Strange Slime buildup on roots

[Hu$tle Tree$]

Great Thread Guys!!! I had no idea this is what killed off my last grow, I always thought it was root rot!! This stuff devastated my last Bio-Bucket run and I could never pinpoint the problem. Anyways now that I know what I'm dealing with I'm off to battle!! I just picked up a gallon of Physan 20 to sterilize my system, I have the microbe-lift pl and ensure on the way to build up the beneficials in the lava rock, and finally I'll be placing a 36 watt UV sterilizer in the res to keep things nice and sterile. Glad I found this thread, I was almost about to give up on my setup!!!

 

[jarff]

nice to see thread still going,and that ppl. have learned something from it.Personally I,m doin,great past two shows.I almost stopped turning gray.
I did a test a few weeks ago with three part GH,+Floralicious,Diamond Nectar,CalMag+.Grozyme,and a bit of peroxide.After I got it mixed up in a garbage can,it smelled like a witches brew,and there was slime on the sides of the can.I couldn,t believe I used to give this mixture to my plants in the past..I then dumped it all the drain.and cleaned the res.with a drop of Physan and did the normal thre part GH ..without any adds. and fed my plants.I can,t believe how healthy my plants always look now,and the increased yieldI,m getting....Yes this thread has helped a confused old grower...Hope it has helped others as well.
K.I.S.S. is a moto I live by in my grow room now..
peace out
jarff

 

[rr14]

so your guy's ph would climb with brown algae? Mine keeps dropping for some reason. I'm using advanced 3 part, zone, liquid karma. That's it. It's in an aeroponic/dwc setup (water at the bottom with aeroponic sprayers up top). Plants are currently in veg. Most roots are still white but a few are "suspect" and I chopped those that I could off that were brown.

 

[richyrich]

so your guy's ph would climb with brown algae? Mine keeps dropping for some reason. I'm using advanced 3 part, zone, liquid karma. That's it. It's in an aeroponic/dwc setup (water at the bottom with aeroponic sprayers up top). Plants are currently in veg. Most roots are still white but a few are "suspect" and I chopped those that I could off that were brown.

Algae problems will make the ph go up. "Root Rot" meaning caused by bad bacteria or fungi will make your ph go down. Both types of problems will make your roots brown and dead. Zone is a great product, but if your temps are not in range you will still have problems. What are your exact water temps? No guesses. I use a little $10 digital aquarium thermometer to take readings.

Glad to see that a lot of you guys are benefiting from this.

I have changed my style to organic hydro. Coco, peat moss and perlite blends with organic bottled nutes. I feed them just like if I were growing in soil. Feed to waste and I don't have to worry about water temps or any kind of algae, bacteria or fungi problems. I could hit myself over the head for not changing up my style a long time ago. I find this way to be so much easier and yields are up to par.

Even though I know how to beat every plague now, my garden is forever infested with algae spores. I cannot go back to straight hydro. It's just like getting mold or pm. Read the threads about how they can never get rid of it after they get it. It's the spores.

 

[rr14]

I have a built in thermometer in my ph test from milwakee. Typically temps are around 19*c (about 66 or 67). I just checked as of this second which is a pretty warm time in my setup and it's 20.1 or 68.18*f.

But, it does sound like root rot.

 

[richyrich]

I have a built in thermometer in my ph test from milwakee. Typically temps are around 19*c (about 66 or 67). I just checked as of this second which is a pretty warm time in my setup and it's 20.1 or 68.18*f.

But, it does sound like root rot.

Well, your temps are perfect. I read your other thread and I don't believe your water could evaporate that fast or the plants could drink that much at there current size to make your ph drop that quick. You could figure that out though by making a line with a marker at the water line in your tub. Set the ph and ppms and then take a look the next day at the water line and check the ph. If the water line has not moved much then I have to suspect you have problems like I went through and you can find all of that here throughout this whole thread. I hope not though.

 

[Cranberry]

Quick note: When bad bacteria is starting to bloom and over run your benificials you will see a sudden drop in your tds/ppm.

husle trees: way to go!

I see that GH is at it again with a new line coming out, This is turning into a grocery store type night mare by the way. Anyway its a copy of Biosevia but a usa version. I got all excited to read about all our hard work with benificials, product testing you know what I mean.

Have fun in the grow room, I am.. CB

 

[stub]

Thanks for the great info here all. I made it through my last grow with the brown stuff as well. It was my first grow but i could tell it affected yield negatively. I have clones in the buckets now and all was fine till i did a change out and upped the nutes to 700 ppm. 2 days later the brown stuff could be seen on the roots. I went to the hydro shop and picked up 35% h2o2 and mixed a strong batch of 20ml per 4l of water. I used that batch to dip the plants in to clean em up a bit while I cleaned out the original buckets. I added fresh tap water, botanicare pbp nutes 700 ppm again but added hydroguard 10ml to the mix and see how it does. My water temps are around 74 deg F. I know it is high but so are chillers$$$$. The roots cleaned up pretty well and after a little soak they were put into their clean buckets. Hopefully hydroguard will help keep things in check. I noticed it after i upped the nutes. I am using all the same stuff in my veg chamber with about 500 ppms and no algae. Just have to watch em close and go easy on the nutes. Thanks for the help guys!

