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childswonder

need advice! all plants but cherry tomatoes and cuke work in dft

childswonder
15 years ago

Hello,

I have a 4" PVC deep flow (15minute flood, 45 minutes drain cycle) system using flora nova bloom at 1000ppm TDS. Lights are fluorescent at about 2000Lumens/sq ft. I have good quality plants with high yields for basil, kale, blueberry, parsley, beets, etc.

However, the cherry tomatoes and cucumbers in my system are a completely different story and I need your help to figure out why. The tomato branches at the first 1.5 feet are over extended (each is about 2 feet long) with droopy leaves that are weighting down the branches and are turning brown, curling inwards and dying from the ends and edges. The top 1.5 feet of leaves are healthy, branches are short and pointed upwards towards the light. Flower bloom but fall off at the stems after closing - I have one 4mm sized tomato to speak of.

The cucumbers are more stable but their leaves curl inwards and turn a crispy light tan - the leaves are stable and dont die but they are about 2-3 times smaller in area than what I would expect from the outdoors. Female cucumber babies flower then fall of and the fruit rots and doesn't grow over a month.

Any suggestions? The plants as a whole have short happy white roots - while the tomato and cuke roots are overextended (Several feet). It is possible this was because my system ran at 200ppm in miracle grow for the first month. Also I notice that plants are droopier with a longer watering cycle. Pollination if any is done by a fan and leaves are pruned at 3 feet height.

Any suggestions? Thanks in advance.

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