I have been growing herbs in my hydroponic garden all summer and it was great until my basil got nutrient burn. I thoroughly cleaned the system and tried not adding any nutrients to the water, but the burn still spread to my other plants.
I then got rid of the plants, washed the system, sprayed peroxide before the last rinse to kill any fungus, and started over with rosemary and thyme seeds. It took forever for the seeds to sprout! I was so excited when they finally did, but then got super bummed when I saw that the leaves were turning color just like my previous herbs TT. I have not added any nutrients at all to the water since planting the seeds!
Can someone please tell me what is happening and how I can save my plants that took months to sprout?
by DoctorWhosYoDaddy
3 Comments
They are starving. The thyme too the right looks like it’s sending runners in hunt for nutrients. Get a ec/tds meter don’t cheapout.
The suitable EC range of Thyme in hydroponics should be maintained between 1.2-1.8 mS/cm.
There is no theory of growing plants that starving them of nutrients helps. Plants are not animals, giving them less nutrients does not ‘compensate’ for giving them too much earlier. Your statement of ”not adding nutrients to the water’ makes no sense if you’ve cleaned out the old nutrient mix.
Mix the nutrients and if you think it is too much, reduce the nutrient concentrations slightly.
Many varieties of thyme tend to crawl, regular pruning will keep it compact. You can also wind a bit of the runners around your net pot and they can put down more roots. I do this with my peppermint as they tend to want to make runners for me.