Farm 1 11/25/17 Toms and Cucs - Terminated

[drbanks]

Sounds like time for some cal-mag supplement

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[serri588]

The cucumbers are staying pretty bunched up, which is nice, but all the new growth was just sitting under those big stinking leaves and they were getting in my way. So.... I got brave and removed a couple of them over the past week. Right one is looking a little naked at the moment but left plant seems happy enough so I"m hoping Righty will perk up in a day or two now that light is hitting the newer leaves.

Lo and behold, when I took a leaf off today to discover blossoms! Hopefully, the pruning won't hurt the plant so much that these just die off.



Toms also have small blossoms, but those are AG varieties, so much less interesting.

[Shawn]

Exciting!

[MaryL]

I do remove my biggest, lowest leaves to allow light into the undergrowth.  Not saying it’s right, because I’m still having trouble with my cuke, but those leaves are a nuisance, lol.

[serri588]

I'm glad I removed the big leaves while I had a chance- it is now a fight to keep them from overtaking the tomatoes and each other.

I did the same experiment with the cukes as the lettuce- right is AG nutes, left is Flora series. The left one is taking advantage of the light on the right half, so I'm not sure that it is a fair test. The left one is blooming like crazy, and the right one has a few blooms on it as well. However, the tomato plants seem to be about the same, which is why I think the extra light may be a contributing factor.

I've been watching the nutrient level as well as the ph to see what happens there. The first week after feeding I need to adjust a couple times, but the second week only required a small tweak.

The AG nutrient mix seems to be on the low side ppm-wise. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but I did give that side an extra 8 mL of nutrient mix on the off week so they had something to eat this week.

[drbanks]

I expect the AG nutes are much better in terms of being pH buffered, since they're designed to be no-fuss to the extreme.  But, I've had such spectacular results with the Flora Series (plus CaliMagic) that I'm willing to put up with the hassle, albeit with very frequent dump+refills.  I was dumping everything on a one week schedule, but I just can't keep up with that pace and have any free time left over on the weekends, so I'm back onto a 2 week D&R schedule.  Basically, if it tells me I need to add nutes, I dump and refill.

[serri588]

I'm going to dump and refill every 2 weeks as well. The other week is just a checkup on ph and ec.


The ph in both dropped like a rock that first week. The AG nutrients might have done a little better, but not enough to matter- they both ended up needing 2x2ml ph up the first week, and one more ml this week.

[Shawn]

I can't do all the other nutes, gets too confusing for me LOL.  I stick to AG nutes and my Mr. Mucha Stash for peppers.  But for those that can use all these other things I think it is great.

[serri588]

So many blossoms! I'm kinda hoping they don't all turn into cucumbers- there's no way I can eat that many.

[MaryL]

I can’t wait to see how your cuke does.  I don’t know what I’m doing wrong with mine.

[serri588]

Both the tomato and cucumber on the AG nutes side are looking a bit worse for wear these days. I just fed today, so we'll see if they perk up. If so, I'll increase my off-week feeding to 16ml. They got 24ml today + 4ml of Floragro for the extra magnesium.

From what I've seen so far, cucumbers need a lot more care and feeding than my other plants.

If these do fruit well, a seed trade might be in order- I can see if I can get the Tasty Jades to work and you can see if the Salad Slicers grow better for you.

[MaryL]

Jan 6, 2018 13:22:34 GMT -5 serri588 said:

If these do fruit well, a seed trade might be in order- I can see if I can get the Tasty Jades to work and you can see if the Salad Slicers grow better for you.

One potential explanation for my cuke plant is that the seeds I have are old.  But what makes me think they’re still ok is that the problems with old seeds are usually apparent from germination, and I haven’t had any issues getting the plants going.   Maybe different nutes would work better in this case.

Either way, I’m really excited to see what happens with yours.

[serri588]

Doing my pollination rounds on the cucumbers this morning, and there are little tiny tomatoes forming!

I haven't spotted any baby cucumbers yet, but it's hard to see right around the mass of the stems. There are a couple spots that look like they might be cucs-to-be.

[MaryL]

Oh I see those!  Super cute little toms.

[Shawn]

So tiny

[serri588]

It's been a while since I posted an overall pic. Valiantly fighting to keep the cucumbers within the bounds of the Farm for the most part, and to defend the tomato plants. Today I had to trim a couple tendrils that had found their way onto the light cables.

Feeding with the AG nutes every week and checking ph on both sides a couple times a week seems to have solved the issues so far. I would not want to do these in a Bounty- they go through 2-3 gallons of water a week, so the extra large bowls are very helpful.



Here's what the roots look like (another reason the bigger grow bowls are helpful):

[Shawn]

Huge leaves and lots of roots.  You are feeding every two weeks instead of the usual 2?

[serri588]

The right side is getting AG nutes every week. I did double check the EC first and it was down to .15, so just above plain water.

The left side is getting GH Flora series. That's a much stronger solution, so that is staying at every two weeks. EC this morning was at .7, which is on the lower side, but still plenty. Full strength AG nutes sits right around there.

[MaryL]

Those are thriving!  Maybe I’m not feeding mine enough.  I don’t have that meter. Only a ph one.

[serri588]

Jan 14, 2018 11:42:55 GMT -5 MaryL said:

Those are thriving!  Maybe I’m not feeding mine enough.  I don’t have that meter. Only a ph one.

This is the one I picked up when the cucs started struggling:

www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01FPG89CE/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

For most AG stuff, you shouldn't need it. That's the point of the AeroGarden nutes and feeding schedule. With the cucumbers, it's definitely been a useful tool alongside my ph meter in diagnosing why they are struggling. I certainly wouldn't alter the feeding schedule like I have without checking to make sure that the extra food isn't going to push the nutrient mix too high.