On 9/11/2010, U.G.U posted this thread documenting the presence of Diisobutyl phthalate in hose distributed/sold by N-W-G.com. This chemical is used as a plasticiser used in flexible PVC--the translucent blue hose, or now in the increasingly available black that plumbs so many gardens.
This is the printed advertisement on the side of the toxic pipe:
This agent off gasses toxins that are then taken up by the plant during respiration. The plant yellows and dwindles. A common report is that growers afflicted by this pipe end up with only 20% or less of their expected yield, often popcorn bud.
This is a shot of a typical leaf:
Many growers first mistake this for a nutrient deficiency (Mag, sometimes N) then some kind of lockout, then some kind of root disease. And the roots do often look quite shitty in hydro grows plumbed by this crap hose.
Here's a typical plant suffering from this toxicity:
The question becomes: Now that you know what you've got going on, what do you do?
The hose should be removed not only from the system but from the environment. It off gasses, so even if it's not attached, it will continue to damage your plants if it shares common air space.
In his original thread, U.G.U posted (post 138) these observations:
Post 143, U.G.U:
Based on U.G.U's observation that he was able to overfeed his girls to keep them a bit more lively, my initial feeling is that an effective protocol might be:
1. Clean out the room of the shit pipe.
2. Flush to get rid of any residual shit.
3. Get back to growing. Hit them with light and moderate nute levels.
KEEP IN MIND THEY ARE LIKELY TO HERMI!
That said, I'm in coco now after repeatedly loosing my rDWCs to this shit pipe... so I can't be the one to try it.
Best of luck out there.
Feel free to post to this thread if you have any success (or failures)...
This is the printed advertisement on the side of the toxic pipe:
This agent off gasses toxins that are then taken up by the plant during respiration. The plant yellows and dwindles. A common report is that growers afflicted by this pipe end up with only 20% or less of their expected yield, often popcorn bud.
This is a shot of a typical leaf:
Many growers first mistake this for a nutrient deficiency (Mag, sometimes N) then some kind of lockout, then some kind of root disease. And the roots do often look quite shitty in hydro grows plumbed by this crap hose.
Here's a typical plant suffering from this toxicity:
The question becomes: Now that you know what you've got going on, what do you do?
The hose should be removed not only from the system but from the environment. It off gasses, so even if it's not attached, it will continue to damage your plants if it shares common air space.
In his original thread, U.G.U posted (post 138) these observations:
He took the time to share in more with me earlier today:This is how mine recovered after I removed the hose. Room 1 got the hose changed on day 1 flower I yeiled 8.5lbs off 10k. room 2 had 2 weeks of no tube and of veg before flower yeilded 9.5lbs off 10k and room 3 had an entire month of no tube and veg I yielded 10.5 off of 9k. One thing I have to tell you all rooms seeded room 1 was bad, 2 half as bad, and 3 hardly any. One of our good friends swapped his out 30 days into flower he had 6k and got 3.75lbs. Our other friend same story 30 days in flower before he changed it got 2.5lbs off of 4k. But it was better than if they had left it the whole time. Our best room with the tube all the way through was 6oz a light. Worst was 4 oz a light.
If you skipped the above quote, please note that all of the plants that U.G.U finished--even the one's not already in flower, morphed to HERMAPHRODITES after being exposed to the off-gassing.Really it is better to start over unless your plants are still in veg and savable. If you are in flower you are pretty much toast. It takes a full 30 days in veg to come out of it. with really reduced light. And even then I had every stain I grew herm. even the one that had the full 30 days in veg prior to flipping. the 1st batch had 1 week recovery before flower. They were covered in seeds 10 to a gram. 2nd run had 2 week recovery it had about half the seeds and the 3rd had a month it had 1/4 the seeds. ...
Post 143, U.G.U:
snoopytime, post#97 in U.G.U's warning thread:Some strain are way more hardy than others. We had at least 30 different strains go into the different rooms. some could not even get past 8 inches in veg before they looked so bad you had to pull them. others you could get all the way through veg(sorta) and die within 30 days of flower. And the one that did the best (6oz a light) we got 30 days into flower before any real bad yellowing. We were able to keep them some what green by doubling the nutes and doing foliar sprays.
Some people have considered dropping light (bilbo's thread here) noting that the damage was most extreme where the light was most intense.I changed mine out & the yellowing has stopped progressing, but UGU said they take 30 DAYS to recover from exposure which seems about right as all my plants are still frozen - they haven't grown a millimeter since I replaced that NGW shit on saturday. But, they had all frozen before I ripped it out.
Based on U.G.U's observation that he was able to overfeed his girls to keep them a bit more lively, my initial feeling is that an effective protocol might be:
1. Clean out the room of the shit pipe.
2. Flush to get rid of any residual shit.
3. Get back to growing. Hit them with light and moderate nute levels.
KEEP IN MIND THEY ARE LIKELY TO HERMI!
That said, I'm in coco now after repeatedly loosing my rDWCs to this shit pipe... so I can't be the one to try it.
Best of luck out there.
Feel free to post to this thread if you have any success (or failures)...