Nick's Heirloom Cherry Toms in a Farm+ (TERMINATED)

[Shawn]

Great Pictures!

This looks to be a great project. Nice healthy looking plants.

[nick]

So if you look back at the second picture in my last post you can see that the leaves were curling under a bit on the Golden Harvest plant. When I got home today I noticed that this was the case for both plants and a bit more obvious than what was happening in that photo.

From what I’ve read on the web I believe my Mylar panels are to blame. I think there’s too much heat from the low lights/Mylar and not enough air circulation because the panels make the Farms enclosed. I suspect this is also why my lettuce isn’t growing quite as quickly as I’d expected it to.

Tonight I removed the panels on the side of the tomato Farm where these two plants live. I also removed all of the panels on the Farm with the lettuce plants. I suspect that in the future I may only be able to use them during the germination/seedling stage.

Guess we’ll be wearing our sunglasses at dinner now. 😎

[Shawn]

Ahh, you may be on to something.  I never thought of that.  

I do have enclosures on all my units however they all have space.  My units in my one area I use a black cloth.  I purchased fabric and made a curtain so to speak.   I finished the edges and have clips to clamp it on around some trifold I have against the wall. I wonder if you can use fabric and just have it up for dinner or nighttime.  This give the ability for air.  



In this picture I used trifold for the background.  I clipped it together to make one piece and up the sides.  At night I clamp the "curtain" from the top corn of one side to the next for light blockage.  There is so much space as it is not right up against the units and air flows thru the front.  So maybe fabric with some extenders around the farms may help?

[nick]

Looking a little better this morning, but we’ll see what a day or two without the panels on does for it. They both look a little squat to me, but I have nothing to base that on since this is my first time around. If they are, I’m wondering if that’s heat related too.

[MaryL]

AG used to make, or still does, a Mylar curtain that has vertical strips of Mylar so that air can flow. While this product is designed to increase the light shining onto the plants inside the curtain, it can also reduce some of the light coming out into your room. I just went onto their site to see if they still sell it but their new website is dumb. Under “Accessories” it won’t let me go to “Other” which is where you’d find it.  

[nick]

I’d thought about trying those but I liked the idea of the panels being modular.

Still not sure if Heat was the issue for these plants yet. The jury is out. Going to wait at least a full week to see how they look before I say it’s a real problem.

[Shawn]

What about only putting them up while you eat and then again when you go to sleep?  During the day they can air out.  

[nick]

Oct 10, 2018 12:24:18 GMT -5 Shawn said:

What about only putting them up while you eat and then again when you go to sleep?  During the day they can air out.  

Maybe. Sleep isn't so much an issue as they're on the first floor and everyone sleeps on the second floor.

I find that I don't actually mind the lights that much. I was just trying to be courteous to people eating in our dining room. I suppose I can just reserve them for when we have dinner guests or I feel like being kind to my children.

[nick]

Well, I’m not sure what’s up with the Golden Harvest plant. Drop continues even without the panels on. The Heirloom Cherry in the same bowl looks fine to me.

I guess we’ll see what a rinse & refill will do for this one tomorrow.

Droopy Golden Harvest:



Heirloom Cherry:

[Shawn]

Try moving it to a different pod.  Sometimes location is everything.  That may not fix it IF something is wrong but it may help 

I know I have had pods grow slower or not look well and I move them and then they flourish.  Worth a shot maybe?  Plus it is a different variety of tomato.  Then again I have never grown them so I am of no help at all.  Sorry.

[nick]

If I don’t see it perk up this week, I’ll definitely try moving it.

R&R last night. Third feeding was 1:2:2:1 ratio of Mooch/GH Micro/GH Grow/GH Bloom.

[nick]

I woke up this morning and just did not like the look of the Golden Harvest plant. I went ahead and moved it to a different pod in spite of saying I’d wait a bit.

When viewed next to its neighbor there is clearly a problem.



And the leaves have some yellowing on the edges.



I’ve raised the lights slightly just to make sure it’s not burning the plant, but I don’t think that’s it. PH is at 6 currently. I don’t think the nutes are an issue or I’d expect the other plant to be in trouble as well.

I’m really not sure what to do with this one right now.

[Shawn]

In reading some pages elsewhere.  Both over and under watering can be the issue.  So maybe the spot it was in was not spreading water out the spout like it should have.  I know if a unit is not level or if the deck has warpage the water may not circulate out the holes like it should.  I found that in one of my machines.

[nick]

Just like my other toms...

Out of an abundance of caution I just did another R&R and switched to AG nutes for this one. I also an an extra gallon of water through the tank in between the rinse and the refill to try to flush it out as much as possible.

I’m not confident I’m using the GH nutes correctly so We’ll see if this corrects the curl.

Fed with 24ml of AG nutes during the R&R.

[Happy]

If I remember correctly, Mike likes AG nutes for tomatoes.
mike, is this correct?

[nick]

No improvement here. In fact I’m starting to see spots on the lower leaves of the previously healthy plant. (Marked with a red line.)

[Happy]

Sigh. Maybe the people at AG can help.

[MaryL]

Hi Nick,
I’m sorry I somehow missed this thread when I was last on.  I was going to say that at first the drooping looked to me more like simply a different growth habit rather than drooping or poor health. But I see your subsequent posts and concern. Hang in there though, it may be just fine.  I’d clip off those lower leaves though. No sense in continuing to give them your food’s limited energy.  Between that and the R n R and placement change it may do the trick.  Fingers crossed!  Let us know!

[Kate]

Your new babies looked great, Nick! I wonder if it's the same issue as with the peppers. Maybe you DO have a bacterial problem.