Deep Water Ebb-Flow System

It's all about the GR microgreens today!   And that is just 2 days after seeding. The kitchen towel method seems to be working till now. Let's see what happens in 8 days. For the time being, will keep the cup to cover the mini sprouts. Now the lollas. A close-up of the tip burn like of the cotyledons. Interesting to see that the lolla young leaves are relatively tender and thin compared to Cos. DATA EC1532 pH5.83 WT29 Water level: at mid level.

Woke up to Flooding at Tier 2! All the pots in Tier 2, where the Lolla Lettuce (LL) are flooded. A quick check of the water outlet reveals that it is blocked by leftover GR roots! This caused the level of water in Tier 2 to rise! Removing the roots immediately solved the issue. The water level receded very quickly, and the water level measure normalized to near Max level. I may have inadvertently drowned the LL seeds. Will wait a couple of days to see if any survives. COS/ROMAINE: Showing more signs of some form of deficiencies. The tips of some leaves are turning ligh brown and becoming somewhat translucent. RED OAK Doing well. BUTTERHEAD: Growing pretty ok. Some are showing signs of curling into a tight-knit bunch, not so similar to the romaine anymore. EC1000 pH6.03 WT28 Water level: at max level.  LEARNING POINTS: Must remember to check and clear water outlets periodically, especially after mass whole plant harvest. Cos/Romaine and Grand Rapid tip burns can be caused by calcium...

Just a Normal Day of Growing And yes, we are heading into Day 28, the day planned for harvest. Lettuces are still as thirsty as ever, needing on average a 2L top-up daily. COS/ROMAINE: GRAND RAPID: Looks like GR is not ideal for repeat harvest due to the fast-growing stem. It's growing rather fast so much so that as the leaves at the top grow bigger, there is no longer denying the effect of gravity. The bigger and heavier ones droop down and a few, actually fracture. Although some may still stand upright but sooner or later the weight will cause them to droop. Just wondering if there is some micro-nutrient that is insufficient. Calcium perhaps? Something to look into. A little research later, it seems that calcium deficiency can lead to tip burns in lettuce leaves! And found a little interesting titbit - calcium can be picked up via the roots or leaves end! So spray bottle of calcium nutrient apparently works too! (though not planning to head that way for the moment) Article on cal...

Christmas Eve! Time to find out more about lettuce tip burn Signs of tip burns (especially at the crown or youger leaves) More signs of tip burn only on the GR. Interestingly, the other lettuces do not exhibit any similar signs. This may point to other causes, other than EC level, pH or even dew droplets. An important point to note is that GR leaves are much thinner and seemingly more fragile compared to the other lettuces in the system. An internet search yielded this article .  To summarize the key points of the article, it would seem that tip burn can be caused by calcium deficiency. However, for selected lettuce (iceberg), tip burn at the crown or young leaves, can still happen despite sufficient calcium supply. This is most likely caused by rapid growth which creates a condition that reduces the transpiration ability in the inner leaves. This lack of evapotranspiration is the main cause of tip burn in selected lettuce types.  The only way to manage is to cultivate ot...