Can someone help me identify wtf this stuff is?!

quick background : i moved from hawaii to seattle area, so i am totally unfamiliar with what many people say is a problem here... Mold.

ive never actually seen it, so im curious 1st is this mold?

This plant is in a 4'x4' tent sitting in my kitchen. The white stuff was totally nonexistant yesterday and this morning appeared like this. It is only on the rocks and base of the stem.

One thing to note is yesterday, i burned a steak on my stove which is close to the tent and it got pretty smokey for a while...
could this be fallout from that?

this is as close as my camera can get, but if you cant tell the whiteness is puffy not at all like salt deposit buildup.

thanks in advance for any help / suggestions.

just to add one additional thing, the digital thermometer i have in there keeps track of humidity highs and lows, and is usually from 30-60% shows a peak of 95% yesterday, from i assume the smoke.

yeah i had the same thing. i think its like a powdery fungus from the hydroton being saturated in nutes and water, especially if your kept your rockwool in there too. you gotta let it drain out a bit, i stopped top feeding mine all together and it went away and the plants are doing fine. im sure your roots are big enough you could do the same thing.

IcculusX said:

One thing to note is yesterday, i burned a steak on my stove which is close to the tent and it got pretty smokey for a while...
could this be fallout from that?

Click to expand...

I'm sorry but that is hilarious. I keep picturing a Ronco Nuclear powered microwave recipe gone bad.

I think Neem oil helps with it or you could even try milk.
http://www.backyardgardener.com/tv/mildew.html

ok thanks, ill clear the rez and run a FloraKleen cycle give it a few days to reset

Umm, hold up. What nutrients are you using and at how much? What color is it? I can't tell with the LED on. Is it powdery or is it salty/grainy? It looks to me like you have a lot of salt build up on your rocks below your drip ring and it has been splashing on your stems coating them in your nutrient solution. Then as the plant absorbs it/the water evaporates, it leaves behind the salts contained inside the nutrient solution that aren't used. Hydroponic nutrients are known to have a lot of salts that are left behind from evaporation (ie: Advanced Nutrients-What I mainly use, General Hydroponics, ect.). I had this problem as well and have found that diluting my concentration of nutes and only running 1 reservoir of nute solution with fresh water toppings as she needs more water, solves this issue. I would suggest cleaning the drip ring every week or 2 just to prevent any salt build up.

I also live in Seattle and have never had a problem with powdery mildew, but do know several people that have. That doesnt look like it. Looks like salt build up. Have to keep a close eye on things in Washington during the winter time.

im using FloraNova Bloom at around 800 ppm atm, pH 5.8

im pretty familiar with salt build up and yes there is some on the basket and stem, but this isnt that.

this is a VERY white puffy cotton candy type stuff that sprang up over night covering the whole top layer of rocks.

i cant get my camera to focus close enough to show that it has quite a bit of height on the rocks, almost like an Afro

stop top feeding and run some water with peroxide through the hydroton.. should clean it up ... dont really need to top feed if the roots are in the bucket.. specially how humid it is up there .. rain storm right now ya ?

and if anything i think the smoke would help your plants... im not sure but i would think blowing smoke (like potsmoke) in your grow room would greatly increase the amount of CO2 in there. i think thats pretty much what smoke is mostly.

DO NOT BLOW SMOKE IN UR ROOM!! hard to tell what it is, but you can basically spray ur plants with a mix of beneficial microorganisms. Also, you can use them in ur resi. check out this thread, im sure these gentlemen can help you... https://www.rollitup.org/dwc-bubbleponics/361430-dwc-root-slime-cure-aka.html although you dont have a slime issue, heisenberg certainly can help.

mufastaa said:

and if anything i think the smoke would help your plants... im not sure but i would think blowing smoke (like potsmoke) in your grow room would greatly increase the amount of CO2 in there. i think thats pretty much what smoke is mostly.

Click to expand...

Yes and no. I think the amount of CO2 actually absorbed from the smoke to your plant is pretty negligible quantitatively. Like it gets diffused through the air pretty quick. Especially if you have a carbon filter being ran 24/7. However, I'm sure she greatly appreciates the gesture towards her. I know I love giving my plants TLC. Also, smoke isn't just CO2 so it isn't necessarily good for the plant. It has tar, carbon monoxide, and other carcinogens contained within the smoke that is kinda harmful to them.