Strange Slime buildup on roots

[Fatty Pneumonia]

I have had this slime build up on my roots too. I ended up
scrapping a whole grow because of it. I was searching on a
online grow shop for something and came across this.

http://www.sunleaves.com/detail.asp?sku=SCW500#

would something like this be effective??

FP

 

[richyrich]

It's about time a company made something like this. I wouldn't doubt that they read these forums. It looks like I may do some hydro real soon. If it don't work I'll let them know.

 

[DonDankles]

Physan 20

I also spray painted the outside of my cloner black because the plastic is so thin and pale color that it was letting light in.

Thanks for the thread guys!

I also tossed out hygrozyme (now i know why i got gifted a few bottles )

 

[ItsGrowTime]

I wouldnt toss the Hygrozyme. It's very good stuff if you use it correctly. The key to keeping the slime away is to treat the roots with beneficial bacteria FIRST (or maybe SM-90 but I dont use that so YMMV) before the slime gets a chance to gain a foothold. The benes take up the root zone and the Hygrozyme will eat any dead root matter so the nasties don't have any food.

 

[DonDankles]

ItsGrowTime
I wanted to wait and buy a new bottle of hygro to test, i just threw out the others cuz this brown algae got me paranoid and on fml status. Plus they were free anyways.

I am washing everything with Physan/bleach/h202 like hell and everything that was near my cloner, I also removed the cloner/clones completely. But I am still wondering, can these microscopic spores spread around my grow room and effect plants already flowering in soil?

I am done with dwc/recirculating...from now on it will only be coco/soil and drain-to-waste! I rank brown algae worse than the borg due to its fucking nature.

 

[ItsGrowTime]

Yeah you're right, its friggin horrible stuff and I wouldnt wish it on anybody. I hate to think how much time (money!) Ive lost due to that shit killing my clones.

It wont affect soil plants so dont worry about that.

 

[ksac]

Yesterday I received my Physan 20. I added 1ml to my recirc DWC which holds about 8.25 gallons. The two plants are about 1 week into flowering and were doing well except the algae that kept coming back. Anyways, after about 10 hours the lights came on and I checked my plants. They looked horrible! Completely limp. The leaves and branches were just laying down. So, I flushed the systems and added new water, sm-90, hydroguard, and fresh flora nova bloom. I left them alone until the lights went off. I checked them again and they're not looking any better. If anything, they're more limp.

Did this stuff kill plants or severely stressed them? They just don't appear to be happy and on the verge of death. I'll have to check the roots once the light comes back on, if they're still alive.

 

[ItsGrowTime]

How bad did the water foam up?

Ive had similar experiences with plants looking bad then getting worse or dying after applying Physan. My conclusion is that the algae kinda props the plant up on its last leg. Your plants were likely already going downhill in a hurry. Physan itself (at the right dose) doesn't harm plants.

 

[ksac]

It didn't foam up much. When I drained the system, I didn't get a whole of algae. It had been two weeks since last flush when I was getting a ton of algae out. The plants were looking very well and growing, but I wanted to take care of this algae problem before it got bad.

Looks like I killed them anyways. They're still limp (even more so maybe), but the roots look fine. Recovery is looking doubtful though.

 

[ksac]

Alright, my plants are dead. They were looking great and beautiful until I treated them with Physan 20. 1 ml for 8.25 gallons. Nothing else changed. So, it's hard for me to attribute the death of plants to anything other than Physan 20. I'm throwing this bottle away. I don't know if it was bad bottle (it was sealed) or it reacted to my nutes (flora nova grow) in a bad way, but it has to be because of the Physan 20 and I'm not ever using it again.

 

[ItsGrowTime]

What's your growing medium? When I had a similar occurance to yours, it was because I was using Rapid Rooters and the base of the stem where the main tap roots come out was getting suffocated. The algae took hold in there. No sign of it in the rest of the roots. Once I applied Physan, it killed that algae but exposed the root damage that had been caused by and "hidden" by the algae. Plants died quickly after. Sucks but the main lesson of this whole thread is to not get the algae in the first place because once you have it, you're pretty well fucked.

 

[ItsGrowTime]

I just came across this stuff: AlgaeFix

http://www.ponds2go.com/SearchResults.asp?Search=algaefix&Search.x=0&Search.y=0

AlgaeFix 16oz
Our Price: $19.79


Aquarium Pharmaceuticals AlgaeFix is an effective EPA registered selective algae control product that helps to eliminate algae problems. Helps to control "green water" algae bloom, blanket weed and string algae. Kills existing algae and controls additional algae bloom. Used properly AlgaeFix can be used in ponds with plants and fish. 8oz treats 2,400 gallons.
IMPORTANT: When using AlgaeFix during the hot summer months, to prevent fish stress extra water aeration is required. Do NOT use with crustaceans such as crabs, shrimp or lobster.

