Hydroguard maintenance dose

[socksandsandals]

Hello all my first topic.
Been growing in coco for a few years and decided to give RDWC a go. Lost the lot in my first grow due to root rot running sterile, second grow root rot again.
I do know where I went wrong (Ithink) and it was a combination of many things rather than a single mistake.

I am now running a live system with Hydro guard just flipped but have root rot again. Drained the system and added Hydroguard at dose stated on label. My question is what is the maintenance dose week in week out. If my plants are drinking 25 litres each day do I just add Hydroguard to the 25 literes every day or just add it weekly, fortnightly? I have emailed Botanicare twice with no response so am just stumbling around in the dark at the minute.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
SAS

[SirSmksAlot]

What are your resivior Temps like? Are you running airstones in your buckets/containers?

[socksandsandals]

Temps are 17-18 and have 10 lpm air to each bucket.

[SirSmksAlot]

Hydrogaurd isn't available where I am so I use voodoo juice and sensizyme as my benificials. However I only add it at the time of the water change. You're Temps seem good. Hmmm.

[SirSmksAlot]

This link might help : https://www.growweedeasy.com/marijuana-root-rot

[DW2]

Howdy socksandsandals, I tried the Hydroguard several grows back and did not have good results with it. I now keep the 'root rot' and algae under control by First, blocking out ALL light leaks into the reservoirs, I cover the Hydrotron pebbles in the net pots with aluminum foil and use a black tubing for the air and drip lines. Secondly, I keep the water aerated with four 4 inch by 2 inch air stones in each reservoir (six gallon capacity). And thirdly, I keep the water temperature between 61° F and 70° F by using ice bottles, replaced as needed. If one uses the Hydroguard, they should not use any hydrogen peroxide in their reservoirs as it will kill off the 'beneficial' bacteria in the Hydroguard.

[gbauto]

I've run RDWC for the past 3 years now during my annual indoor grows. I've always used beneficial microbes like Hydroguard or GFF to populate my rez with Bacillus amyloliquefaciens strain D747. Using these products allow me to run my rez temps in the 70's with zero issues. I will add microbes during the 10-14 days the solution is in the system when I need to top of the nutes. I do believe that some folks struggle to keep the system clear, but it has been working for me.

[socksandsandals]

Howdy socksandsandals, I tried the Hydroguard several grows back and did not have good results with it. I now keep the 'root rot' and algae under control by First, blocking out ALL light leaks into the reservoirs, I cover the Hydrotron pebbles in the net pots with aluminum foil and use a black tubing for the air and drip lines. Secondly, I keep the water aerated with four 4 inch by 2 inch air stones in each reservoir (six gallon capacity). And thirdly, I keep the water temperature between 61° F and 70° F by using ice bottles, replaced as needed. If one uses the Hydroguard, they should not use any hydrogen peroxide in their reservoirs as it will kill off the 'beneficial' bacteria in the Hydroguard.

I do think Light leaks were my initial problem along with damaging the seedling roots when transplanting into the final pots. I have clear air tube which had slime all along it. I have put some black tape on for now but will upgrade soon. My problems I think started in an "X-Stream Aeroponic Propagator" the build quality is appalling and light gets in everywhere also the water pump is inside of the unit which knock temperatures up, the rot was then transferred to my main system.

I have now made covers for the net pots out of silver bubble insulation and changed my method of transplanting. Problem is the rot has set in so a hot water wash and a few days run with bleach or something may be in order followed by a good rinse.

[DW2]

socksandsandals, DO NOT use any bleach! It will kill the rot and Your plants! Instead, use a generous application of H2O2 (around four ounces per gallon) to get rid of the algae. The H2O2 will not harm the plants.

[socksandsandals]

I've run RDWC for the past 3 years now during my annual indoor grows. I've always used beneficial microbes like Hydroguard or GFF to populate my rez with Bacillus amyloliquefaciens strain D747. Using these products allow me to run my rez temps in the 70's with zero issues. I will add microbes during the 10-14 days the solution is in the system when I need to top of the nutes. I do believe that some folks struggle to keep the system clear, but it has been working for me.

So do you add at full strength then just add to whatever you need to top up, then full dose again at res change?

What is GFF? Do you think it is important to use the D747 strain? Sorry for so many questions but this rot has me at my wits end and getting a bit sick of throwing plants away only for it to start all over again with the next batch.

[Obi-Wan]

The bottle says 2ml per gallon so if you’re following the directions and topping off the reservoir you would add 2 mls per gallon of solution that you’re adding to your reservoir.

Having said that....the plants don’t intake the bacteria in hydroguard so in theory you shouldn’t need to add more hydroguard when you top off your reservoir. If you’re doing weekly reservoir changes you should be fine with the initial dose. Any bacteria, including beneficials will tend to drive your pH down if the population blooms too high, so in the case of hydroguard and other beneficials in a hydroponic reservoir, you can add too much.

How many buckets do you run off of you air pump and what is the total volume of solution in each bucket? If you’ve fixed all of the light leaks your next step may be to provide the roots with more oxygen.

[gbauto]

So do you add at full strength then just add to whatever you need to top up, then full dose again at res change?

What is GFF? Do you think it is important to use the D747 strain? Sorry for so many questions but this rot has me at my wits end and getting a bit sick of throwing plants away only for it to start all over again with the next batch.

GFF is Garden Friendly Fungicide by Southern Ag. It uses the same microbes as Hydroguard but it has about 1000x the concentration and costs less. My UC system runs 40gals and I'll add the bennies at the suggested dosage when doing a rez change. During the course of 10-14 days between rez dumps, I will add bennies to the water I use to top off the system.

[gbauto]

The bottle says 2ml per gallon so if you’re following the directions and topping off the reservoir you would add 2 mls per gallon of solution that you’re adding to your reservoir.

Having said that....the plants don’t intake the bacteria in hydroguard so in theory you shouldn’t need to add more hydroguard when you top off your reservoir. If you’re doing weekly reservoir changes you should be fine with the initial dose. Any bacteria, including beneficials will tend to drive your pH down if the population blooms too high, so in the case of hydroguard and other beneficials in a hydroponic reservoir, you can add too much.

The idea of using microbes is to out compete other pathogens that can create problems. Once you have developed a colony in the plants root system, it's important to keep reintroducing fresh microbes to prevent nasties from colonizing.

[Obi-Wan]

If higher and more frequent doses of microbes are needed to out compete pythium we are just treating the symptoms and not the problem. If the environmental conditions are correct, a weekly inoculation with the reservoir change will provide a sufficient colony. If the beneficial colony is out produced by a parasitic pathogen we need to treat the conditions that gave rise to the pathogen. In the case of hydroponic reservoirs this normally means eliminating sources of light in the reservoir and providing more oxygen to the roots. Light leaks can be fixed in a variety of ways and for most hydroponic growers cooling their nutrients solution will allow it to hold more dissolved oxygen. I personally prefer my reservoir temp in the 70’s so I use a stronger air pump and larger air stones to provide more oxygen. Pythium in particular cannot thrive in highly oxygenated environments. The beneficial microbes are meant to be part of the defense strategy, but in higher than recommended concentrations they can cause pH fluctuations that will drive a grower mad.