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HELP! Grow room sour smell

B

Bartholomew

New member
Hi,

Started my first dwc grow. First few days no problems. Today noticed a “sour” smell when entered the room. Seems to come from water I think, difficult to pinpoint.

Using Canna nutrients Aqua and additives plus hypochlorous acid HCLO as a preventative. Temps normal around 20-25C. Pumped air is about 2L/min. Grow room has no ventilation except a ventilator for now, meaning air can’t escape the room which adds to the fact that all possible odors are kept in the room.

Is the sour smell normal? I don’t really want to do a res water change. Maybe add more HCLO? No algae build up as far as I can see. Can water go bad in a couple of days?

thanks
 
No ventilation can lead to mold. How are you keeping humidity in check? Also, how are you replenishing fresh co2 for the plants to breath? Ventilation is not just for heat. Stagnant air is smelly and can host pests.... lead to problems.
 
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I’m aware of those things. They are still seedlings. Will deal with ventilation etc soon. Right now my problem is with the funky smell which appeared out of nowhere over the course of 4-5h. It seems to be coming from the dwc buckets. I think I may have used a contaminated hose for transporting water from mix res to dwc reservoirs. Old dead algae residue or something like that.
 
I have sufficient ventilation and DWC does smell a bit... especially if you are using benificial bacteria in the buckets.
Fresh air will make the smell less while stagnant air will make it worse.
Best to start on that ventilation system sooner rather than later.
 
So dwc is always a bit smelly? Good to know 🙂
Although I’m not using any beneficials. Trying to keep it sterile by adding hypochlorous acid to my feed mixture as a preventative.
I’ll keep a close eye on things for a week. See if any algae starts to build up. If not, then false alarm.
Thanks 🙂
 
Brown algae present! Found some on airstones. Should i do a full sterilisarion and cleaning of res or kill it off with hypochlorous acid?
 
Because chloride causes damage to plants, why not use food grade quality h2o2 to clean?
Also, more importantly....Best first to find the light leak that caused the algea growth to begin with. Otherwise it’s like chasing the rabbit down it’s hole. The growth will reappear quickly if the light leak isn’t found.
 
No light leaks. Probably contaminated hose from last grow.
HCLO is supposed to be better than h2o2 as far as I know. And it’s safer to use with plants. Correct me if I’m wrong. Right now the roots are still safe. Haven’t grown out of the net pots yet.

I’m gonna use peroxide to clean the hose and air stones regardless.
The info on canna nutrient bottles states that they are incompatible with h2o2.
 
Toker1 I find it funny that so many people have problems with algae indoors from light leaks. I have totes out the back with premixed nutes that have 1" holes drilled in the top from when I used them for an NFT tube system out the back, they sit in direct sunlight for most of the day yet I don't have any problems with Algae. I even have FloraliciousPlus & FloraBlend in there so there's plenty of organic matter in there not just salt based ferts yet nothing
 
Got any Picts? Algae doesn’t grow in absense of light.
H2o2 is water with an extra oxygen molecule. Not sure why it would be incompatible unless they are saying it will kill their benificial bacteria.
The c in hclo is for chloride. Not the greatest for plants. In abundance it can kill them.
 
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Bartholomew My DWC is not at all smelly, except for a slight "rooty" aroma. So no: DWC shouldn't smell sour or in any way bad.

I totally agree with Toker1: air circulation is always important.
 
alltatup I notice an aroma that is different from my soil grows. Happens most when I use benificial bacteria in DWC. I have always had a very sensitive sense of smell my whole life. I use Fish Sh!t in my grows. Product already smells to begin with. Spreads further durring cultivation when bubbles are pumping through my buckets.
 
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