I still have not gotten any lettuce to grow big enough to be part of my new drip system. Maybe it's the heat here, only time will tell. My carrots did not sprout until we had a break in the weather, and temps dropped 10 F, or more.

So my first attempt was a 5 gallon bucket. It was a bucket that I built a foam block to put over it so the heat of the sun would not get to the nutrient. The first transplant involved a (on its way to dying) tomato plant. It is about 10 or 12 inches tall, and had leaves that were scorched by the sun. After the first tow days in the DWC pale, I had a couple of roots coming out into the nutrient bath. i also saw two small leaves of new growth. A day later I had even more roots, and the leaves got bigger. a few days later I had a lot of new growth, and lots of roots. I had to move bucket to the porch for partial shade, and to keep the rain from screwing with my nutrients. The shade was the right thing to do. The plant looks very healthy and is growing well. I did check my PH, and got it at 5.5. I also diluted the nutrient with well water so it would not be too strong to start out. I have a second bucket now, with a much bigger tomato plant in it. It's been two days and I have some roots hanging into the bath. I will know how well it is doing after another two days, but it doesn't look any worse than when I transplanted it, and I would say it looks better.

The amazing thing is how I shocked the hell out of those plants by washing the dirt from the roots with a hose. They didn't skip a beat after transplanting into Coco coir, and hydroton. My dirt grown cucumbers are developing a load of flowers, and the same with my Cantaloupe. The later is in a big pot with a bamboo homemade trellis. My Okra is growing like crazy, and i see a bunch of flowers getting ready to open. My bell pepper looks terrible, and dropped many leaves, a few each day. I have no hope for it.