Brown slime on roots

Renfield

Active Member
I checked my roots today and there was this brown slimey substance on them. I took a toothpick and scraped some of it off. It looked like it had some gnat larvae or something inside it.

Anybody know what this shit is and how do i get rid of it? Is it ok to scrape it off a root or will that damage it?

Thanks
 

Renfield

Active Member
only a couple weeks old.....the roots have been in the water for only a few days. The roots themselves are healthy and white, they just have some brown gunk collecting on them.

My setup is a homemade bubbleponics system with 2 airstones in a 10 gallon rubbermaid container.
 
Last edited:

outlawcustombikes

Well-Known Member
You could try Hydrogen Peroxide in the water and see if that helps at all. I had the same thing with my first DWC.....Also put some HydroPerox in a spray bottle, dilluted with a little water and spray off your roots and net pots, etc.....seems to get rid of the slime pretty quick. Like you said, the roots are healthy but have the slime on them. Make sure you keep the light from entering the resivoir....that will cause slime, alge, etc. ~Outlaw~
 
Last edited:

massbaster

Well-Known Member
more details to help.

1. you should be agitating the water. either with a water pump for circulation or an air stone and pump.

2. not having enough air causes root rot. sitting water will cause root rot.

3. change your res, add an air stone and pump and add HYGROZYME to your solution. it is expensive but worth it. i have added it every time i make up some res. i am a newb and have not had any issues with bacteria, bugs or root rot. i believe it is because of the HYGROZYME.

that will take care of your rot.
 

chunkdaddyo

Active Member
I had the same problem with my DWC bubble buckets, tried H202 and it helped a bit but it came back. Turned out the water/nute mixture was geting too hot in my small space. I was told to try a product by DutchMaster called ZONE. I did and it worked great. Healthy White roots, no brown slime. You only need a small amount. 2.5ml per 5 Gallons for maintenance. Their website has a mix ratio for different water temps. It eliminated my problem, hope it can help you too Renfield.......Peace
 

gvega187

Well-Known Member
yeah some pics would be hot, but thats probably root rot. If your using the 30% horticultural h2o2 use 7ml/gal, but no more or you risk burning the roots. Using a lower nute load, and keeping res temp below 72 will increase dissolved oxygen as well, which will keep the rotting and algae away.
 

Renfield

Active Member
I went ahead and drained the rez and cleaned it really well with water and H202. It had a bunch of brown debris and brown slime stuff in the bottom and it smelled bad.

I fillled it up with RO water, nutes, and 30ml/gal of 3% H202 solution.

Oh, also I got a chiller of sorts now, so my rez should be maintaining a temp of around 68-70F.
 

Renfield

Active Member
ah shit, is that too much H202?

I did some research and a couple people said use 30mL per gallon for the standard 3% solution. (the stuff you buy at walmart in the health aisle) And even then add that amount every 3 days or so.

i think you said 7mL/gal at 30% solution? it seems like 30mL at 3% would be even less than that?
 

genfranco

Well-Known Member
your fine dude... I got my help from advanced nutrients.... And thats exactly what they recomended. 30ml per gallon of the 3% stuff from wallyworld... So dude... I went through this and i have to tell you.. It killed my plants within a day... but then again i must have caught it bad... i lost 75% of my roots mass in week 3 of flowering!... The hydrogen peroxide will def help.... You do have to change the rez (or at least add) every 4 days...cause hydrogen peroxide is only good for that long. Good luck man.. i hope your bounce back better than mine did... Im going to switch over to the hempy bucket idea after this grow... the dwc for me is just too hot. And i dont see buying a 400$ chiller worth the diference between dwc and the hemp bucket. Hell ive seens awsome growth out of those buckets.

L8er!
 

