Mycorrhizae & Coco

[EddieShoestring]

yo CT-looking foward to that trial.

I'm using Pirahna in coir right now. I should say that during previous coir grows without mychorrizal f. the roots routienly come out of the top of the coir-does it actually promote root growth? Maybe it does.

I'm trying it because an organic compost grower that i respect claimed that it was one of the 'secrets' of his tasty budz and high yields. I don't really know if that is true-or if the benefits would translate to a coir grow with mineral ferts. In fact other organic cats have told me that the mineral ferts will kill the fungi. However i made up a batch of light nutes (ec1.2), added the pirahna and, as usual, there was a few hundred ml of nutes left in the bottom of the bucket after watering. The next day there was what resembled a watery soup in the bottom of the bucket-the stuff had clearly grown overnight-so it survived ec1.2.

I'd like to know more about this if there is anyone out there with the info

cheers
eddieS

 

[clowntown]

Dunking them in boiling hot water will not kill the plants?

Funny thing is that I didn't notice them until using the myco... but at around the same time that I started using the myco, I also took in a few clones from a friend which I later found out (too late) had some bugs. Although it did cross my mind, I had written the myco thing off as a coincidence and assumed it was from the clone.

One thing I did notice for sure is that one of my pots of coco, from a previous run, had been sitting in my kitchen with roots, stump, and wet medium for like a month or so. I finally decided to re-use it as is, and after a few days this is when I noticed these things while watering. The re-used medium was by FAR the worst infected, while the new medium was barely noticable. I thought maybe all those rotting roots, or possibly the real wet medium sitting around for a long time, might have helped.

Anyways, I've tried just about everything and so far not treating them with anything seems to produce the healthiest results. I've had worst results from trying to get rid of them than nothing at all. I have some plants at day 57 of flower that look fine, but I always wonder how it would have been w/o these fuckers.

After this run or the next, I plan on taking a 2-ish week break from growing to try to get rid of these fuckers once and for all.

 

[EddieShoestring]

have you tried a neem oil root drench?

 

[clowntown]

Eddie, yes I have. I've tried everything except Botanigard, so far. (And the boiling water.)

 

[MedResearcher]

To clarify, not boiling water. Close to boiling. I think the ideal tempature is 120 degrees.

Just google, root aphid hot water soak. The studies should pop up. Imo its not only the hot water but the fact that there submersed for 5mins. I think it drowns them.

I to am gonna take a break after next harvest. Although I plan to keep my veg/mother room running, and just empty the flower room and clean for a week or 2.


Interesting because I also had some old CoCo half wet with roots in it hanging around for months.... lol.

I better get to cleaning^^

 

[British_Bulldog]

I look forward to the results, and hopefully pics, of the Mycorrhizae side-by-side comparison Clowntown ;-)

 

[reddy1]

clowntown, are there any results to the comparisons you did? i just got some endo/ecto mycorrhizae and mixed 1 tablespoon per 5 gallons for a transplant. first time trying it out. i'm also bubbling some teas right now too. hope it works out ok. i'm still trying to research the most effective way to administer it.

what's the deal with the aphids?

 

[humble1]

are you noticing any of the usual effects of root aphids, clowntown?
i.e. slowed/diminished growth or specific nutrient uptake issues.....

i only mention it because what you just described to me sound like beneficial soil mites.
hypoaspis miles, amblyseius cucumeris, phytoseiulus persimilis, neoseiulus californicus, and mesoseiulus longipes are the usual suspects. you don't want to kill these. they are your friends.
the best way to id aphids of any kind is to get a microscope or lens of some kind and check out their rear end. there should be two points sticking up and out, like antennae, if they are indeed aphids. i think the points are called spiracles, but that doesn't really matter. no points, no aphids.

peace, love & coco

 

[clowntown]

humble1, funny you mention that... The plants that I didn't "fight" them on the last round seemed to do best... and the roots didn't look rotten or anything bad, I don't think.

I don't recall seeing any slow growth or any of that, but then again I don't have anything to compare to side-by-side, so I don't know. (Memory isn't that good.)

I will definitely be doing some homework on beneficial root mites and see what the deal is. Thanks!

reddy1, no results yet... I will post some when I get the side-by-side going. Very soon, the staggered harvest has already begun!

 

[humble1]

I'm gonna try that near boiling water on my root aphids.........
they're worse for me than the borg (spidermites)
i really just need to do a bug-buster-o drench every week for preventative maintenance. and sprays for fun.

oh, and shoestring.......
you had a question a while back about mycorrhizae and nutrient strength.
i've consulted with a few phds on this matter and they say that your beneficial fungi start dying off anywhere above 400 ppm, or .8 EC. Obviously every strain of fungi isn't killed off at this strength, as evidenced by your 1.2 EC experiment. Trichoderma especially are tolerant of higher EC, but it's best to have a diverse selection of beneficials.

peace, love & coco

 

[Guest 18340]

Any recommendations on a brand of beneficials that will survive throughout a whole grow cycle? I use "Plant success". My ec will end up at least to 1.2 by the end of my grow.

 

[Guest]

diatomaceous earth

diatomaceous earth

Hey, what about mixing is some DE when you transplant? Or maybe do a top layer 1" or so. Over time you can mix it in with the top few inches of the medium and end all pests at the surface.

Just a thought.

 

[clowntown]

DE is pretty useless when it gets wet, so it's even worse in coco.

 

[humble1]

evlme2-
aurora has something called "oregonismXL" that is supposedly select fungi that can withstand higher EC. it's probably just hype.
"http://www.fungiperfecti.com/mycogrow/index.html"
is where i get all my myco, unless i get a free sample somewhere. seems to be the best bang for the buck. if you know about Stamets, you'll know the quality of the product.

dasme-
DE works if your top layer dries out regularly. Mine is never dry enough in flower, sometimes in veg. Also, real root aphids are insidious bastards. They'll leave eggs in your root zone, curled under leaves, anywhere you might not be able to reach. And they go dormant as well, so they can re-emerge after your toxin has worn off. DE would be great if they were only in the top layer.

Peace, love & coco

 

[Guest]

Then how to avoid these guys all together? If you have holes in the bottom of your pots, then they will have access no matter what you do to the tops. You would need a bucket w/o holes and a top layer of sand and water VERY carfully to not get any root bugs.

I wonder what affect this type of pot would have on a plant. If you change your feed program you could feed effectivly and still isolate the roots. I think.

Thoughts?

 

[humble1]

It's tough to use coco effectively without some kind of drainage.
The best way to get rid of the bugs in the roots is to do preventative dunks/drenches of bug-buster-o/sm-90/gnatrol every week and sprays w/pyrethrins for the foliage.
when i don't do this i get bugs. don't be lazy like me.......

peace, love & coco