root rot in hydro

[berbes]

i have a small bubbler with a 2 gal res that i begin the vegging, a small ebb & flow on a 10 gal res for the first half of flowering, and a small nft system on a 10 gal res for the last month.

i use these setups along various stages, and i finally completed a couple of nice grows, of which i cut down the roots and rotated the plant back into the first bubbler to generate some vegging to clone from.

my problem is the 'completed' plant had root rot. i can get a pic, but from what i've read it must be; brownish, reddish kinda slimey. i cut the root way back, stuck the girl in a plastic cup of 3% hydrogen peroxide (drug store strength) and could hear it fizzing like alka selter! that seemed to confirm my diagnosis. i let it sit in the H2O2 for a good hour, but apparently it didn't get all the rot, as i can see a bit of discoloration on the recently germed babies that share the same little res, and they don't even have more than a couple tap roots.

i know i must clean the whole system from stem to stern, but my question is, how do i COMPLETELY rid the plants of this microbial rot? i guess the real question is, how long can i (or should i) let the plant sit in a H2O2 bath before returning it to its place in the rotation?

once i get this completely under control, i know keeping the res temps low enough is critical to preventing root rot. i can only add ice cubes every so often to help. can i use a constant presence of hydrogen peroxide in the res to help fight the rot? how vital is it to have the 'professional' 10% concentration? can i just use the store strength, or is it not enough?

whew. thanks!
berbes

 

[Guest]

go to the grow store, buy a product called Protekt from dynagro products. its a silicone additive and will prevent root rot even in extremely high reservoir temperatures

 

[kokua]

thadocta...could you please explain how silicA prevents root rot?

 

[kokua]

Silica as an addative...

Silica as an addative...

...will help to assist the plants natural defense mechanisms, but that would be like putting neosporin on a hatchet wound.

Dynagro Protekt is a silicate source based on potassium silicate, while this does indeed supply silica to the plants it has a number of other potential problems. Firstly it will upset the balance of your nutrient--this product has an NPK of 0-0-3, meaning the additional potassium added will cause an imbalance in your current nutrient (too much potassium displacing other nutrients). Secondly, potassium silicate has a very high pH (around 11), so when you add this it will increase the pH of your nutrient solution very rapidly and you will need to constantly lower it. And finally, for silica to be beneficial it needs to be in solution at levels of at leave 65 ppm (up to 140 ppm), if you try to achieve this with the potassium silicate product, then not only will the pH be extremely difficult to lower, but also this stuff tends to set like glass jelly on contact with the air and block pipes and emitters. These are all common problems using this type of product which is why most commercial growers tend to stay away from using this as a silica source. A better product would be Pyrosol which is also made by General Hydroponics who make your nutrient. This is a mineral form of silica and doesn't have any of the problems associated with the potassium silicate product and it has the additional benefit of also adding a number of other beneficial nutrients as well.

http://www.growingedge.com/community/archive/read.php3?s=yes&q=171


What you are looking for is a proprietary enzyme called Hygrozyme...

Specific Enzymes in a growing medium can eat dead protein removing potential areas where illness can develop.Through this breakdown process plants are better able to obtain nutrients that are released by this process. More nutrients, less attacks allowing things to grow bigger stronger faster

I have seen plants on the brink of death...that literally would have been dead within the week, due to a severe pythium outbreak, brought back to full health with Hygrozyme.

 

[AlwaysLearning]

Berbes,

I am sorry to hear you are having this problem, root rot is a pain! I have had this problem in aeroponics. I found that I was having the roots get too much water. Letting them absorb oxygen, not to the point of dryness, but to the extent that the roots are not constantly in contact with water was usefull. I also added a rooting hormone, I used B'Cuzz root stimulator, its a little expensive, but I have had much success with it. As for the hydrogen peroxide, I wouldnt leave the plant in that solution for too long, what I used to clean my aero system with was a very weak bleach solution in the water, around 2%, let that soak for a while then flush with a ton of clear water. Some rot will naturally happen as the plants near the end of their bloom phase, I tend to only add hydrogen peroxide when necessary, like when algea shows up.

I hope this is helpful!

Peace,

-Always Learning

 

[kokua]

AL makes a good point. We need to determine the root (pun intented of the problem. Root rot can be cause by a number of things, a poor water supply, warm reservoir temps, lack of oxygen, insect attacks, etc... So you need to sit down and look at your system(s) and try to determine what is the cause for the rot.

 

[berbes]

excellent points, gentlemen! i will do!

 

[Guest]

...will help to assist the plants natural defense mechanisms, but that would be like putting neosporin on a hatchet wound.

lmao.. well put. I've been using hygrozyme and love it.

 

[macster]

Berbs
Can you post a photo of your ailing plants as I suspect mine might be suffering the same fate 3 out of a bunch, there seems no other explanation Does it look similar to this???

 

[Guest]

Get some Hydroguard and use it in every res you have. Sood stuff. I dont grow without it anymore.

Also watch the res teps, with a small res higher temps will be a heaven for bacteria.
Instead of Ice cubes, get a 20oz or 2 liter bottle freeze water in it any use that instead. Always have a spare bottle in the freezer to swap out with.

 

[berbes]

excellent, dirty...will do. pic on the way