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kbar87

help, what am i doing wrong?

kbar87
9 years ago

This is day 3 of my grow and my cherry tomato plant looks like its about to die. What am i doing wrong?

Comments (18)

  • 73dave
    9 years ago

    Can you tell us a little more ? Is this a DWC system ?

    How about your nutrients and ph ? Do you have an air

    stone ? What is the water level in the tub ?

  • kbar87
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    DWC, air stone, ph is about 6. I drained some water out so that there is only a half inch of water in the bottom of the cups

  • hex2006
    9 years ago

    The plant will need time to convert its root system over to hydro, i`m guessing it was growing in soil until 3 days ago.

  • 73dave
    9 years ago

    OK, good. The roots should only be partly in the water.
    As the other poster said it may be transplant shock.
    Your nutrient EC or PPM is OK ? Not too high or low ?

  • kbar87
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    nutrients are good, so most likely it is transplant shock my other 2 plants are looking like this, So what should i do?

  • kbar87
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Should I shade it from the sun for a few days?

  • hex2006
    9 years ago

    Dont give it full sun until its root system is established. A proper netpot would be better than a cup with holes in the bottom, ideally you want the water level just below the net pot, the idea is the bubbles from the airstone will burst at the surface and keep the hydroton in the netpot uniformly damp. A cup with closed sides doesnt work the same way :)

  • kbar87
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    so buy net pot, hydroton and new plants and start over?

  • hex2006
    9 years ago

    You could perforate the cup to simulate a netpot, what kind of medium is in the cup? its not easy to tell from the pic.

  • kbar87
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    pea gravel

  • hex2006
    9 years ago

    I have some toms in big planters filled with pea gravel and it works fine.Mine get watered from the top using runoff from the other setups. The holes in the cup will need to be fairly small to prevent the gravel falling out so i`d put as many holes in the cup as you can manage. Havng holes just in the bottom will be quite restrictive from an aeration/flow-through point of view compared to a normal netpot.

  • grizzman
    9 years ago

    Another concern with just putting holes in the cup is: are there enough and are they big enough the root system can grow out of them?

  • hex2006
    9 years ago

    Another option it is to use a chunk of pool noodle for the plant and ditch the cup and gravel altogether.

  • kbar87
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    I got net pots and and hydroton, so I'm starting over now. Can you elaborate on the the pool noodle? Just put the plant in the center hole of the noodle? Will rain affect my solution and water level? I live in mississippi and we're getting into hurricane season.

  • hex2006
    9 years ago

    Pool noodle cut into 1"-1.5" sections, punch a hole in the middle with a screwdriver, make a cut with sharp scissors from the outside edge to the hole so you can open the disk to get the plant stem in.
    The noodles here are around 67mm diameter, the holes in the system lid want to be 54mm so the noodle gets a good grip.

    Rain will dilute the res but i`d be more worried about the plants (and system) being blown away :)
    If you have any toms in soil you can take cuttings from you`ll save yourself a bit of time. The cuttings will root in around 4-5 days in a glass of water.

    This post was edited by hex2006 on Fri, Jul 18, 14 at 15:29

  • kbar87
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Should My roots look this color?
    This is my cucumber plant i just transplanted it about a week ago? They were white when I transplanted it, Is this just transplant shock?

  • grizzman
    9 years ago

    The brown ones are dead roots (or dying). There are new white ones though.
    How does the plant itself look?
    If all your plants in the tub have roots that long make sure there is a gap between the bottom of the net pots and the top of the nutrient. That is the area where the plant will develop air roots.
    Also, how big is the airstone in your system?

  • kbar87
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    I changed to 2 10in and 1 5 inch stone, the other plants roots arent long enough to hang out of the net pots yet

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