Are the leaves turning color? are the tips of the leaves different then the rest of the leaf?
What medium are you growing in?

sorry for all the questions, but it could be many things.

Are the plants not growing well with a lower EC/TDS? Nutrient concentrations should generally be lower as the weather gets warmer anyway. As a general rule, plants will have a higher nutrient requirement during cooler months, and a lower requirement In the hottest months. Therefore, a stronger nutrient solution should be maintained during winter, With a weaker solution during summer when plants take up and transpire more water than nutrients.

Well that's not exactly so but the other way round. With cooler climate and lower metabolism, plants have in fact lower nutrient requirements. They grow quicker in hot temperatures, and consequently they need "more" nutrients to grow and build up tissue in that cadence.

The general role that actually applies, is indeed lower nutrient concentration with higher temperatures. But because there is much more evapo-transpiration and thus plants take up much more water out of the solution. With a "normal" concentration, they consume much more without taking up as much nutrients, and that's what leads us to:

The actual reason for lower nutrient concentration with high evapo-transpiration of plants and higher general evaporation is in fact of a more technical nature proper to hydroponics. It's to stabilise the concentration, in fact to avoid that the nutrient solution gradually and permanently increases in strength, due to high and quick evapo-transpiration of water.

Bottom line: one is supposed to lower the concentration in a solution with warmer climate, to avoid rapid increase- and insure a more stable concentration in the reservoir.

With cool climate, one can use "normal" strength or even increase strength to encourage higher osmosis and promote growth.

PS @ widespreadpanic: I may contact you in private to get to talk about an alternative as in a balanced and ideal formula for tomato. This is an important issue and I don't want it to get debated ad nauseam here.

lucas_formulas
This is just a bunch of redbrick that says the same exact thing that I have said. That is something you look down on others for doing (in your opinion). What makes your explanation any different than mine? Fact is, you had nothing better to do, and just wanted to try and make yourself sound knowledgeable with some roundabout sentences that said the same exact thing.

Funny how you don't practice what you preach.

quoting homehydro; >>As a general rule, plants will have a higher nutrient requirement during cooler months, and a lower requirement In the hottest months.This is not so.
That is how what I explained is different and the contrary of what you said.
No more comment!

Essentially, Luc was taking the opportunity to correct the bit on "nutrient requirement". He's right on the requirements. Even though the concentration is lower, more solution is taken up. . . including nutrient. You'll definitely use more nutrient during warm months even though you lower concentration. After that, he was - as you said - just repeating your main point. He just topped it off with the arrogant PS. I mean, if you have widespreadpanic's private info and you want to send a private message, do it. Even giving someone a heads up so they know to check e-mail is normal. Ending with the final comment in the PS. . . that's just normal I'm-better-than-others Luc behavior. He knows it will spark anger and animosity. He thrives on it.

In answer to the actual original post, I am using Floramato on a "drip" system that actually looks like yours from the outside. 5 gallon buckets, huge rez, etc. It's like ebb and flow, but different. See, mine doesn't just drip. Water comes through little tubes in a steady stream for 15 minutes and fills the bucket about 1/2 to 3/4 full. The return to the reservoir is a 1/2 inch so it takes awhile for the solution to go back to the rez, which maintains 100% humidity in the containers. It's working well for me. I am also growing the same kind of tomatoes, if I remember right. Did I read somewhere that you realized you planted Brandywines rather than Cherokee's? I also am growing Brandywines. And they look great. I've harvested a few tomatoes and they taste great. My problem is with splitting. I also have the problem of not making the support system quite strong enough for a plant that is heavily laden with humongous tomatoes. . . Thick stems are your friend on those.

Look Joe, I can't tell how you exactly perceive the psychological aura here - but from my understanding it needs a great deal of arrogancy and vain glory, to actually proclaim that anyone is arrogant (respectively call my informative P.S. arrogant in this case). Same for the "feeling of grandeur" you wanted to jealously pin on me a while back - wasn't it your very own desire of grandeur in disguise who spoke then and speaks here again? It's actually basic psychology - and It's called projection.

