slw
AGA Bounty
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Post by slw on Oct 7, 2023 14:20:55 GMT -5
From what I have read, tomato blossom end rot in hydroponics is due to a low level of calcium, so I'm just adding the cal-mag for now, lynnee. The plant itself is not showing any signs of nutrient deficiency... great color, beautiful sturdy branches, etc. Most of the little tomatoes look fine so hopefully the shot of calcium will do the trick to ward off further problems.
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slw
AGA Bounty
Posts: 775
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Post by slw on Oct 7, 2023 14:30:54 GMT -5
Well, this is interesting. I should have just used Epsom salts and not bothered buying cal-mag. From the AG website...
"If you're starting to see Blossom-End Rot already, here's a solution. Start with a "rinse and refill". Empty the contents of your water bowl, rinse it, and replace the water adding the appropriate level of nutrient (12 ml). This will restore the pH level in your AeroGarden. Add 1 Tablespoon of Epsom Salt to the water. Remove and discard the browning tomatoes."
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Post by scarfguy on Oct 7, 2023 14:36:36 GMT -5
From what I have read, tomato blossom end rot in hydroponics is due to a low level of calcium, so I'm just adding the cal-mag for now, lynnee . The plant itself is not showing any signs of nutrient deficiency... great color, beautiful sturdy branches, etc. Most of the little tomatoes look fine so hopefully the shot of calcium will do the trick to ward off further problems.
Believe me, I'm an expert on blossom end rot!
From what I understand, end rot is a calcium deficiency AT THE BLOSSOM SITE. The problem is not so much the presence of calcium in the water but the transport of calcium thru the plant to the extremities.
The inability of the plant to transport the calcium seems to be related to the rapid growth of the plant (which is why we like growing in AGs). Using cal-mag will ensure the availability of calcium but the transport issue will generally correct itself as the plant matures and growth slows. Thus, you will frequently find end rot on the first few tomatoes and it will go away by itself with the next ones.
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pfunnyjoy
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Post by pfunnyjoy on Oct 7, 2023 15:32:29 GMT -5
Hope everyone is having a great Saturday. We are finally feeling a bit of Fall in the Houston area and it is wonderful after the summer we had.
Cukes sound great! I juice cucumbers pretty regularly and love them in salads too! Even in stir fries occasionally. How many do you usually get? Anyway, I was born in Houston, so howdy, fellow Texan! I live a long way from there now!
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pfunnyjoy
AGA Bounty
Made more grow room in my office!
Posts: 621
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Post by pfunnyjoy on Oct 7, 2023 15:38:55 GMT -5
Lettuce is finally peeking out over the labels in the Harvest Slim Elite, only I'm not sure what's going on in the black-seeded Simpson and Romaine pods. It's still only 5 days. I hope they sprout. If not, I'll get AG to replace the pods, but it'll be too late for this garden. I've been letting the little sprouts have some air, one of the Tatsoi sprouts is already too large to fit under the dome. There's one pod germinated in the 6 Elite+, no sign in the other. If I don't see something soon there, I'll drop in another seed.
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slw
AGA Bounty
Posts: 775
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Post by slw on Oct 7, 2023 16:24:49 GMT -5
Cukes sound great! I juice cucumbers pretty regularly and love them in salads too! Even in stir fries occasionally. How many do you usually get? Anyway, I was born in Houston, so howdy, fellow Texan! I live a long way from there now! This is only my second and third attempts at AG cukes. With my first try (an Iznik), it was going great until I killed it by adding Kool Bloom. I'm sure that was user error since others report outstanding results from KB. Anyway, I got a couple of small cukes off that one and it was a lot of fun to grow before I killed it.
The AG cucumber pods growing in my Farm right now are doing great. So far they are loaded with cukes and I have three that are mature enough to pick. Note that these are really small cucumbers, generally 4" or so.
I love cucumbers and had a huge harvest in my outdoor raised beds last season before the brutal summer heat ended it all. I was able to put up a ton of pickles!
So you are a "transplanted" Texan! How about this... my oldest son is also a transplant from TX to the PNW! He lives in Oregon. I am originally from south Georgia so I'm a transplant, too!!
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pfunnyjoy
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Made more grow room in my office!
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Post by pfunnyjoy on Oct 7, 2023 17:01:38 GMT -5
This is only my second and third attempts at AG cukes. With my first try (an Iznik), it was going great until I killed it by adding Kool Bloom. I'm sure that was user error since others report outstanding results from KB. Anyway, I got a couple of small cukes off that one and it was a lot of fun to grow before I killed it. The AG cucumber pods growing in my Farm right now are doing great. So far they are loaded with cukes and I have three that are mature enough to pick. Note that these are really small cucumbers, generally 4" or so. I love cucumbers and had a huge harvest in my outdoor raised beds last season before the brutal summer heat ended it all. I was able to put up a ton of pickles! So you are a "transplanted" Texan! How about this... my oldest son is also a transplant from TX to the PNW! He lives in Oregon. I am originally from south Georgia so I'm a transplant, too!! Yeah, I figured that cucumbers for juicing wouldn't be a good AG project, but for salads and fun, maybe. Though I tend to like shorter grow projects. I have done tomatoes and mini bell peppers, but the mini bells just weren't that satisfying to me to eat, and the tomatoes took forever and needed constant watering.
There is a volunteer vine out front. I think it is a Dickinson squash/pumpkin. We had the same thing volunteer in our back yard one year and discovered them to be good eating, though a bit much for me to easily process with my spine troubles/nerve pain. Darn things are the size of my Instant Pot! And heavy! But I will undoubtedly harvest and bring some in, then we'll see if I can muster the energy to do something with one or more of them. One of my neighbors said she might take one. She is also elderly and uncertain of whether she really wants to deal with it, LOL!
