Transistioning seedlings to the GH

[PureHarvest]

Originally Posted by pecker88

I agree. I have 2 bush beefsteak tomatoes in full strength hydro solution (Kratky method) they are about 3 months old and HUGE. My basement ceiling is 9 ft and my 400w HPS lights are cranked to the top and still burning the plants!

I prob. add about 2 gal of solution every week; I have never changed the water or looked inside. I would bet the bucket is almost completely full of roots.

Are you shure the light is causing the tyyburn? I have a 430 HPS that is 3 feet above my plants with no burn.
9 feet up with 4' tall plants would give you 5' of clearance.
Have you considered fertilizer burn or roots that specialized for air then getting submerged in wAter and suffocating after a refill? Especially in Kratky.

[FourOaks]

Originally Posted by PureHarvest

Are you shure the light is causing the tyyburn? I have a 430 HPS that is 3 feet above my plants with no burn.
9 feet up with 4' tall plants would give you 5' of clearance.
Have you considered fertilizer burn or roots that specialized for air then getting submerged in wAter and suffocating after a refill? Especially in Kratky.

You bring up a good question. All though in my experience, over filling the buckets cause the plants to droop, looking like they need more water.

As much as I like Kratky, the over whelming issue is refilling the buckets. Last year I used my "overflow hole" method. But refilling is still a pain when you have several.

Im serioulsy considering a pump and drip emmitters or something along those lines. It would be a hydrid Kratky Dutch Bucket system. Ill call it... "Dratky" or "Krutchy"..

[PureHarvest]

Originally Posted by pecker88

I agree. I have 2 bush beefsteak tomatoes in full strength hydro solution (Kratky method) they are about 3 months old and HUGE. My basement ceiling is 9 ft and my 400w HPS lights are cranked to the top and still burning the plants!

I prob. add about 2 gal of solution every week; I have never changed the water or looked inside. I would bet the bucket is almost completely full of roots.

I have a 430 HPS that is only 3' above my plants, and they look great. Going on 3 weeks under that light today.

If your plants are 3' tall, you have a 5' space. I wonder if your burn is from nutrients or lack of oxygen around the roots?

[FourOaks]

Well time for an update. Its getting really beyond time to get the maters out of the GH. Supposedly tonight is the last night of 40 degrees or less. I really hope so. Normally our last frost is around April 1. Last year we had a bit of a cold snap right around the end of March, but it didn't go on endlessly.

The taller tomatoes in the back are what I referred to as "mystery maters" earlier. All though at this point, im confident that they are Big Beef. They have consistently been larger then the Better Boy and Celebrity.

Once I get these guys out and into the field I can start transplanting the others. I have Bush Champion, Bella Rosa, Fletcher, Jet Setter, and BHN 444 to get transplanted. They are currently growing in 1 quart pots.

[PureHarvest]

Beauty!

[PureHarvest]

FourOaks, i wanted to give an update on bags and soil.

I filled a lot of 5 gallon bags this weekend, and now have a firm number of bags from 1 bale of 3.8 cuft Promix HP.

I can get 6 bags filled AND wet from one bale. I have a little left over to start the 7th bag, but it is not more than a quarter of a bag.

These are bags completely watered and settled, and end up with soil 1" from the top of the bag.

[Ricky Shaw]

Sounds right to me, I get almost 8 on the fabric pots and 7 on the plastics, but I cuff the plastics and the fabrics are not a true five gallons.