I wonder if it works for our brown algae issues? Seems to be safe for plants so if anybody wants to give it a shot Id love to hear a review.

 

[D.I.trY]

I just want to very quickly chip in as my duty to the community beckons. As I have read here and elsewhere, there is a cure and it is beneficial bactera. What you need is a thriving colony. They must have oxygen (just as this nasty slime needs also) and a large surface area for them to thrive on because they need each other. I am using a japanese koi filter matt. Its basically like a tangle of plastic fibres that allows water to pass thru easily and has a massive surface area. An aquarium biofilter pad would be ideal also i imagine. They have much bigger surface area available to the bacteria than a submerged bag of hydroton, and water circulated by the airstone must be able to flow through it.

What I have noticed is if a colony is established and the root grows in contact with it new root growth explodes with extra thin healthy root hairs. Its even better than it was before the slime got there. Its outcompeting the slime and you will be safe from now on as long as you keep them alive. NO h2o2, only small amounts of chloriated water at a time, never tap water concentration, just try to avoid it by letting water stand for a few hours. Leave some 10% of your nute solution left on a nute change. Never let the colony medium dry out. You will not have to keep readding the bacteria product as it says on the bottle if you have it right!

Enzyme additives are no good, you must get the ones with live bacteria. As it was I didnt even need this, I used a piece of my pond filter that was already colonised. The bacteria in my pond filter must have come from the air but if u need to get rid of the slime right away id recomend getting a helping start and it may just be u dont have a working pond filter handy! The bacteria starters sold for pond filters must therefore work also, that might be useful to know. Also, I noticed that pond snails will eat the fuck out of it, but i wouldnt try this on its own, make a special house for the bacteria and then introduce them and the snails if you're feeling adventurous. When the slime is far progressed you dont have much to lose anyway right.

you can see my snails eating what was left of my slime in a my grow diary of sorts here http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=118952. The slime ended my grow before it, but that shows how i dealt with it when it returned.

 

[opt1c]

after battling the slime in my ez-cloners and a dwc system i believe i've found a good combination... i use physan 20 for cleaning between grows... during the grow i'll add a product called mycostop to the rez.. it needs constant agitation so it does great in the ez-cloner.. i'll add it after the first rez change to conserve it as it's sort of expensive at about $25 for 2grams and once you open the packet you have to use it all at once... but for clones it pays for itself in a heartbeat... basically its a gnarly bacteria that eats other bacteria and not your plants... works great and would probably be the bacteria of choice for a beneficial colony in my book.

 

[ItsGrowTime]

Interesting info about Mycostop opt1c! +R

http://www.nysipm.cornell.edu/publications/grey_mold/default.asp?metatags_Action=Find('PID','2')

The product Mycostop is a formulation of the bacterium Streptomyces griseoviridis strain K61 originally isolated from peat in Finland (Kortema et al., 1997; Tahvonen, 1982), (AgBio Development Co., Westminster, CO). Trichoderma harzianum Rifai strain 1295-22 (BioWorks, Inc., Geneva, NY) has been shown to be effective on many vegetable and ornamental crops for root colonization and reduction of Pythium, Rhizoctonia, and Fusarium diseases.

Ill have to check that out. A quick Google shows it available online from most tomato related growing sites. Ive never seen it on "hydro shop" websites.

Also I concur with DItry's post. A strong beneficial bacteria (and bene fungi like Mycorezzea (sp?)) colony will outwork the slime. God I wish Botanicare would release it's replacement for Hydroguard soon.

 

[richyrich]

I'm afraid there is no cure. Prevention is a must always but once you get it, what to do? Physan20 to to erradicate what is present and then Dutch Master Zone to keep it at bay once it comes right back. All my trials led me to this solution. And to tell the truth I was still not happy with that but it was the best I could do.

I spoke of it in earlier threads but I have not tried it yet because I have semi-retired from growing. Since I moved to soil previously, more specifically organics, I learned a lot about beneficial bacteria, fungi and etc.. I have yet to try to battle the hydro herpe with beneficials in hydro the right way. I believe the way to do it would be to have your rez primed with beneficials that would not allow the slime algae a chance at getting a foot hold. You would have to seed the rez with the right beneficials, feed them properly and let it prime for 2 weeks before introducing any plants to the system. Rez change outs would be very different. I have done it in the past with success. I would probably start by just doing add backs, water and nutes. No complete change outs. You would be dumping your beneficials and then you know who's gonna come slime you. Then I would try partial change outs. Maybe dump half and add back half. That way you still have a large colony of beneficials to fend off the herp. Anyway, that is what I was thinking for my next round for when ever that may be.

