Grow box Trouble Shooting - Frequently Asked Questions

Having problems with your grow box? Here are some of the big things that come up time and time again as we talk to newer or less experienced growers who may not be seeing what they want to see in their grow area.

I think something’s off with my nutrients -- leaves are yellow and plants are not thriving…?

If your nutrients aren’t having the desired effect on plants, and seem to be slowly killing them, you might be experiencing what's called nutrient burn. Too much of certain kinds of elements overwhelms plants, and can lead to a very negative effect on crop cycles. Check your nutrient solution and make sure that it's got the right mixture for plants -- especially if you haven't got pre-mixed nutrient packages from a manufacturer.

What About Grow Lighting?

Different kinds of grow lighting can produce various problems in a grow box. First of all, the grow lights have to have the right spectrum and intensity to nourish plants. Most grow boxes have specific grow lights included that would do this. Another problem that you may experience with grow box lights is that they're just not situated correctly. This can lead to one of two things. The first one is burning -- where lights are too close to plants, they can actually start to singe areas of the plants closest to the top. The second problem has to do with ‘corner plants’ or ‘low plants’ that are not getting enough light. To correct this, growers can install reflective material in the interior of a grow box to make sure like it's distributed evenly.

My plants are growing too much! what do I do?

In some cases, a small grow box may tend to get crowded. First, prune plants to the best of your ability and take off dead parts or weaker parts of the plant to enable the better parts to grow well. You may also need to train plants with an interior trellis or other tools to get them to grow in a way that conforms to the space that you put them in.

Is something wrong with my reservoir water?

Another big issue is the cleanliness and balancing of reservoir water. Without this type of maintenance, plants can wither and die. It's important to check the pH value of the water often, and correct it as necessary. You also have to look at a metric called ‘total dissolved solids’ to make sure that nutrient buildup or other materials aren’t causing problems for plants digesting the water that is irrigating them on a regular basis.

For more, check out all of the research as you can get from online retailers and all the products you can use to build the hydroponics garden of your dreams.