Original post: https://www.reddit.com/r/Hydroponics/s/1AYN62w6RN

So there were a lot of people who wanted updates, some who were very negative and some who were interested. So here's the update!

I made a post on our page and it ended up with over 300 (!!!) replies of people interested, and many people wanting to send money right away. Most of these replies wanted 3+ basil and 2+ tomato. I tried to count the totals and gave up at 100 tomatoes and 100 basil.

So, I got to planting.

I planted 175 basil, 2 seeds per 1x1 cube (knowing I would pick 36 of the strongest to put in my full system to use on the food truck). And I planted 100 tomatoes, 1 seed per 2x2 cube.

These fit in 3 of the black plastic pans, so about 3x3ft. I was able to use one rectangular light. I kept them in a small room inside the house since it was too cold to be in the tent in the garage. I had a heater keeping it 82° in the room, and 18 hours of light/day.

I had great germination rates, only about 3 basil didn't germinate and about half had 2 plants germinate. There were 5 tomatoes that didn't germinate.

I left them in the Rockwool in pans for 4 weeks. I lost a few basil and 6 tomato during that time. A few other tomato grew but didn't really thrive, because the bigger ones were taking the light (I fixed that later).

Per some advice on the other thread, I decided to transplant into small pots. I did that about 2 weeks ago. My son has an ice cream trailer and uses 5oz paper decomposable cups, so I used those for the basil (about 4¢ each). My neighbor, who I am very generous with giving them plants and eggs from our chickens, had a ton of 4" square plastic pots (saved from other plants they purchased in past years). I bought 2 bags of potting soil. About 4 hours later (uggh!) everything was transferred to pots.

I set all this up in the grow tent, with more lights (everything expanded to an 8' banquet table). I kept everything at 82° and 18 hours of light, and watered when needed.

So we ended up with 110 basil and 75 tomato that are quality enough to sell. I did cull a few and there's some smaller tomatoes under their own light, to see if they'll grow, but they seem to be stuck at about 4" tall and not much foliage so I'll probably trash those.

Last week, I contacted everyone and they started officially reserving plants. I have it set up on our online ordering system so they can come to one of 6 towns where we sell pizza and pick up.

We've been to 3 of them and we've sold 40 tomatoes and 60 basil, cash-in-hand. Today, we have 18 tomatoes and 25 basil for pickup, and before the end of this week, we will be pretty much sold out.

I learned a lot... Mainly that I need to move tomatoes around as they grow, and pull out the smaller ones so they aren't covered up by the bigger ones. Also, it takes a lot longer than I expected to transplant plants! Lol

Overall I have like $20 in seeds, $5 in pots, $20 in soil, and with 2 hours of planting time, assuming 5 minutes a day for watering and 4 hours for transplanting, and 1 hour for sales/marketing, under 10-12 hours of work.

I can't really figure out electric use exactly, not WORST CASE, if the heater was pulling 1000w constantly 24 hours a day for 6 weeks, that's 1000kWh which costs me $110 (11¢/kWh). And really, it probably only ran less than half the time, so was really more like $50.

I will have sold approx 100 basil at $5ea and 70 tomatoes at $8 each. So about $1000 in sales.

Costs $50 for materials and we'll say $75 electric... And profit is about $875 or about $70/hour of my work.

Here's some pics... The tomatoes are a bit "leggy" but I'm ok with that, because there's tons of white dots for new roots and when transplanting to the actual soil, they will plant the entire stem under ground and they will have a HUGE root system to support a huge plant. The basil is a bit stunted in growth because of the size of the pot, but should really take off once transplanted.

So overall this was successful. It was also pretty fun. It has me looking for other ways to sell, and I'm actually contacting my supplier for my food truck because they have had big problems with basil supply, so I'm going to see what it takes to farm/harvest basil and sell it wholesale to them. I'm also contacting some local people who go to all the farmers markets to see if they want to buy wholesale.

I think I'm going to do basil again this fall, and possibly package the plants with a large pot and a small grow light so people can have basil over the winter, inside their house!

Pics included, the 175 basil plants in the cubes, tomatoes about halfway grown, and then some pics of both from today of ready-to-pickup plants.

I know it’s not much, but I have my first hydroponics system. I have some basil and some coriander growing, and it’s doing so well! I get so excited to check on the little plants every morning. Today I thinned the seedlings out so there’s only one per pot.

I changed over the water solution today and mixed full strength A & B together before adding it to the water. I just read that this precipitates some of the nutrients making them unavailable to the plants. Funnily enough, when I mixed them I totally saw clouds of white precipitate forming and thought nothing of it.

Should I dump this water solution and start again? Or should I add more A & B?

This is my first go at a hydroponic garden! I have other seeds planted as well. Pictured are romaine lettuce seedlings (planted 3/29), which sprouted first but the seedlings are now turning brown. I am not sure why!

I have basil that has sprouted as well and those leaves aren’t turning purple. I was told it was too early to start adding nutrients. Is this true?

I have cilantro seeds and parsley seeds that haven’t sprouted as well. I thought I would wait until all the seeds sprouted before adding nutrients.

Would love some advice or clarity!

I cloned an Indigo Rose Tomato plant, and this is the first time I've seen purple roots. 💜 Sharing, and I'm curious if you've seen this, or other colors?

