Root rot?

[Capncanna]

I have all mine running through a hole and out under the lid. Alltatup , Super cool rubber walrus!😀 my water was 78 and after I cleaned and started putting in good bacteria perfect roots and clean. I use tap water and mine has chloramine, yuck, but I wonder if that has something to do with it? I will change to anti bacterial hoses next grow though. And use rubber ribbits! Your so funny. 476 your in good hands keep the faith, pretty soon your gonna be amazed.

[berrypilot]

🌱 It sounds like you're already completely on top of it, and I'm not sure if it applies, but I know someone else in the forum seemed to get good results by adding 1tsp/gallon SM-90 to their reservoir. I've never tried it myself. I use Hydroguard, which seems to control it for the most part, but I usually struggle at least a little with root rot every grow when it gets hot. We get big heat waves where I live so I know that's a big trigger. I've found that something that seems to trigger root rot for me is if I'm moving young seedling roots around. Like if I take them all the way out of the tub and put them back in, or do a reservoir change, or switch them to a different tub. It's like they really want to be left alone for the first few weeks to get established, and then they seem a lot less susceptible to root rot after that, at least for me. Or maybe it's because their leaves start to cover the reservoir, which keeps the water cooler?

In any case, I've come to realize over the last few years that it seems like there isn't just one organism that causes root rot.

There's actually tons of different pathogens, and each one causes slightly different symptoms (sometimes the brown appears only on the roots above the water, sometimes it's only below the water, sometimes it gets all the roots evenly, sometimes the roots get slimy, sometimes they get all twisted, etc). I think that's why it's impossible to find one thing that works for everyone. It's very possible a completely different organism is giving you root rot in Australia vs what's giving you root rot in California. So a big part is figuring out what works against your own unique strain of root rot, and working with your environment. 🌱

[alltatup]

Yes, very good perspective on this issue!! And I purchased the SM-90 because of the information rowdyredhead posted. Then I got additional information from this great page:

https://www.webhydroponics.com/blog/what-is-nutrilife-sm-90/

So I used it both for a tad of root rot (thoroughly sprayed roots and rinsed them down with the spray) and spray drenched the leaves to get rid of the aphids that had been plaguing me for a few weeks. Bugs are gone!!!

[Burny]

Really like the part about leaving them alone. Unless you smell something bad coming from reservoir.

[Doubledealing72]

As allatup and cap said, excellent advice berry! I will keep all these things in mind when I'm starting my next grow.

I looked at the article you posted allatup, and the sm90 sounds like an extremely effective solution. I will probably end up getting that pretty soon! I'm about to go check on the girls, think good vibes!

[Doubledealing72]

Hey everyone, I checked the girls roots tonight when I got home from work, and it appears there has already been improvement after only adding great white to the rez! I'm hoping it will be even better tomorrow morning! Thanks for all the help everyone! I think I might still do the rez changes, and clean out the airstones, but if the problem is clearing up, I may leave it. As far as I know now I have blocked any and all light from entering the the tank other than wrapping reflective tape around the totes which I still plan to do.

I'll keep everyone updated!

[alltatup]

Ok, but don't attribute it all to the Great White: I think it was eliminating all light from the res. PITCH BLACK!!!!! Never forget those words!!! ;-}

I don't think all the Hydroguard, Great White, H2O2, SM-90, etc., etc., etc., will do any good if there's light in the reservoir...

[D.A.A.S.69]

Good job and good luck 476

[gbauto]

Hey everyone, I checked the girls roots tonight when I got home from work, and it appears there has already been improvement after only adding great white to the rez! I'm hoping it will be even better tomorrow morning! Thanks for all the help everyone! I think I might still do the rez changes, and clean out the airstones, but if the problem is clearing up, I may leave it. As far as I know now I have blocked any and all light from entering the the tank other than wrapping reflective tape around the totes which I still plan to do.

I'll keep everyone updated!

Like others have mentioned-it's vital to keep light leaks out of the rez/root areas or you will develop algae issues like you're having. Like any plant, algae needs light to grow so it's simple-no light = no algae
I have used hydrogard for the past couple of years in my RDWC system and have had zero issues once I made the system light tight.

[Burny]

If you can hold your tote up to the light and see even a shadow of your hand through the tote. There is still enough light coming through to grow algae.

[Doubledealing72]

Hey everyone! So the root rot seems to be getting better since the light leak were patched and the great white was added. One if the totes I was using was definitely not light proof, so I replaced it with a tote like the gray one I have, and I put reflective tape over that entire tote. I cleaned my airstones with a mix of h2o2 and water, and ran the pump while they were soaking in that. I also bought black tubing for the airlines so that shouldn't be a problem anymore either.

I plan on switching the other tote out tomorrow unless the rot completely goes away. The roots are a lot whiter than they were.

thanks again everyone! This has been extremely helpful advice, and hopefully someone will read about this before they start so they can take appropriate measures to prevent it from happening to them!

[alltatup]

AWESOME NEWS!!! Doesn't it feel good??

[Capncanna]

Good job 476.

[Doubledealing72]

Here's an updated photo. It seems a lot better than yesterday. The bottom is white again, and it's not nearly as dark at the top as it was.

[deezplantz]

That looks good. The roots on one of my plants was stained the same way. It recovered and is thriving!

[Capncanna]

Look great. They might be a little off color because of some nutes but new growth is nice and white . Put em in and let em grow!

