Have a grey slick on and in the surface of nutrient solution in a shallow water container.
How often should reservoirs be cleaned out beyond changing out solution as mine seem to deteriorate quickly and its a major hassle, although nutrients are replenished frequently.
Wicks are green at ends which seems to be inevitable with a paddive system.
Its hard to cover the solution when using multiple wicks.
So thats another insight into lazy growing but growing is a pain in UK domestic environments where more time and cash goes on hiding than is spent on breeeding and experimentation and other interesting aspects, even ruled by random nearby people activity very often. Thats my excuse anyway.
Im concerned about the grey film because ive had to leave them for a week and couldn’t clean the containers.
Ive read it could be a chemical reaction with certain plastics, what do you think?
Ive seen it before and isnt persistent but I put it down to frequently standing plants in the solution in large trays, not the case this time.
IMHO, it’s common in hydroponics, the bio film layer. Not really plastics induced.
I’d look to beneficial organisms, by running a cycle with biologicals, as they hunt for organic things to eat, and poop plant food.
Of course manual cleaning is the best way, but that is what I’d give a go with.
Caramba cara!
Sí señor, me temo que sí
Got a picture? This sounds odd.
What type of plastic is it? I bought a cheap-o trashcan to store water in outside and it would form an oil like sheen on the surface… so now it’s just a trashcan.
Its a sturdy garden centre type tray, probably recycled plastic.
Im quite ashamed to post this pic lol, like what do I expect…
@webeblzr, biofilm, thats the term I
was looking for.
Q
I get the same thing in my wicking trays on a pretty regular bases which ends up being caused by some run off draining into a res from a top fed solution inturn allows the biolife to start to grow. I just remove the tray and manually clean it and grab a cup that I can dip each wick into and sqeeze any of the contaminated film off that as well.
I’ve also had to occasionally remove the contaminated wick and put in a new ones as it just doesn’t wick efficiently anymore.