Frequently Asked Questions

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Vx2yVxGhGU&t=495s

A good tip for how much water to use is to look at the sticker on the front of your reservoir. There is a line between the name and description. Fill to about this level and you'll be fine. 

All of the herbs are capable of growing all year round in your home. However starting them from fresh in low light conditions is not ideal. Like all plants the herbs rely on light to provide them with energy for photosynthesis. When young they have very small leaves further exacerbating the effects. Again this effect is felt by some herbs more than others (coriander does not grow from seed well during winter months, while mint can grow well). 

Providing the kits are kept away from extreme temperatures they can be stored before use for up to 18 months.   

We have had reports from some people that after a great start it seems the plants wilted fast and that the Jiffy tab is dry. This is due to the jiffy block not touching the capillary matting so it dries out or the capillary matting being pinched so that the solution is not free to move up it, try not to push down too hard on the block when setting up the kit. 

The solution is hard water tolerant, however in parts of the UK it seems we have very hard water to make up for this we recommend either:

1. Using filtered or softened water

2. Doubling the concentration of the fluid from four or five drops to eight or nine. In fact in our experiments we have found that regardless of your water hardness increasing the concentration of the fluid a bit helps to increase growth and yield so feel free to experiment, don't worry the concentration would need to be 10 x stronger before it would negatively impact the herbs in anyway. 

If this is happening from lower leaves and working its way up. Fear not, it seems that for some reason your basil isn't getting quite as much nitrogen as it might like. The simplest remedy is to pop 2 or 3 extra drops of nutrient into the reservoir, or you could try changing your water, often hard water can play a part in this issue. 

Funghal spores are everywhere, the same white funghi that sometimes develops on the surface of soil in houseplant pots can sometimes make its way onto the surface of the jiffy tab. Treatment can be the same as used in houseplants:

1. 1. ground ginger, sprinkle this onto the surface of the tab.
2. 2. baking powder, again sprinkle it on to the surface.

One of the best treatments is lots of sunlight. The thing to remember is that Funghi are not attacking the plant they are only interested in the free nutrients from non-living things. So the plant should not be effected by its presence and will outcompete it given time.