Hello. I am a high school teacher. My class has started growing hydroponically for an agriculture course. I am fairly new to hydroponics. Last year I started tomatoes hydroponically for just a couple of months and had some success... getting to the green tomato stage before the school year ended. This year the leaves on all my tomato plants are looking pale and some are curling, dying and drying up (see attached pic). I have read that too much light and heat could be a problem, so I raised the light with no improvement. pH is around 7. I am wondering if nutrient concentrations are off, but I am following the recommendations from the hydroponic kit supplier exactly the same as I did last year with no issues.
A pea plant that I am growing in a separate tub looks poor too (see attached pic). Lettuce and spinach all looks great to me, but the kale seems pale as well.
Does anyone think they may know my problem and how I may correct it?
Your solution is not balanced. Uusally you would not put a tomato with leaf crops. You should be using a blend designed for the crop you are growing. Tomatoes usually need different formulas for different stages of growth. I have never seen peas in hydroponics so I don't know what they need. The pH is a little high. Is this Kratky? The last link is a pdf to Dr Kratky's hydroponic method for lettuce and for tomatoes. Dr Kratky has updated his methods over the years and he has his own youtube channel. He retired from the UH.
https://igworks.com/blogs/growing-guide ... r-iharvest
https://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/hawaii/dow ... uction.pdf
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZZO1tYqcwk
https://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/hawaii/dow ... method.pdf
https://igworks.com/blogs/growing-guide ... r-iharvest
https://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/hawaii/dow ... uction.pdf
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZZO1tYqcwk
https://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/hawaii/dow ... method.pdf
I added the nutrients at the concentrations recommended by the company manufacturing the hydroponics system, using the nutrients provided by the company. I add 1ml of each of these in every liter of water added: https://sucseed.ca/collections/on-websi ... ts-package
The company claims that in early stages, tomatoes can be grown with leaf crops until flowering stage, when different nutrients need to be added to the water and leaf crops should be removed. Does this sound incorrect?
The company claims that in early stages, tomatoes can be grown with leaf crops until flowering stage, when different nutrients need to be added to the water and leaf crops should be removed. Does this sound incorrect?
I know Dr Kratky said you could get by with a lettuce formula if you have to. I am just not used to hydroponically growing tomatoes with lettuce. Actually in Kratky I never mixed crops that grew at different rates. We could put lettuce and bok choy together just fine because they grow at about the same rate and are similar in nutrient requirements.
https://www.edengreen.com/blog-collecti ... %20healthy
https://www.npktechnology.co.uk/blogs/n ... 20diameter.
The tomatoes and the peas look like they are showing potassium deficiency. This is usually compounded by pH problems.
https://www.haifa-group.com/online-expe ... e%2Dyellow.
https://www.edengreen.com/blog-collecti ... %20healthy
https://www.npktechnology.co.uk/blogs/n ... 20diameter.
The tomatoes and the peas look like they are showing potassium deficiency. This is usually compounded by pH problems.
https://www.haifa-group.com/online-expe ... e%2Dyellow.
-
applestar
- Mod
- Posts: 30551
- Joined: Thu May 01, 2008 7:21 pm
- Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)
Has there been any changes — further deterioration or slowing of symptoms?
I don’t know much about details of hydroponics so I held back, but fwiw — my impulse has been to think:
— peas, lettuce, and mizuna (…and spinach) would require similar pH and micronutes, while tomato would prefer a lower pH.
— tomato and pea would be more likely to need minerals like magnesium, calcium, sulfur, and other micronutes.
— pea and tomato would require brighter light exposure than the leafy greens
— In the photos, tomato, pea, and mizuna look nutritionally deficient, diseased, or pest infested (yellowed, puckered/mottled), lettuce doesn’t.
— if pests, I would first suspect/look for sucking pests (yellowing/chlorophyll loss) like aphids and mites…. Tomato looks a bit russeted so the dried up leaves could also point to mites
…pea needs support — make holes in lid rim (or maybe attach binder clips) and tie strings tautly secured to something above.
…if you line the wall behind the set up with emergency mylar blanket (or even pure white paper or poster board — but something water proof that can take sprayed water, nutrient solutions and insecticidal soap solutions would be better), the plants will get better additional reflected light
I don’t know much about details of hydroponics so I held back, but fwiw — my impulse has been to think:
— peas, lettuce, and mizuna (…and spinach) would require similar pH and micronutes, while tomato would prefer a lower pH.
— tomato and pea would be more likely to need minerals like magnesium, calcium, sulfur, and other micronutes.
— pea and tomato would require brighter light exposure than the leafy greens
— In the photos, tomato, pea, and mizuna look nutritionally deficient, diseased, or pest infested (yellowed, puckered/mottled), lettuce doesn’t.
— if pests, I would first suspect/look for sucking pests (yellowing/chlorophyll loss) like aphids and mites…. Tomato looks a bit russeted so the dried up leaves could also point to mites
…pea needs support — make holes in lid rim (or maybe attach binder clips) and tie strings tautly secured to something above.
…if you line the wall behind the set up with emergency mylar blanket (or even pure white paper or poster board — but something water proof that can take sprayed water, nutrient solutions and insecticidal soap solutions would be better), the plants will get better additional reflected light
-
applestar
- Mod
- Posts: 30551
- Joined: Thu May 01, 2008 7:21 pm
- Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)
If you have access to a microscope that will display on a monitor, you might try examining the damaged tomato leaflets.
To prepare a “slide” the method I used was to sandwich between clear package tape, taking care not or trap air bubbles as much as possible. I found this way, I wasn’t as worried about spreading the mites to other plants.
Ref.
To prepare a “slide” the method I used was to sandwich between clear package tape, taking care not or trap air bubbles as much as possible. I found this way, I wasn’t as worried about spreading the mites to other plants.
Ref.
applestar wrote: ↑Wed Feb 26, 2014 11:46 amRUSSET MITES
...I had my suspicions after lower leaves of some of the plants started to wither, so I finally broke out the kids' "toy" digital microscope. Very old model and lousy quality, but you can see them.
60X
200X
...now to go retrieve the license serial number from my old computer so I can use this updated software properly (the trial copy only let me use pixels as measurement unit). The 200X was actually a video clip but flickr only uploaded a photo--- guess I'll have to figure that out later.
These are the ranges for peas in hydroponics.
https://igworks.com/blogs/growing-guide ... ponic-peas
https://albertapulse.com/pea-fertility-requirements/
https://igworks.com/blogs/growing-guide ... ponic-peas
https://albertapulse.com/pea-fertility-requirements/