[Doubledealing72]

Hey everyone, I checked the roots of the big one this morning, and I don't think my root rot problem is gone.

What do you guys think? And what steps should I take from here?

My nute water is a little brown from the nutes, but it looks like it may still have some rot. One thing I didn't do was treat it with sm90 like atallup did, so maybe that would be the next step. Let me know!

Other than my rot concern they do look healthy overall

[berrypilot]

🌱 I'm almost certain it's root rot and not staining because of how they're all twisted and soft looking in that spot in the middle, instead of the individual strands being solid and spread out from each other I almost always get at least a little root rot at some point during the grow, especially if it gets hot. But if the plant is looking alive on top then it's still not a total emergency quite yet! 🌱

[alltatup]

Sorry it's back, mcubed. So they weren't that dark all along in that one spot? Some people say trim away the brown parts, but on GWE's tutorial, Neb. or Sirius didn't bother to do that, just let the good roots keep growing.

What's the water temp at the hottest part of the day? And berrypilot makes some very good points about fresh air, etc.

[Doubledealing72]

This is the biggest one, also the one that seems to have the rot

[Sammy]

After two months of fighting root rot last year I yanked my plant stuck it in dirt let it finish. I didn't try deep water culture again just seem like too much of a pain however the growth can be quite explosive💣 so we built another container bought a aquarium water cooler and what the hell we're going to try it again good luck with your struggles stay on top of it don't and I mean don't give up you'll get it. Personally I think it has to do with your Reservoir temperature but that's just my opinion. Keep posting I'm on board cuz I don't want to fight the same thing you're fighting. Also insulated by Tank after adding the cooler water temperature stays 66 to 67 degrees lots and lots of oxygen at that temperature from what I understand the root rot can't live or at least has trouble living in colder temperatures with lots of dissolved oxygen 🤞🍀

[berrypilot]

🌱 I am certainly not an expert on getting rid of root rot, but I am an expert at getting it lol. I have done 5 successful hydro grows, with good yields, but I always seem to get root rot at least a little, and pretty significantly when I grow in the summer. Luckily, I feel like once you get past the first month of the plant's life, it becomes a lot more resistant to root rot.

My plants from my last hydro harvest. This was a little over a year ago so I'm likely a little rusty (I've been growing in coco and soil since then to try to get out of my comfort zone, though I do miss hydro!) but I harvested a little over 16oz (a pound) off these two plants (left is Sterling Haze by Nirvana, right is Haze 1 by Nirvana) under a 600W HPS in a 4x4 tent.

They were dying of root rot in the beginning, and look at them at harvest! It can be overcome!



Haze 1 by Nirvana



One thing I've found that's helpful for me when I have a young plant with root rot is to stop moving it or do anything that disturbs the roots. If I have to look into the reservoir or adjust the pH, I use an alternate net pot and don't move the lid at all. I put reservoir changes on hold and just top off with nutrient water as needed until the roots are growing lots of new white, solid-looking strands every day! The only thing I "mess with" is the pH. Then I go back to normal once the plant is growing well again.

I never tried SM-90 for root rot because I just heard of it a few months ago, but I did use it on my soil plants outside that were suffering from fungus gnats, and they do seem pretty happy since then. It seems to have helped some hydro growers with root rot, and I would be really curious to see if it helps more growers with root rot! But I've also learned that what works for some people doesn't work for all people, because different organisms can cause root rot in different parts of the world, and in different setups, so you have to work with your environment to see what works best for you.

What is the temperature in your grow space? Is there any type of breeze or circulation plus lots of fresh air? The air pump needs access to cool, fresh air full of oxygen. You don't want it blowing hot, stale air into the reservoir. If it's really hot in the grow space, sometimes you can place the air pump outside the tent, so it's pumping fresh air from the room into the reservoir, instead of tent air.

Is it possible to see a picture of the seedling in the setup under regular lighting? Did anything different happen right before you saw the root rot get worse again? Any difference between the plants that have and don't have root rot? Is the water at least an inch below the bottom of the net pot (so there's an air gap at the top of the reservoir)? I've heard this helps prevent the main stem from rotting, and also helps get a little more oxygen to the roots. The splashing from the reservoir will make sure it always stays misty up there so roots never dry out. 🌱

[Aloner]

Remember, just because people say "there are no women on the internet", it doesn't mean there are no women on the internet!

[alltatup]

Doubledealing72 I am not a sir; I'm an old hippie chick. Aloner makes an inscrutable comment which is correct.

Now I use both the neoprene net pot covers AND the rockwool white covers over those (the neoprene pot covers are black, and the rockwool covers are white so the light is reflected back up). Yeah, and I use electric tape cuz I ain't got no reflective tape.

You have to get down and look up for underneath. Third time I done said that.

[Doubledealing72]

Allatup, I humbly apologize. I meant no offense, it was rude of me to assume. I really do appreciate all the help you have given me! What you said about checking under the lid just clicked. You meant lift the lid up to the light and look from underneath. I guess you did have to tell me 3 times for me to get it, but I will definitely do that when I get home! Thank you again for all the help!

I cleaned out the rez today with bleach, thoroughly washed it out after, and let my plants soak in a h2o2 water solution while I was cleaning. I got new air stones and black tubing for this one. I will be cleaning the old airstones and using them to make the tea that I have read about.

Your light leak requests did not fall on deaf ears this time allatup! Like I said, I will check as soon as I get home!

[D.A.A.S.69]

Beautiful plants and nice harvest BP.