You need a hydroponic fertilizer that contains only nitrate nitrogen. Brands like General Hydroponics 3-part are good. You might need a water chiller to keep water temp. low if their outside. PH needs to be in the 5.5-6.0 area GH also sells ph down and ph test kits. Good Luck!

Thanks so much for the tips. Yes going to try and position plant so that the top is in the sun and bottom water area will be shaded by the house. Should do the trick... I hope. Could you point me to the actual product I looked up General Hydroponics and there is a whole laundry list of products.....

Try the Flora Series first. Note that you need to buy all three - Flora Micro, Grow, and Bloom. You also need to follow the bottle directions for mixing such as dilute the Micro in the final volume of water first!

Thanks Zathras for the recommendations. I am going to go purchase my supplies now.

Ok so my order arrived today and now what? Follow the aggressive vegetative growth chart and use the micro last into the water? I feel so lost. I am going to start with tomatoes and probably basil, maybe an eggplant if I can find it, the skinny type eggplant. My system will be the bubbler type.

If you are using the GH Flora series, A good all around full strength nutrient solution is to use 10mL (2 tsp) per gallon of each (Gro,micro,Bloom). Add them one at a time to the full amount of water in your reservoir, and mix thoroughly before adding the next one. Then check and adjust pH. You can also check pH before adding the nutrients, if it's real high (7.5 or above) or low (below 5), you should probably adjust it before adding the nutrients. Smaller plants don't need full strength, so 1/2 to 3/4 strength would work fine. Then just up the strength to full strength as the plants get bigger.

It's easy to do the math of how much to add to your reservoir using either milliliters or teaspoons. Example: for a 20 gallon reservoir and full strength nutrient solution, 200mL of each, or 13 tablespoons and 1 teaspoon. I find using mL the easiest because I have lots of food measuring spoons with the mL on them ranging from 30mL to 120ml. Even all the regular measuring spoons (tbs, tsp, etc..) have the mL on them. As well as everyday measuring cups have the mL on them, a 2 cup measuring cup goes up to is 500mL.

Here is a link to the General Hydroponics Nutrient Calculator, in case you want to play around with it. But don't try to over think things. Hydroponics is a lot simpler and much less complicated than it seems at first.

Thanks very much... set it up last night did a little different set up for the tomato plant cause I had a tiny pump I purchased from Harbor Freight years ago just put a tube from the little pump up through the top and then it just spills over the medium holding the tomato. The plant looks a little stressed today. I mixed it up according to the package of 2 gal and we really had 3 gal so I hope that thinned it out enough. I would imagine washing all the dirt off the plant and sticking it in here would be quite a shock so I hope it decides to be happy. We will see. Is it ok to use vinegar and baking soda to adjust ph levels? That is how I did it with my aquarium fish.

I would suggest using Hydroponic pH adjusters. If you are concerned about price, get dry adjusters. One pound of both pH up and down lasted me about 2 years. And only cost me about $20 total for both. I just ordered 2 pounds of each (up and down) this week of the general Hydroponics dry adjusters for about that ($10-$11 ea). The vinegar and baking soda wont be anywhere near stable, and wind up costing you more in the long run even if it dosen't wind up causing you other problems.

Ok, I will look for it and get some. With my tomato I have it set up with one little pump and I have it set at full speed so the water is moving quite fast over the roots you think I should turn it down. The plant is looking a little stressed since I started messing with it and that's probably to be expected but any systems I have seen have been more of a drip and mine is more like a runing hose. Think I shuld reduce the flow?

General Hydroponics FloraDuo is a cheap two part solution that work reliably and is available just about everywhere. Follow the directions on mixing and adjust your pH as needed and you're all set!

Thanks Hydro I already purchased the liquid nutrients I guess I am in the market now for an easier way to read and regulate the Ph. I took a reading this afternoon on my tomato and the test came out brown yellow. I have no idea what that reading is I'm guessing it's a bit low.

What do you mean your in the market for an easier way to read and regulate the Ph? Are you using a meter or drops? You mentioned a color when referring to it, so that would lead me to believe you are using drops. Drops are the easiest and most accurate way to test pH. So I have to wonder what the problem is if that's the case. First if you are using vinegar and/or baking soda to adjust pH that may be your problem. Also what growing medium are you using, and how much. How often do you change the nutrient solution? What type of system are you using, how much water is in it, and how many plants (as well as size). How often do you check the pH, and how much does it fluctuate? There are all kinds of reasons pH will change.