Root rot!

[deGrasse]

Good day to you.

1. I have root rot. No question about it.
2. See photos attached
3. This is my very first DWC grow. I created my system following the guide that Sirius posted on GWE with a couple changes. The changes I made are as follows. Two holes in the lid, one for each plant I have in the system, and I have two air pumps with four air stones. Another thing that I did was to foil tape the lid and the entire container so NO light would get in.
4. My hydro tank set up looks just like the setup that Sirius describes for the DWC system found on GWE here: http://www.growweedeasy.com/high-yie...nics-technique except for the changes noted above. My lighting is a Galaxyhydro 300w LED at 25" above the plants. I am using Dyno-Gro Foliage-Pro nutrients. The water PH is 6.0 most of the time, sometimes it varies a little but I definitely keep it in the 5.5 - 6.5 range. The plants are/were healthy clones that were grown in dirt. The dirt was cleaned off before the plants were placed in hydroton. To keep the water cool I am using frozen water bottles. The room temp is 73-79 degrees F. The water typically stays between 65-75 degrees F.

My first go on this set up I lost two clones. I was using Hydroguard at the time and my plants were dead in about two weeks. So I started again with the Hydroguard and when the root rot started to show up I switched to the "sterile" method. I used Calcium Hypochlorite (pool shock) and the plants were doing ok, not the best, just "ok". The roots began to lose the slime and the roots appeared whiter, but no new growth in the root zone and the plant still looked pitiful.

After further reading I found information about “teas” I ordered Skunk Labs tea bags and brewed a batch. Changed the water in the reservoir to just plain water and let that run for a few hours. Changed the water again with nutrients and the tea brew. The next day I notices new, very small, root growth. Ok, so maybe I am getting somewhere. It’s now day four that the roots look like death, again. I am so frustrated with this. Why am I having so many problems, especially with root rot? At the same time I started these two hydro plants I also planted a very small clone, one that I did not think was going to make it, into soil. That plant is now almost three times larger than the two hydro plants. Really frustrating.

A little about me and my experience as a grower.
I have been growing vegetable gardens for about 10 years. 2016 I decided to try adding a new variety of plant to my garden, first outside and then inside. I have been strictly a soil grower with fair to moderate success. My plants always grow well and make it to harvest (except for this recent hydro mishap), but I feel the yields could be larger. I have fought the battle with spider mites, caterpillars, fungus gnats and nutrient deficiencies and won! Cloning from mother plants took me some trial and error. I lost about a dozen trimmings I was trying to clone, not all at once, until I decided to stop buying over the counter stuff and made my own rooting compound that absolutely rocks! I also make my own pesticides that are all natural and completely safe.
I am interested in hydro as an experiment between the soil and hydro grow methods. I want to see for myself the differences in yield, quantity, quality and time to harvest. Also I want to determine which grow process is easier for me to maintain. I know GWE answers some of these questions in your website, but I want to do this for myself.
Any help with the situation will be appreciated.

[NebulaHaze]

We're happy to have you here but I'm sorry to hear about your struggles with root rot It can be extremely frustrating, and I'm glad to hear you also have another plant going, so that you know that you will have something to harvest in the end even if you struggle with getting these ones dialed in.

It sounds like you have your temperature under control and have light-proofed your reservoir, which is great, and I can see you have plenty of bubbles. Is your air pump pulling in fresh cool air? If it's hot and stagnant where the air pump gets the air, then it will pump hot stagnant air to your roots. Sometimes it can help to place the air pump outside the grow space, so it's getting fresh air that's cooler than what's in the tent. Is it possible to test the temperature of the reservoir water? A water temperature under 75F is ideal, as warm water physically cannot hold as much dissolved oxygen as cooler water.

Is your water turning that green from just adding the nutrients? It almost looks like algae growth, but it could be just the picture or staining from the nutrients. It does look really unusual.

I have not found the "sterile" method of DWC to work for most growers who are trying to get rid of root rot. You need to be adding something in you water that fights and out-competes the microorganisms that cause root rot because otherwise, it seems to get everywhere. There are actually many different organisms that can cause root rot, and so some treatments work better for some infections than others. It's like how different antibiotics are good at different bacteria, and some will be more effective than others. Unfortunately, we don't have a way to test what kind of root rot you have, so growers tend to throw everything at it until something sticks.

Hydroguard is very effective for some growers, but doesn't always work on its own. Another similar but different option is Great White, which also adds various "good" organisms, though it uses different ones than what's contained in Hydroguard. These types of supplements usually can be "stacked" and used together with other root supplements or teas, though you can contact the company about a particular product if you want to ensure something is cross-compatible.

I have not used this myself for root rot in hydro, but we have had some growers in the forum who've had luck adding a little SM-90 to their water to combat root rot. It is safe to combine with good bacteria and beneficial teas as the company Nutrilife has claimed it will not hurt beneficial organisms while improving root health.

