Hydroponics Struggling

[BrianGSDTexoma]

I am really struggling this time with my hydroponics. I redid both basils three times now. You can see little green inside pods but they never grow. I am using water from dispensers. My ph is 5.8. I used citric acid to adjust. The ec was about 1000 and raised it to 1500. I am using a older liquid aero garden. The top cap was broken and been exposed to air. I wonder if this could be the problem? In the past this unit has done great. I about to bring my smaller unit out and try that. All I really want is Thai Basil.

 

[JC in GB]

I am really struggling this time with my hydroponics. I redid both basils three times now. You can see little green inside pods but they never grow. I am using water from dispensers. My ph is 5.8. I used citric acid to adjust. The ec was about 1000 and raised it to 1500. I am using a older liquid aero garden. The top cap was broken and been exposed to air. I wonder if this could be the problem? In the past this unit has done great. I about to bring my smaller unit out and try that. All I really want is Thai Basil.

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Not sure what you mean by water from dispensers. If you aren't using filtered water, you may be getting too much calcium in the water. That will bind to your nutrients and create sparse growth. What nutrients are you using?

JC

 

[BrianGSDTexoma]

Not sure what you mean by water from dispensers. If you aren't using filtered water, you may be getting too much calcium in the water. That will bind to your nutrients and create sparse growth. What nutrients are you using?

JC

I'm using the dispensaries that are located in a parking lot. It is filtered and uses reverse omasis. Water should be good. I'm using the liquid fertilizer made by Aerogarden but it came with a broken cap and it's a few years old now. I ordered the A B ones that come with those hydro gardens. Have used this thing twice now and it's always worked really good I'm thinking it's got to be that fertilizer.

 

[bmudd14474]

pineywoods might be able to help.

 

[Chris_in_SoCal]

Are you feeding the plants? This stuff does wonders.

 

[SmokinAl]

I am really struggling this time with my hydroponics. I redid both basils three times now. You can see little green inside pods but they never grow. I am using water from dispensers. My ph is 5.8. I used citric acid to adjust. The ec was about 1000 and raised it to 1500. I am using a older liquid aero garden. The top cap was broken and been exposed to air. I wonder if this could be the problem? In the past this unit has done great. I about to bring my smaller unit out and try that. All I really want is Thai Basil.

View attachment 719349

With little seedlings like yours, you need a lower EC. I would start out with an EC of around 500. When we start seeds we start with just PH’d non-chlorinated water. When they get about your size we add 5ml of A & B to 4 liters of water. Even for full grown flowering plants our EC never gets above 1500. For hydro the light is more important than the fertilizer. Stronger light means bigger plants. Good luck,
Al

 

[JC in GB]

I'm using the dispensaries that are located in a parking lot. It is filtered and uses reverse omasis. Water should be good. I'm using the liquid fertilizer made by Aerogarden but it came with a broken cap and it's a few years old now. I ordered the A B ones that come with those hydro gardens. Have used this thing twice now and it's always worked really good I'm thinking it's got to be that fertilizer.

Could be the ferts. I use General Hydroponics Flora series nutes and have always gotten great results. If you are using RO water, calcium shouldn't be a p[roblem. SmokinAl also suggested your EC level may be too high for the seedlings. I agree with him on that. That is pretty high for seedlings. I usually use 400 PPM for seedlings and don't go up to over 1000 until the flower/fruiting stage has been well established. Wish you best of luck fixing this.

JC

 

[BrianGSDTexoma]

With little seedlings like yours, you need a lower EC. I would start out with an EC of around 500. When we start seeds we start with just PH’d non-chlorinated water. When they get about your size we add 5ml of A & B to 4 liters of water. Even for full grown flowering plants our EC never gets above 1500. For hydro the light is more important than the fertilizer. Stronger light means bigger plants. Good luck,
Al

Great to hear from you Al. I sure been missing you! I think I need to just start over. I got the A & B coming soon. This the first time running into trouble after buying good water. My tap water has an EC of 1200! I have ran two in the past and they did great.

 

[SmokinAl]

I have been growing hydro in DWC buckets, using the GH Flora trio like JC. But I always start my plants in an AG then transfer to the DWC system. Hydro gets the best results, but it also gets the worst failures. I’ve gone to bed with beautiful plants & the next day they were dying. You have to be real careful with root rot, that is a problem here. It is impossible to keep the water temps below 80 without a chiller, but it is a fun hobby.
Al