Friday, February 01, 2008
Question / Answer Root Trouble in DWC (deep water Culture)
I have a 10 gallon reservoir (dwc) and ultrasonic fogger with well controlled temps (now that I've been using a chiller!), but unfortunately developed a nasty case of a goo that looks like uncooked egg whites or snot on the roots of my plants. I originally tried SM-90 along with some additional H2O2 after sterilizing my system, but that didn't seem to help as I eventually lost 4 plants. We found Hygrozyme on your site and I've been trying this for two days now after switching over to it.Again I completely cleaned my system out and tried removing as much gunk from the roots as possible. I added 80 ml of hygrozyme to clean water only and I've been running this for 48 hours, planning on 72 hours before reintroducing some B vitamins and nutrients again. My problem is that it doesn't look like this stuff is working at all. The gunk keeps coming back, more than ever. What am I doing wrong?
I am sorry to hear about your problems. . .First and foremost I would advise you to get off of Deep Water Culture (DWC) as soon as humanly possible ; )
Next I would monitor your water temperatures, which consequently play a large role in maintaining a healthy root zone. Lower water Temps carry and hold larger amounts of Oxygen which is precious to the health of your root zone. An air stone and pump is not enough. . .Ideal water temp is between 66-68 deg. F. I know you have a chiller – but what is it set to? Also, if battling root rot – like you surely are (run of the mill - pythium I believe) – you can lower your res temps to 60 deg. Until the problem goes away.
Stop using H202. It is NOT a good oxidizer (unless at pH of 2.0 which is not advisable for good plant health) and is NOT killing the pathogen organisms that are alive and thriving in your DWC system(s) and thus killing your root systems (and your plants). H202 also strips nutrients out of solution (forming unusable precipitates).
Hygrozyme is a good product at performing a variety of different functions for plants. Battling a root rot fungi (like what you have) is not one of them. It will fight a bacterial rot really well, and it will increase newly formed roots, as well as increase your yield significantly. . .
The good news is that there have been some REALLY GOOD products released on the market as of late.
ZONE – This product Will Kill most microbes. It utilizes essential oils and monochloramine to effectively create an environment that is harsh for microbes to live and produce in, and is still soft and nourishing for plant’s roots systems. It is the cheaper of the two options I am going to susggest. Bad news – you can not use this product with any beneficial organism (like subculture, voodoo juice, piranha, root growth enhancer, tarantula, etc.) as well as any enzyme solution (such as Hygrozyme, Sensizym, Cannazym, etc.).
Regardless if you go with just Zone or end up with Roots Excel. . .You will need to use Zone first to sterilize your root zone. You will use 1 tsp / Gal. until the problem goes away, then you can lower it down to 1 tsp. / 2.5 Gals.
NOTE: If Zone doesn’t work (with low reservoir temps) then you will need to start over. I don’t think this will be the case. . .But just warning you.
ROOTS EXCELURATOR – This stuff is oh! So expensive and Oh! So equally good. It grows new roots like you wouldn’t believe. Fast acting (average time is 3 days to Blow new roots out.) and keeps roots very healthy! Creates abundant amounts of fuzzy micro hairs. . . It is not the best (although it is good) at bringing roots back to health and battling off a pathogen like the one you have in your res and root zone right now. . .That is why I suggest using Zone first. In fact these two products are great to have in your tool box. Together, when used properly they will keep roots ultra healthy from start all the way up to harvest.
called the Bloom Line
You might want to try Root Bloom
it will cure any root problems plus get you vigourous root growth
at 1 tsp per gallon great value
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