My little grow op

[Mandy Onderwater]

Oh no!
I think the lettuce seedlings might be goners, but thankfully the ones in the pots behind look healthy.

You could conteplate getting them watered on a timer, or even a gravity-fed way, like drip-fed. You don't have quite the control you need to have optimal seedlings, but you do have a heightened chance of them surviving for days you do have time to check on them.
I keep my plant pots in saucers with a couple CM height, so that I can water them until there is some water standing in the saucer. That way I know my plants won't dry out before I get back to them. Especially good for when summer hits and the soil dries out too quickly. There are downsides too, like that the soil could stay moist too long.
In the garden ollas have proven helpful, as the roots can take water from the ceramic as needed. I know mini-ollas exist too, to help water potted plants.

 

[Mandy Onderwater]

How have things been going @daveb and @Nick Freeman ?

 

[Nick Freeman]

Hey @Mandy Onderwater !
Sorry life's been a bit crazy. I let most of the nine hydroponics die off. Not intentionally..
I'll send better and up to date photos when home tonight

 

[Nick Freeman]

Some current shots.

 

[Mandy Onderwater]

Things happen and life gets in the way sometimes, no worries @Nick Freeman .

For what's alive, it looks pretty good!

 

[daveb]

not looking to bad , the herbs look amazing first few times around are learning curves. peppers a little leggy leads me to think early on could have borough light down and/or more toward light ti induce heavy foliage. snip the basil back so it fills out , sage with sage so the plant bushes out a bit more , the oregano looks happy i would take a bit of the tips same with thyme to bush them out more abd the long thyme runns laces them back in over the grow plu they will root and make the thyme even stronger fuller plant. i havent been on much leg has been bothering me and was some difficulty standing on it for any length of time

 

[Nick Freeman]

Hey @daveb thank you!
I'll cut the basil back. Cut it down once and already is bushier. If I hang it upside down in some airflow will it dry out to keep longer? It was also bone dry when I got home. I put some new nutrients in it so hopefully picks back up...

The information on the time and sage is helpful! Same with the peppers. I need a better way of hanging the lights.

 

[daveb]

Hey @daveb thank you!
I'll cut the basil back. Cut it down once and already is bushier. If I hang it upside down in some airflow will it dry out to keep longer? It was also bone dry when I got home. I put some new nutrients in it so hopefully picks back up...

The information on the time and sage is helpful! Same with the peppers. I need a better way of hanging the lights.

yes cut before any flowers and hang upside down in bunches dry where good air flow and out of direct sun and not too hot, another option stick into ice cube tray partial fill with water making sure leafs pushed down in after it freezes enough to hold leafs down in top up tap on counter to release any air and let them completely freeze. if you put a measured amount of whole leafs in each ice cube you have a fast simple way to use . Pop cubes out and store in an air tight zip lock bag and when you go to cook take out a cube or 2 of basil and other herbs and drop whole cube direct in using the liquid as part of the water that is called for in the soup stew or sauce. you can store any herb this way , i know some the store the herbs direct in broth and freeze. freezing in this way will give you the freshest herb for use short of cutting it direct off plant.

 

[daveb]

i did an comment in a post a long while ago. i will have to find it now for a flat to regulate the nutrient level, a separate bulk tank and a simple flaoat shut off to keep the main tank topped up. ok found them this gives an idea how it works so test and experiment

 

[Nick Freeman]

Good watches and very informative! Thank you!

 

[Nick Freeman]

So... My beautiful Basil... It ran dry and I had to wait until that night to top it off. (Had to make more neautriant..) I hoped he'd bounce back. I trimmed a bunch off and a bunch fell off. Is he a goner or do you think there'll be new growth. I only filled about 1/3 up

 

[Nick Freeman]

On the plus side!
I think these little nubbens are going to be peppers??!?!

 

[daveb]

give the basil a day or two you will see new growth on the stems and at base

 

[Nick Freeman]

Should I trim anything else off it?

 

[Mandy Onderwater]

I would personally trim off the leaves that are going brown.
The stem, however, looks very healthy and there is a fair chance it'll recover.

 

[daveb]

remove these leafs ... ...... these spots look like possible new growth nodes..... Bonsai scissors from esty that a friend bought me many years ago

you said only fill about 1/3 full go ahead add plain water to dilute it a bit all it needs right now is the moisture not the nutrient so treat it like a seedling with a dilute mix

As you see new leaflets form at the axle point you will go to the next stage of reviving the plant, you will lift the lid and plant off the container go to kitchen sink.
first wash you hand with good anti-bacterial soap and a pair of fine tip pruning scissors similar to a Bonsai style wash them also the same so you dont cause additional issues with stray molds

Rinse the root under a gentle stream of close to room temperature water to remove loose dead roots, inspect for additional dead or rotting roots and do some pruning,
bad roots will be darker discolored and most times a different texture and feel. A good healthier root will have a white or soft white/cream tone and a smooth feel for texture, and firm feel.

lastly if severe rot - mold or fungus in roots, pour out nutrient wash and clean the container then you can kill two birds with one stone a root dip with 1/2 cup 3% hydrogen peroxide to 2 cups water
is the ratio i use as a root dip to kill off any stray bacteria mold, i also deep when i finish pruning. this also works well help to wash the inside of contains

 

[Nick Freeman]

These seem rather dark to what I'm used to seeing on hoocho

 

[daveb]

These seem rather dark to what I'm used to seeing on hoocho

the lower parts in the liquid yes but you have a lot of very health root mass there. remember hooch has constant water flow in an nft system you are in a deep water culture so some darkening is normal
go to sink and gentle open the roots mass with finger and rinse you will find a few tips with some soil from you grow cube and some roots that have broke down , overall the root for deep water looks very health.

You may find a few tips of roots that might need pruning but as i say they look pretty health. i would trim off the leafs i pointed out, dilute nutrient a bit and do a gentle rinse to remove and tiny root tips that have
died back or particles from the peat from the plug

 

[Nick Freeman]

Pruning and cleaning done. I might have been able to go harder or trim more roots but I aired on the side of caution. However after all the dead leaves (honestly they basically all just fell off..) were removed I noticed that there's already small new growth! So here's hoping. I followed advice and cleaned container and added watered down solution. So I'll keep you up to date on this!

 

[daveb]

Pruning and cleaning done. I might have been able to go harder or trim more roots but I aired on the side of caution. However after all the dead leaves (honestly they basically all just fell off..) were removed I noticed that there's already small new growth! So here's hoping. I followed advice and cleaned container and added watered down solution. So I'll keep you up to date on this!

took off a few i didnt x out so i assume the got worse , as for pruning roots rule of thumb is 10 to 15 % of live root mass as a guide then let recover unless only removing dead stuff then that dead is unlimited