Nutrient & pH
Guides to EC, pH, nutrient deficiencies, and solution management for every crop type. Data-driven, not guesswork.
Nutrient & pH
Higher growing temperatures (24–26°C vs 18–20°C) produce significantly more vivid magenta-red betalain colouring in amaranth microgreens - cooler environments produce yellower plants from the same seeds.
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Arugula's signature peppery bite comes from glucoerucin, which concentrates under mild drought-stress conditions - low EC and partial reservoir drawdown produces more flavour than fully fed plants.
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Basil's essential-oil quality peaks in the days just before flowering - harvest timing relative to bud development determines linalool content more than any nutrient adjustment.
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Red bell peppers contain ~11x more beta-carotene and 1.5x more Vitamin C than green peppers of the same variety - these carotenoids only accumulate during the final ripening phase on the vine.
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Bok choy accumulates abundant calcium hydroponically yet still suffers tip burn - caused by low transpiration not low Ca - and a small oscillating fan resolves it without any nutrient change.
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Broccoli microgreens contain glucoraphanin (sulforaphane precursor) 20–50x higher than mature broccoli heads by fresh weight - this precursor declines sharply as true leaves emerge.
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DWC produces tighter, more compact butterhead lettuce than NFT because constant root submersion prevents the slight water-stress cycles between NFT flows that disrupt closed-head formation.
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Celery requires a cold vernalization period (4–10°C for 10–14 days at weeks 6–8) to form compact ribbed stalks - without this cold period, hydroponic celery produces only a rosette of leaves with thin hollow petioles.
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Raising EC from 2.5 to 4.0 increases cherry tomato Brix from ~6 to 8–9 but reduces yield 10–15% - EC 3.0–3.5 during final fruit swell is the practical sweet spot for flavour without excessive yield loss.
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Clump-sown chives at 8–12 seeds per net cup produce 40–60% more total biomass over 12 weeks than single-plant culture - dense sowing is the primary yield lever for hydroponic chives.
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Cilantro's primary management challenge is bolting - sustained temperatures above 27°C trigger flowering within 10–14 days regardless of photoperiod, making temperature control more effective than light adjustment.
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Most indoor cucumbers must be parthenocarpic varieties to set fruit without pollination - standard slicing varieties drop all flowers indoors where no bees are present.
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Dill's carvone and limonene content peak between 4–6 frond sets and first umbel elongation - once umbels open fully, carvone drops roughly 20–25% as it converts to other monoterpenes.
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Belgian endive chicons require EC 0.5 solution in complete darkness at 10–15°C for 3–4 weeks - any light during forcing triggers chlorophyll and bitter glucosinolate production, ruining the pale mild chicon.
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Fennel fronds contain 60–80% trans-anethole in essential oil while the swollen bulb base contains only 20–30% - hydroponic frond-harvest fennel is more intensely anise-flavoured than commercial bulb fennel.
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Sotolon (maple-like aroma) concentration peaks at the cotyledon stage (day 8–10) in fenugreek microgreens - the narrow harvest window makes germination uniformity critically important.
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Supermarket scallion root stubs placed directly in shallow NFT channels regrow to harvestable size in 7–10 days - dramatically faster than the 3–4 weeks required from seed.
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Kale's glucosinolate and sulforaphane precursor content can be boosted 15–20% by a brief cold-water period mid-grow - temperature management is as important as sulfur supply.
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Citral (lemon scent) degrades 30–40% within 24 hours at room temperature after cutting - harvesting into cold water at 4–8°C and refrigerating immediately reduces this loss to under 10%.
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Lettuce tip burn is a calcium-transport problem driven by water temperature, not a nutrient deficiency - solution temperature management matters more than calcium concentration.
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Malabar spinach mucilage content increases with heat - plants at 26–28°C produce measurably thicker, more gelatinous leaves than the same variety at 20–22°C, a valued culinary property in South Asian cooking.
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Microgreens draw most of their nutrition from seed stores, making solution EC less important than harvest timing - nutrients drop sharply once cotyledons yellow after day 12–14.
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Mint's menthol content peaks at early bloom when 10–20% of flowers are open - harvesting at this precise window yields 18–22% more menthol than peak vegetative harvest.
