This ones for a friend. anyone know the cause? what he can do to treat or prevent it? he has gotten it during the flower phase on his first 2 grows. roots get totally covered in it.
huh? When you say shut down his grow, era, could you please be more specific? Like was it the pink algea that shut it down? Or maybe the addition of the hydrogen peroxide that shut him down? Did he use a senseible mixture? More info please
the algea totally stunted the growth of his plants. have not tried the peroxide yet. he bleached them the first time. and it resarted the growth. but then he had ripe and immature buds all mixed together kind of. second time he just cut the roots off. so really trying to find out a safe way to fix them or better yet avoid them all together.
pink algae? strange. Dont think its algae though. Maybe more of a fungus of such. Because algae usually has no great negetive effect on plants. Only thing i can say is Make sure the reservoir and everything is REALLY clean and try to change the res 1 a week because this shouldnt be happening. pink algae???? i just went on wikipedia and this is what i dug up Pink Algae is a growth of pink, slimey bacterial matter which can sometimes occur in pools and sometimes in laboratory tubings. The title is a misnomer, because, as noted before, pink algae is actually caused by a bacterium, in the genus methylobacterium. The color of the bacterial growth comes from pigments within its cells. The slime formed around the bacteria provides it with a relatively high level of protection from external threats. Like other species in its genus, pink algae is a methane consuming bacterium. It has an affinity for the matrix of PVC plastics, and will attach itself to both the inside and the outside of PVC materials inside of the pool. Pink algae infestation in a pool often occurs alongside an infestation of white water mold. Prevention Prevention of pink algae is the easiest way to deal with the problem. To ensure that pink algae does not grow in a pool, the owner must manually brush and clean all pool surfaces weekly, and regularly expose all pools surfaces to sunlight (pink algae thrives in a dark environment, particularly in areas with slow moving water). Regular doses of certain chemicals are also recommended in a preventative plan against pink algae. Treatment All visible pink algae must be manually removed from a pool. A dose of algicide, followed by a shock treatment is also necessary to destroy the bacteria. The pool filter must be run constantly until the water is clear and halogen or peroxide levels are normal, then the filter must be chemically cleaned. hope this helps a little. But be careful since some cleaning methods should only be used on pools and are deadly for biological life
hey thanks thats a great article. its some funky stuff. he does bleech his whole set up inbetween each grow. and hes pretty anal about being clean. I'll def get him this info though. last I saw him he was thinking about trying those bio friendly algea cleaners from the pet store for fish tanks. But i'm guessing your right and its not actually algea. This is why I play in dirt
actually thats making a lot of sense. since his flowering plants get it and not the veg. although I guess it could just be invisible at that stage.