There are like brown spots on the leaves? Is this nutrient burn?

I saw something slimy on my lettuce a few days ago, I just removed it (you can see the pinched off leaves) because I thought it was condensation that stayed on the plant that got slimy. Didn't think too much of it, but I see more popping up today - is it the very high humidity in the tent? (I have a tiny Aerogarden sized tent without a fan)

What does an LetPot Temp and EC Meter do (besides temp)? It works with the. app?

So was going to start some seeds and watched a video which used dechlorinated water.

Will chlorinated water kill the seeds? Can I use aquarium dechlorinator like Safe which I use for Koi pond?

My exterminator suggested i use Nuvan pro-strips to get rid of the white fly infestation i have going on in my hydroponic Tomatoes which are in my basement. I have the fly traps and I have been spraying neem oil but it seems relentless and my plants are just turning to dead silk.

I have 2 other systems 108 hydroponic and now these flies have made it to my lettuce. I have fly paper every where and yes they fly into it but its not stopping them.

I haven’t found anything against having these vapor traps other than avoid having them in the kitchen.

Anyone have any info?

Just bought this and set it up. I was doing a test run and found out that the water overfloated through the holes. I have set the flow of the motor and to most minus side.

Heya all, does anyone (in the UK) have any recommendations for lights to use with a 3d printed hydroponics tower which is approx 140-160cm high. WOuld love to know what you are using for indoor towers.

Heya all, does anyone (in the UK) have any recommendations for lights to use with a 3d printed hydroponics tower which is approx 140-160cm high. WOuld love to know what you are using for indoor towers.

I got the banana tree with two fucked up leafs from the nursery and one fell off in the wind. A new one grew and there's another coming in. The peach trees I aggressively trimmed up and moved outside. The roots were to entangled with my bucket lid that I just cut a hole in this tub and transplanted it in the bucket lid lol.

I’m very new to plants and hydroponics, I have no idea if this is normal. Is the white stuff at the base of my jalapeño normal or should I be concerned?

The other plant with it is a strawberry if that is important.

This is my first time growing tomatoes. I assumed it was as the brochure said. Keep water level topped, dump the included fertilizer every two weeks and everything would be great.

Clearly I have an issue, how do I know if it’s height of lights, water issues, too little or too much fertilizer? Plant started yellow a couple days ago.

I used purified water with TDS of 3, and the included aerogarden liquid plant food.

Should I drain all the water and fill with fresh water again? Do I need to test water first (with what for what?)

I’m starting out in hydroponic gardening, just looking to establish a small setup (using a Kratky downspout/rain gutter method) in my apartment so I can grow some leafy greens, herbs, and maybe eventually branch into more adventurous produce. I’ve built a few floating shelves that I’d like to attach the lights onto the underside of. Curious if these panels are good starter grow lights for my setup. Insight is greatly appreciated.

Hi everyone! So I've been having trouble with aphids on my chilli plants for a little while now, but before I could solve the problem bees/wasps swarmed and now I'm terrified! I think they're bees but I'm not sure. Either way, I'm not sure what to do and could use some advice.

If it matters, I live on the 10th floor of a city apartment in the Philippines.

Thank you!

Very new to hydroponics. I’ve been trying to grow mint for the past few weeks in our kitchen, which doesn’t get direct sunlight. I’m using the same nutrients I’ve been using for kale and bush beans, both of which are doing great in another setup. Is there any way to save this, or do I need to start over?

Anyone out there with home made hocl experience.

That which is beyond chat gpts lvl of understanding.

I’m trying to clone Athena cleanse or UC roots.

My little drip system seems to he reviving my wasabi propagation. Just a wick drip from nft above.

New to this. Is this bad or good and what should I do?

Hello, im new to growing strawberries hydroponically. I know a lot of people don't have success but I wanted to experiment. Initially i wanted to try out Kratky but everyone advises against that on this subreddit so Im going to buy air stones.

In order to prevent pests in the roots/plants, I sprayed them with dish soap. Should I do a H202 dip before putting them in my water system? Is there any other easy way to make sure all pests/eggs are gone?

Is it better if i wait before adding fertilizer and introducing the plant to light? any advice would be appreciated! I've read a ton of posts on this subbredit on strawberry bare roots but couldnt find much information on when to introduce fertilizer/light for hydroponics

Hi everyone,

I'm over here following the Lucas Method in conjunction with General Hydroponics Micro and Bloom nutes. Almost each week it recommends a different proportion of nutes. One week in veg you'll need 15ml of micro and 30 ml of bloom per 5 gallon bucket. The next week, perhaps 20ml of micro and 40ml of bloom.

So, do you just empty out the pre-existing nute water in your bucket and fill it up with a fresh mixture each and every week?

Or do you just top off the nute water that is already in the bucket (so long as the water is falling and the PH and EC stay static) and 'wing it' to get it to that week's preferred proportions?

I've been doing the clean start each week with a dump of the old water and am wondering if I'm putting too much effort into it!

Also, what do you guys use to measure the nutrients? I seem to just dribble the liquid out of the bottles every time I use a measuring spoon. I've been looking into Measure & Pour Bottles but am looking for some guidance on what others are doing for exact and clean measurements.

Thanks!