Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hello forum:

After a few issues starting out due to water, lighting and media not being up to par I still see my seedlings not making it. I see 2 things that I'm unsure as to what it could be. 1) I see a white film developing on top of my media, which I assume is due to the humidity and 2) I see the seedlings turning brown, almost like they were getting burned. So here is my setup and I will add pics as soon as I can.

Setup
Media - shredded coconut husk
Tray - 10x20 tray with 72 cell insert and humidity dome which I remove once the first few seeds sprout
Water - I keep the last 1/4" of the inserts under water, I use distilled water btw
Lighting - I keep 2 46 watt daylight 5200K lights with work light reflectors on top for 12 hours at around 12" high (have played around with height but have moved them higher due to the burn like symptoms I'm seeing)

I tried using the sun from a window as light but the first couple of batches came out stringy and only a few have made it into developing their true leaves.

So what do you guys think I'm doing wrong here?

Pics

Not enough media air, kept too wet and the media has been firmed down by hand.
Keep coco fluffy!
Also consider a fan blowing gently on them.
Also slightly acidic water (6.5-6. will sprout things better.


Why not start outside, too cold?

Thanks for the feedback. i believe the opposite. I think is too hot outside and wanted to try getting a few fall plants started. Im imagining that destilled water is neutral but would have to test it to make sure. Interesting comment about the coco, since I thought I treated it as light as I could. Maybe ask the wife next time . I had considered the fan already but had not gotten one yet. Would an old 12v computer 120mm fan work or needs real air flow?

Plants need heat, acidity and air to sprout well with just the right level of moisture; avoid too much.
Do it outside, and consider building a mini wicking bed with a bucket with a hole 1/3 of the way up, some gravel... Hessian.... Then coco.
Pipe to the bottom to keep the reservoir topped up.