This is my first attempt at hydroponic growing and I am trying out the Kratky method.
I took a small basil plant which wasn't doing very well in soil, cleaned the roots and put it into a jar with nutrient water.
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I put the plant in a Rockwool cube then in a net cup. One thing I am not sure about: do the roots actually need to be making contact with the Rockwell cube or is this irrelevant?
I am pretty sure I just put the stem of the plant between the cube to hold it steady. I left one inch of air between the net cup and the water below, so the top part of roots are in the air, and the bottom part of the roots are bathed in nutrient solution.
Does all of this sound right?
Just want to get confirmation about whether I have positioned the roots correctly, since I understand that is essential for success with this method.
Thank you!
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pepperhead212
- Super Green Thumb
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- Joined: Wed Oct 15, 2014 1:52 pm
- Location: Woodbury NJ Zone 7a/7b
Welcome to the forum!
I have never tried the kratky method, because that method is more for short term growing, not 6 or 7 months (they will become stagnant, requiring more work than the DW, esp. when trying to keep that water to the right level, not too high, but high enough), which is what I do in the deepwater, for the off season, for herbs and greens. That said, I don't see how the roots of a plant could be transferred to a Rockwell cube. And for basil, you would probably be better off trying to start cuttings in the cubes. I make clones of basils, epazote, peppermint, and other herbs to put in the clay pellets, instead of transplanting them. Once rooted, the clones grow quickly. One that I do transplant is parsley, because it does not start from cuttings - I dig a small plant up, and rinse the soil off, then dunk them in a weak H2O2 solution, then transplant them. And some things I make coir baskets, to plant seeds, mainly the greens, but also trying some herbs this way.
I have never tried the kratky method, because that method is more for short term growing, not 6 or 7 months (they will become stagnant, requiring more work than the DW, esp. when trying to keep that water to the right level, not too high, but high enough), which is what I do in the deepwater, for the off season, for herbs and greens. That said, I don't see how the roots of a plant could be transferred to a Rockwell cube. And for basil, you would probably be better off trying to start cuttings in the cubes. I make clones of basils, epazote, peppermint, and other herbs to put in the clay pellets, instead of transplanting them. Once rooted, the clones grow quickly. One that I do transplant is parsley, because it does not start from cuttings - I dig a small plant up, and rinse the soil off, then dunk them in a weak H2O2 solution, then transplant them. And some things I make coir baskets, to plant seeds, mainly the greens, but also trying some herbs this way.
Thanks for your reply.
Yes,I have been studying the DW method also, and eventually want to do it. I would especially like to try growing hot peppers that way, though it seems I would need to get a lot good powerful indoor lighting to make that work, and since peppers have such extensive root systems, it doesn't seem like you can grow very many in one tote? Anyway I am trying to start with some simple experiments before buying all of the required items for DW - and Kratky seemed as simple as it gets!
What I did with the rockwool cube is I just broke it in half and placed the basil stem between it. My understanding is the rockwool cube is mainly to hold the plant in place in the net cup - which at least it is doing for me. Though from what you say it sounds like maybe rockwool cubes aren't needed at all - you can just position the plant and hold it steady with clay pebbles alone?
I would like the try cloning but unfortunately I don't have any basil to clone at the moment. For some reason it simply isn't growing well here, either outdoors or indoors. Plants I've had for two or three months growing outside from seed remain stunted with just a few leaves.
I guess I will just see what happens with this transplant in the next couple of weeks. And I will post an update here! If it fails, I can try to grow more from seed. Have you ever started basil from seeds in rock wool cubes, or do you use another method?
Yes,I have been studying the DW method also, and eventually want to do it. I would especially like to try growing hot peppers that way, though it seems I would need to get a lot good powerful indoor lighting to make that work, and since peppers have such extensive root systems, it doesn't seem like you can grow very many in one tote? Anyway I am trying to start with some simple experiments before buying all of the required items for DW - and Kratky seemed as simple as it gets!
What I did with the rockwool cube is I just broke it in half and placed the basil stem between it. My understanding is the rockwool cube is mainly to hold the plant in place in the net cup - which at least it is doing for me. Though from what you say it sounds like maybe rockwool cubes aren't needed at all - you can just position the plant and hold it steady with clay pebbles alone?
I would like the try cloning but unfortunately I don't have any basil to clone at the moment. For some reason it simply isn't growing well here, either outdoors or indoors. Plants I've had for two or three months growing outside from seed remain stunted with just a few leaves.
I guess I will just see what happens with this transplant in the next couple of weeks. And I will post an update here! If it fails, I can try to grow more from seed. Have you ever started basil from seeds in rock wool cubes, or do you use another method?
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pepperhead212
- Super Green Thumb
- Posts: 2878
- Joined: Wed Oct 15, 2014 1:52 pm
- Location: Woodbury NJ Zone 7a/7b
I have started basil by seeds in coir, when I had trouble cloning it - I thought that I would have to do that this year, because I had a very early cold period, but I finally got enough cuttings. What I do is put about an inch of those pebbles in a 3" basket, then make a fabric mesh cup inside the rest, and press some coir inside that, then slice off the rest of the fabric with a razor blade. The coir gets and stays moist, to plant the seeds in, and the roots grow through the mesh fabric.
Thought I'd update this thread.
So I tried one basil plant, and also translated a two parsley plants into a kratky jars, since you mentioned success with it.
All the plants started out well, seemed to be thriving, growing quickly.
Then the basil started developing brown and yellow spots on the leaves and not long after it died. The roots were totally brown - so I believe died of root rot. Any ideas on what would cause this? When I first detected the problem, I rinsed the roots in hydrogen peroxide and also added a small amount of hydrogen peroxide to my nutrient solution but it seems to have done nothing.
Of the two parsley plants, one also died of root rot! same symptoms: leave began to yellow/brown. Looked at plant roots: totally brown.
My other parsely plant appears to be doing well, roots look healthy. not sure why that would be, since all plants were grown in the same way and received the same treatment.
So I tried one basil plant, and also translated a two parsley plants into a kratky jars, since you mentioned success with it.
All the plants started out well, seemed to be thriving, growing quickly.
Then the basil started developing brown and yellow spots on the leaves and not long after it died. The roots were totally brown - so I believe died of root rot. Any ideas on what would cause this? When I first detected the problem, I rinsed the roots in hydrogen peroxide and also added a small amount of hydrogen peroxide to my nutrient solution but it seems to have done nothing.
Of the two parsley plants, one also died of root rot! same symptoms: leave began to yellow/brown. Looked at plant roots: totally brown.
My other parsely plant appears to be doing well, roots look healthy. not sure why that would be, since all plants were grown in the same way and received the same treatment.