Forgot to attach the roots. Here it is.

I'd remove that sickly plant in the front and cut the stem to see if there was bacterial ooze inside the stem (and keep it away from the rest).

Maybe you just need more light (closer) and better air circulation. Going to a teaspoon of F. Nova Grow per gallon will start giving Boron problems which can in turn give Calcium and Mg problems. It is hard to say since I'm not sure what ppm calibration you mean and don't say the new nutrient rate. The res water doesn't look too good but it coul;d be the picture. How often are you changing it, and how many gallons is it, etc.

If they were mine because they don't look nice and perky (unless it is your variety), I would just make an experiment before I started over so I could test some things just out of curiosity. I would warm 6 grams of plaster of paris in a gallon and a half of tap water in an iron pot on the stove and add that after cooling to about 85 degrees all dissolved, plus 10 grams of epsom salt from the pharmacy or walmart to boost my calcium, and then magnesium to a healthy 2:1 ratio, if I could get that into solution.

This post was edited by PupillaCharites on Fri, Oct 11, 13 at 2:01

Thanks for your response. I change the reservoir once a week. The reason it looks like this is because flora nova is by itself dark, so it makes the water darker. I thought flora-nova is a good brand? I don't know how to tell how much calcium or magnesium I have in the water. What I know is that my ppm is about 450 (without the tap water ppm). The front plants are not growing as fast as the ones to the back. But roots are growing. Should I add H2O2 to the system or just change the front plants with new ones? I think the T-5 light fixture is good enough for basil and herbs. And they are close to the light (like 6-8 inches). I am also using a 7.8 L/m air pump with a good air stone that gives good amount of Oxygen to the system to I think that is not the problem. What is interesting is that I have same plants set-up in soil and they are doing much better. Not sure why.

The 450 ppm might be obvious to others here, but I never figured out when it is in the forums if everyone is using the ECx500 or ECx750 scale. I think the minimum is about 1.5 tsp per gallon of that Flora Nova Grow stuff also to keep the Basil with the individual nutes in the range it needs to be healthy.

A lot of references point to basil needing higher magnesium and yours isn't very high, and if I got to the point I was thinking of starting over (when you decide if it is worth the slow growth to keep going) I would at least add some magnesium (epsom salts) and see if they responded first (and it sounded to me like an all in one liquid fertilizer is going to be light on both Calcium and magnesium which should be in in a reasonable ratio of Ca about double the Mg.

There is something out of whack theat should be obvious to someone who has done DWC Basil because to me the roots look nice, although not as massive as others get by two months or so, but the plants seem wilted like you described. That bad one in front looks like the roots are stunted. Maybe it got sick because there's not enough hydroton in that pot since the light can dry out the roots and it looks less full than the others. In any case, if all that darkness on that plant looked sickly in person I'd get it out of there before it gave it to the rest of the plants.

Since the roots look whitish, I'm not sure the H2O2 will have much effect except some more stress to plants and nutes, all that air popping around is definitely aerating everything, but the big bubbles gave me the idea that the water was a little slimy.

Maybe you are right, both about the peroxide, and after only three weeks in the DWC we are expecting too much, but if the earth potted plants have perky leaves I'd be worried too. I would wait before snipping any healthy leaves to give the plants a chance to get moving above their waistlines. Were these started in dirt? Another thing is DWC can cause problems when soilbourne stuff is introduced - maybe that's why you suggested the peroxide..

This post was edited by PupillaCharites on Fri, Oct 11, 13 at 14:01

Thanks again. Honestly, I really don't know how much of the Flora-Nova Basil needs. I Think that if I add 1.5 per gallon of water for that, the ppm goes up to 1000 or above considering the tap water ppm as well. People said that Flora-Nova grow is a good option to start with, and hence I went with that. I'm mostly worried about nutrient burnt as that caused a problem before for me. I think that is too high for basil. Keeping the ppm around 500 would probably be a better option(assuming you have pure water). You are right, I think the two ones in the front (front left and front middle) look sick. If you look at the one to the left, it has a dark brown spot on its leaf. The one in the middle also has it. I am not sure if that is a burn or sickness. I will however put more hydroton there and remove the sick one. But do you think it is sickness or it could be a burn? And if you notice, the ones all the way back have healthier roots and are growing much better. That says something. Maybe the Magnesium or the calcium thing is not a problem or maybe it is. But I thought that just having the flora-nova would be sufficient to start with, without adding additional Magnesium or Calcium.

What is interesting is that I have same plants set-up in soil and they are doing much better. Not sure why.

One word - bacteria. It is beneficial bacteria that are responsible for nutrient uptake. Even though hydro is considered superior to soil in regard to oxygen at the root zone, the bacteria are a necessary link in the chain.

There are a lot of products sold to add to reservoirs that contain beneficial bacteria. I put a link to one below, that I like for its low price. If your pockets are deeper, Fox Farm sells a product called "Bush Doctor" that looks like good stuff, too.

Another tip - I use fish tank water in my reservoir. Fish poop feeds the good bacteria and helps them thrive. Because fish are cold-blooded organisms, their manure does not contain e coli and other dangerous bacteria, and thus does not need to be composted. Once you get your reservoir bacteria thriving, don't clean the reservoir, empty it all the way, or turn off the pump between crops.

Here is a link that might be useful: mycogrow - $5.95

On the Flora Nova Grow nutrient formula, just a word of clarification. It is an all-in-one liquid nutrient, and one of the only single solution ones. Usually nutrients are in at least two parts to separate at least calcium, so I would be a little wary that Ca and Mg are low (which allows them to keep it more stable) to make a single solution and that is why I brought that up to check on.

Just because it is ok at the recommended basil 1.5 tsp per gallon doesn't mean when you want to adjust your nutrient strength down that individual nutrients will be ok, so all the more reason with a product like this to check if supplementation is needed. Since the product doesn't have but one composition option and the only degree of freedom is strength, your hands are tied and if it is limited by one nutrient you would need to adjust the balance to acheive the lower strength by considering which are possibly going to come up short.

These manufacturers don't sell a fertilizer that is guaranteed to work in what we all think should be 'normal'. They will bend over backwards instead of saying the fertilizer is not optimal, just to sell you a cal-mag supplement for example, and frame it in a positive way. You will never hear them say 'our fertilizer is limited'; only talk about supplements and little miracles if you buy into their basic nutrient model.

Besides the microbe suggestion, one side being different would also be worth checking uniformity of ventilation and lighting which is another plausible reason of getting big differences by the areas.

If one side of your setup is growing good and the other side not so good I can't see it being a problem with the nutrients since both sides are in the same environment. The plants should be about 2 inches from the light. I've grown basil and it is one of the easiest plants to grow. I rarely change out the nutrients and have had great success. I think if you wait a couple of more weeks you'll see a difference in your results.