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#1
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Yikes. Made a mistake
I have a very simple nft system that I have grown peppers, basil, kale, etc. This year I put some tomatoes in it and they quickly outgrew the setup so I transferred them to 5 gallon buckets with a cage. I made the same solution I use for my nft and have an air bubbler in the water. The problem is that all 8 of my tomato plants have drooping leaves. I'm afraid they are about to die. Is it the difference in light? I didn't think that light would affect them this fast. The leaves are still green, just all limp. My ppm is 650.
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#2
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Hello sander,
First is this supposed to be another temporary system? As you already found out trying to grown them in the NFT system, they will quickly outgrow this five gallon bucket system as well. 1. When you transplanted them into the buckets, did yo damage any of the roots? 2. What are the water and air temperatures? 3. Do you have any pictures of the air pump and stones with bubbles coming out? 4. Does the blubber make the water look like water boiling at a heavy rolling boil? 5. Do the leaves droop when in direct sunlight, and perk back up when their in the shade again? 6. What's the water level in the buckets in relation to the baskets? |
#3
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The roots on a few of the plants were together but I carefully separated them.
They are all in my basement, so I suspect the temperature is about 68 degrees I will get a picture, the bubblers seem to be working well, in fast they have more bubbles than my nft system, which doesn't have a bubbler. I had just moved the plant to the window to see if natural light would help. I had the water level about 2" under the baskets, but added some more this afternoon to see if that would make a difference. Quote:
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#4
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Hello sander,
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#5
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My plants were about 8" apart in the nft, so only the very ends of the roots were intertwined. When I say they "outgrew", I mean height wise. I can only raise my light on my nft to about 36"
I meant that my nft didn't have a bubbler and now that I have a bubble stone in each bucket, therefore I would think that oxygen deficiency would not be the issue. The water level the the baskets was about 1" underneath. I was maybe 2" under the baskets in the buckets until I added water today. I had the plants under t5's in my nft system, and put them right next to the nft. I will add another t5 above the tomatoes tomorrow |
#6
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Hello sander,
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I'm trying to determine if the drooping is most likely due to root damage, lack of moisture, and/or lack of oxygen to the roots, as well as what the cause is. There is a possibility that it could also be related to water stress due to nutrient concentrations. But that isn't very likely at this point, and I need to rule out the most common possibilities before I go looking for others. The answers to the questions will tell me what's going on, but you haven't answered my questions. I used to spend a lot of time explaining all the possibilities and going through all the scenarios. But I just don't have that kind of time to spend hours writing a book for each post anymore. So now I just ask specific related questions to determine which way to go, and what to look at. So far out of my 6 questions this is what you've told me at this point. 1. When you transplanted them into the buckets, did you damage any of the roots? Don't know, undetermined. You tried to be careful. 2. What are the water and air temperatures? You guess about 68 degrees 3. Do you have any pictures of the air pump and stones with bubbles coming out? Not yet, so I cant' make any determinations. 4. Does the blubber make the water look like water boiling at a heavy rolling boil? In case you couldn't get pictures of the pump and air bubbles coming out of the air stones. I asked what it looks like, But I still don't know anything here because you didn't answer the this question either, so again I still cant' make any determinations about this possibility. 5. Do the leaves droop when in direct sunlight, and perk back up when their in the shade again? Not answered. You've told me things like when you put them in the sun, and you use T5's, but you haven't answered the actual question. 6. What's the water level in the buckets in relation to the baskets? You said originally it was about 2 inches below the baskets, and I think now it's about 1 inch below the baskets. Fallow up questions 1. How much of the plants root system was underwater before, and now? Not answered 2. Also how is the growing media getting any moisture? Not answered. Last edited by GpsFrontier; 04-05-2016 at 07:41 PM. |
#7
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Well good news. All the plants recovered. Perhaps it was a little root damage or just shock. I learned to not move plants once the roots really start growing
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#8
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Part of being successful growing hydroponically is learning from your mistakes. But you cant learn from them if you don't know what they are. Transplanting plants isn't a problem if you know what the potential problems are and how to avoid them. You can even cut off roots intentionally, but knowing how much is OK, and knowing what to expect when you do is the important part. Your problem may have even very well been mostly related to your hydroponic system design in the first place rather than the transplant itself. Even if a significant amount of the roots were damaged, knowing how that will affect the plant and why, as well as how to compensate for it to reduce stress on the plant would have been valuable knowledge for you in the future. But since you refused to let me help you, you still don't have any understanding of what went wrong, and/or what you were looking at. Good luck.
Last edited by GpsFrontier; 04-07-2016 at 08:03 AM. |
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