The reason for my P.S. is simple (goodness, do I really need to explain or justify this?!): I don't do any debates about things I really care about at this place anymore - as these debates aren't exactly productive or helpful by default, but become more and more a matter of personal resentment instead. Thus I simply prefer approaching and treating this or that matter privately. I guess this is not only understandable but we actually have the reason for my precautional measure in action here and now, haven't we!?
Why did I leave that P.S at all? Well, because of the fact that I didn't come up with anything about that part! I actually wanted to be polite.

Btw: on what are YOU exactly thriving in this context and in general Joe, - you tell us please?! From this end I can't exactly say that you seem afterwards the Nobel Price for reconciliation and mediation, with the wisdom of hindsight here. Honestly, look at you!

And homehydro, you don't tell me anything about looking down at others either. Isn't defensively looking down at- and pedantically, in fact spuriously correcting others (except occasionally going down on your knees before some chosen master, as part of your actual insecurity in disguise), in fact your own field of expertise?!

Bottom Line; what the hell is wrong with you guys!?

What I've been doing the last couple of grows (and it seems to work) is to make a large batch of solution using whatever nuits I happen to have. I add this to the system when needed so the ppm tends to stay about the same, or within a few points.

Mike

I forgot to mention that I keep the EC at about 1.6 right now with the floramato on the tomatoes. I never go over 2 anymore. I've not seen any discernible benefit for doing so.

lucas_formulas
My comments were about the EC/TDS levels of the nutrient solution (what widespreadpanic was concerned with), not the EC/TDS levels of the actual plants. I also stated;

"a stronger nutrient solution should be maintained during winter, With a weaker solution during summer when plants take up and transpire more water than nutrients."

To explain what I was referring to, and you stated nothing different than that, just in your usual long drawn out sentences that you think makes you seem smart. You simply stated the same thing in a slightly different way, that's what you condemn other people for doing time and time again. Why should I not condemn you for it? What makes you exempt? Get it yet?

And you are not the chosen master where I come from, although you so desperately want to be. You simply thrive on debates, so don't tell me anything about that you don't. You simply would have just contacted widespreadpanic in private if you didn't want to debate (as you said in your BS, sorry I mean PS).

"Bottom Line; what the hell is wrong with you guys!?"

You are too arrogant, and are are too much of a hypocrite to ever know, so don't even bother trying.

I cant tel you by the numbers if that N level is high or not. I can tell you that nutrient is formulated for tomatoes by General Hydroponics, and they are about the most respected nutrient manufacture in the business. I would highly doubt they would put it on the market if it was inadequate. But I do think trying for a higher EC/TDS is likely suspect. But here is a link that may help:
http://ag.arizona.edu/hydroponictomatoes/nutritio.htm

I don't know what your claimant is like so it's hard for me to say about the watering schedule. But if it were me I would try to even the watering cycles out, the fruit spiting can in deed be caused by uneven watering.

"Fruit crack:
Surface cracks in fruits near stem end caused by rapid growth during periods of good moisture and high temperatures. Cracks can radiate around stem or encircle "shoulders" of tomato. May vary in depth. No cure, but even moisture (mulch!) will help prevent periods of slow and rapid growth. Pick fruits with rapidly developing cracks early (not fully reddened) to prevent Early Blight and other fruit rots."

Quote taken from:
http://home.earthlink.net/~shelly.johnson/tomato.html

I Am not sure exactly what you are experiencing when you say "green seed slime" But here is another link that may give some in site, particarly the third paragraph (next to the picture on the left), that's about Vivipary, you may find some similarities.

http://www.maximumyield.com/article_sh_db.php?articleID=508&submit=Go

As for watering at night, the plants don't drink much of anything at all during hours of darkness, I do however run a few cycles during the dark time just to keep the medium moist anyway, especially when it's hot.

Every 4 hours pretty much means once a night, right? Maybe twice depending on timing. If I shut off at 9pm and water 4 hours later and again 4 hours later, it would be almost dawn.

Big heirlooms are pretty well known for splitting in hydro. Actually, in ground, too. It's one of the reasons they aren't sold commercially much. It's obviously not because they are too small or don't taste good enough. It's just too hard to get consistently fissure free fruit. Unfortunately, it's also one of the factors that contributes to them getting disease easier (as somewhat alluded to in the excerpt homehydro provided). But, I still can't resist growing them.

As far as i know you have to use micro with floramato in odd ratio`s, the micro will add a fair amount on N but as its called floramato GH have probably formulated it correctly for the task :)