A sad attempt with DWC - go Coco in the same buckets instead?

[D350]

I got fed up with soil so I decided to go RDWC.
Made a 12 buckets system, 20l each, 250l main reservoir. (Heath Robinson system)
Did a lot of reading and stuff, so I got prepared:
Water temp 19C, Ph 5,7-5,8, Canna Aqua nutes, EC 1,0-1,1, RO water, big air pumps, stones everywhere, 8000l/h pump for water.

My first attempt was with Richie's tea.
I made 20l of tea (EWC, bacteria and stuff, what i could get, brew it, smelled like forrest).
Took healthy clones, put them in...died from root rot in 2 weeks...they just never took off.

Second attempt: went sterile(disinfected everything twice), added Chlorine every odd day, even sprayed them with previcur, added some in the res.
Died of slow death in 2 weeks. Root rot.

Third and current attempt:
Went and bought super healthy clones from the store, with super white roots.
Used Erythromycin at reccomended dose, used Chlorine every day up to 1ppm, used previcure fungicide...no luck.
Plants are slowly dying, roots are getting brown.
I think Chlorine escapes from the system too fast to be effective. After 16h I get 0ppm.

As a last resort I added Physan20 at 1ml per 10gallons in the system. I'm sure it wont help much, but I'll just wait a couple of days more...I wasted 3months already...burned all the cash and too much time.


Sooo...what to do?
Try the tea again?
Go coco in the same buckets? Should I drain to waste or recirculate in coco?
I guess my water pump is too big now for this.


I'm really sad, because I put too much money and time in making this system. Can I use it in a good way with something, that is not prone to root rot?


Any insight, help, suggestion is appreciated.

Thank you!!!

 

[PetFlora]

Heath Robinson system?

Pics please

12 buckets is a big system, especially when never using it before

See my DIY Mini-Me thread

 

[overbudjet]

It is like Heath?Top feed or more like an UC with all the flow going under.My first shot at RDWC was in an similar system but modded in a UC setup.
1.I have done it both way's (steril/bene.)
2.If you add bene to water they need to be able to breed somewhere and have time to establish an healty colony before putting your girl in.
3.Using a fish filter in your rez promote bene breeding.
4.You may also try waterfall effect instead of air pump.Water falling over volcanic rock produce lot's of O2 and also become a good breeding ground for beneficial.
5.Each grower have it's own way to do thing,you have to find your and it may take some time !From dirt to 12 site DWC i.m.h.o. that a big bite!

 

[D350]

Heath Robinson system?

Pics please

12 buckets is a big system, especially when never using it before

See my DIY Mini-Me thread

I actually did a single bucket test run before, and it was great.
But I transferred a seedling from earth to RDWC. Maybe I got beneficials from earth, so it was going well...I dont know.
But it is a very very rainy summer now, great for fungus...nobody can grow tomatoes this year...

Back to my system(pics attached):
It is a top feed through clay pebbles, 8000l/h pump for 12 buckets.
Each bucket has its own bubbler inside, plus main res has it too. Using big Hailea air pumps. Res temps are spot on 19C.

 

[D350]

Responses in bold

It is like Heath?Top feed or more like an UC with all the flow going under.My first shot at RDWC was in an similar system but modded in a UC setup.
1.I have done it both way's (steril/bene.)
1.) Me too...maybe not the right way...

2.If you add bene to water they need to be able to breed somewhere and have time to establish an healty colony before putting your girl in.
Aha, ok, I'll keep that in mind...if I try again at all...

3.Using a fish filter in your rez promote bene breeding.
What do I look for? Just fish filter?

4.You may also try waterfall effect instead of air pump.Water falling over volcanic rock produce lot's of O2 and also become a good breeding ground for beneficial.
Did that already

5.Each grower have it's own way to do thing,you have to find your and it may take some time !From dirt to 12 site DWC i.m.h.o. that a big bite!

yes...you think I should try more?

Thank you!!!

 

[overbudjet]

I am still asking myself why i ive not switched to hydro before 15 years in dirt lol
You may find a differen answer for you .

