Maybe root rot, maybe not???

[minuteman3282]

Hey guys! My first post I guess! But have grown for some time with only reading threads here.

Please forgive me, but I will post pics the next time I am at the spot, can only go one time a day.

The Run-Down:

Room 6' x 8' with Mylar top to bottom
1000W Agro Air-Cooled light and Ballast 18/6
5 18 Gallon tubs wrapped in reflective tape (4 for grow and 1 for rez)
3" Net Cups (5 sites each tub)
Hydrotron
30-35 gallons of solution total in rez and tubs
120 gph sump pump
2 14" Air Stones in each grow tub
2 7" Air Stones in the rez
1/2" PVC from rez pump to each tub with 8 misters inside tub
1 Commercial size air pump for air stones
12" Oscilating fan
6" Carbon Scrubber
6" CanFan (pulling thru scrubber, light, fan and then outside of room)


Fox Farm Hydro
-Grow Big
-Tiger Bloom
-Big Bloom
-Open Sesame
-Beastie Blooms
-Cha Ching
Hygrozyme
SM90
Liquid Karma
SuperThrive

Recently I have set up a new place, more room. I am into week 3, 2 days short of week 4 of veg and need some advice on what can be mixed and not mixed with my nutes. I'm using Fox Farm hydro nutes in a recirculating bubble/aero set up. I have noticed my roots turning brown and growth seems to be slowing down and lower fan leaves are starting to turn yellow. Looks to be the onset of root rot. I have been watching my temps in the rez and since it is starting to get a bit hot here they are fluxuating from 75-80 F, but room temps are staying around 75-78 F. I know that is way too hot for the rez as it should be 68-72 F. I have been trying to keep up with it by putting 24 frozen bottles in the rez while 24 more are in the freezer and alternating them just before the light turns on. Can't fork out that much money just yet for a chiller, but will as soon as I get a few bucks in my pocket. Hope I can keep them alive for atleast 2 more weeks I can get a chiller "ordered" by then. Then however long it takes to get here. I have never, knock on wood, encountered any type of alge or root rot before at the last place. So I have been checking the roots just as the light turns on and seeing brown roots but no slim or bad smell. When I first noticed the change in color I flushed the system and washed all the roots and even removed any roots that would pull off easily and got them back to a semi-white looking root. The next day I went to my shop and got a few things, Hygrozyme, SM90(that stuff smells pretty good..lol!), and Liquid Karma. As soon as I got back with the new potions I put 2 tbls of Hygrozyme into the rez and no nutes. The PH has bounced up from 5.5 to 6.2 the first day after flushing. Then from 5.5 to 6.0 the second day and then 5.5 to 5.9 the third day. Each reading was done just after the light turns on, 24 hours of each other. On the third day I added 5 tbls of SM90 into the rez. I'm hoping I haven't put too much in there and made things worse. So that's where I am at. I have read that SuperThrive and SM90 or Hygrozyme do not mix well together, can't remember which one it is and can't seem to find where I had read it previously. Also would like to know if it is safe to use Liquid Karma with either of the others or if all three can be used at the same time. Or if there is a time or sequence I should use each one of them. Have read so much info about usage it's gettin confusing.

Whew!!! Now that's a first post I think?!? LOL!!!

Well anyway I think I know the answer to this, but it never hurts to ask. Even if I do have a lost cause with this issue, do you think I can either do one of three things:

1- Cut all the roots back to the net cup and maybe trim away some of the larger fan leaves. Cross my fingers and hope they will re-root and add a chiller asap.

2- Take some clones and hope they root in the cloner.

3- Just start over with a chiller whenever it gets here.

Oh, by the way I am trying something I read previously about the glue on the reflective tape causing the PH to raise. So I have trimmed away any reflective tape from the underside of the tub lids where the net cups are inserted. Hope that will lead somewhere. Will let you know after a couple of readings in a few days.

Ok I think I may have covered all the bases as far as info goes, but if not just let me know or ask. I will try to fill in all the blanks if there are any.

Room Humidity is 30%

Thanks for looking and the help.

[minuteman3282]

Here's an update as promised....with pics this time.

I did grap my records to kinda show how things have been going. These readings are just when the light flips on and before nutes added and PH'ed.

