Hydro Problems

[wordwiz]

OK, I'm not real experienced at this, but I've raised several plants - tomatoes, lettuce and peppers successfully. Suddenly, I am having problems, at least in one spot. It is an armoire, and has five five-gallon containers in it. I am using the same methods, same nuits and same lights in previously successful tries but now, the plants keep dieing. I think the cause is the pH is getting too high - each time I check after a plant has died or is looking wilty, the pH is 7.1 or higher, as high as 8.0. Yet it is generally about 6.5-6.6 when the plants go in it. As a note: I aerate the water for an hour or so after I adjust the pH and add nuits, then check it again. But in a day or two, the pH is back up over 7.0, usually higher. The ppm is about 750 - 800 in each container

By comparison, I have another 6-hole container in a different place and it and no plants have died. Same nuit levels but the pH stays in the 6.5-6.7 range. That leads me to believe it must be related to the buckets being in a semi-closed area, though the doors stay open and the heat is no more than a degree higher than where the other container is. Plus, I successfully grew tomatoes and lettuce in it this winter.

This is frustrating, to say the least. Any ideas besides go back to dirt?

Mike

 

[lostmind]

Shot in the dark. Oxygen/co2 level in the armoire dropping?

 

[wordwiz]

Lostmind,

Could be, but it's a stretch. I grew two large toms and two cukes in it this winter and though the ambient air temp was cooler, the doors stayed closed.

Another possibility is the water temp - it's borderline: 30C. But that's only 2 degrees higher than the other container. I'm wondering if maybe some toxin from the bucket is leaking in? Again, I grew stuff in the same buckets (or same type) before but perhaps the higher heat, albeit small, is enough to let the plastic decompose.

I'm going to try to pick up some food-grade 5 gallon buckets Tuesday.

Mike