brown roots : i'm sure Zandor knows

[fhydro]

Hello,
i'm growing DWC with air stones and GH flora series. I know now that flora bio clogs the air stones. OK. But what causes that brown mud that sticks to the roots. I don't understand. Not in each bucket. I think it asphixiates the plant at last. Do you change air pump, air hoses on a regular base to avoid mold ?
Thanks for answering.
Fhydro

[Flower Child]

You have to keep the nute clean and cold...the more air the better.. If you want to kill bugs use an oxygenizer,UV or chemical like monclorimine.
Change/clean res more often.
FC

[kindprincess]

you must clean your resivoir more often...

[MisterE]

I believe if you search Zandor's posts for "brown", "calmag", and/or "micro" you will find he mentions that flora Micro tends to stain the roots slightly brownish. It was in a thread discussing CalMag Plus and whether or not it stained the roots brown or not. If you have brown and SLIME and the roots break, it's not just stain.. it's probably root rot.

What you could do after a res change (pulling everything out, washing the res and grow tub, washing/scrubbing airstones and lines etc etc.) after you refill, put a little bit of hydrogen peroxide in the water. Wait 24 hours, THEN re-nute and adjust.

The H2O2 has the extra oxygen molecule and will kill the algae and give oxygen to the roots also until it breaks down to normal h2o after a day.

[Weedhound]

You GO MR E!!

[Racerx]

I clean with H2O2 and use a little bit of H202 in the rez water. But mainly its cold temps. If you keep the temps under 70 degrees F, you could get away with not changing the water for weeks with no algae. I found FloraNova just tends to really promote the algae, although I also found it works pretty well too. Ive got some massive plants from it.

[BlueBear]

If they smell bad then it is probably root rott or pythiom wilt. Low res temps and not light proofing the buckets can cause things like this.
Adieu

[u.g.u]

get hydroguard its safe to use with any nutes and you will never have alge or root rot problems again. Don't use with h2o2

[Flower Child]

Pith-off or monocloromine by Flairform is the best I have used (and I was growin' trees in rockwool... ) and it's cheap.... (I always source commercial grade nutrients and treatments)
FC

[dubble-oh]

I'm having the same probs I think.

The set-up:

- DWC bubbler (4 x 6" airstones)
- 6 x T8 fluorescent lights (warm and cool mix)
- nutes: General Hydroponics flora series mixed to the correct ratio (or so I believe) for seedlings
- pH is just under 6.0
- room temp is 70-75

As you'll see, there is some brown ick starting to develop on the roots. This ick appeared just after the first nute change (10 days after the plants went into the bubbler). When I noticed the brown I drained the system and gave the bucket a good clean with a bit of chlorine bleach solution and then rinsed it thoroughly.

I then refilled, adjusted the ph, added the nutes and now I'm waiting to see how things progress.

It wasn't until after I had done that that I read about adding H2O2 to the system and letting it sit for a day to try and stave off what I presume is algal growth.

Three questions:
1) Should I empty the system once more and go the H2O2 route ?
2) If I do, what is the recommended ratio of hydrogen peroxide to water ?
3) Instead of H2O2, is there a recommended microbial additive I should use to kill off the algae without harming the plants ? I have read through a number of posts but couldn't quite tell what was the best route.

Thanks in advance!
Peace everyone.

[Perp]

I clean with H2O2 and use a little bit of H202 in the rez water. But mainly its cold temps. If you keep the temps under 70 degrees F, you could get away with not changing the water for weeks with no algae. I found FloraNova just tends to really promote the algae, although I also found it works pretty well too. Ive got some massive plants from it.

For this reason I've always wondered why people think that watering in soil with cold water will "shock the plants." Roots need to stay cool.

[Weedhound]

I'm not familiar with using the GH series--use botanicare--but my hydro store owner told me to use 5ml per gallon (1tsp) per gallon H202--the 3% store bought kind. I know they make a stronger version but I have not tried it. It keeps out the mold, algae etc and gives the plants a good kick of O2. I add it every third day as it only lasts for 48 hours. I know there are some products you shouldn't use with H202--don't know what they are but this system has always worked great for me.

ps...nice photo of roots.

[Weedhound]

One last thing that may not be important....I adjust my ph last, after nutes. The nutes seem to change the ph of the water to too low...always have to adjust it up after adding things.

[BlueBear]

Actually you don't want to really use the h202 with botanicare for the most part because the H2o2 can kill off the benificial bacteria in organic products. If it works, hats off, but it is just something to consider.
Adieu