Week one:
1-PH 5.3 PPM 83
2-PH 6.2 PPM 92
3-PH 6.0 PPM 150
4-PH 5.6 PPM 284
5-PH 5.6 PPM 288
6-PH 5.7 PPM 289
7-Didn't read

Week Two:
1-PH 5.6 PPM 297
2-PH 5.6 PPM 323
3-PH 5.6 PPM 388
4-PH 5.8 PPM 410
5-PH 6.1 PPM 454
6-PH 6.0 PPM 473
7-PH 5.8 PPM 456

Noticed brown color in roots just very light brown. Thought it might be nute stain, FF Big Bloom is really muddy looking. Done a rez change and added new nutes at low doseage.
Also flushed the roots and removed any that came off easily, and scrubbed the rez.

Week Three:
1-PH 5.4 PPM 80
2-PH 6.5 PPM 120
3-PH 6.5 PPM 107
4-PH 6.2 PPM 209
5-PH 6.2 PPM 127 Day 5 is when I added 2 tbls of Hygrozyme and 6 tbls of SM90.
6-PH 6.1 PPM 134 Not sure when to add the Liquid Karma, that's where I
7-PH 5.9 PPM 135 need the help.

I know in the previous post I thought I was at the end of week 3, but I was wrong. I am at the end of week 4, last week of veg. These are no where close to the size at the other place. I don't think I'm quit ready to start flowering just yet. I would like to get them better before flowering, if that is possible.

Week Four:
1-PH 5.8 PPM 185
2-PH 5.5 PPM 202
3-PH 5.5 PPM 218
4-PH 5.9 PPM 224
5-PH 5.5 PPM 274

So there is everything up to date. I will try to post as many pics as I can to maybe help judge what's going on. I'm sure there's a few here that may know as soon as they see the pics. These pics were taken after the flush and bad roots removed.

[minuteman3282]

A few more.....I did notice in pic 15 I had new root growth, not too clear, but you can make'em out.

[Mr.GoodStuff]

You are right, the res temp is too hot. Anything over 75 and you will see issues unless you are extremely lucky and living in an area without that type of fungus that is attacking your root system.

Sometimes it's just a matter of not enough air getting into the water. I've seen problems before with sprayer systems like you are using when no air pump was installed to bring in fresh air.

SM90 is a very interesting product that I've experimented with a lot. I like the way it smells too, like citronella. It's just it stops working after a few days for some reason and needs to be reapplied.

I liked it because it made the bubbles smaller for awhile and the nutrient solution smelled good but did not like having to watch for when I needed to re-add it to the nutrient solution.

I liked using a product called HydroGuard instead- it's beneficial bacteria that prevents root rot. You have to make sure that you are getting fresh air into the nutrient solution though- and when the temp gets to 80 there is literally no way for the water to hold enough oxygen no matter what you do. A chiller is very important unless you are using a bubbler system that doesn't add heat to the water like using a pump to run a sprayer.

When the temperature of the room is around 75 a bubbler system works great because it doesn't ever heat up the water.

A chiller is your best bet if you can control the heat though. I never saw roots so healthy in all my life as when the water was 67-70 degrees... Plants grow like crazy.

I have experience using a very similar nutrient formula that you are using though. Big Bloom isn't my favorite product to use in a hydro setup... I love using it for potted plants and even for a flush but running it all the time can cause pumps to clog and the roots to be covered in that powder. I prefered using PureBlend original as a organic tea in hydroponics, and always used it light. The Liquid Karma you are using has a lot of humic acid in it that will stain the roots brown too. You might want to just ease up on all the additives, adding them 1/4 strength.

All in all I would just get back to the basics really- your nutrient solution doesn't need all of that stuff messing with the pH really. Just some mineral nutrients, a very light organic tea, enzyme, and some sort of beneficial bacteria to prevent root rot.

When you are using a system that doesn't have any media for the roots to colonize, things need to be kept simple. Those sprayer systems can beat the hell out of roots and cause them to tangle too. It might be better for you to just turn the thing into a bubbler really.

If you want to supercharge the plant I would look into foliar feeding instead. The water stays clean, and the plant can absorb the additive a lot better than through the roots anyways.

Hope this helps

[xshadowshooter]

GROSS! Those roots look fucking nasty.. I added molasses at the end of my DWC grow last time and it made this fucking scum all over my bucket, cause an algae bloom, and my roots started to rot. They were so pearly white until then

I'm definitely looking into a chiller for my next grow, the temps in there are wayyy too hot.

Anyway, hope you get your temps down, friend.