Only 5 days later, and these puppies are growing! The seeds that I put in must have popped within a day or two. pH is at a steady 6.5. Temperature seems normal. Still plenty of nutrient solution. I think the problem is fixed. These plants are growing fast and healthy… Even though it’s only been 5 days. With the radish seeds, I didn’t see growth this fast at all.
Here are the new kids on the block, Baby Mesclun! I let a few seeds germinate and put them into two cups. I also put seeds in the two other cups without germinating them. I mixed brand new nutrient solution and put brand new rockwool in the cups before entering the seeds in the system. The nutrient solution is a perfect 6.5 pH before using it. I have extremely high hopes for these new seeds and plan on giving them the perfect conditions even though there is not much class time left.
Well, I was unable to correct the issues with my plants. They are all brown and shriveled. No life left. Here lies my radish plants. Born February 15th 2012, Died April 16th 2012. R.I.P.
I learned that if something “traumatic” happens early on in the plant’s life, that it is sometimes very difficult to get them growing correctly. I assume that this was the case. I have decided to remove my existing plants (including the rockwool and nutrient solution) and replace them with with mesclun. I should at least see a bit of progress before the end of the semester. WISH ME LUCK!
I experienced some issues while testing the pH of my plants. One of the liquids said that my pH was extremely high while the other said it was extremely low. I was inconsistent with the pH testers that I used and I raised and lowered the pH regularly. From what I understand, I should not need to adjust the pH very much at all. To help solve this issue, I emptied all of my solution and replaced it with a brand new mix on 3-26-12. I have also been using the litmus paper in conjunction with the green colored liquid. I have been reading about a 6.0 ever since.