 

[stub]

Ok i measured the internal res temp as 71 degrees, the 74 i mentioned earlier is an outside measurement and not as accurrate. Just wanted to provide some pics and a little more info. These are WW clones that were placed into the buckets on 1-18 after showing roots through the rw cubes. They were rocking along at around 450 to 500 ppm until 1-26 when i changed out the water and increased to 15ml at about 700 ppm. I have another clone in veg chamber that is doing fine with no problems and the only difference is no nute increase or water change and the cfl throws out less heat so water temp is 69 degrees. I am not convinced at this point the 2 degrees difference is the cause.

1-28 noticed some brown stuff on the roots in 3 buckets exactly 2 days after water change out and nute increase from 500ppm to 700ppm using botanicare pbp and nothing else. Right away I looked up some info and went to the hydro shop. I bought some 35% h2o2 and hydroguard. I did not have time to do much then so i opted to squirt 10ml of hydroguard into the buckets till I got back from work. Once back home I noticed brown floaties in the water that were not there before hydroguard (dont know if it was a bloom or dead stuff) but thought it might be killing it off. I mixed 20ml h2o2 with 4l of clean tap water in another bucket and dipped each plant in it while cleaning out their buckets with water and h202. New water with 10 ml hydroguard and 15ml of pureblendpro 700 ppm and back in the cabinet. This same evening about 9 hours later the leafs showed some spots and burning.

1-29 after some more reading of others plights decided to back down the nutes to about 550ppm by pumping out about 1/3 of the water and replacing it with tap water. adjusted the ph to 6.0 like usual.

1-30 checked in on them tonight and noticed the ph has adjusted to 6.2 on it's own and are showing recovery in the roots. I will leave it at 6.2ph cause it seems to like it there and see how it goes. you can see the discoloration from slight algae coverage and root damage and the contrast of the new white growth. took pics so you can see the leaf damage (caused most likely by the strong h202 bath) and the roots. sorry no pics of before the dip but it was darker brown with little chunks. I have done more than one thing in the process breaking the "rule" of knowing what the hell I did to fix/fu@# up things so I am stopping right here for now and just watching them.

 

[stub]

1-31 Came home today for lunch and checked in on the plants and the roots are making a strong come back. ph is holding steady about 6.2-6.3 and they seem to like it there better. no chiller, just cut back on nutes and added hydroguard. last night after i posted i went ahead and dipped the plants in straight tap water and tickled the roots a little to get a little more gunk off. the buckets are looking nice with no slime buildup or anything. I am becoming more hopeful each time i check in on them. more pics to come

 

[stub]

2-1
Total growth explosion!!!! Wow, I am very pleased to see this. Cutting back on the nutes and hydroguard are really making a difference. I wish I could say for sure which is causing the good affects but both combined will do for now.






Going from monday 1-28 thinking they might die to friday 2-1 seeing that they will make it is so cool. Thanks for all the info and help dudes! I am cutting back on nutes and releasing more gradually over time from now on and including hydroguard in the mix.

 

[stub]

The root shots are of the same plant taken two days apart. I can't believe it, i really wish i had pics of when i saw them first. I thought they were gonners for sure. That is literally 48 hrs from scraggly brown to bright and healthy. Learn as ya grow!

 

[stub]

2-3
Here are a couple more pics of the exact same plant. It is doing great as you can see. The roots are growing well now thanks to a lower dose of nutes and hydroguard. You can see how scraggly they were just under a week ago. Whew!

 

[Dr. Buzz]

Hey everybody thanks for the great thread and the help.

I've been growing for three years and I have never had so many problems. This shitty problem has plagued me for the past four months and I havn't been able to grow ANYTHING!!!!!!!!! This pisses me off so hard! Anyway count me in the brown algee herpies hydro bulshit club.

Ok, what I have been discovering is that I germinate some seeds and stick them in rockwool and I keep things moist. No problems so far. Then I stick the plants in some five gallon rubbermaid tubs with a large airstone. Threre are plenty of bubbles. Things are still looking good. Then I feed them some GH Flora Nova veg and the crap happens. Within 24-48 hours the rez is so cloudy that you can't see the airstone at the bottom of the tub anymore. The plants quit growing and I am screwed. I have tried everything from ditching the old tubs, using new lava rocks, new rockwool cubes, and airline. Still came back.

My setup.

5 gal rubbermaid tubs with two plats a tub. Tubs are black.
212 watts t5 4 bulb fixture w 6500k bulbs.
Air temp is around 70-72 degrees.
Water temp is 19C to 20C
PH 5.8-6.2

Again thanks for the thread.