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Mizuna germinates and grows at reservoir temperatures as low as 10°C - cold growing concentrates mild sweetness and reduces glucosinolate sharpness compared to warm-grown plants.
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Cooler reservoir temperatures (15–17°C) measurably increase sinigrin accumulation in mustard greens - for spicier leaves run cooler solution, not more sulfur.
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Under blue-spectrum LEDs (440–480nm), red oakleaf produces 25–35% more anthocyanin per gram than under warm-white LEDs - light spectrum drives red colour in red-leaf lettuce, not nutrient adjustments.
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Greek oregano contains 3–5x more carvacrol than common oregano, and intermittent pump cycles increase carvacrol vs continuous-flow systems - variety and flow pattern matter more than nutrient formula.
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Baby pak choi at EC 1.5–1.8 produces uniformly tender leaves and stems - higher EC thickens and toughens leaf texture, making EC choice a direct quality lever for restaurant buyers.
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A two-stage hot-water presoak reduces parsley germination time from 14–21 days to 7–10 days by breaking chemical dormancy in the seed coat - the single most impactful parsley production technique.
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Pea shoots are the only microgreen that reliably regrows after first cut - a second harvest of side shoots at 40–60% first-cut volume is available 7–10 days after the initial harvest.
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Allowing the reservoir to drop 30–40% between refills during fruiting consistently increases capsaicin content in hot pepper varieties - validated by New Mexico State University Chile Pepper Institute.
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Perilla flowers under any daylength shorter than 14 hours regardless of temperature - running 14–16h photoperiod is the single most impactful adjustment a perilla grower can make to extend the vegetative harvest window.
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Pre-soaking radish seeds 4–6 hours synchronises germination to within a 12-hour window - germination uniformity, not total seed count, is the dominant factor in yield and nutritional consistency.
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Romaine requires 20 cm plant spacing for self-blanching and proper heart formation - crowding at 10 cm or less produces loose flat rosettes with no head development regardless of nutrient management.
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Young sage under 6 weeks is cineole-dominant with a eucalyptus aroma; plants over 10 weeks shift toward thujone for the classic sage character - cuttings from established plants start thujone-forward from first harvest.
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Baby-leaf sorrel at 35–40 days contains roughly 40% less oxalic acid per gram than mature or bolted leaves - younger leaves are both better-tasting and lower in oxalate.
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Spinach tolerates and performs well at higher EC than most salad greens, but elevated EC also increases oxalate accumulation - baby-leaf harvest at 25–30 days keeps oxalates significantly lower.
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Rebaudioside-A content peaks 2–4 weeks before first flower opens in stevia - once flowers open, glycoside concentration drops sharply as the plant redirects resources to seed production.
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Day-neutral strawberry varieties need EC dropped to 1.4 during vegetative establishment - starting at high EC from transplant reduces runner production and delays first fruit set.
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Soaking sunflower seeds 8–12 hours before sowing plus a weighted tray during blackout reduces manual hull-removal time by 60–70% - the dominant labour cost in sunflower microgreen production.
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Swiss chard's vivid stem pigments are betalains, not anthocyanins - moderate EC 1.6 produces more intense colour than high EC 2.3 because mild nitrogen restriction enhances betalain synthesis.
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True French tarragon is sterile and cannot be grown from seed - any seed sold as 'tarragon' is Russian tarragon with almost no culinary flavour, making propagation method the defining quality decision.
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Reservoir temperatures of 8–12°C trigger cold-acclimation responses that convert stored starches to soluble sugars in tatsoi - producing distinctly sweeter, less pungent leaves than the same variety at 18–20°C.
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English thyme averages 40–60% thymol in essential oil while lemon thyme averages only 5–10% - variety selection determines thymol content far more than any nutrient or growing parameter.
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Vietnamese coriander is bolt-resistant because it evolved under consistently warm equatorial long-day conditions where flowering is not seasonally triggered - solving the cilantro-bolting problem entirely for indoor growers.
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Watercress evolved in mineral-poor streams and is critically sensitive to high EC - above 1.5 mS/cm causes tip scorch and stunted growth within 7–10 days, making standard lettuce recipes harmful.
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Wheatgrass grown with zero added nutrients produces comparable chlorophyll to nutrient-grown grass - hard wheat berries have sufficient mineral stores, and adding nutrients above EC 0.5 provides no measurable benefit.
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