Hello GC, I have been searching this site for a while and cant seem to get a pinpoint on this problem I may be having. Hopefully somone on here can help me diagnose what this is so i can get rid of it. Ok so plants were growing great till about week 2 of veg then i started noticing slow growth and brownish roots with slime on them. Now growth is very slow, tips are showing burn spots, with a little bit of "rust" brownish spots( just tips).I have tried giving it a H2o2 bath and changing rez( I change it about every week anyways) . I have noticed some new white roots forming at the tips of roots this has started a I am using Advanced Nutrients ph perfect Grow Micro Bloom base, about 3ml/L of each, and using about half scoop of Great White Mycorrhizae , per bucket. I also started using Regen-a-Root 1ml/L when i noticed it. ppms are around 1000 Ph is now steady at around 5.7/5.8 but for a little while my ph electrode was messed up and I was adding more ph down when it was necessary, so it has been acidic or fluctuating the past week until i noticed something was wrong. Heres a couple pics Uploaded with ImageShack.us Notice the clear slimy buildup Uploaded with ImageShack.us I have tried giving it a H2o2 bath and changing rez( I change it about every week anyways) . I have noticed some new white roots forming at the tips of roots. Any help would be greatly appreciated, Thanks DD!
You are battling well!...you made no mention of your temps, bacteria just love heat, keep it down to a manageable level, 32c/70f and flush 2x a week with your bleach concoction, perhaps pull back the ph to 5.9/6.0, bugs don't like alkali either. peace "V"
I'm not sure what's going on, but I had something not as extreme and it was directly related to temps being too high. Hopefully someone else knows more, but post water temp fo sho.
Thanks for the posts, I have been pretty consumed on finding a way to beat this. I have had higher temps( around 75F with lights on) SO in response to this issue I have added another airstone and started using hygrozyme with very little h2o2 and I will be using frozen water bottles. ( still continue to use regen a root, and great white. Its weird stuff, I washed off the roots a couple times already between rez changes. Everytime I clean it off It comes back within one night. Yesterday I decided to say screw it and went to the hydrostore to get some stuff for making a bennie tea, well basically the guy at the store thought I was an idiot for buying all that to make tea for dwc, said that the after product of the microbes was the enzymes which is supposed to be good at killing dead matter etc. Well he then convinced me to buy hygrozyme which is essentially enzymes. I did not think he knew much about it since he has never heard of the heisenburg tea or anything like that but if what he was telling me is true it shouldnt really matter. I applied it last night after washing the roots off with tap water the best I could, I made my anute's and everything the same only I added about 8ml/gal of the hygrozyme. Woke up this morning and noticed the brown slime was back.. UUGh so I read on the bottle that it was ok to use in small doses of h2o2, I applied about 1-2 ml per gal and about 2 hours later I noticed the slime on the roots has "lightened" up a little. Not sure if this was just a coincidence but I will certainly keep this thread posted on it. Hopefully someone can learn something if I can correct this problem pics below Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Can you further insulate your buckets with some kind of foam? or maybe take a piece of duct "board" and shape it to the buckets? Would that help keep temps down? Also would adding reflective tape to the lids help? Idk these are just some ideas .
Throwing yet more chemicals into this soup will only confuse the issue, do the equivalent of a flush, lower temps raise Ph, get everything neutral as you can, this is the """CONTROL POINT"" ...Once this has been achieved, then and only then may you consider throwing money or chems into the mix, further on, should you achieve zero results then you have that control point in which to fall back too, then attempt another strategy. In the meantime you really need to Id this slime, there's about 3000 types particular to semi wood plants ...can be nasty stuff. peace "V"
I'm assuming the 75 was daytime h2o temp? I've had mixed experience with h2o2 solution, but seems like that may work. Another idea to cool down res is put a frozenpc water bottle in the res, put a ziplock around the frozen bottle in order to "insulate" it, and keeping ice from your roots, tie a string in it for easy access!? I've also noticed when introducing new nutes the roots take on that color a bit for the first day or so. Good luck, seems your on right track, but just making sure that 75 is h2o temp, plants love 68 -70.
[quote name='"vostok"']Throwing yet more chemicals into this soup will only confuse the issue, do the equivalent of a flush, lower temps raise Ph, get everything neutral as you can, this is the """CONTROL POINT"" ...Once this has been achieved, then and only then may you consider throwing money or chems into the mix, further on, should you achieve zero results then you have that control point in which to fall back too, then attempt another strategy. In the meantime you really need to Id this slime, there's about 3000 types particular to semi wood plants ...can be nasty stuff. peace "V"[/quote] Good stuff, iPad app won't let me "like"
Everything I had read, has lead me to believe it is this ->Cyanobacteria. I will see how everything looks tonight to decide on another flush( did one yesterday) I am gonna raise that ph up a bit like you said, I am just hesitant to do another flush right now because I have been very frequently and I have read that if you do have any good bennies working for you, you get rid of them on a flush and give the bacteria an open field to thrive. I just hope I havent been jumping the gun... Should I let everything go for a few days, adjust ph and small stuff or should I just go right into a neutral/sterile enviro?
Thanks man, def gonna start throwing in some frozen water bottles. I have some in the freezer right now actually . That insulation idea has actually given me an idea. something to do with that insulation called "stuff" sheet metal for a casting, and 5 gal bucket . Def gonna keep posting something here since I havent seen much on this bacteria prob on here.
[quote name='"DieselDaddy"']Thanks man, def gonna start throwing in some frozen water bottles. I have some in the freezer right now actually . That insulation idea has actually given me an idea. something to do with that insulation called "stuff" sheet metal for a casting, and 5 gal bucket . Def gonna keep posting something here since I havent seen much on this bacteria prob on here.[/quote] Careful using the metal as the radiant heat from your light may cause it to heat up. Foam insulation is a good way to go. I'd go with duct board though, as it is very flexible and also is lined with reflective Mylar . Sheets at HD are cheap. Good luck
Check out the thread link in my signature for brewing an EarthWorm Compost Tea specifically for fighting off this sort of thing.