 

[jarff]

I,m not a pro grower but seems perhaps the Flora Nova could be starting some bad stuff.How much are you adding to your rubbermaid?I use very similar methods and I usually start off with GH three part flora series at 1/4 strength til,I get some significant root growth then gradually up the feeding amount.Newly rooted seeds are pretty tender.
I was plagued with problems for several grows and have finally sorted things out to an acceptable level of success,but on occassion I still get some algae problems off the start but at least I can recognize it early and I usually keeps some back-up clones in case I need to dump the first start up due to slime problems......this way I,m only losing a week or two...and then I usually end up with a successful finish.
Someone will probably jump in and give you some better direction then I can,but just wanted to quuestion the flora nova fert.I haven,t used any Nova series yet but seems I heard it is pretty concentrated stuff..
Good luck.
jarff

 

[ItsGrowTime]

Whoa dont be so quick to call Floranova the problem. Floranova will cloud up a res real bad for a few days normally on its own. After those few days it turns to a light reddish-brown clear solution. The murkiness is normal at first. Ive used FN Grow and Bloom with no slime problems BUT I use Hydroguard. I got the slime problem on clones when I added Hygrozyme to a non-lightproof bubble cloner. Im thinking that Hydroguard (or similar beneficial bacteria) is the key to keeping brown algae away. It can and will show up for a *variety* of other reasons, as this thread is a testament to.

Hey Dr. Buzz, get some Hydroguard for your next run. And make sure you sterilize your system from top to bottom with BLEACH. That includes your all your cloning tools. Anything that comes in contract with your plants. Just make sure to rinse everything thoroughly.

 

[Dr. Buzz]

Thanks for the help guys.

I am now doing experiments with the FN grow and bloom in tubs without any plants in them. I figured out that it probably was the nutes because I would get the algee growing on the sides of the tubs within hours. Real fast. Since then I have thrown out the old nutes, and replaced all the tubs, airstones, airline and even the teaspoon that I measure the nutes in. I am alwo using new nutes that have never had contact with the old garden. I tried using a very strong bleach solution to older tubs, but either I didn't clean them good enough, or this shit is just MUTANT!!!! Man........

I'll post back again when I have the new results. This stuff is not affected by hydrogard or florashield. I am pretty much convinced that it was the nutes, but I will keep doing testing. I have been growing now for three years with only the occasional root rot issue that is caused by high temps before I cooled the room good in the summertime. Florashield and procide were able to cure the old problems great. This shit is mutant.

I must say that I am with the group that thinks an expiration date should be placed on the containers of these nutes. I have lost much work in keeping mothers, keeping heallthy plants, and healthy clones. all gone...........

One last question. Can this shit live or be carried airborne? Should I scrub the walls with bleach? What about carpet? is there a home algee air test or somthing?

Thanks again for the help guys.

Dr. Buzz

 

[00420]

Dinoflagellates a.k.a. Diatoms a.k.a brown algee a.k.a brown slim algee

Dinoflagellates a.k.a. Diatoms a.k.a brown algee a.k.a brown slim algee

Many are photosynthetic, manufacturing their own food using the energy from sunlight, and providing a food source for other organisms.
Some species are capable of producing their own light through bioluminescence, which also makes fireflies glow.
There are some dinoflagellates which are parasites on fish or on other protists.

The dinoflagellates are a large group of flagellate protists. Most are marine plankton, but they are common in fresh water habitats as well. Their populations are distributed depending on temperature, salinity, or depth. Being primary producers make them an important part of the aquatic food chain. Some species, called zooxanthellae, are endosymbionts of marine animals and protozoa, and play an important part in the biology of coral reefs. Other dinoflagellates are colorless predators on other protozoa, and a few forms are parasitic

The cause: excess nutrients, silicate and silicic acid are the ingredients for a diatom bloom. Silicic acid enters the aquarium by using tap water; substrate can contain silicates that leach out over time. RO/DI units can filter silicic acid out, but only for a limited time. Eliminating silicates can control diatoms.
Dinoflagellates has two flagella with which it can propel through the water. If uncontrolled, dinoflagellates build a brown slimy film covering most of the surface, in both salt and freshwater. Controlling nutrients can effectively prevent this algae type from blooming.

The trick is to keep the algae from getting the upper hand while allowing the higher plants to flourish. To do this, you must make sure you are meeting all the needs of your plants, while leaving very little in the way of excess nutrients for the algae.

protein skimmer and a uv setup works wonders for my 100 gallon saltwater reef tank i had a prob with this in my last coil run im going to add a protein skimmer to my rez this round and see how it works all keep this thread updated

 

[Boxy Brown]

I had this crap show up in my res because the tap water contains the algae spores which are not harmed by chlorine or UV lamps and can only be removed from the water with a one micron filter which is not used for city tap water, I bought some dutch master zone and my res has been clean for over a week now with just one dosing at 5ML per gallon.

The zone causes more foam than physan 20 and lasts longer with my res still kinda foamy ten days after adding it to my res.

 

[german_aero]

The cause: excess nutrients, silicate and silicic acid are the ingredients for a diatom bloom

Thats very interesting. But how much ppm is excess nutrients? How much is optimal?