Hydroponic system desinfection while plants in res

AngryMexican

AngryMexican

Active Member
Hello guys, been batling with root rot past two weeks, got rid of it for a while by soaking root mass in strong h2o2 (1%) for 5 mins and moved plants to a new hydroponic system with RO water + great white. Roots exploaded, very nice white roots was happy as a little girl. For the second res change I did not had enought great white cos shit is fucking expensive. I tried to make a colony of bennies (tea) out of great white using molasses just like in haizenbergs recipe but the only thing I used was great white + molasses...
And guess what, - root rot again... ;(
I have a 8 buckets 6 gallons each + 1 control bucket, all conected with each other, constant top feeding, an airstone in every bucket, res temp is under 66f, I have read that patogens cannot reproduce at this low temp of water, but it seems like they can...
Cannot order hydroguard by botaniccare to europe so went to the local store to buy some Great white, spent last buck on it ;((
So I planned empty the res than treat girls with strong h2o2 again and continue using Great white.

How can I desinfect the whole system without pulling the plants out (dont have place to put them)?

Could I use clorex? Cos I just wonder how many thouse tiny bottles of 3% h2o2 I need ti desinfect 94 gallons :( .And one thing about h2o2, I am using 3% stuff from drug store and have read that it is full of different stuff to make it stable, so it is not very goot for roots... Is that true?
 
Nabbers

Nabbers

Well-Known Member
I haven't used it personally, but if cost is an issue you should at least look into Southern Ag Garden Friendly Fungicide. I've heard others talk about it before and you could probably forum search for it and talk to people who have used it. Bacillus amyloliquefaciens is the bennie you want for fighting root rot. It's present in Great White (I use the liquid version Orca) but for just that one strain, SA-GFF is one of the cheapest ways to get it. If you can't get it, at least just go to the local store and look for anything with that strain in it. That's all hydroguard is, too.
 
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3rd Monkey

3rd Monkey

Well-Known Member
AngryMexican said:
yes I check ph constanly, it is around 6 all the time, ppm is around 600
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You have to monitor it, not just what it is now.

Example, if your ph and ppm are both rising... Algae.

You have total control. It's like a manual transmission car... It's ALL under your control.

As far as brown slime, I always made sure everything was sterile. Good bad, don't give a shit. If it's not clean, it gets cleaned.
 
Nabbers

Nabbers

Well-Known Member
I always get a little brown build up in my res on the tubing, pump, and power line and I haven't seen algae since my first grow. Haven't given it too much thought since my plants always turn out fine. I just assume it's nute build up, and I scrub everything down at res change and continue on. If any of your tubing is clear, algae can grow inside the tubing and that's no good. If you have any tubing that you want to see through, make sure it's blue to block the light spectrum algae needs to grow.
 
3rd Monkey

3rd Monkey

Well-Known Member
Johnny Lawrence said:
Pythium spores are EVERYWHERE. They're very common in hydro setups. You either have to go sterile(HP or chlorine) or you have to use bennies.

With a brand new system, you can get away with it for a few runs, but they'll get in. They always do.
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I emptied and sterilized weekly and never had a rot issue.

I ran hydro for about 8 years before I went out on my own and had to switch to soil. Then I found coco. Would love to be able to go back to hydro. There's just no equal in my opinion.
 
Nabbers

Nabbers

Well-Known Member
I've always done hydro because I've always done hydro, but my next grow will be coco. Have you SEEN Mr Canuck on youtube? He makes me practically ashamed of myself.
 
3rd Monkey

3rd Monkey

Well-Known Member
Don't watch a whole lot of YouTube.

I use coco as an amendment, not straight, though I am running some things in straight coco at the moment. I love coco as a medium when mixed more than I like it straight.

Hydro though... That's why I'm in hempy buckets lol. Takes me back... Kinda.
 
Johnny Lawrence

Johnny Lawrence

Well-Known Member
3rd Monkey said:
I emptied and sterilized weekly and never had a rot issue.

I ran hydro for about 8 years before I went out on my own and had to switch to soil. Then I found coco. Would love to be able to go back to hydro. There's just no equal in my opinion.
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I ran sterile for years - no chlorine, no peroxide - just tap and GH 3 part. No problem for years. It eventually creeped in. I don't know of a single hydro grower in SoCal who doesn't deal with it. Pythium spores are present on the legs of fungus gnats and can spread that way as well.

I run Hydroguard in ebb and flow buckets and never have an issue with it.
 
3rd Monkey

3rd Monkey

Well-Known Member
Johnny Lawrence said:
I ran sterile for years - no chlorine, no peroxide - just tap and GH 3 part. No problem for years. It eventually creeped in. I don't know of a single hydro grower in SoCal who doesn't deal with it. Pythium spores are present on the legs of fungus gnats and can spread that way as well.

I run Hydroguard in ebb and flow buckets and never have an issue with it.
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I used peroxide diluted to soak the roots in while I scrubbed the res, bleached the lines, etc. 5 gallon buckets, take the lid/net pot off and put it on the peroxide solution 5 gal bucket lol. Easy peasy.

I'm east coast but I know the shits everywhere. Fuckin gnats lol.

OCD pays off sometimes lol.
 
Johnny Lawrence

Johnny Lawrence

Well-Known Member
3rd Monkey said:
I used peroxide diluted to soak the roots in while I scrubbed the res, bleached the lines, etc. 5 gallon buckets, take the lid/net pot off and put it on the peroxide solution 5 gal bucket lol. Easy peasy.

I'm east coast but I know the shits everywhere. Fuckin gnats lol.

OCD pays off sometimes lol.
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I'm ocd af. My friends "joke" that my garage is cleaner than my actual house.

I bleach my whole system in between runs. The Hydroguard takes care of my roots, so pythium is never an issue for me.
 
3rd Monkey

3rd Monkey

Well-Known Member
Johnny Lawrence said:
I'm ocd af. My friends "joke" that my garage is cleaner than my actual house.

I bleach my whole system in between runs. The Hydroguard takes care of my roots, so pythium is never an issue for me.
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Oh yea, bleaching is a must lol. Never used hydroguard or anything of the like but an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure lol.

I miss hydro so bad. I'm jealous lol. The hempy buckets satisfy me for now though, just not the same level.
 
3rd Monkey

3rd Monkey

Well-Known Member
rkymtnman said:
i went from dwc/rdwc to hempys and back to rdwc.

hempys were almost too easy. i got bored with them! lol
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Yea, my indoor vegetable garden will stay hempy for life because of the simplicity.

I live in a swamp in the middle of the woods and my power is unstable. Making my own when spring breaks, so hopefully that works out better and then I can run HYDRO! Lol.

Just lost 90% crop of seedlings from a week without power combined with shitty weather. Went all spaghetti on me. I was able to save the genetics that I didn't have, pissed me off all the same though.
 
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