Wed, 10/28/2009 - 16:50
Thank you for the welcomes to the forum! I thought I'd continue here rather than hijack the Cuke Nute thread. 
About the 1.2 for the baby greens, I assumed that since they were packaged with the lettuce, they would have the same requirements. Now that I've grown a few things, I realize that not everything packaged together has the same needs... Anyway, I didn't want to do a rinse and refill so added distilled water and lemon extract to keep the pH down until it got to around 1.0. Then added a tab which would bring it to 1.5. I ran the garden like that for a couple of months. The crisping was quite bad - picture of two weeks after I stopped adding nutrients and one of the baby greens at 1.2:
Later on the garden went back to two tablets because I was away for a month and couldn't ask someone else to fuss with it, so keeping the EC low was no longer critical. At 20 weeks the garden was no longer pretty - the loose leaf had bolted, the romaine looked like some stange palm plant, but the baby greens and arugula in the back were still going. The arugula also had singed edges at the start of the garden but nothing like the baby greens.
About the rockwool, I am suspecting poor quality. When I opened the package pieces were breaking off some of the cubes. Another person had the same experience. I used mine outside but didn't think I'd want to use it for the pump-driven AGs due to the residue left in the soaking tray.
The seeds were new and everything germinated in one or two days.
I like the AG kits because I'm relatively new to gardening and they've been tried and tested and so should work. But I'm still having some tip burn on leaves and some other leaf issues even with slowed-down feeding in the first month. I'm waiting for some CAL-MAG to come in, hoping it'll help.
I like the way pictures are posted in the forum.
Wed, 10/28/2009 - 21:17
#2
You're right - I probably
You're right - I probably will outgrow it but I'm having fun for now. 
About replacing the kits - I just found out today that they'll only cover a kit one year from purchase - when I checked my latest kit, sure enough that's what the insert says. I think they've had to replace too many kits and have started sending out kits with liquid nutrients, small and large like the Master Gardener kit.
Thanks on the tomatoes - I harvested about 70 so was happy.
The tray was purchased locally: Windowsill Seed Starter. Sometimes it's nice to go a few blocks and just pick up what you want. The rockwool fit fine and didn't need any additional wetting beyond keeping the tray filled.
Wed, 10/28/2009 - 23:14
#3
Ooh, very nice seedling tray
Ooh, very nice seedling tray design!
That's nice to hear, that AG's now sending out liquid nutes. That slurrifying of the nutrient tabs wasn't very reassuring. And I have saved partial kits (opened and partly used). It didn't take long for the leftover pods to go bad. 
Thu, 10/29/2009 - 11:36
#4
Hello bab43, nice to have
Hello bab43, nice to have your posts over here.
I think you have long gone past the beginner stage, you are using an EC meter (and checking the pH?), to give the perfect environment for your AG plants - lowering the nutes down for the baby greens was the correct thing to do, delicate lettuce requires so little to grow.
Have you thought about the move to proper hydro liquids yet? They will contain better quality chemicals which you can mix as you want - better growth and less problems, you wouldn't have to supplement your lettuce with cal-mag for the tip burn.
I think you are correct with the rockwool, it should not just break away when you take it out - I share your concern with that sediment, it's not good.
Fri, 10/30/2009 - 02:17
#5
Thanks for your comments
Thanks for your comments Peat.
I do check pH occasionally but if it's in the general range of 5.8 to 6.2 I leave it alone. The green bean garden did go down to 5.5 and probably should have been adjusted because it has problems. I've thought about liquid nutrients but have been stubbornly trying to make the AG nutrients work - don't like the thought of just throwing them away either. But certainly trying one out with liquid nutrients would be an idea.
After the weekend I'd like to post some of my leaf issues - maybe someone here will recognize what's wrong. The gardens are productive but I'd be happier if the leaves looked healthy. Nutrient-wise the only one that's been easy so far is the Gourmet Herb kit.
I'm glad to hear there's better quality rockwool. What I used did do well in the garden despite the poor quality. Especially the arugula (rocket) did very well - no transplant issues at all.
Sat, 11/07/2009 - 16:07
#6
Hey bab43,
Glad to see you
Hey bab43,
Glad to see you here too.
Mon, 11/09/2009 - 08:37
#7
Thanks MaryH! My marigolds
Thanks MaryH! My marigolds are starting to bud. How are your Mom's doing?
Thanks for sharing, bab43! And the kind comments re the website.
Good detective work on the baby greens.
Nice to know someone has figured out how to grow that kit. (I only ever had 2 pods of it, part of the Salad Chef Kit I bought to grow first. They died.)
Agreed that it's great the AG kits have been tested out, and they stand behind them - will replace if it doesn't work. But I did outgrow them. And based on that photo essay, you may be close to outgrowing them, too.
Your tomatoes look gorgeous!
Did the seedling tray come with your rockwool? Looks nice.