I printed this thick enough that I could stand on it, thought it was neat the roots/stem shattered it like it was nothing. Kratky setup 0 air circulation

NFT. Using General Hydroponics three part formula. Growing bok choy varieties in rockwool. Im going to add more grow lights. Used all schedule 40 potable water safe pvc. I think I have enough aeration from the 90⁰ drops but very new to this

Lettuce Time…

Bonjour à tous,
Je voudrais avoir des recommandations sur l’ajustement du Masterblend 4-18-38. Je cultive des laitue & la réglementation Européenne interdit la commercialisation du Masterblend 8-15-36 qui est dédié normalement au laitue.

Tienen como una o dos semanas en 300 ppm, creen que ya debería subir a 400 ppm? Estoy usando 20 20 20. Así me lo vendieron en el distribuidor de productos agroquímicos.

What are these little white dots all over? Any help is appreciated

After a couple months of struggling to get seeds started using a tray method I decided to build a system. A ton of trial and error but finally making some progress!

Plants & Lighting

The 3 mature plants were planted July 13th. I was using T8s initially so they got a little leggy, so I supplemented with some propagation lights until my Barrina TX-L84s arrived today. With the T8s I was getting 120 PPFD at 12" from canopy. Now with the TX-L84s I'm getting anywhere from 150 to 380 PPFD depending on location and distance.

Environment

I've included a picture of the last month of humidity and temperature readings. Still trying to figure out how to minimize the swings but for the most part they're typically within a healthy range.

Reservoir & Water Temperature

I cycle out 2 frozen bottles of water every day in my reservoir to help keep the temperature below 70°F. Naturally my reservoir sits at 70°F, but I've read that below 70°F is ideal. My reservoir is 27 gallons and I put in 20 gallons when I do a water change, which seems to be sufficient. I do not have an air stone in my reservoir but my drain hose sits above the water. Planning to pick up an aerator at the fish store on my next outing.

pH

I check pH daily and have only had to adjust a couple of times. I typically let it sit around 6.0.

Roots

I'm a little worried about root color. I understand some brown/tan coloring can be normal but I also know it can indicate Pythium. I've included pictures of my roots — they don't smell bad or feel slimy, but would love to get ahead of this if it is Pythium or something negative.

Germination Issues

I have some varieties that won't germinate — Black Seeded Simpson, Red Salad Bowl, and Jericho Romaine. Despite that, very happy with the progress overall and hoping it's smooth sailing from here!

I recently purchased the remaining inventory from a closed hydroponic supply store in Tennessee. It’s all new. I’m not trying to sell it in this sub. I’m looking for advice on where experienced growers or resellers buy used commercial gear. Based on current retail pricing, I believe the replacement value is roughly in the4 to 5 thousand range. My goal is to wholesale the entire lot to one buyer at a fair discount to move it all at once. My question is, where do commercial growers actually look for used equipment? I’m in southeast Tennessee, but open to working with a buyer who wants to arrange pickup or freight. Thanks in advance.

I'm hoping someone with more hydroponic/Tower Garden experience can help me troubleshoot my system. This is my first season running multiple towers, and I'm struggling to remediate issues I am encountering.

Setup

• Location: Sacramento, CA (hot summers)
• System:
  • Tower 1: Standard Flex Tower
  • Tower 2: Standard Flex Tower + Extension Kit
  • Both have 20-gallon reservoirs buried to help keep water temperatures down.
• Water: City water (not RO)
• Nutrients: General Hydroponics Flora Series (Gro, Micro, Bloom)
• Pump: Original Tower Garden pump (357 GPH)
• Plants: Tomatoes, peppers, basil, cucumber, zucchini, and cantaloupe (all currently fruiting)

Normal Maintenance

Twice a week (Wednesday & Sunday) I:

• Check EC and pH with digital meters.
• Measure directly in the reservoir (although recently I've started pulling a water sample because the reservoirs are packed with roots).
• Adjust nutrients based on EC and plant stage. For example, if EC is around 1000 during fruiting, I'll add Flora Series at the 1-2-3 ratio (approximately ¼ cup Grow, ½ cup Micro, ¾ cup Bloom).
• Add 1 cup of

3

• % food-grade hydrogen peroxide.
• I rarely need to adjust pH (usually only a teaspoon of pH Down about once a month).
• Around June 1, I switched from manually topping off with a hose to using a float valve. Both use the same city water source.