Renfield

Active Member
sucks about your plants man :(

After one day of adding the H202, the slime is just about gone on the roots.
 

massbaster

Well-Known Member
your fine dude... I got my help from advanced nutrients.... And thats exactly what they recomended. 30ml per gallon of the 3% stuff from wallyworld... So dude... I went through this and i have to tell you.. It killed my plants within a day... but then again i must have caught it bad... i lost 75% of my roots mass in week 3 of flowering!... The hydrogen peroxide will def help.... You do have to change the rez (or at least add) every 4 days...cause hydrogen peroxide is only good for that long. Good luck man.. i hope your bounce back better than mine did... Im going to switch over to the hempy bucket idea after this grow... the dwc for me is just too hot. And i dont see buying a 400$ chiller worth the diference between dwc and the hemp bucket. Hell ive seens awsome growth out of those buckets.

L8er!
yup i will say it again. i know i only have 200+posts BUT the HYGROZYME stuff works great.

i PURPOSELY left the roots from 3 males in my system and there were no ill affects to the remaining 3 females.

it turns the dead rotting matter into good useful food for the other plants. and it helps break down the rotting matter to get rid of it.

it is expensive like 16.00 for 500ml but it works.

i add 8-10ml per gal and add it every time i make up a new batch.

atleast do the research and check it out.:peace:


oh because it breaks down the bad and makes good food for the others, you may need to keep an eye on your ppm. just a side note
 

blonddie07

Well-Known Member
Havnt read the whole thread, but most of the time when new growers face this, its LIGHT LEAK ON ROOTS!!.....

Make sure NO light is hitting the roots at all...

:joint::peace:
 

hooked.on.ponics

Well-Known Member
It's not so much the light hitting the roots that's the problem as it is the light hitting the nutrient solution. You can actually grow perfectly healthy plants with light hitting the roots if you can maintain a clean nutrient solution free of disease. But it's almost impossible to do that in any practical application.

Keep the wet stuff dark. That all but eliminates algae and other crap like that, which in turn keeps the plants healthy enough to fight off most problems.

Light on the roots can stress the plant, which lowers the immune system and makes it more vulnerable to attack. But slime, fungi or algae is more of a problem of the solution being hit with light than anything else, normally.

Oh, and if you use AN products you'd probably prefer Sensizym. That's their enzyme product (their version of stuff like Cannazyme and Hygrozyme). I think it works better, but I haven't done any side-by-side test or anything.
 

Renfield

Active Member
Yeah I think I messed up by not wrapping my rez and lid in duct tape. I checked today and some light is coming thru the rez wall and lid.
 

genfranco

Well-Known Member
good catch about the light...here is the EMAIL ... i got from ADVANCED NUTRIENTS...

Keep in mind that when i wrote this email i was very worried... I asked them to tell me what products of theres to buy for my problem... this is what they suggested.


Thank you for your inquiry

If the problem that you are dealing with is root rot, you can get rid of it by adding hydrogen peroxide to the reservoir. If using the 35% concentration (HyOx) mix at 3 mL per liter. If using the 3% concentration usually found in pharmacies mix at 30 mL per liter.

I hope that this is the answer that you are looking for. If you have further questions please contact us via e-mail or by calling our tech support toll free line at 1 800 640 9605.

Regards

AN Tech Support



 

genfranco

Well-Known Member
then i asked them how long till i see results... and if the plants willl bounce back? With the root slime my ph was in the 7's after 12 hrs...no matter what. I had to clean out the rez a little better and do it again to totaly get rid of it.... But you better make sure to add more every 4 days... hydrogen peroxide is no good after 4 days....

You should see results in the root system fairly quickly. As for pH it is important that it is allowed to fluctuate as it needs. Adjust the initial ph of the solution before feeding the plants. Once the plants start feeding allow it to move which ever way it wants for at least a day and possibly a day and a half before bringing it back down to 5.6. If the plants are not showing yellow tips you may be able to increase the feeding strength slightly. Over correcting the pH will cause a different kind of problems, where you may start chasing your own pH adjustments.
 
Top