Sterile vs bennies in warmer temps

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BWarrior

Member
My setup has been running well and I've been running bennies but I do have to fight off root rot on occasion cause of my buckets dont empty completely. I was wondering if running sterile or bennies better for these situations? My temps run 75-80ish in an ebb flow bucket system. Reservoir is in a different room. I'm currently running hydroguard in my bennies setup and bleach for my sterile setup (much cheaper than h202 constantly).

I read that some bennies help aerate the water so I dont know if that benefits more than a completely sterile environment. Any theories?
 
Thundercat

Thundercat

Well-Known Member
BWarrior said:
My setup has been running well and I've been running bennies but I do have to fight off root rot on occasion cause of my buckets dont empty completely. I was wondering if running sterile or bennies better for these situations? My temps run 75-80ish in an ebb flow bucket system. Reservoir is in a different room. I'm currently running hydroguard in my bennies setup and bleach for my sterile setup (much cheaper than h202 constantly).

I read that some bennies help aerate the water so I dont know if that benefits more than a completely sterile environment. Any theories?
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I switched to sterile in my flood and drain system many years ago, and never looked back it worked great.

I like pool shock over bleach, chlorine is actually a natural building block for plants. I mixed a 1/2 tsp of shock granules into 1 gallon of water to make a solution. Then add 1ounce of that solution per gallon in the res about every 3-4 days. Everything will stay clean and healthy.
 
Teag

Teag

Well-Known Member
Thundercat said:
I switched to sterile in my flood and drain system many years ago, and never looked back it worked great.

I like pool shock over bleach, chlorine is actually a natural building block for plants. I mixed a 1/2 tsp of shock granules into 1 gallon of water to make a solution. Then add 1ounce of that solution per gallon in the res about every 3-4 days. Everything will stay clean and healthy.
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Are those products the same as using H2O2?
 
Just Be

Just Be

Well-Known Member
Thundercat said:
I switched to sterile in my flood and drain system many years ago, and never looked back it worked great.

I like pool shock over bleach, chlorine is actually a natural building block for plants. I mixed a 1/2 tsp of shock granules into 1 gallon of water to make a solution. Then add 1ounce of that solution per gallon in the res about every 3-4 days. Everything will stay clean and healthy.
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Thanks for the breakdown. I may just switch from H2O2 to pool shock sometime down the road.

Teag said:
Are those products the same as using H2O2?
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Basically, yes. The amount needed of each will vary depending on what you decide to use but each will allow you to run a sterile reservoir as opposed to using beneficial bacteria. 29% H2O2 is usually mixed at around 3ml per gallon every three to four days.
 
Thundercat

Thundercat

Well-Known Member
Hydrowannabe said:
I've been using food grade h202 without any issues. But pool shock would be way cheaper. Does pool shock also add any dissolved oxygen to the water? Thanks
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The shock is waaay cheaper, I spent $12 on a container that I had for several years and didn’t even use half of. It doesn’t add D.O. that I know of. I was running in a flood and drain system so my D.O. came from the water fall effect on the drain side. The flood and drain system also pulls oxygen into the root system when the water drains back out of the grow rocks.
 
Hydrowannabe

Hydrowannabe

Well-Known Member
Thundercat said:
The shock is waaay cheaper, I spent $12 on a container that I had for several years and didn’t even use half of. It doesn’t add D.O. that I know of. I was running in a flood and drain system so my D.O. came from the water fall effect on the drain side. The flood and drain system also pulls oxygen into the root system when the water drains back out of the grow rocks.
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Thanks for the info man. I've been wanting to try pool shock bc of the price factor
 
fragileassassin

fragileassassin

Well-Known Member
switch to southern ag garden friendly fungicide instead of hydroguard if you are in north America. Its the same bacteria as hydroguard but wayyyy more concentrated. We use it at like 1ml per 5-10 gallons instead of 3ml per gal like hydroguard.
A half liter bottle is $16 and lasts me several grows in a pretty large system.
I run single totes on the side that get into the mid 70s and they're fine with the southern ag.

80 is really pushing it no matter what you're running. If you aren't going to work out some kind of cooling solution, you need to work out some insulation or something to keep a bit of that heat out or you're just going to have to keep chasing this the whole time you grow like this.
 
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Mikenike

Mikenike

Well-Known Member
If I’m not mistaken, although h2o2 does add some DO to the water it evaporates much faster than chlorine so the added DO doesn’t last long and would also need to be added more frequently when used to keep things sterile as well.
 
Thundercat

Thundercat

Well-Known Member
Mikenike said:
If I’m not mistaken, although h2o2 does add some DO to the water it evaporates much faster than chlorine so the added DO doesn’t last long and would also need to be added more frequently when used to keep things sterile as well.
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I do believe you are correct. At the least the DO that is added really is negligible. A grower should ideally have the DO maximized already with the construction of the system be it a waterfall, air stones etc...
 
cobshopgrow

cobshopgrow

Well-Known Member
you can push your DO concentration over the saturation point you can reach by waterfalls etc.by using h2o2.
if thats needed is another question.
 
Thundercat

Thundercat

Well-Known Member
cobshopgrow said:
you can push your DO concentration over the saturation point you can reach by waterfalls etc.by using h2o2.
if thats needed is another question.
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H2O2 only adds a small amount or DO. Once the water reaches a saturation point you won’t be gaining anything from continuing to add more.
 
cobshopgrow

cobshopgrow

Well-Known Member
the activated o2 of the h2o2 should come on top on what you can achive by normal aeration when you reached the saturation point, oversaturated.
 
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Huktonponics

Well-Known Member
I run a 15 site modular flood and drain system and a 8 pot wilma. I used to use chillers but hated the heat they generated and the electric bill lol.

I started using this silver-bullet-roots-b8e.jpg

On a hot day my res can get up to 25 degrees with no issues whatsoever. Havnt looked back since.

I run completely sterile and if i feed any bio's its in a foliar application ( kelp, fulvic acid, b-vitamins, amino acids ). This stuff is a bit more expensive than h2o2 ( here in the uk we can only get 12% h2o2 ) but it lasts waaaaay longer in the reservoir ( ill add a snippet from the description below )

" One bottle goes a long way - this stuff stays stable and active in tanks for up to 5 weeks "

" Silver ions: break down protective (catylase) barriers & keeps the H2O2 stable "

" Use it to prevent pythium! Even botrytis, powdery mildew, pythium & fusarium are no match. "

Blah blah blah, but they are basically saying you save upto 55% using it. I cant complain. Its done me good.

I dont know what pool shock is, but that sounds dirt cheap, and i wouldnt wanna tackle any leaf diseases or pests with silver bullet, because well, its got silver in it.

But i do run some chlorine tablets through my system after every run and then let them run with this in for 24 hours.
 
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Huktonponics

Well-Known Member
Forgot to add, I cringe at the thought of running bene's in hydro. Ive been left with some right messes attempting to do so. I like my nute solution clean and clear, ill rarely get a bit of bio film from my silica that i add if it falls out of solution.
 
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