Since I started hydroponics, I've had an issue with cucumbers. Thank you to Imafan26 for pointing out it's a calcium deficiency. It's odd I see youtube after youtube vids where Masterblend is the go to hydroponic nutrient solution to have. AND I have never seen or read where people have problems with it and it's been more than a year of grueling research and reading to finally be able to make it work. Imfan I am not sure of the search I put in because of your advice - but I also didn't want to move to a different fertilizer or the liquid solutions because they are so expensive.
I finally found it, is my point. I was sure I bookmarked the link but I am not seeing it now. But HOPEFULLY this helps others with the same problems. Masterblend is so inexpensive and so - you want to make it work! WHAT I found is; pretty much double the calcium nitrate as part of the 3 part blend.
Imafan you said RO water and I did go to that initially but my water is .2 EC - it's very low. I treat my chloramine treated tap water with 1/2 campden tablet to every 5 gallons of water and no waste water then. Because I know there is a slight bit of calcium and magnesium in my tap water I didn't quite double the Calcium nitrate - they say 6.4 grams to 10 liters (I'm canadian) and so I upped it to 10. THE DIFFERENCE is nothing short of amazing so I am still able to use the masterblend which is so cheap and get an amazing result.
Hope this helps someone!!
I found the site in case anyone is interested
https://chilledgrowlights.com/blog/maki ... -nutrients
https://chilledgrowlights.com/blog/maki ... -nutrients
Masterblend has different formulations. The most common is for lettuce which works for most leafy greens.
Cucumbers need a lot of potassium and phosphorus but relatively less nitrogen. They are also more sensitive to Calcium and micronutrient deficiencies.
Other fruiting crops will usually require more phosphorus and potassium and some micro nutrients more than leafy greens which are usually harvested in an immature stage. The hydroponic solution needs to be able to supply the nutrient requirements of the specific crop. This is why there really is no one size fits all hydroponic solution. You will need to research what your crop needs and mix the base solutions accordingly. As you have figured out you need about 1.5 times more Calcium nitrate than you use for lettuce.
https://www.haifa-group.com/cucumber-0/ ... s-cucumber
Cucumbers need a lot of potassium and phosphorus but relatively less nitrogen. They are also more sensitive to Calcium and micronutrient deficiencies.
Other fruiting crops will usually require more phosphorus and potassium and some micro nutrients more than leafy greens which are usually harvested in an immature stage. The hydroponic solution needs to be able to supply the nutrient requirements of the specific crop. This is why there really is no one size fits all hydroponic solution. You will need to research what your crop needs and mix the base solutions accordingly. As you have figured out you need about 1.5 times more Calcium nitrate than you use for lettuce.
https://www.haifa-group.com/cucumber-0/ ... s-cucumber