DWC Root Slime Cure aka How to Breed Beneficial Microbes

I've been told it's ok...

NeWcS said:

Any truth that ph up and/or down will kill the beneficial's?

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Not in the res, but they like neutral pH for growing them.

Ugh anybody know whats up? I added tea on Monday, it's been 48 hours and now my pH is out of control still.

From 5.7 to 7.8 in less than 8 hours. That's fucking stupid. I'm starting to get so fed up I'm ready to rip the plants out of the buckets, stick em in solo cups and say fuck it with the DWC because I think people are lying that they get their pH stable... lol

what kind of nutes? When you introduce fresh buckets do you first add tea then wait 24 hours til adding nutes? Then wait another 24 hours to ph... Tell us your routine.. How long did you let tea brew b4 using? What Did you use for tea?

budsMI said:

what kind of nutes? When you introduce fresh buckets do you first add tea then wait 24 hours til adding nutes? Then wait another 24 hours to ph... Tell us your routine.. How long did you let tea brew b4 using? What Did you use for tea?

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I just use the H-tea brew instructions. I brew for 48 hr and the take a 1/2 liter and pour it through each of the root crowns.....after I'm done re-setting the nutes for the week, pH balance etc. That turn around takes about 2 hrs.

I come back in about 1/2 hr. (I'm circulating the water at a good rate) Now the pH his up because I added the RO with Bens. I pump out 5 gal in a bucket and add what I use for pH down. (13% nitric acid, diluted to 2%)

Whatever you use, keep track of how much effect it has. I know that I will typically add 25 ml of acid (for my water amount) to bring it back in line.

With Bens, I bring it to 5.8 and 24 hrs later it's 6.2. So pH bucket dose in the morning.

I used Aquashield, ZHO and Ancient Forest. The tea was frothy and smelled earthy just like I expected.

After 48 hours bubbling with an airstone I dumped 3 cups into each of the two buckets. They had just had a res change the day before and had just water in the res. I poured 1 cup through the hydroton and 2.5 into the res. Within 24 hours the pH was 7.8 again. I pH a bucket, within 6 hours, it's right back up.

I check the pH every day in the morning but no matter what I do this time, the pH is OUT of control! NOTHING is helping.

Oh and I'm using Technaflora recipe for success nutes. They're on about 300 ppm right now (95ppm tap)

Doer said:

Not in the res, but they like neutral pH for growing them.

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I brew my tea in tap water which is pH 7.6. When the tea is done (pH 8.5) I pH it down to 5.8 which is what I run my units at. Should I not pH the end result?

Well I'll ask you. Do you think the bens will be safer in the big pool after you put them in? And then do the pH? I do.

I don't want to be adding pH balance straight to 2 gals of water. There are live critters in there I carefully grew for 48 hr.

I see. Ill just pH the res after adding them if it's needed. Thx homie

Ok. Where to start. I've been doing rdwc for over 10 years. Success, moderate troubles but never anything like this.
The last eight to ten months have been hell. I found this thread the other night and signed up just to see the pics.
I had the thick snot last summer. Picked up hydro sparkle a DNF product and things got better for awhile. Previously, h2o2 took care of any root issues.
Until a few cycles ago all hell broke loose, nothing will finish right, healthy leaves become inverted canoes in a heartbeat.
New clones hit the netpots and do badly, hit the big lights and its wilt and mg lockouts like crazy. Until reading most of this thread I was ready to give up. The snot is gone I was doing everything just as I always do, but shit is so not right.
So my local shops don't have the ingredients. I have ordered the ancient forest, and mycogrow from fungi.com.
Until they arrive I grabbed distilled water, molasses, ewc, and since it was cheap some of homegrowns "mycrose pro". A search of the thread revealed no results for that product.
Its all bubbling away with a heater at 73f. I know the ewc are ok for now but any worries with this mycrose pro? No info to be found about it. I just am dying to see if this works for me or else it's drain to waste systems in my future.

Good luck. If you can get this going, it has turned it around for those that try it, I think.

36OhBuds said:

... I gave all the plants full strength dosages as recommended on the bottle in their fresh res and they are doing awesome....

