Southern_Lights
New Member
Hi all,
Unfortunately my first post is going to be about a problem that I currently have which is leaving me stumped, frustrated and in desperate need of help. This is not my first grow, I have done a few but never come across this issue before. My Problems are based around Pythium I believe. I'm going to give a fairly comprehensive round up of why I believe its pythium, my problems in the past and what techniques I have been using to try and fix my issue.
Basically after starting my seeds they fail to grow, by which I mean they look alright but just grow very very slowly so much so that I just end up pulling them after a week or so because they are so small and stunted. They take over 2 weeks to even get their 2nd set of proper leaves while exhibiting the traits of pythium infected plants. I have had pythium in all my previous grows due to bad environmental conditions. I have now built a much better room all air-conditioned and properly controlled etc. The seedlings seem to get pythium instantly before they are even placed into the system. This is whats getting me.
My System:
Its different to what you guys use as Im in Australia and the popular way to do it over here is with a satellite re-circulating system. Its basically pots (50/13gallon) filled with perlite which gets top feed with a sprinkler type setup and then drains back to a reservoir. Feed regimes are 15min every 4hours no feeds during lights off. This system has worked very successfully in the past so I don't believe this is the cause of any problems. My previous problems with pythium were because of excessive ambient temps and high water temps in the reservoir which I have now fixed with a properly setup air-conditioned room and a water chiller for the reservoir. All my environmentals are in check. Air temp = 26degree C (78.8F) My nutrient temp = 19 degrees C (66.2F)
I thought the pythium was possibly entering the rootzone of the seedlings before they are put into the system so I used tap water and treated it with chlorine in case I had pythium in my tap water, I used bottled RO water to feed the seedlings still no better. Each time Im starting fresh with new seeds and medium etc. The way I start my seeds hasn't changed from when I had semi successful grows so I don't think this is an issue either but here is the rundown on how I start my seeds.
Germinate seeds in wet paper towel in a Tupperware container, once root starts to show I then place the seed in a small (1 inch) rockwool cube that has been pre-soaked in ph adjusted water and then put the cube in the propagator under a flouro. Once a root appears out the bottom of the rockwool cube I put it into the perlite filled pot and into the system. By this stage they appear to be normal with their set of seedling leaves and small set of first leaves starting to grow. Not much else happens after that or what does happen is in super slo-mo and after a week they have barely progressed at all (first set of leaves aren't even fully grown.
Before I had these problems after one week of being in the system they should have had 4 sets or so of leaves and by the 2nd week of grown they would be about a foot or more tall and getting branches etc. The PH of the nutrient is what makes me sure its pythium because it fails to rise like it usually does. A healthy system will increase PH from 5.5-5.8 to around PH 8 or so in a 24hr period which is when I re-set the PH. Every time I got pythium problems in my previous grows the PH failing to rise significantly was the precursor of pythium symptoms which would then start to get worse over the next few weeks with no way for me to stop it (bad environmentals) I have fixed all environmental issues but now have this pythium problem which starts immediately after germination.
I have tried soaking my rockwool cubes in beneficial bacteria and fungi tea which I brewed from Great White beneficial bacteria and fungi and this still didn't help neither did presoaking the rockwool cubes in a systemic fungicide (fongarid).
I would greatly appreciate any assistance you guys may be able to offer
Unfortunately my first post is going to be about a problem that I currently have which is leaving me stumped, frustrated and in desperate need of help. This is not my first grow, I have done a few but never come across this issue before. My Problems are based around Pythium I believe. I'm going to give a fairly comprehensive round up of why I believe its pythium, my problems in the past and what techniques I have been using to try and fix my issue.
Basically after starting my seeds they fail to grow, by which I mean they look alright but just grow very very slowly so much so that I just end up pulling them after a week or so because they are so small and stunted. They take over 2 weeks to even get their 2nd set of proper leaves while exhibiting the traits of pythium infected plants. I have had pythium in all my previous grows due to bad environmental conditions. I have now built a much better room all air-conditioned and properly controlled etc. The seedlings seem to get pythium instantly before they are even placed into the system. This is whats getting me.
My System:
Its different to what you guys use as Im in Australia and the popular way to do it over here is with a satellite re-circulating system. Its basically pots (50/13gallon) filled with perlite which gets top feed with a sprinkler type setup and then drains back to a reservoir. Feed regimes are 15min every 4hours no feeds during lights off. This system has worked very successfully in the past so I don't believe this is the cause of any problems. My previous problems with pythium were because of excessive ambient temps and high water temps in the reservoir which I have now fixed with a properly setup air-conditioned room and a water chiller for the reservoir. All my environmentals are in check. Air temp = 26degree C (78.8F) My nutrient temp = 19 degrees C (66.2F)
I thought the pythium was possibly entering the rootzone of the seedlings before they are put into the system so I used tap water and treated it with chlorine in case I had pythium in my tap water, I used bottled RO water to feed the seedlings still no better. Each time Im starting fresh with new seeds and medium etc. The way I start my seeds hasn't changed from when I had semi successful grows so I don't think this is an issue either but here is the rundown on how I start my seeds.
Germinate seeds in wet paper towel in a Tupperware container, once root starts to show I then place the seed in a small (1 inch) rockwool cube that has been pre-soaked in ph adjusted water and then put the cube in the propagator under a flouro. Once a root appears out the bottom of the rockwool cube I put it into the perlite filled pot and into the system. By this stage they appear to be normal with their set of seedling leaves and small set of first leaves starting to grow. Not much else happens after that or what does happen is in super slo-mo and after a week they have barely progressed at all (first set of leaves aren't even fully grown.
Before I had these problems after one week of being in the system they should have had 4 sets or so of leaves and by the 2nd week of grown they would be about a foot or more tall and getting branches etc. The PH of the nutrient is what makes me sure its pythium because it fails to rise like it usually does. A healthy system will increase PH from 5.5-5.8 to around PH 8 or so in a 24hr period which is when I re-set the PH. Every time I got pythium problems in my previous grows the PH failing to rise significantly was the precursor of pythium symptoms which would then start to get worse over the next few weeks with no way for me to stop it (bad environmentals) I have fixed all environmental issues but now have this pythium problem which starts immediately after germination.
I have tried soaking my rockwool cubes in beneficial bacteria and fungi tea which I brewed from Great White beneficial bacteria and fungi and this still didn't help neither did presoaking the rockwool cubes in a systemic fungicide (fongarid).
I would greatly appreciate any assistance you guys may be able to offer