Probably a little shock is expected at the beginning. Can you tell how well the nutrient solution is getting to the roots inside the tower? I've had problems where the water takes an unexpected path down through the tower and the roots end-up drying out.

They are definitely wet. I was actually considering adding a timer to turn the pump on and off every 15 mins in case it was too much water. After checking things out more I think I have found the problem. I've been noticing a brown slime on the bottom of the net cups, and no new roots protruding like the strawberries in the Totes.

I believe I have a brown slime mold or root rot. I had to take everything out of the tower, remove the hydroton, gently rinse the roots and remove all the dead roots. I treated with a little bit of H2O2 and then put them in new net cups with new hydroton and put each net cup in its own solo cup.

Its not going to solve the problem, but I'm hoping it will buy me sometime while I look for something that will. I've also been using Tea Tree Oil and barely extract that I have on hand. Any recommendations on a cure that has worked for you?

I may have had that same problem but I think aphids got to mine first so I haven't really battled that problem yet. I've started over with the strawberries and I'm trying neem oil this time for the aphids. I'm not sure if it is working yet.

In the end I believe I had a case of root rot. I purchased some Hydroguard and that helped a little. Then a purchased some Great White and I definitely saw some improvement in new root growth. I changed the media multiple times and put a lot of time and effort into but it only seemed slow their demise and never really reverse it. Toward the end I went so far as to buy a uv filter for the reservoir.

In the end an emotional attachment lead me to invest way more time and money than I should have in trying to "save" them. I should have let them go and started over as the cost to order new bare roots is only about $12. Lesson learned though.

Interesting tower. Did you make that or buy it?

I made that one. It's 4" PVC posts. The net pots were designed to fit rockwool grow cubes and created on a 3D printer. Inside the post is wicking fabric to transport the water to each pot.

Looks like the net cup goes in completely vertical? Any issues keeping it in? I built one tower but I'm just about to build another and I've been looking at different designs to decide how best to proceed.

The cup is kind-of like a jar. The lid goes on the outside of the tower and the body of it goes on the inside. The threads of the jar body fit through the hole and after the lid screws down on the threads, there is no way for it to fall out.

One problem I was having is with water leaking out through the holes. So in the latest version, I made a little lip on the cup to channel the water back into the tower. So far those with the lips haven't been leaking. That was happening mostly with rainbow chard which seems to want to grow out of the cups and down before the stem turns up again.