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I got into big problems following the "recommended dosages" on the bottle. Bee careful with DWC and nutes.

Doer said:

Good luck. If you can get this going, it has turned it around for those that try it, I think.

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Thanks man! 16 hrs of bubbling. Seem to be getting larger more persistent bubbles with a soapy shine on the top of the brewing tea. I think it's a good sign of activity.

This trouble has cost me thousands, not to mention sleepless nights. I've never tried so hard to fail so badly. Gonna be hard to wait another 24 hrs but I'm hopeful. At least I'm doing "something".

Senn said:

Thanks man! 16 hrs of bubbling. Seem to be getting larger more persistent bubbles with a soapy shine on the top of the brewing tea. I think it's a good sign of activity.

This trouble has cost me thousands, not to mention sleepless nights. I've never tried so hard to fail so badly. Gonna be hard to wait another 24 hrs but I'm hopeful. At least I'm doing "something".

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Well, I told my wife it would take a year, and I'm only out of schedule a few months so far. (if i don't lose this crop.)

Trying too hard, too fast, too much, too soon. Don't I know? Ha. I have to take myself back, always, to the basics.

- Do not overfeed
- Do not let the conditions swing
- etc.

I do pH dosing in a 5 gal bucket now...just let it drain back very slowly. The pH just eases up/down over the next 10 min.

Doing "something" has been my worst nightmare. I usually do too much too fast. It has taken me a while to get down from the video game pace. That's what it seemed like until I solved all (most) of the problems.

And yes, it cost thousands to set up a good water system. Or a few hundred. I went with the former. But, it is a horticulture hobby, and I think the best secrets you find for yourself.

You just have to relax. It's a hobby, or the plants can sense our discomfort, I think. Or maybe I just am more careless when I'm stressed.

Smoke two joints. Always good advice.

Greetings Heisenberg!


First of all, great thread. IMO, I actually think this thread has been some of the most insightful grow information that I've read.


I'm interested in starting a RDWC system. Honestly, I've been pretty intimidated by some of the issues I've been reading about, but after reading some of this thread, I'm a bit more confident that it will be a manageable system.


It's been my understanding that root problems are a concern with RDWC setups, hence cooling the water to avoid root disease issues (as well as increase O2 levels). From what I understand, using a tea early on with young plants as a preventative measure means that the water doesn't need to be cooled (as long as it doesn't rise above 85f) and the bennies should keep slime, disease and algae at bay?


Once the plant matures and develops a nice root formation, the tea is no longer needed because the plant will be healthy enough on its own to deal with slime and other root disease? After the tea is no longer used, is it then necessary to cool the water? I've heard that cooling the water doesn't really raise O2 levels that much and as temps drop, plants don't drink as well?


On another topic, I've heard that RDWC raise the humidity level a lot (I'll be growing it a tent, btw). My thoughts were, crank up the fan. But I've also heard that humidity is bad for a carbon filter, which I will need to use, as odor control is critical for me. How can I keep humidity down while not thrashing my carbon filter. I'd prefer not to have to use a de-humidifier in the tent..... any suggestions?


Thanks for and thoughts and/or advice. Keep up the great work!

Oh, and I'm refering on chemical fertilizers, not organic. I understand that organic and bennies are a different story.

Quickdraw McGraw said:

Greetings Heisenberg!


First of all, great thread. IMO, I actually think this thread has been some of the most insightful grow information that I've read.


I'm interested in starting a RDWC system. Honestly, I've been pretty intimidated by some of the issues I've been reading about, but after reading some of this thread, I'm a bit more confident that it will be a manageable system.


It's been my understanding that root problems are a concern with RDWC setups, hence cooling the water to avoid root disease issues (as well as increase O2 levels). From what I understand, using a tea early on with young plants as a preventative measure means that the water doesn't need to be cooled (as long as it doesn't rise above 85f) and the bennies should keep slime, disease and algae at bay?

Once the plant matures and develops a nice root formation, the tea is no longer needed because the plant will be healthy enough on its own to deal with slime and other root disease? After the tea is no longer used, is it then necessary to cool the water? I've heard that cooling the water doesn't really raise O2 levels that much and as temps drop, plants don't drink as well?