It can take some time for the good stuff to fully colonize your reservoir. While seedlings are young, it can help them to avoid moving the seedling roots as much as possible (for example by cutting an extra net pot hole to access the roots, add water, etc. without having to lift the lid). You also want to make sure the bases of your roots aren't getting too wet. I can see you have a top feed and therefore don't need to worry about roots drying out, so you want to make sure there's at least a two-inch air gap under the net pot and above the water. This helps get more oxygen to the roots and prevents the base of the stem from getting mushy.

Did anything different happen right before they got struck again with root rot (for example a reservoir change)? Seedlings tend to be kind of picky about reservoir changes if you're fighting root rot, and I've found it can help to avoid disturbing them as much as possible until they get more established.

[deGrasse]

NebulaHaze,

Thank you for the quick response. I also want to take this moment to thank you and Sirius for GWE website. It has been my go-to source for everything green. This site is awesome.

I did have temp problems with my first round of plants that perished. It was not until I wrapped the tub in foil and started using water bottles that I got the temp under control. I attribute the temperature and light leaks to the death of my first plants.

Unfortunately my air pumps are in with the light and the air is not being moved around yet. I typically wait until the plants are growing vigorously before I put air movement on them. I am going to move my air pumps tonight and see if that may also help with a more stable water temp.

I check the water temp regularly. Since I am using Skunk Labs tea I am trying to keep the temp right around 70 degrees. I don't want to get the water to cold and kill off the good bacteria. At least that is my logic. Is this correct?

The green/off color comes from the Dyna-Gro nutrients and is further exacerbated by the tea that I am adding to the water. It looks like this when its fresh made.

Ok, on to one of my downfalls, I think. I am constantly checking the water temp and inspecting the roots. I lift the lid, after turning off the grow light, about four times a day to check temp and status of the roots and to change the water bottles for frozen ones. I had a third hole cut into the top of the lid with a "trap door", but this door allowed for light leaks so I taped over it. One other thing I will do is lower the water level. It is a bit high and touching the bottom of the net baskets.

I did a switch to the tea from Skunk Labs right before all of this root rot came back. The sterile method was not working well, no new roots growing, and that's why I made the change.

Thank you for the advice. I am going to do a little research on Hydroguard and the tea I am using and see if I can mix the two. One thing to note on the bottle of Hydroguard I purchased from Amazon. It says on the bottle "Guaranteed for 2 years after date on package." Well the new bottle I just bought expires next month. I wonder it it has lost some of its potency already?

[NebulaHaze]

It sounds like you have a great plan. You're totally right that around 70F is ideal, so it's great you're already achieving that! As far as the expiration date, to be 100% honest I'd ask the company that sent that bottle to send a new one or offer a refund. That being said, if the bottle says Botanicare guarantees it still works after 2 years, I'm sure it's likely still fine as long as it was stored properly.

I've contacted Botanicare through their website before and they are very responsive. It can't hurt to email them explaining the situation and see what they recommend. At the very least they should know someone is sending out old bottles of their product!

[deGrasse]

NebulaHaze,

Thank you! I will contact Botanicare and see what happens.

I will continue my battle on the root rot. Last night I ordered something called Recharge that has some good reviews for helping with root rot and also helping plants in general. I found it here: (https://www.realgrowers.com/product/recharge) I have moved my air pumps, lowered the water level and I am restricting myself to checking on the plants to twice a day.

Thank you for your sound advice and being so receptive. I hope in time I can become part of this community and help out others with things I have learned along the way.

[NebulaHaze]

I haven't used Recharge myself, but I have heard good things about that product and it is made by a reputable company that's been around for a few years now Definitely let us know how it goes!

[deGrasse]

Hey NebulaHaze,

I brewed a new batch of Skunk Labs "tea" and changed out the water yesterday. At the end of the day today I looked at the plants and one of them looks considerably better with new growth and leaves turned upward. The other plant looks just as bad as before. There was a noticeable difference in this batch of "tea" I brewed this time compared to before. It was full of particulate and an obvious growth that resembled slime. The only difference is I covered this batch so no light could get in.

My Recharge came in today. I put it in my hydro tank and in my soil grow. Looking forward to see if I notice any difference. I'll take photos tomorrow evening with another update.

[deGrasse]

Nebula,

Here are photos from today.

Notice the roots look like death at the bottom but if you look there are some new roots coming out of the pot. Should I cut or pull away all of the old nasty looking roots?

The dark water is from the Recharge I put in. It looks black as night when you mix it.

My small plant does not appear to be recovering, however it not dead yet so I am going to leave it for a bit longer.

The plant in the soil is growing like crazy! it looks very strong. This is my first clone grow and I am interested to see how it turns out.