can get at any hardware store like Home Depot and Lowe's for about $35-$40 for a 4 foot twin bulb fixture with the bulbs included.

P,S.
One twin bulb T5 wont cover more than a one foot wide area. The maximum coverage area would be 1 foot wide by the length of the bulb.

[newhydro16]

Thanks GPS,
Heater came yesterday, and while I know you don't recommend the cheaper testers, my ppm keeps dropping, so I think as long as I have the heater to install, Ill change my solution today. Its been about two weeks since I started the dwc.

[newhydro16]

Also, I'm finding conflicting numbers on the ppm for lettuce. One says 280-560,another 560- 840.
What are your thoughts?

[GpsFrontier]

Hello newhydro16,
I don't recommend using a EC/TDS/PPM meter at all unless you have money burning a hole in your pocket. It's a fun toy, but simply not necessary. As for the conflicting PPM ranges. This is part of the reason relying on EC/TDS/PPM is a mistake. First of all PPM will vary from one region of the world to another, and from one manufacture to another. EC is the standard, PPM is a conversion from EC, Each manufacture uses a different conversion. Second and the biggest reason I don't even use EC/TDS/PPM meters is there are so many variables that affect nutrient uptake and optimum EC/TDS/PPM values that it's impossible to list them all. Third there are hundreds and sometimes thousands of varieties of any particular plant. There are thousands of varieties of lettuce in particular. They all have different optimum EC/TDS/PPM ranges, and that's even before considering the environmental factors that will affect the optimum range as well. Relying on EC/TDS/PPM readings and charts is a mistake. The charts are just meant to be a general guideline.

But many people begin to rely on taking a measurement and think that as long as the readings are within the recommended range, their nutrients are good, as well as balanced. But nothing could be farther from the truth. Why do people think that? Because that's what the salespeople selling them the equipment tell them. They simply don't know how to tell when a plant is healthy or not by looking at it, and easier than learning to identify the signs of over and under feeding. So they just get used to using the EC/TDS/PPM meters as a crutch. When they use the meters as a crutch it takes much longer to learn to identify problems by looking at the plant. And looking at the plant is the only real way to tell if their healthy, as well as if their being over or under fed or not.

My recommendation is to fallow the nutrient manufactures mixing instructions, and mix them to about 80% strength. (10% to 25% for seedlings, 25% to 50% when they get a little bigger, then up to 75% to 100%). Once you begin to learn how the environmental factors like temperature, humidity, and even duration and and intensity of light will affect the nutrient uptake, then you may want to adjust the nutrient strength based on the environmental factors as well. Like even weaker during hot and/or dry conditions when the plants drink more water than take up nutrients. Or a little stronger in high humidity when the plants can't drink up water as easily etc.

A general rule is 80% strength is typically just fine, especially for plants that are light feeders like lettuce. If you don't know if a plant is a heavy feeder or not, then the EC/TDS/PPM charts will help you. The plant types with the higher ranges are heavier feeders, the plant types with the lower ranges are lighter feeders. Another sign is the color of the foliage. Plants with darker green foliage are typically heaver feeders than those with a lighter green foliage. One lettuce plant may have light green foliage, and another variety may have darker green foliage. The variety with the darker green foliage would be a heavier feeder than the variety with light green foliage.