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Inoculation is the best insurance you can have, but it's still a gamble with RDWC. I would certainly not spring for a chiller myself. I would have my clone/veg area as classic dwc and by the time they went into bud the roots should be able to handle RDWC, but that only works if you have two separate areas. There is nothing inherintly scary about RDWC, it's just that those prone to slime have a harder time with it for some reason.

Once my plants go into the flower room I do not worry about regular tea inoculations, but I still give them some from time to time for good measure.

On another topic, I've heard that RDWC raise the humidity level a lot (I'll be growing it a tent, btw). My thoughts were, crank up the fan. But I've also heard that humidity is bad for a carbon filter, which I will need to use, as odor control is critical for me. How can I keep humidity down while not thrashing my carbon filter. I'd prefer not to have to use a de-humidifier in the tent..... any suggestions?

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Get an odorsok. They work well and can be thrown in the dryer once a month to "reactivate". Alternatively you can just use a hair dryer on it. They wont last as long as a classic carbon filter but they're cheaper and more manageable. Mine lasts 6 months. It says they can be washed and reused, but that doesn't work for me.

http://www.hydroponics.net/c/486

Doer said:

Well, I told my wife it would take a year, and I'm only out of schedule a few months so far. (if i don't lose this crop.)

Trying too hard, too fast, too much, too soon. Don't I know? Ha. I have to take myself back, always, to the basics.

- Do not overfeed
- Do not let the conditions swing
- etc.

I do pH dosing in a 5 gal bucket now...just let it drain back very slowly. The pH just eases up/down over the next 10 min.

Doing "something" has been my worst nightmare. I usually do too much too fast. It has taken me a while to get down from the video game pace. That's what it seemed like until I solved all (most) of the problems.

And yes, it cost thousands to set up a good water system. Or a few hundred. I went with the former. But, it is a horticulture hobby, and I think the best secrets you find for yourself.

You just have to relax. It's a hobby, or the plants can sense our discomfort, I think. Or maybe I just am more careless when I'm stressed.

Smoke two joints. Always good advice.

Click to expand...

Definitely good advice.

As I mentioned briefly this is far from my first dance. I'm an old timer who has never seen it this bad in over a decade of rdwc. I started 20 yrs ago, fumbled along w/o the Internet. Ebb/flow, sog in promix, seen thrips, spider mites, battled root rot before, but this is a new trip for sure.

I blame complacency, I stopped learning, and it bit me hard. When I found rdwc it was heaven, and has done well for me, more or less for a long time. Constant tweaks, but never total failure. That's a kick in the gut, and humbling. Thanks to this great thread I have hope, a plan, and some explanations for the how.

Will update will my progress. First inoculation tonight.
Big thanks to Heis!

I wish I knew more about Bens in RDWC, but there is a difference somehow.

IAC, the tea with get you through times of no roots, much better than roots will get you through times of no tea.

Maybe the Bens house in the water circulation pipes, who knows? But, with any more that 1 slim tablespoon of Molasses in 2 gals of brew, I get a gray stink scum bloom. I think it must be the myco.

Have heart, because if even a noob like me can recover, there is hope! Two girls. This is after, the before picture is the root ball as brown scum.

This time I left it alone, didn't touch anything but give them good shakes in their buckets as I went, to keep swishing out the dead root system. The alternative, to clean up the scum by hand, will crash the plant up to....no rooting ability left, at all.

I'm back in the game. Tea good.

Just dosed my tubs and girls with the tea. I was having horrible issues for the last year with several very successful runs for the years prior. I used what they had at my local shop(Aquashield, Great White, and Ancient Forest). Brewed 5 gallons for 24hrs, gave them an initial treatment in there root crowns with the 24hr pot time(used about a gallon, I have 2 20gal res's). Then Let the tea brew till it hit the 48hr mark. Drained the res's, removed the nasty roots, filled with ro water, added 1gal of teat to each starting through the root crowns. Let it sit for about an hour and added me nutrients to the res. And it has now been running for about 14 hours. There is already new visible root growth from the crowns, and I am hopeful. I will update with results in about a week. Thank you Heisenburg for this thread and all the great info in it. Really hoping this is my ray of light on a cloudy day.