Let me start by saying i have lost lots of plants over the years to various diseases and bugs, in dirt, hydroponics and aeroponics. These are aero bucket systems that I built, more sprayer than mister to be specific. I really enjoy this method, its been really successful, till this event.
Second i have to give a lil background, i battled algae twice in the system due to light having access to the water lines, that has been resolved.
The issue, i killed a plant in an automated system while the other two are just fine, it looked like the roots rotted away, instead of being white like normal they turned dark brown, I suspect it was where the algae was. I did bath all the roots, plain distilled water, separate baths etc. the roots looked clean when i was done. The plants where doing well for a week then it hit again. Fixed the remaining issue and was good for a couple days till this plant just gave up. I removed it from the system. Tried root trimming the bad roots and moving it to dwc but that didnt help. Its done. Never had algae do that in the past. Has anyone lost a plant or roots to algae? Was i just to dismissive of the algae in the first place? I have never worried that much about it unless im working in DWC. What do yall think?
“Hydro” can be fickle AF. I used to run an “Under Current” system I built as a DIY project and had some seriously crazy good runs…until I didn’t. Exactly like you are seeing…things took a shit fast. “Root rot”. Brutal shit.
I tore it all down and sanitized it…but the next run also took a shit on me.
Did it all again. I went OCD to get everything clean. Nope.
All of this coincided with Rec pot becoming legal here in CO in 2014 and the market was in decline…so I just succumbed to all of it and went back to soil growing. I hope you can figure it out. At least you have separate buckets. Mine was a 6 bucket system.
This is aero, water temp is room temp, sprayer runs 20 seconds every 3 minutes, this is long enough to prime the system and just infrequently enough to prevent roots from tapping. The dwc was a last ditch resort for the last 24 hours, the plant is gone, thats to much stress, even in veg, i wont bother flowering this plant at this point ill just move another clone into the system. Just trying to determine why one plant in a automated system of 3 that is tied together died, other two are fine.
Gotcha. Couldn’t tell from the pics. Definitely a mystery here as well. Rot/root problems don’t generally discriminate. I hope it plays out OK for ya.
@Rubixone Hey just a few things to consider with any hydro set up. Water grows pathogens fairly quickly. Need to have enough air stones to create oxygen into the water. You also need to have the water chilled. Warm water breeds pathogens quickly. Cool water can slow them down. You need to have Beneficial bacteria in your reservoir. Beneficial bacteria like Hydroguard eliminate the ability for a pathogen to take hold. Three things to remember… Beneficial bacteria, Air stones for oxygen, And absolutely no organic matter From nutrients or anything else in hydroponics. Organic matter Breeds pathogens in hydroponics. Hopefully, you’re already familiar with these items. I just wanted to share as maybe they could be a contributing factor to the problem at hand. Cheers !!!
@BTYGMO There is no standing water at the roots in the aeroponics system, all water returns to the res, the return line creates a little water fall at the reservoir, this happens every three minutes. This water fall add some oxygen, do you think a air stone in the res would be beneficial? Never had an issue before this. The reservoir is 3 gallons of fluid changed weekly, in a five gallon pail. The plants consume 1/2 to a full gallon a day ( by full flower 2gallons a day) so i top of the reservoir daily with a fresh gallon i mixed the night before. I would say water temp is cooler than room temp as reservoir sits on an uninsulated floor. I only use gh, and cal mag. I have ro water and when i get low on fills(as in i was lazy preping) i buy distilled. I didnt think i was really giving any bad bacteria enough time to thrive and breed. Any thoughts?
@Rubixone My one concern would be the water in your reservoir for any length of time. You can get away with water into the mid 60’s but you definitely wanna have beneficial bacteria for water that is in the reservoir for any length of time. Have you noticed any slime anywhere in your reservoir? Hydro guard could help keep this water healthy with Beneficial bacteria that take up the space not allowing for Bad pathogens to form. My concern would be the amount of Bacteria that could be growing in 7 days over the life of that nutrient batch in the reservoir. I would imagine you’re starting to see clear to whitish flakes forming in the water in the reservoir over a few days. Those could be pathogens Leading to root rot. Water should be clear no cloudy particles. I would definitely examine the water in my reservoir And look at the reservoir itself to see if it doesn’t have built-up slime on it. Cheers !!!
