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mfilippa

Help needed to tune ebb and flow system

mfilippa
14 years ago

Hello. I am new to hydroponics and new to the forum and need some advice. This is currently my outdoor setup:

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First setup is growing lettuce (romaine/little gem), basil and rosemary, 20gal water + nutrients, pure blend pro grow, EC 2.5 (fresh water EC 0.5), pH 5.8. Lettuce seems to grow ok, roots look really healthy (left picture). However I already lost a rosemary and about to lose the next one (roots turning brown, right picture):

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Anyways, I read a lot on the web and have Van Patten's book, yet manage to be a lousy hydroponic gardener. Here are the questions:

- Currently watering every 1.5hr from 12pm to 8pm, every 3hrs rest of the day. It seems to do well, but I'm afraid that this could be killing the rosemary? Is there a possibility of overwatering in this setup? If I do less frequent, leaves start to wilt on the hottest driest days.

- Is a fish tank power head better at aereation than an air pump? I learned from fish tanks that oxygenation does not happen due to the bubbles but due to the air/CO2 interchange at water surface, bubbles only contributing to surface agitation. Any comments on this?

- Currently using EC of 2.5 following manufacturers instructions. However, they don't specify EC for each particular plant, so I am assuming they all need the same. Is this right?

- I change nutrients once every two weeks, top off water and nutrients every week. How can I tell that I am optimizing the system? EC and pH stay constant throughout the week. Topping off with water dilutes the nutrients (EC to 1.8), pH stays the same. I am concerned about the pH the same, thinking that this is an indication that plants are not taking much nutrients or reservoir too big, wasting nutrients.

I would appreciate any help on this as I can't the definitive source of answers on hydroponics.

Thanks,

Mariano

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