New drain pipe NFT/EF lettuce system

[Kerbouchard]

Thanks, fintuckyfarms! I'm having a lot of fun! Yours are really looking great, too!

So I finally put a little effort in on determining age on some of these. I've not been all that consistent, but am now trying to include number of days based on my initial pics the day they were added. I also double-checked the seed packages and slots in the system to get the names more precise.


Lettuce on the right is mostly 30 days in the system


Buttercruch, 30 days in


Oak Leaf, 30 days in

So far I only have two real issues:
1. A couple of the plants are a bit wilted. The leaves aren't firm as they should be. Roots are white, nutrient TDS, pH, and temp seem fine. Right now I'm thinking the two bubbler hoses need an airstone, since they're producing pretty large bubbles. Also, I haven't flushed and re-mixed new solution yet, and it's been about 30 days.

2. I have a critter of some sort. We have a lot of banana slugs here (crazy huge), but no slime trails so I'm thinking they haven't found the lettuce yet. The chew marks look to be from a small rodent, but my tubes are raised about three feet off the ground. Not sure if field mice or shrews would do this. Only one plant affected so far:

Something's eating on this one

[fintuckyfarms]

They all look yummie! Thanks for posting picts, it just gets me more excited to get going on my system and and the way some of the plants are growing, we are running out of time. Could it be birds eating the lettuce?

[GpsFrontier]

They look good, makes me want a nice salad. Which ones are limp? I also notice you have seedlings in the same system with the 30 day plants. The nutrient strength may be to strong for the seedlings, or weak for the larger plants. I don't know how much volume of water (nutrient solution) your using for plants, but 4 weeks is the max length of time I have ever gone between changes myself. I was about 3/4 gallons of nutrient solution per plant. But when they got to be about the size of your 30 day plants, I upped the nutrient strength from about 1/2 strength, to about 3/4 strength, and changed the nutrients about every 2 weeks. Though all my plants were the same size. regardless, your plants look pretty healthy from the pictures.

[Kerbouchard]

It ended up that only one plant was affected by going limp. It was the last plant near the overflow in the more mature tube, and has since been removed. Roots looked the same as all the others, nothing else seemed unusual. Even the plant right next to it was fine.

I finally did a full nutrient replacement (20 gallons) and cleaned out the reservoir and pump. Flow rate is higher now as a result of the pump cleaning.

Yes, there is a mixture of young and mature plants in the same system. So far they seem okay, but it makes me wonder how to properly handle rotation. If I start some new ones now to help insure a continual harvest, it sounds like I should have two systems: one with 1/2 to 3/4 strength nutrients, and one with full.

All of the plants look amazingly healthy right now. No colored edges on the leaves, full heads, etc. on all 25 remaining. But the roots are looking a bit more brown than I would have expected. This seemed to start about ten days ago. Everything else seems fine: strong leaves, no signs of mold or algae, reservoir is clear (smells "organic"), temp of the solution remains cool to the touch (never close to warm). I started adding a bit of hydrogen peroxide (3% with H2O2 and purified water) two days ago even though I have an air pump rated for 20-60 gallons. Any other thoughts, or am I over-fretting?


Roots are a little discolored, not sure why yet

Everything else looks great, and we're starting to pull leaves off to eat!


Oak Leaf, 36 days


Buttercrunch, 36 days


Lots of green!

[GpsFrontier]

Hello Kerbouchard,
I'm nit really sure what to make of the brownish roots at this point. It could be nothing, or the beginning of something. The nutrients themselves have a tendency to tint/color the older roots. Though I'm not sure what organic smells like, so I'm a little confused there. But if the roots don't feel slimy, and the foliage is nice and healthy, I would be leaning toward nothing to worry about yet. From the pics they all looks real good to eat. Even that Oak Leaf one looks like it has a nice deep red color to it.

As for rotating crop, I would build a small water culture system for the seedlings until they get big enough to put in the main system (pictures attached). Using just a short flat storage tote with a lid, an air pump, and air stones work nicely. Use the same baskets you use for the main system, so you don't hurt the roots when you transplant. But place them as close as you can in the water culture system to make use of as much space as you can. It wont matter that they are so close, you'll be transplanting them before plant size becomes a problem.

[socaldan]

Does your pipe sag?

I am fixing to build a system and I have narrowed it down to the drain pipe - but it seems that its flexibility may be a problem. You have some good stands (and thanks for the great photos) and I am wondering how that is working out. And, would saw horses do?

dan