TERMINATED: AG Salad kit in Harvest Slim Elite

[pfunnyjoy]

Day 24

Before harvest:



Harvest:



After harvest:



I raised the lights about an inch, even though the lettuces aren't close to touching, because I did see some edge burn on several leaves and I'm hoping to prevent that.

[lynnee]

[pfunnyjoy]

Day 28: Whatever is affecting my kitchen Tatsoi garden started bothering the Deer Tongue lettuce in this garden. Yet so far, the red leaf lettuce has shown no sign of the droops.




The add nutrients light went on, I did a rinse and refill, (no algae problem, which was a concern after finding a slight trace on the old style spacers) and added the AG nutrients. Plus a teaspoon of 3% hydrogen peroxide.

[pfunnyjoy]

Saw the first small signs of whatever was bothering the Tatsoi and Deer Tongue lettuce on the red leaf lettuces. I'm pulling the plug on this garden. 

As for what I will replant, I have no seeds other than Tatsoi, and I don't want to do that in the Harvest, so I'll have to get on my seed ordering.

Will sanitize everything with bleach on this one. If it's a virus, I want to knock it out!

[lynnee]

pfunnyjoy, is that a window next to your tatsoi and deer tongue gardens? If so, did the outdoor weather just change? Drafts from my garden room windows frequently kill my tomatoes by drying the leaves to a crispy texture.

[pfunnyjoy]

Nov 1, 2023 14:16:12 GMT -5 lynnee said:

pfunnyjoy , is that a window next to your tatsoi and deer tongue gardens? If so, did the outdoor weather just change? Drafts from my garden room windows frequently kill my tomatoes by drying the leaves to a crispy texture.

No, it kind of looks like that, but no. They are on a kitchen/bar counter area, so you can see from the kitchen directly into the living room. There is a big window in the living room, but it is WELL away from the gardens, 12 feet easy. The kitchen window would be a good 6 feet away. 

The outdoor weather did go cool this week, I've been waking up to 24F outside, warming to near 40F during the day. But house temps have not radically changed, nor house humidity. I run a humidifier because I suffer from dry eye, so humidity is between 48-50%. That may drop if we get really cold, but usually I can hold the line at 40%.

Actually, speaking of windows, the office Tatsoi, the one that is doing so nicely, is right under a small window. It is, like the rest of the windows, double-pane for insulation. But now that you mention windows, I will keep my eye on that! I've never noticed a draft from this particular window though.

[slw]

I have to think that a cool draft would not hurt the tatsoi or lettuce unless it is an extreme low temperature and causes a frost burn.   Most greens/lettuce are more susceptible to damage from heat/warm water, etc.   I worry about my lettuce suffering since we have had to turn on the furnace, but so far, so good. 

Also, most of the plants enjoy a fan blowing on them so I don't understand why a slight draft would matter.  

[pfunnyjoy]

Nov 1, 2023 18:49:10 GMT -5 slw said:

I have to think that a cool draft would not hurt the tatsoi or lettuce unless it is an extreme low temperature and causes a frost burn.   Most greens/lettuce are more susceptible to damage from heat/warm water, etc.   I worry about my lettuce suffering since we have had to turn on the furnace, but so far, so good. 

Also, most of the plants enjoy a fan blowing on them so I don't understand why a slight draft would matter.  

That's my thinking, especially since I don't even think there's a draft there. 

There is an air purifier under the counter, and that's new since I last grew on the counter some 15 years ago, but I wouldn't think it would create much draft since the counter would block it. And if it was the air purifier, it should have affected the closest garden first, which was the lettuce.

I keep thinking and thinking. I guess I'll have to try another garden in the same spot, see if anything untoward happens. But this time, only one and not two gardens, until I see whether it's a success or failure.

[lynnee]

Drafts of any kind can definitely affect AG plants--mine even hate fans-- but differing setups and plants can change everything! It is indeed a mystery what has happened to the tatsoi and lettuce.

[pfunnyjoy]

It is a mystery. 

But I grew successfully (most of the time) before, so I will figure it out, hopefully!

I just hope it doesn't take too many failed gardens to do so. I did go back over some of my old notes, but I was using mostly using tap water, sometimes starting a garden with distilled water, but then switching to tap. 

The only difference was I was using teaspoons to measure my nutrients, now I'm using pipettes.

I wonder if the PH of our water could have gotten higher over time?