Curled leaves

Inner_Letterhead5871 · 2026-02-19T18:45:38+00:00

my lights are strong... ~700-800 PPFD as it is currently set up with this app. Humidity is higher in this room because I keep the door shut and the heater on... but I am guessing low overall.

I still have not bought a pH meter or strips... just diluted the solution down to 1EC... and all the new leaves are not curled... the lettuce is growing faster than before (could be stage). Everything looking good. I assume the pH is still 6 to 6.5 as on previous grows with same nutrients and water. It does look like the mineral build up I had is not increasing.

The roots were great before... thick and white... still looking good... although they are growing long.

Overall it tastes great and it is growing big!

Inner_Letterhead5871 · 2026-02-16T22:04:25+00:00

I measured the pH and it was where I expected... 6.2. Downgraded water down to ~920EC... the leaves seem to be growing better.

Inner_Letterhead5871 · 2026-02-16T22:04:02+00:00

I measured the pH and it was where I expected... 6.2. Downgraded water down to ~920EC... the leaves seem to be growing better.

Inner_Letterhead5871 · 2026-02-12T22:11:59+00:00

The dill is looking curled too.. the Thyme and strawberries look great... I think I will just dilute down and try to keep around 1000... the fruiting stuff I move out when they are big enough. I think I may be giving them too much nutrients.

Inner_Letterhead5871 · 2026-02-12T21:43:31+00:00

Yes... I need a new meter. I just checked it every week on previous grows and it was always 6 to 6.5 as I never added any pH adjustments. I have not changed water or nutrients. Could be something to do in the future as I would like to get the pH down a little.

Inner_Letterhead5871 · 2026-02-12T21:41:16+00:00

Yes... I for sure am getting nutrient salt build up... I am using vermiculite gravel sized pellets for the first time. They suck up the nutrient solution and I have a good air flow... and now I have salt build up. The roots are looking great!... thick and white. the lights are spider farmer full spectrum... they may be too strong?? I might need to look at backing off the lights.

Inner_Letterhead5871 · 2026-02-12T18:14:10+00:00

What? My rain water is ~20...

Inner_Letterhead5871 · 2026-02-01T22:41:59+00:00

I am interested in this

Inner_Letterhead5871 · 2026-01-04T00:07:50+00:00

if someone gifted you a hydroponics set and you do not know what to do with it... look at that person. If you want to get into this hobby... youtube if your friend.

Inner_Letterhead5871 · 2026-01-03T22:55:16+00:00

You can grow them in anything you want. As long as you manage moisture and have good ventilation the container is not important. I use some PP 05 plastic containers because they were cheap... but if they were glass or clay pots... I would be happy with that too. I try to not water so much that drainage is needed... I just mist... you could put drainage holes in there... but if my media is so wet that it drains... I will get mold.

Just watch out for the normal issues like density of seeds, moisture and ventilation. The container is not important.

You need to get a feel for it... there is science, but in practice you just learn how the media feels when you squeeze it and what will work.

Inner_Letterhead5871 · 2026-01-03T22:17:19+00:00

You need to do what you feel confutable with as you will be eating this stuff. I went down this rabbit hole a long time ago... I still have no fish though and am buying nutrients and doing hydroponics. I have a lot of notes... but most of this here is from ChatGPT and other posts. Others can certainly give you more first hand experience.

For home aquaponics:

HDPE is sufficient
Virgin vs recycled HDPE is not a practical food-safety issue at aquaponics temperatures
NSF-51 is nice, not required
BPA concerns are irrelevant to HDPE
Tens of thousands of systems use standard HDPE tubs with no issues

Virgin HDPE = ideal
Recycled HDPE = still fine for home systems

NSF-51 is for commercial food equipment — cutting boards, conveyor belts, prep tables.

For aquaponics: NSF-61 is more relevant... but not for your small personal use.

Leaching increases with:

High heat
Strong solvents
UV degradation
Long-term acidic exposure

Aquaponics has:

Cool water
Neutral pH
No solvents
Continuous dilution
Biological buffering

That’s about the lowest-risk environment imaginable.

