I have algae starting to grow on my cubes and some on my cocoa rocks. I have not had this happen in 5 crops. As you can tell I'm pretty new. Is this going to affect my plant other than competing for oxygen. How can I stop it ? Help please Sent from my SM-A520W using Grasscity Forum mobile app
5 crops is not a newbie. But, light, water and nutrients = algae. You need to block the light from reaching it somehow or keep it dry. You'll get fungus gnats starting to feed in that same damp space - and the algae can block adequate drainage. You can kill it with H2O2 of a bleach solution - but prevention is far better.
What i used yo do tp reduce the algae growth around my plant and on the hydrotons was actually add more hydrotons about tue dripper as to cover as much of it as possible and then act as splash guard...i also had white plastic covers on top to block the light further!. You can save your money amd just get a plastic plate and use it to block the light til the canopy is big enough and does that job for you! Check out my current Organic Fruit Garden: DrCannaP's Organic Fruit Garden and my previous Organic Run: The Doc's 2Strain Trial Organic Run: Tangerine Dream & Pineapple Chunk. and my previous QuadStrain grow : Thr Doc's 4 strain MMJ garden: CBD Critical Cure and more ;-) and my previous TriStain grow : The Docs TriStrain adventure: (White Widow, Bubblelicious and Amnesia) Waterfarmed and SCROGed
How often are you feeding? I'm thinking that the hydroton never gets a chance to dry out. I use the same drip rings and I have no algae. I feed 3x a day for 5 minutes each and the hydroton dries out minutes after the drip stops.
H202 is Hydrogen Peroxide. You can just get the stuff from the drug store, make a dilute solution of it and spray it on the algae. Or a 10% bleach solution sprayed on it. But yeah, covering it with hydroton will stop it. You need to block the light to where it's staying damp.