Greenmopho
Member
Root rot in hydro can be a bitch and quite a set back, so this is what I've gotten to after compiling info from various threads, talking to experts, and most importantly...experience and trial and error!
First flush your whole system, take the plants out and set them aside, and clean your system/buckets out with water and bleach. After you clean the systems, let them dry.
While those are drying, you can setup a root dunk. I was mixing in a 5 gallon bucket, about 3.5 to 4 gallons of water, add 2 Tbsp. of Hygrozyme, 1 Tbsp. of SM-90, and 3 Tbsp. of 35% H202 (go with 4 Tbsp. of 29% H202). Add the Hygrozyme and SM-90 first, stir, and then pH the water to 6.0, then add the H202 (H202 will not change your pH). Fill a second 5 gallon bucket with the same level of water, but only with 6.0 pH water, this is your rinse bucket. Put your root of the plant in the solution in the first bucket, you will see the H202 bubbble and the hygrozyme start to dissolve dead and slimey roots, dunk it up and down a few times, then let it sit in there for about a minute, and then lift out the plant and clean off and pull off as much dead or dying roots as you can.
This part is usually a bit brutal to your plants, but honestly, if you can pull off a root without resistance, its already dead and you don't need it in there!
Dunk a few more times, clean the roots, try to massage or break up any knots in the roots, then dunk a few times in the rinse bucket and replace into your system.
If you end up pulling off 40% of the root mass or more, I also recommend some serious defoliating of the plant, especially all dead and dying leaves. With a loss of root mass, your plant can't support as many large fan leaves, and some must be sacrificed for the good of the entire plant. Any healthy looking fan leaves that look even a little droopy should get plucked off, your plant can't support this leaf, and it will soon die off, all the while the plant is putting energy into repairing it.
When I put my plants back in the systems, I make sure I am running chillers to ensure proper water temps. Root rot can be fully prevented if you just avoid water temps above 72 degrees.
At this point you have 2 choices in your nute regiment. The live culture method and the sterile method. The sterile method would involve continued use of Hygrozyme, SM-90, and H202. I've had good results going this route to get my plants to shoot out fresh white new roots quickly, but it is a pain and can get expensive. I also recommend the sterile method if you CONTINUE to have root rot and/or high water temp issues, as it will continue to promote healthy root growth in unfavorable conditions.
Sterile Method (Mass Genocide):
This method basically kills anything and everything living in your root zone (microbial-wise at least). Start your recovering plants back in a mineral salt nute regiment mixed at 1/2 strengh (600-800 ppms). Before you pH the mixture, add 1/4-1/2 tsp. per gallon of Epsom Salts, and 160 mg per gallon of unbuffered aspirin (stress reducing hormone). Do NOT add any additives such as Aquashield, Florablend, Floralicious, Sweet, Nectar, Sugar, Molasses, or any additives that contain beneficial fungus, bacteria, organics, composts, or carbohydrates of any type. Like I said, this is the sterile method. Add Hygrozyme at 10 mL per gallon, SM-90 at 3 mL per gallon, and whatever strength H202 you are using, double the initial dosage. Keep adding H202 everyday at regular strength if your water temps are above 72. Add H202 every 3 days at regular strength if you have cool temps. You should start seeing fresh new white roots coming out within 7-10 days. The hygrozyme will break down dead roots into sugars that could possibly feed the bad bacteria, which is why you have to continually adding H202.
Using this method, you will get build up of dead crap in your reservoirs. You have to do a nute change AT LEAST every 7 days, if not more often, especially if you are fighting a bad case of root rot. Mix the nutes and everything else the same way until your plants show strength and vigor again, then continue the regiment and slowly increase your nutrient strength again.
Live culture method (World War 3):
So this method is only recommended if can get your water temps and other sources of root rot in check, like lack of dissolved oxygen (DO). I still recommend doing the root dunk! This method is cheaper and requires less daily maintenance, and will surely create a tastier final product through the use of beneficial bacteria fighting an ongoing war in your root zone.
Mix your nutes 1/2 strength, with the added epsom salts and aspirin, same as the sterile method. Still add 10 mL of Hygrozyme, but DO NOT add SM-90 or H202!!! Start your nutes off with a good dose of Bacillus subtilis and mycorrhizal fungus, the first to fight off the root rot causing bacteria, and the second to create a safe temporary rhizosphere to protect your roots and allow them to shoot out new growth. I prefer Aquashield as my source for Bacillus subtilis, and I'm currently using GH Subculture-M for mycorrhizal fungus, but there are many competing brands. I also recommend a good compost tea to fill out all the missing holes in your deficiencies and to give the beneficials a more friendly environment. I am currently using FloraBlend, but I've heard good results from the PureBlend also. After 1-2 weeks, do a nute change, keep adding the hygrozyme, tea, and Bacillus subtilis (you will be adding this to your nute regiment for the life of the plant), but cut out the fungi, as this will reduce DO in your nutrient solution. I would only recommend 1 nute change, 1-2 weeks after doing the dunk, as with beneficials, the roots tend to get comfortable in their environment, and a nute change will harm more than help in such an environment, as long as everything is healthy.
For both methods:
Cut out the aspirin regiment when you switch to bloom. If you are treating plants in bloom, only use the aspirin regiment for 1 week. Use foliar feeding techniques to correct deficiencies and supply N and micro nutrients that the roots are having trouble uptaking. The first few weeks of recovery, pH your nutrients at 6.0-6.2. This is a bit high for hydro, but you get higher N and Mg mobility at this pH, which the plant requires to repair itself, not to mention root rot tends to thrive in a more acidic solution. Keep an eye on your pH day to day, to see if its rising slowly (healthy) or dropping (still have root rot).