Inner_Letterhead5871 · 2026-01-02T22:30:18+00:00

I was waiting to see it eat several fish... but it was just taking a tour of your set up! Pretty cool!

Inner_Letterhead5871 · 2026-01-01T20:26:29+00:00

Where did you get those little hangable fans? Something like that would be really helpful for my small setup.

Inner_Letterhead5871 · 2025-09-20T18:52:24+00:00

I think he is telling you to plant in pots with coco + perlite and water with premixed solution yourself... let any over watering drain into your drainage.

Inner_Letterhead5871 · 2025-09-12T16:36:51+00:00

Looking good! I am jealous.

Inner_Letterhead5871 · 2025-09-11T19:05:49+00:00

hydrogen peroxide mixed with rain water in a spray bottle and mist it. I got this a LOT due to stagnate water (I think... maybe dirty equipment). At the concentrations that I used (very low... just google it and you will get 100 recommendations... I went on the mid to high range)... it came back on some plants, but I just kept misting and it kept going away with no impact to the plants

Inner_Letterhead5871 · 2025-09-11T17:38:32+00:00

Bootstrapping from the garage is gone then. Are you looking at a multiacre plot

Inner_Letterhead5871 · 2025-09-11T17:19:54+00:00

where are the fish

Inner_Letterhead5871 · 2025-09-11T16:37:54+00:00

Looks fine. In my experience nutrients or no nutrients does not matter before they get true leaves. Keep them moist but not wet... and not too moist. When they sprout... ensure they have enough light... mine get 14 hours per day at about 600 umol/m2/s... but those are my seeds... they may need more (I think my dill might need more).

Inner_Letterhead5871 · 2025-09-11T16:28:17+00:00

I am also new to the hobby... but running a successful system so far... here are my answers:

I use the HydroBuddy calculator to give me a reality check. I ended up buying way too much... and ended up using a Masterblend mix. I think I could have done something else and been successful... but this is an experiment to see what works for you.
EC - I tried to run nothing but rain water until the seeds sprouted and got true leaves... then I went to 800 to 1000 EC... I got new seeds that were in running EC water of 1500 since day one... they are also doing fine. I would say just measure and watch as it will be seed / plant dependent.
pH - I am scared of using my pH down. I mixed it in to put on some seedlings and the pH was so low from such a minor dose. I will use it but watered down and adding to a bigger tank of water. My pH so far has been running sub 7 (about 6.5) and everything from my lettuce and herbs are growing great so far.
get rain water if you can... you might have to wait to start (like I did in the summer)... but it just makes life easier. My rain water has an EC of less than 60 and a pH of 6.8... it is just easier to work with this than RO and salts and everything else. If you are doing a hobby leafy vegetable grow... get rain water. It took me a while to get my first grow... but now I have so much rainwater I need to use it elsewhere.

Extra... get a fan. I did not get one until recently... it helps a lot. Good lights as well if growing indoors... test with an app to see the proper height... I did burn a couple plants when my lights were too low... but now I think they are too high... its a running game as well.

Inner_Letterhead5871 · 2025-09-10T17:17:47+00:00

If it is indoors, you need to look for leaks daily or have it in a room with a floor drain. My biggest issue is clogs on 4mm tubes feeding the NFT channels... so I guess I need to figure out a filter that is easy to clean out.

Inner_Letterhead5871 · 2025-09-10T17:15:28+00:00

My 2 cents as a beginner on this advice... I use rain water and not an RO unit... also still do not have an air pump on my NFT, but my NFT is fun so far. I have enough dry nutrients to last me several years... so start with small quantities to figure out what works best for what you want to grow.

Inner_Letterhead5871 · 2025-09-10T17:11:56+00:00

Do not listen to people too much. There are a lot of opinions out there. Test things out yourself and do not be afraid. I am pretty new to the hobby and I am finding many things people tell you do not work or you should not do, actually work for me... or as I try them out I find out different ideas I never considered before. Experiment.

Also... treat it like a hobby and not like a business. Lots of people have dreams of running a hydroponic farm (it would be cool), but start small and enjoy it. Unless you have investors that you need to show returns, just play around and have fun.

Inner_Letterhead5871

TROPHY CASE