How to operate a sterile hydroponic system

dirtWeevil

dirtWeevil

Well-Known Member
i don't buy that chlorine in tap water kills the beneficial stuff, i can smell them and see other evidence of life such as build up on stones, the smell is a dead giveaway, mine smells like dust, or dirt or musty if you will, just like dirt is my best way to describe it. Bacteria and fungi both thrive in the most extreme climates on earth, it's not that far of a stretch to think they can survive a res tub. I wish i had a microscope, then id just look and see. I remember the first time i got on forums people were touting the benefits of adding bennies to a conventional row crop to decrease use of ferts and mop up over fertilization or nitrogen the plants don't eat.

In addition, my own experience with hay bale gardening doesn't support the notion that chemical ferts kill beneficial organisms, as how you prep a bale is to quite simply add fertilizer, the microbial growth explodes and the bale "cooks" as if it were compost, the microbes in the bale feast on the nitrogen etc. and the straw in the bale is broken down in a month instead of three.

these are only my own observations so i don't claim the above as anything but food for thought without a scope to find out for sure
 
completenoobie

completenoobie

Well-Known Member
if that was directed at me, I'm not using just tap water talking about HG, I am fighting a rash of root rot and am treating with supplemental chlorine atm
 
ANC

ANC

Well-Known Member
dirtWeevil said:
i don't buy that chlorine in tap water kills the beneficial stuff, i can smell them and see other evidence of life such as build up on stones, the smell is a dead giveaway, mine smells like dust, or dirt or musty if you will, just like dirt is my best way to describe it. Bacteria and fungi both thrive in the most extreme climates on earth, it's not that far of a stretch to think they can survive a res tub. I wish i had a microscope, then id just look and see. I remember the first time i got on forums people were touting the benefits of adding bennies to a conventional row crop to decrease use of ferts and mop up over fertilization or nitrogen the plants don't eat.

In addition, my own experience with hay bale gardening doesn't support the notion that chemical ferts kill beneficial organisms, as how you prep a bale is to quite simply add fertilizer, the microbial growth explodes and the bale "cooks" as if it were compost, the microbes in the bale feast on the nitrogen etc. and the straw in the bale is broken down in a month instead of three.

these are only my own observations so i don't claim the above as anything but food for thought without a scope to find out for sure
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It kills virtually everything that is in contact with it long enough, even fish. What you are smelling is probably geosmin.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geosmin
 
dirtWeevil

dirtWeevil

Well-Known Member
that makes sense, but that doesn't account for the other signs of life, i need to save for a scope lol. I'm gonna stick with my own experience though as i had to fight rot after rot, monitor temp swings, try like hell to keep the water cool, obsessively washing my res and stones every tank change, adding ice bottles, pricing chillers, i bet i lost a dozen plants to warm water and gnats. I started adding a pinch of myco grow soluble to the res each week, (I've had the same 9$ 1oz package since last summer and its only about half gone), maybe an 1/8 tsp, and i haven't had a problem since, no rot, no gnats, no ice, no chiller, no washing tubs, basically none of the stuff that makes DWC a hassle. I've learned over the years to go with what i know works for my own plants and take anything read on forums with a grain of salt, and as always to each his/her own, there's more than one way to catch a frog, but we both get the legs in the end
 
WeedFreak78

WeedFreak78

Well-Known Member
Tap water chlorine content alone isn't enough to kill the herds. It's dosed to be just above the needed concentrations to keep things in the system somewhat clean, but even the water mains still have biologicals growing in them. Within a couple hours of adding to a res it's already been mostly neutralized, or evaporated, and the herds will be thriving again. Look into water treatment .edu papers. Therss formulas municipalities use for chlorine application rates vs biological load.
 
completenoobie

completenoobie

Well-Known Member
Budley Doright said:
:o why the refills, as much as I like the stuff I would be hard pressed to by a rebottled product and even more so as it has a shelf life :(.
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First try for me, don't wanna buy a bunch of something I end up not liking.

It was the cheapest version possible, social security doesn't even pay the rent much less all these luxuries
 
Budley Doright

Budley Doright

Well-Known Member
IMG_4904.PNG This is the only one on Amazon CA so she's not quite $150 lol, but fuck really and they want $12.00 shipping for a quart :(.
 
ttystikk

ttystikk

Well-Known Member
Budley Doright said:
Can you not use a meter or some kind of test strips to measure?
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Go to your local hot tub store and get their chlorine test strips. You only want 1-3ppm of free chlorine. The reason you can't just add that much is because your bacterial load will use some or all of the chlorine, so keep adding it until you get to 1-3ppm of free chlorine.
 
Budley Doright

Budley Doright

Well-Known Member
completenoobie said:
First try for me, don't wanna buy a bunch of something I end up not liking.

It was the cheapest version possible, social security doesn't even pay the rent much less all these luxuries
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Oh I'm not criticizing at all just surprised at the price of the stuff, when I bought it it was $55 with free shipping for a gallon which last three or four runs. Honestly with the chiller I have not had any issues at all touch wood ;).
 
WeedFreak78

WeedFreak78

Well-Known Member
Budley Doright said:
View attachment 3986692 This is the only one on Amazon CA so she's not quite $150 lol, but fuck really and they want $12.00 shipping for a quart :(.
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Look for Bacillus Amyloliquefaciens. It's the same bacteria in HG, that and water. Here's HGs analysis, just make sure it's at least as concentrated.
  • Bacillus amyloliquefaciens* 0.038%
  • INERT INGREDIENTS 99.962%
  • TOTAL 100%
*Contains a minimum of 1.00x10^4 cfu’s / ml

It's a bacteria. When I was hydro, I thought about running a bubbler with some rocks in it, and keeping it lightly fed to cultivate a herd. Then just dose res from there and replenish that with water. I can't see it being much different than any other micro herd.
 
Budley Doright

Budley Doright

Well-Known Member
WeedFreak78 said:
Look for Bacillus Amyloliquefaciens. It's the same bacteria in HG, that and water. Here's HGs analysis, just make sure it's at least as concentrated.
  • Bacillus amyloliquefaciens* 0.038%
  • INERT INGREDIENTS 99.962%
  • TOTAL 100%
*Contains a minimum of 1.00x10^4 cfu’s / ml

It's a bacteria. When I was hydro, I thought about running a bubbler with some rocks in it, and keeping it lightly fed to cultivate a herd. Then just dose res from there and replenish that with water. I can't see it being much different than any other micro herd.
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Thanks, I'll see what I can find. As much as I haven't had any issues I do think it helped with the actual health of plants and roots compared to adding nothing. Thanks again!
 
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