Indoor tomatoes in a hydroponic system

[michael]

I'm a hard core, indoor, LED fired, eb-flow, hydroponic grower. All kinds of things. I've done brussels sprouts, peppers, all kinds of lettuce, and now tomatoes. Other than the lights, all my growing vessels are home made. I was hoping that an indoor hydro environment would be relatively disease free but No!

Take a look at this. White fuzz and leaf wilt.

Anybody got a clue what this is?

[SeanInVa]

Hey welcome aboard - I do some indoor growing under LEDs myself. Gave up on hydroponics since we're on well water.

The fuzz, I think, is normal. Tomatoes get some hairs on their leaves and steams. The discoloration, however, appears to be light burn. Back your lights off some - raise them or lower the intensity if they are adjustable.

[michael]

I did back off on the lights initially as that's what I attributed the wilting too. But the white stuff is a plaque of some kind with bumps in it. I will have to see if anything emerges (like an insect larvae) but so far the leaves just dont grow and the plant doesn't thrive. A different varietal right next to it, a super 100, does not have the growth but all the plants of this varietal (Bush Early Girl Hybrid) do. It's not the fuzz of hairs. It's different. Wish I had a better macro lens.

Anyway, let's see how it goes.

Your site is very interesting. I'm looking forward to being a contributor.

[michael]

A little bit of progress.

[SeanInVa]

Hey now, from that pic those are looking good!

[michael]

I would like to replicate this with a smaller plant, generous sized fruit. As you can see I use a hula hoop to keep the plants from tipping. The substrate is plenty deep for roots but still there's a tendency for the plants to tip.

I would like to do a micro in this setup. Figure out the correct lights, watering and nutrients.

[SeanInVa]

Michael, we have received your request and will get something out to you soon