You beat me too it. I posted this a while back.

Keep us updated on this. I am glad to hear that it is working in your EZ Cloner. I am eventually gonna make a run with benes how I stated above.

Botanicare's old hydroguard is out and called agua shield now.

 

[ItsGrowTime]

You beat me too it. I posted this a while back.

Keep us updated on this. I am glad to hear that it is working in your EZ Cloner. I am eventually gonna make a run with benes how I stated above.

Botanicare's old hydroguard is out and called agua shield now.

Good call on the Aquashield! Yep, it's out apparently. Strange that my hydro shop still didn't know anything about the replacement even though they carried Hydroguard and other Botanicare products. Then again, even American Agritech/Botanicare's website doesn't have it listed either...

http://www.gchydro.com/AquaShield.html

Time to order some up! EDIT: Just received a couple bottles. It looks different and the label is very different (no mention of the bacteria inside at all). Hopefully it works just as good as the old Hydroguard.

 

[richyrich]

As I said in post #320...

I have the Sunleaves reservoir UV sterilization light. Gonna give it a try real soon in hydro again. I'm going to do this experiment before I do a hydro run experimenting with a large beneficial microbe colony. Fingers crossed cuz I would ultimately like to go back to hydro.

Here is a little info on UV light...

Sterilization
Main article: Ultraviolet germicidal irradiation
A low pressure mercury vapor discharge tube floods the inside of a hood with shortwave UV light when not in use, sterilizing microbiological contaminants from irradiated surfaces.

Ultraviolet lamps are used to sterilize workspaces and tools used in biology laboratories and medical facilities. Commercially-available low pressure mercury-vapor lamps emit about 86% of their light at 254 nanometers (nm) which coincides very well with one of the two peaks of the germicidal effectiveness curve (i.e., effectiveness for UV absorption by DNA). One of these peaks is at about 265 nm and the other is at about 185 nm. Although 185 nm is better absorbed by DNA, the quartz glass used in commercially-available lamps, as well as environmental media such as water, are more opaque to 185 nm than 254 nm (C. von Sonntag et al., 1992). UV light at these germicidal wavelengths causes adjacent thymine molecules on DNA to dimerize, if enough of these defects accumulate on a microorganism's DNA its replication is inhibited, thereby rendering it harmless (even though the organism may not be killed outright). However, since microorganisms can be shielded from ultraviolet light in small cracks and other shaded areas, these lamps are used only as a supplement to other sterilization techniques.

Disinfecting drinking water

UV radiation can be an effective viricide and bactericide. Disinfection using UV radiation is commonly used in wastewater treatment applications and is finding an increased usage in drinking water treatment. Many bottlers of spring water use UV disinfection equipment to sterilize their water. Solar water disinfection is the process of using PET bottles and sunlight to disinfect water.

New York City has approved the construction of a 2 billion gallon per day ultraviolet drinking water disinfection facility.[27] There are also several facilities under construction and several in operation that treat waste water with several stages of filters, hydrogen peroxide and UV light to bring the water up to drinking standards. One such facility exists in Orange County, California.[28][29] NASA has examined the use of this technology, using titanium dioxide as catalyst, for breaking down harmful products in spacecraft waste water.[30]

It used to be thought that UV disinfection was more effective for bacteria and viruses, which have more exposed genetic material, than for larger pathogens which have outer coatings or that form cyst states (e.g., Giardia) that shield their DNA from the UV light. However, it was recently discovered that ultraviolet radiation can be somewhat effective for treating the microorganism Cryptosporidium. The findings resulted in the use of UV radiation as a viable method to treat drinking water. Giardia in turn has been shown to be very susceptible to UV-C when the tests were based on infectivity rather than excystation.[31] It has been found that protists are able to survive high UV-C doses but are sterilized at low doses.

 

[richyrich]

Well, here I go again guys. I am making a hydro run again using complete sterilization this time. From what I have researched UV light is supposed to eradicate just about everything. Let's see if our friend the slime algae can make it past this. Below is a pic of it in my reservoir. Fingers crossed.

 

[bron2k]

good luck bro! i hope everything works out for you. just from reading your whole thread i know you pretty much dedicated your life trying to figured out this herpes. LOL i had problems with pythium but ever since i used root excelurator, voodoo juice, and piranha my shit is exploding with massive root mass. i'll try to post some pics for you. again good luck bro and i'll be following your grow. thanks for introducing physan20 that shit gets my equipment squeaky clean.