Kratky Jar Fail?

[vitaverde]

vgy.me/u/VNyKCN

Hello! I had never messed with hydroponics before I got my AG last month so I was really excited to try something else.

I very much DIYed the setup, the net cup is a dremeled yogurt container and I used some river rocks to hold the plant. It looked really pretty so I tucked my mint cutting (which had roots) into the cup with roots poking out and stabilized it with the rocks. I put it next to my Classic 6 so it was getting 17ish hours of spilled light.

I also filled the jar with water mixed with some of the AG liquid food. I tried to balance the amount e.g. 1 gallon gets two caps so 16 oz should get a little less than half.

Four days later, dead. Wilted. Really sad. The mint cutting was in water so I have no idea why it didn't bounce back from transplant.
Did I overfeed it? Was it just too small? Were the river rocks my downfall?

Also, the system is still set up, could I slip one of my basil plants from the Classic? There's like 3 per pod. How big should a plant be before it won't die?

[Shawn]

Hello and Welcome to the forum!

I have never tried any DYI setups but yours looks nice.  I myself can not help you but I know others have ventured out into DYI's.  I hope someone will chime in and help answer your questions.

I would love to see your AG Gardens too

[serri588]

I do a lot of propagation through cuttings for mint- the seeds are such a pain. I lose over half of them- they just wilt like that sometimes. I've taken to starting twice as many cuttings as I want, and it usually works out alright.

[vitaverde]

Thanks for the reassurance Serri! 
I have a 50% hope for the future, just need to go and get more cuttings.

Question: Do you let your cuttings grow roots in plain water and then transfer or just stick them in before the roots show?

[serri588]

I do mine in water with some rooting powder. Not sure if the powder helps any, but it's cheap and doesn't hurt. I wait till I see roots start to form then put them in a pod. Last time I left them in the water too long and I had to cut the sponges to get them in. 😁

I recently purchased some of those plastic tips that they use to put cut flowers in. I haven't tried them yet, but I'm hoping it will help keep the plants straight. Mine seem to sink in to the glass and get a big bend in the stem.