URGENT: what is wrong with my plants?

[Elly]

Hello everybody, 

I have a huge problem with my aromatic plants in my growbox. 
I searched for information on internet and I find myself really desperate: I reall need some help from you expert guys .

Attached you can see the results after the plants have been put on my growbox: 1 month is passed. 
Here some details:

- About 24 small aromatic plants + 1 cherry-tomato + 1 chili peppers
- bought already grown of about 20cm and transplanted (for 2 weeks they were healthy and green...) 

- Growbox size: 200x120x120 cm
- humidity: was varying between 55-70%
- temperature: vary between 20-25 C
- ventilation: just an extractor (100 m3/h, 10cm diameter) on the top of the GB + a hole of 19 cm of diameter (at the very bottom of it to let the air enter)

LIGHT:
- Grow lamp LED: 120W
- light: 16hrs per day, then it goes automatically off and the GB is completely dark
- plants distance from the lamp: between 50-80cm

- watering: automatic system (as in the attached image from amazon)
- I use tap-water (from NL), measured pH 7

- fertilizer: I didn't add for the first month, just added a couple of days ago...: this one:
w w w pokon dot com /house/houseplants/pokon-universal-fertilizer/
- soil used: biologische aarde moestuin (as in the attachment)

Please, tell me if you need other information.
I thank you all for your precious information and advices!

[TomatoGirl]

I'm not sure what exactly is wrong with your plants, but I don't think you can save most of these. These look pretty bad. When did they start to go like this? Some of these pots are very small and with so much stones in there, it doesn't look like there is much soil. They probably ran out of nutrients pretty fast and as you didn't fertilize for a month, they basically starved.
That would be my guess here.

[rainbowgardener]

I don't know anything about growing in a growbox. You said you had flow through ventilation and the humidity didn't build up and you had automated watering system. So that should have been OK (and I have to say it seems like you worked very hard to try to do this right). But these are plants that don't like too much moisture. The soil in the pictures looks quite damp. I'm thinking that these plants (which may have been vulnerable due to lack of nutrients as TomatoGirl suggests) got fungal diseases. The parsley (I guess) and basil look like they may have damped off. Damping off is a fungal disease that little seedlings are very vulnerable to in conditions of too much moisture and too little air circulation, and despite your efforts, I think that is what you had. The others don't look damped off, but like some other fungal disease.

You worked very hard, but apparently not successfully, in mitigating the conditions of the growbox, which are inherently plant killing. Why bother? Why not just grow your plants in pots under lights, without the box?

I agree with TG, these are beyond saving. You will need to start over with new clean soil, no rocks, and preferably no growbox.

[applestar]

I'm sorry to say the plants look pretty bad to me too.

My impression is that they didn't get enough light. I recognize the "rocks" as the fired clay balls often used for hydroponics and I've seen them used as a kind of mulch, but combined with potting mix, they might end up being no more than "rocks" -- obstructions for the roots.

To me the plants look like they didn't get enough light.

I'm not familiar with LED plant grow lights -- so far, they seem rather expensive with oddly colored light spectrum that some manufacturers insist are optimum for plants. I couldn't find a ready comparison with Lumens which is a brightness unit I can understand. So my usual convention of how high to hang the light above the foliage may not apply, but -- 50 cm is 20 inches and seems way too high and light intensity would be dim. What was the manufacturer's instructions pertaining to how high? LED's don't burn hot so there's no danger of burning the plants.

With no other source of light, you would need to be sure to provide the intensity and duration of light they need.

[rainbowgardener]

and all of these work together. Dim light would also favor fungal growth.

I agree about the LED. I used LED fluorescents this spring for the first time and my seed starting operation was a total failure for the first time in twenty years. Everything sprouted just fine and then just did NOT grow. I can't say for sure that it was the LED's, because other variables changed also, but I am suspicious.

It still seems so much easier just to grow them under lights without the grow boxes. Then you can hang your lights so they are right down over your plants and raise them as the plants grow. I imagine the growbox inhibits that.

[Elly]

Dear all,

thank you very much for all your feedbacks and suggestions!

Just few other questions:

- our pots' size is 30 x 60 cm + 30 cm depth, and we have 6 plants per pot. is it too much?

- I bought already grown plants in a garden center. Is it possible that there, these plants have been treated with pesticides? I didn't use pesticides, so probably our plants didn't have enough "defenses", and got "sick" very soon (after 2 weeks)

- about the fungal disease: is this problem in the soil? or on the plants?

Thank you again for you support!!

[rainbowgardener]

RE: our pots' size is 30 x 60 cm + 30 cm depth [almost 12 x 23.5" and almost 12" deep], and we have 6 plants per pot. is it too much?

That would depend very much on what the plants are, but in general, yes, six would be too much. But I don't really know what you mean. Your picture of the basil shows roughly 20 plants in what looks like the half of the container we are seeing. The top picture (the sage?) is also a bunch of plants, but in at least a couple round containers.

RE: Is it possible that there, these plants have been treated with pesticides? I didn't use pesticides, so probably our plants didn't have enough "defenses", and got "sick" very soon

It is possible that the plants were treated with pesticides in the nursery before you got them. But I don't think withdrawing the pesticides makes plants sick or defenseless.

[imafan26]

I think the grow box is a form of SIP however the plants do look like they are not very salvageable.

1. there are too many plants for a box that size
2. I think your plastic walls created a hothouse but you have to lift the sides to let air in or you will end up cooking the plants instead.
3 I use a starter fertilizer in the mix. If this system recycles the water then you have to be careful of the acid build up.
If it is like a SIP then 1/2 cup of a starter fertilizer with 2tbls of fertilizer per month would be ok or you can band all of the fertilizer from the start 2 cups synthetic, or 3 cups organic fertilizer.
4. If you can these plants would be happier outside in the summer.

[Elly]

Thanks again!!

Just wanted to know if this fungal disease in the soil or on the plants.
I mean... if I decide to try again and put new plants in my pots, shall I change the soil (to avoid fungal disease)?

Unfortunately I live in a very rainy and not-sunny region... that's why I am trying the growbox...

[laurie basler]

You cannot reuse soil from plants that had fungal disease. You must discard that and the plants of course. You must scrub pots and even the grow house. A little bleach in warm water is perfect. Then your set to try round two. I would really do alot of research, as growing inside closed spaces is much different than growing in pots.

[rainbowgardener]

Thanks again!!



Unfortunately I live in a very rainy and not-sunny region... that's why I am trying the growbox...

Rainy, not-sunny is a reason to try growing under lights. I still don't see the point of the box. Why not just grow under lights?