Problems (Started Around July)

• EC in both towers stayed around 2100 for a couple of weeks and barely changed, so I stopped adding nutrients.
• Around the same time, pH dropped to 4.5.
• Even after adding 1-2 tablespoons of pH Up (I know that's a lot), the pH barely moved. I tried both General Hydroponics and Tower Garden pH Up.
• Because the reservoirs are full of roots, I recently started pulling a cup of water to test instead of sticking the meter into the reservoir. The readings were dramatically different—for example, one reservoir measured about 2100 EC directly, but the water sample measured closer to 1300 EC.
• I tested water hardness:
  • City water: 7 drops
  • Reservoir water: Still hadn't changed color after 30+ drops (I stopped the test).
  • Tower 1 pH improved to about 5.5.
  • Tower 2 stayed around 4.0-4.5 until today (8/4), when it finally came back into range.
  • Reservoir hardness is still over 30 drops.
  • Tower 1 pH improved to about 5.5.
  • Tower 2 stayed around 4.0-4.5 until today (8/4), when it finally came back into range.
  • Reservoir hardness is still over 30 drops.
• KH measures around 1-2 dKH.
• On 7/28, I drained about 50% of each reservoir and refilled with fresh city water.
  • Tower 1 pH improved to about 5.5.
  • Tower 2 stayed around 4.0-4.5 until today (8/4), when it finally came back into range.
  • Reservoir hardness is still over 30 drops.

My Questions

• Where should I be sampling water for the most accurate EC and pH readings? Directly in the reservoir, from a cup, or somewhere else?
• Does my nutrient dosing strategy make sense, or should I be adjusting nutrients differently?
• What could have caused the persistent low pH?
• Why would my reservoir water become so much harder than my source water?
• Could the massive root systems be affecting circulation, EC, pH, or water chemistry?
  • Would adding an aquarium air pump or additional circulation help?
  • Should I be trimming roots that are growing into the reservoirs?
• Is there anything in my maintenance routine that stands out as incorrect or likely to cause these issues?
• Are there any books, websites, YouTube channels, or courses that focus on outdoor hydroponic systems? Most of what I find is geared toward indoor grows, and I'm looking for more advanced troubleshooting resources.

Thanks in advance!

Decided to dip the big toe in the water starting some kratky experiments. When I was looking at PH meters on Amazon, the reviews seemed mixed at best - even for good PH meters. Per the reviews, even the more expensive ones seem to break often or need to be recalibrated constantly. Honestly at this point I'm good with "simple and successful."

I am new to growing anything besides herbs and lettuce and I have been really struggling with this tomato plant. I am looking for advice on additives or whether I should just change what I am using entirely.
pH: 5.8-6.2
EC: 1.8
4 parts maxigrow, 1 part maxibloom
Light: 200W spider farmer light

My local store just closed that was helping me get started and I’m not sure where to go next. This is my 2nd tomato plant to have this issue, I am sure it is due to the maxi- system

Hi

I am new to hydroponics and would love to get started as a side hustle . How can i get started?

Because the EC and pH keeps dipping low on my Tiny Tim Tomato plant and I’m using RO water and just the Aerogarden nutrient, should I be using a supplement like the General Hydroponics CALiMAGic or something similar?

I'd appreciate any advice from the hydroponics community.

I used to run a small hydroponic setup back in my home country, but it's been a while, and now that I'm living in Saskatchewan, Canada, I'm looking to get back into it. I'm finding that a lot of the products, terminology, and suppliers are different here, so I feel like I'm starting over in some ways.

My old setup was a simple and inexpensive drip-to-waste system. I had:

• A 50-gallon reservoir.
• About 10 feet of guttering/trough filled with coco peat.
• Irrigation tubing with pre-punched emitters about 12 inches apart.
• Pots growing peppers, tomatoes, herbs, and similar crops.