Good luck, peace!
First flush your whole system, take the plants out and set them aside, and clean your system/buckets out with water and bleach. After you clean the systems, let them dry.
While those are drying, you can setup a root dunk. I was mixing in a 5 gallon bucket, about 3.5 to 4 gallons of water, add 2 Tbsp. of Hygrozyme, 1 Tbsp. of SM-90, and 3 Tbsp. of 35% H202 (go with 4 Tbsp. of 29% H202). Add the Hygrozyme and SM-90 first, stir, and then pH the water to 6.0, then add the H202 (H202 will not change your pH). Fill a second 5 gallon bucket with the same level of water, but only with 6.0 pH water, this is your rinse bucket. Put your root of the plant in the solution in the first bucket, you will see the H202 bubbble and the hygrozyme start to dissolve dead and slimey roots, dunk it up and down a few times, then let it sit in there for about a minute, and then lift out the plant and clean off and pull off as much dead or dying roots as you can.
This part is usually a bit brutal to your plants, but honestly, if you can pull off a root without resistance, its already dead and you don't need it in there!
Dunk a few more times, clean the roots, try to massage or break up any knots in the roots, then dunk a few times in the rinse bucket and replace into your system.
If you end up pulling off 40% of the root mass or more, I also recommend some serious defoliating of the plant, especially all dead and dying leaves. With a loss of root mass, your plant can't support as many large fan leaves, and some must be sacrificed for the good of the entire plant. Any healthy looking fan leaves that look even a little droopy should get plucked off, your plant can't support this leaf, and it will soon die off, all the while the plant is putting energy into repairing it.
When I put my plants back in the systems, I make sure I am running chillers to ensure proper water temps. Root rot can be fully prevented if you just avoid water temps above 72 degrees.
At this point you have 2 choices in your nute regiment. The live culture method and the sterile method. The sterile method would involve continued use of Hygrozyme, SM-90, and H202. I've had good results going this route to get my plants to shoot out fresh white new roots quickly, but it is a pain and can get expensive. I also recommend the sterile method if you CONTINUE to have root rot and/or high water temp issues, as it will continue to promote healthy root growth in unfavorable conditions.
Sterile Method (Mass Genocide):
This method basically kills anything and everything living in your root zone (microbial-wise at least). Start your recovering plants back in a mineral salt nute regiment mixed at 1/2 strengh (600-800 ppms). Before you pH the mixture, add 1/4-1/2 tsp. per gallon of Epsom Salts, and 160 mg per gallon of unbuffered aspirin (stress reducing hormone). Do NOT add any additives such as Aquashield, Florablend, Floralicious, Sweet, Nectar, Sugar, Molasses, or any additives that contain beneficial fungus, bacteria, organics, composts, or carbohydrates of any type. Like I said, this is the sterile method. Add Hygrozyme at 10 mL per gallon, SM-90 at 3 mL per gallon, and whatever strength H202 you are using, double the initial dosage. Keep adding H202 everyday at regular strength if your water temps are above 72. Add H202 every 3 days at regular strength if you have cool temps. You should start seeing fresh new white roots coming out within 7-10 days. The hygrozyme will break down dead roots into sugars that could possibly feed the bad bacteria, which is why you have to continually adding H202.
Using this method, you will get build up of dead crap in your reservoirs. You have to do a nute change AT LEAST every 7 days, if not more often, especially if you are fighting a bad case of root rot. Mix the nutes and everything else the same way until your plants show strength and vigor again, then continue the regiment and slowly increase your nutrient strength again.
Live culture method (World War 3):
So this method is only recommended if can get your water temps and other sources of root rot in check, like lack of dissolved oxygen (DO). I still recommend doing the root dunk! This method is cheaper and requires less daily maintenance, and will surely create a tastier final product through the use of beneficial bacteria fighting an ongoing war in your root zone.
Mix your nutes 1/2 strength, with the added epsom salts and aspirin, same as the sterile method. Still add 10 mL of Hygrozyme, but DO NOT add SM-90 or H202!!! Start your nutes off with a good dose of Bacillus subtilis and mycorrhizal fungus, the first to fight off the root rot causing bacteria, and the second to create a safe temporary rhizosphere to protect your roots and allow them to shoot out new growth. I prefer Aquashield as my source for Bacillus subtilis, and I'm currently using GH Subculture-M for mycorrhizal fungus, but there are many competing brands. I also recommend a good compost tea to fill out all the missing holes in your deficiencies and to give the beneficials a more friendly environment. I am currently using FloraBlend, but I've heard good results from the PureBlend also. After 1-2 weeks, do a nute change, keep adding the hygrozyme, tea, and Bacillus subtilis (you will be adding this to your nute regiment for the life of the plant), but cut out the fungi, as this will reduce DO in your nutrient solution. I would only recommend 1 nute change, 1-2 weeks after doing the dunk, as with beneficials, the roots tend to get comfortable in their environment, and a nute change will harm more than help in such an environment, as long as everything is healthy.
For both methods:
Cut out the aspirin regiment when you switch to bloom. If you are treating plants in bloom, only use the aspirin regiment for 1 week. Use foliar feeding techniques to correct deficiencies and supply N and micro nutrients that the roots are having trouble uptaking. The first few weeks of recovery, pH your nutrients at 6.0-6.2. This is a bit high for hydro, but you get higher N and Mg mobility at this pH, which the plant requires to repair itself, not to mention root rot tends to thrive in a more acidic solution. Keep an eye on your pH day to day, to see if its rising slowly (healthy) or dropping (still have root rot).
Good luck, peace!