 

[overbudjet]

Yep ! Ordinary fish filter in rez.My first kit also a 12 site

 

[zamzia]

Do you have a pic of the roots as you've transplanted them into the system? Are they well established? Everything was new/sterilised before starting?

 

[D350]

Do you have a pic of the roots as you've transplanted them into the system? Are they well established? Everything was new/sterilised before starting?

Sorry, no pic before, but roots were sparkling white. Bought the plants from a store, specializing in clones. Hand picked the ones with the best roots!
As you can see from the last photo above, they dont look good any more...
I think I'm loosing my battle with root rot.

Maybe I'll try one more time with tea/microbes, or just fill the buckets with coco...such a waste of time and money...3months + 1month building, spent more than 2000$.
Oh well...

 

[Unclecrash]

sounds like the slime is killing them, I have a dwc I am struggling with the same way. I have read though about leaving the system run for two weeks to get the bennies built up so they attack the slime and other bad stuff.

 

[Unclecrash]

I think I may be going the bennificial route soon, as my home made cloner suffers from the slime as does my bubble bucket.

 

[D350]

I think I may be going the bennificial route soon, as my home made cloner suffers from the slime as does my bubble bucket.

I'm running physan20 right now, 1ml per 10gal, I'll let you know, what will happen...

 

[Unclecrash]

Here's a link to a good read on the slime, if you have not found it yet. He has a bunch of good threads on various good chit.

 

[Unclecrash]

fogot it arrgh https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=267488

 

[zamzia]

If I was you, I would be inclined to reduce the size of the system. It worked fine for 1 bucket, but something's not right since jumping up to 12 buckets. I would also try running the system with plain pH'd water initially and see how it runs, then start adding nutrients etc. I've never done a tea so I have no idea about that, but stripping it back to basics and adding things will make it easier to see which part is messing with the equilibrium

 

[overbudjet]

Good advise about reducing the system size.

 

[DTFuqua]

Why did you want to make things more complicated than necessary in the first place? Make individual DWC containers, each one separate from all the others. Learn you nutrient strengths and do the top off when needed thing. Separate containers means you don't necessarily contaminate everything with anything that gets into your system. Use RO water and forget about all that beneficial crap. Get your nutrient mixtures right and you won't have to worry about cleaning the containers during the grow period unless something goes wrong. OR you can use containers where your plants stay "mounted" in the lid and simply swap the bottom part of the container by taking the lid with plant and swap it from the old container into the new, clean container with fresh nutrient solution in it. Oh yea. This means some aquarium air bubblers in each container and a little more clean up after things are done. Research "bubble buckets" for the real thing.

 

[Unclecrash]

Um I know your talking to the other guy ,but im using a single bubble bucket and having the same trouble. Slime or Cynobacteria is the trouble not mixing nutes or ph. Ive tried low ph, high ph, bleach, H202, it dont seem to matter it just keeps coming back. It's in the water ,air who know's, Im working on using Coco as I try to figure out how to combat it.

 

[Unclecrash]

I agree with starting with a single bucket but it's not going to matter one or twelve it's still going to be in the water or air born spores!! I have an RO setup in going to try. Im on a well too. So I don't have TAP water to use.

 

[Unclecrash]

Why not instead of hacking and cutting that fine system up. Start again with the bennies and let it run for a couple weeks build up the bennies then ad one clone into the system if it takes and does not go yeller and die ad in the rest of the clones once the first is established. Im working on a bubble bucket which I get roots just out the 6inch basket then the rot or slime. I have a couple clones which have struggled in the cloner so I decided to take them and put them in coco before they die and get slimed. I think I have it the one is responding and has greened up in about a day. The other is struggling but has greened up a bit. My mother plant my friend left for dead it was all dried up and root rot but it has come back good in dirt. After I finally raised it off the floor, and replanted it with a lot of perlite. I could not get them to dry out with the AC going so I had to improvise by raising and adding better drainage. I had the same trouble with the coco I didnt know any better and got the compressed bail and it would not dry so the plants were drowning and suffocating, till I raised them and added perlite about 60/40. Im just a rookie too