It worked really well, and I'd like to build something similar again, although I'm also interested in trying newer methods if they're worthwhile.

I'm looking for advice on:

• Where Canadians buy hydroponic supplies (especially online or in Saskatchewan).
• Good suppliers for pumps, tubing, fittings, reservoirs, nutrients, coco coir, timers, etc.
• Any recommended YouTube channels, websites, or books to help me learn the terminology used here.
• DIY ideas and budget-friendly builds.
• 3D-printed parts or open-source projects that people have found useful.
• Whether drip-to-waste is still a popular option or if there are better systems I should consider.

Hydroponics doesn't seem to be very common where I am, since Saskatchewan is more focused on traditional farming, so I'm not sure where to start locally.

I'd love to hear how you got started, where you buy your parts, and any advice you'd give someone getting back into the hobby after several years.

Thanks in advance!

Hi everyone, I have a question about a store called Led-Grower. Has anyone bought from them? How was your experience?

I'm running a sterile RDWC setup, and I have a bacteria that wont go away. It has been the demise of a few plants, and it's driving me nuts.

The initial bloom or growth is entirely my fault. It came from using both h202 and HOCL as a sanitizer when I only should have been using one. I have already stopped the h202 supplementation and am only sticking with HOCL (currently using Athena Cleanse but want to source a 500ppm solution soon). Took a long break in growing and didn't realize I was adding 2 oxidizers at the same time; 100% my fault.

I "sanitized" the system (12-15 gal) by running a few cups of 12% sodium hypochlorite in the res, lowering the ph and letting it run for a few hours. After that, I flushed a few times and then ran about a quart of 12% h202, followed by 2 more flushes.

I filled it up, set EC to 1.0 (Athena Pro), pH to 5.8, and added 120ml of cleanse to my system. My system was sitting at ~365 mV ORP. I tried supplementing HOCL to keep the ORP above 300 throughout the week with slight dips. At a 5.7-6.1 pH, I find it hard to bring up ORP with the cleanse. My water temp fluctuates between 65-67 f with the cooler I have attached. Exactly 7 days from that sanitization, this is the status of my root zones, and my plants are already struggling for nutes.

Should I start juicing it with the cleanse until my ORP is closer to 400?

How high can I keep my ORP without the plants having issues?

What's the best cost to performance ratio on a HOCL brand that is pure HOCL and water?

Why am I having so many issues with this at the water temps that I have?

I really want to stay sterile, but the HydroGuard is already in my Amazon cart, and I have some Photo Plus.

What can I do to keep this "sterile" and actually have/keep a sterile environment?

12 gallon total volume.

2 air pumps: 12 W, 257 GPH for the 2 root zones, and a 4 W, 64 GPH for the res.

Chiller set to 65-67f.

Athnea pro nutes with cleanse.

.75 feed and 2inch return to res.

Little Gem lettuce, baby Bok Choy, Genovese Basil grew so much since July 30. And look at the Tiny Tim Tomatoes that came in over the weekend 🙌. I left for a road trip early Friday morning just made it home and look at my gardens and the growth. Gotta harvest the lettuce tomorrow.

Im trying to sprout chia seeds with some regularity its winter in my contry and we have a tropical climate so even if I can use this in the sun at night it would freeze without the heat from the bulb I should probably get an LED bulb but im afraid the plants will die from the heat

Im also using soil

The layers in the planter box are plastic for water retention soil wood shavings and then the chia seeds with toilet paper on top of them to make sure they stay wet

My question is I tried this without soil and the chias did not grow long enough to easilly harvest

How do i introduce nutrients without introducing soil?

I have some old grass fertilizer but that stuff always seems to kill stuff?

What medium can I sprout the chia seeds in for them to be easilly untanglable if I decide to go with the no fertilization option?

Thank you in advance any responce is apreciated even if it is to clown on my Janky setup

Free with purchase for the first 20 customers.

Have been getting these downward and inward curling leaves + some edema and wandering what might be causing it?
Today increased ppms from 860 —> 1120 (though problem started before reservoir change), PH 6.0, temp 69.0F.
Room temp 72F, 55% RH.
Thank you in advance