@Rubixone Yes Sir… Just remember, these are live bacteria. You have six months after the time you open that bottle to use it all. I usually buy the smallest option and replace often. After the six months, it’s a rapid decline in quality of bacteria. Make sure you get a fresh quality bottle and date it when you open it you have six months after that date. You only add two mil per gallon when you mix up a fresh reservoir. Then add 2 mil per gallon every three days as maintenance to keep a high count of quality bacteria. There are other companies out there making something similar, but I personally use Hydro guard so that I can speak to. There are other additives people are using to keep down Algae ect. But I have limited experience with those types of options. If I understood you correctly, you’re just using GH three part And Calmag. That mix never really grew algae when I ran it unless I added something organic to that mix even trace amounts of organic could do this. I never understood why GH recommends using flavor licious plus in there hydro mix as even in trace amounts it has organics. My thoughts are this was more for a drain to waste program. Hope this helps or at least point you in the general direction for more investigation. Cheers !!!
I’m running a flood and drain, so different system but some similarities. I have a couple thoughts:
Since you’re running a separate res, could you put that outside the tent to help it stay cooler? I went that route with mine, and it has been nice to not stress about the temps.
I tried adding Southern Ag Garden Friendly Fungicide (basically cheaper hydroguard), and didn’t like it. I also tried adding HOCL, but it seemed like I had to top it off more. So now I’m running with calcium hypochlorite pool shock to have a “sterile” res. It has worked really well, minimal hassle.
Oh, and sub-benefit of the pool shock is that it oxygenates the water a lot, so it would help in that regard as well.
The chlorine doesn’t hurt the plants? I know people that let tap water sit for a couple days as it is their only option but they do that to evaporate the chlorine out of the tap water.
I’m not going to lie and tell you I understand exactly why it works. Something something pH levels? But I’ve been running with HOCL from like…week 3 of my grow, and with the pool shock for the past couple of months, and my plant(s) had no issues related to that.
With the 73% one I linked, I run .75g/gallon, with a 52% (or something like that) it’s 1g/gallon. You have to make sure you don’t get the kind that’s “conditioner” or other stuff, just the calcium hypochlorite (there’ll be inactive ingredients, but it isn’t like “6 in one pool conditioner!”)
Look up info about “sterile reservoir”, it’s not actually “sterile” so you’ll see a lot of people being pedantic about that, but that’s the term used for “not-beneficial-bacteria” approaches. Some folks use H2O2, but it has to be added frequently.
I also use tap water straight out of the faucet. I started from a mentality of “minimum effort in certain areas and see what I get, more effort if needed.”
Excellent post @C_in_CT … There are basically two camps You’re either sterile or beneficial. Hard to tell which is better for each individual person. I suggest picking the one that you like and suits your needs best. If you don’t have success using that method, try the other. A lot of people start with sterile Res. and if they don’t have success with that then switch to beneficial and swear that works for them. I am part of this camp. I tried sterile with on and off success for years. And then went with beneficial’s and most of my problems reservoir related went away. A lot of people have a similar story going sterile or vise versa so it’s really whichever suits your particular situation best. Both are very similar and fairly easy to maintain. I don’t think they’re that expensive compared to the problems that arise if you don’t use one or the other. Cheers !!!
Your buckets are a massive problem. They’re like lanterns. Those do absolutely nothing to block light, and 100% no doubt in my mind that’s what’s killing your roots. Paint them, wrap them, or replace them. It’s up to you. But that is definitely your issue.
@lightyear How do you know what buckets are in my system i never showed a photo of them, they are thick and black. The Home Depot is just for holding the plant temporarily. But I appreciate the idea.
I started from a mentality of “minimum effort in certain areas and see what I get, more effort if needed.”