My brother used to live in western OR, which was nice, as we could visit occasionally, even if we had to drive across a chunk of the state, but his wife had lung issues and needed a drier climate, and they are now in AZ.
I just spotted the second sprout in my 2 day old Tatsoi garden in the 6 Elite+, and I couldn't see a darn thing happening in that pod this morning, LOL! So germination is about the same between the old pump garden and old airstone garden.
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slw
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Post by slw on Oct 7, 2023 17:30:01 GMT -5
I'm so involved with my AGs that I check on them several times a day. First thing every morning I get my coffee and head for the "garden" (previously known as the dining room.) I love watching seeds sprout and a tiny plant appear; just miraculous really.
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Post by lynnee on Oct 7, 2023 20:41:33 GMT -5
I'm so involved with my AGs that I check on them several times a day. First thing every morning I get my coffee and head for the "garden" (previously known as the dining room.) I love watching seeds sprout and a tiny plant appear; just miraculous really.
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pfunnyjoy
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Made more grow room in my office!
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Post by pfunnyjoy on Oct 8, 2023 13:49:13 GMT -5
I'm so involved with my AGs that I check on them several times a day. First thing every morning I get my coffee and head for the "garden" (previously known as the dining room.) I love watching seeds sprout and a tiny plant appear; just miraculous really. I love that too! But I also hate the anxiety when seeds that had ought to be sprouting aren't, LOL! I just moved things around in my salad kit garden, just in case the two lettuce pods that haven't sprouted yet don't. It's day 6 and I'm concerned. I figured better to move and improve spacing before the others have roots out the bottom of their baskets. I can see the seeds in the pods, I just can't tell if anything is happening.
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slw
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Post by slw on Oct 8, 2023 14:35:21 GMT -5
But I also hate the anxiety when seeds that had ought to be sprouting aren't, LOL! I have a FairyTale eggplant pod that is causing me some angst. I need to stop hovering but I can't resist it.
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Post by lynnee on Oct 8, 2023 14:47:26 GMT -5
slw, Fairy Tale eggplants love their AGs! I can't remember how long mine took to germinate, but I had a pair that was still producing lots of fruit after more than a year. I finally terminated them because I was tired of pollinating them--they mostly require hand pollinating, though I suspected that mine were doing some self-pollinating at the end.
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patlab
AGA Sprout
Gardening is cheaper than therapy…. And you get tomatoes!
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Post by patlab on Oct 9, 2023 1:08:49 GMT -5
Patio Baby eggplant is another eggplant you might want to try. It produces much earlier than Fairy Tale and I had an abundance of fruit. I can’t remember if I had to pollinate or not. Seeds were from Seeds and Such.
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pfunnyjoy
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Made more grow room in my office!
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Post by pfunnyjoy on Oct 9, 2023 1:24:21 GMT -5
But I also hate the anxiety when seeds that had ought to be sprouting aren't, LOL! I have a FairyTale eggplant pod that is causing me some angst. I need to stop hovering but I can't resist it. I did notice that the pods say 4-8 days for germination, and it's only been 6 so far, but it's hard seeing all the other pods nicely sprouted ... then those blank spots. Can't resist hovering either.
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Post by lynnee on Oct 9, 2023 19:21:41 GMT -5
Patio Baby eggplant is another eggplant you might want to try. It produces much earlier than Fairy Tale and I had an abundance of fruit. I can’t remember if I had to pollinate or not. Seeds were from Seeds and Such. Did it have the same delicate flavor as the Fairy Tale? I'm curious enough to want to try it. 🍆🍆🍆
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Post by tatmia on Oct 10, 2023 7:42:04 GMT -5
I have a FairyTale eggplant pod that is causing me some angst. I need to stop hovering but I can't resist it. I did notice that the pods say 4-8 days for germination, and it's only been 6 so far, but it's hard seeing all the other pods nicely sprouted ... then those blank spots. Can't resist hovering either. If I recall, my seeds (Purchased through True Leaf Market) took so long that I was going to give up on them and then one day I finally noticed them sprouting.
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slw
AGA Bounty
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Post by slw on Oct 10, 2023 9:09:43 GMT -5
I noticed this morning that the FairyTale has finally sprouted. It looks like it is pushing roots out above the sponge so I might have to perform sponge surgery on the little guy. This is seed that I bought on Amazon (Hometown Seeds); not the AG pre-seeded pod.
My cucumbers continue to amaze me. I'm not seeing any new grow tips on the Iznik so I might have to terminate that vine when the six cukes on it get ready to pick.
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Post by tatmia on Oct 10, 2023 10:21:29 GMT -5
My cucumbers continue to amaze me. I'm not seeing any new grow tips on the Iznik so I might have to terminate that vine when the six cukes on it get ready to pick.
Do you have an opinion on the flavors, productivity of the AG cukes vs the Iznik?
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slw
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Post by slw on Oct 10, 2023 12:05:03 GMT -5
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patlab
AGA Sprout
Gardening is cheaper than therapy…. And you get tomatoes!
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Post by patlab on Oct 10, 2023 19:28:42 GMT -5
Patio Baby eggplant is another eggplant you might want to try. It produces much earlier than Fairy Tale and I had an abundance of fruit. I can’t remember if I had to pollinate or not. Seeds were from Seeds and Such. Did it have the same delicate flavor as the Fairy Tale? I'm curious enough to want to try it. 🍆🍆🍆 yes, they were delicious. They are about 2”x1”. I cut them in half, put some olive oil on them and threw them in the air fryer.
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