How easy is DWC/bubbleponics

Anyone who had the 'Brown slime' and says they cured it with an enzyme product, didn't have the slime. If you are meant to get the slime, you will. Multiple root diseases will cause a slimy buildup, that doesn't mean you have the dreaded brown slime algae.

Were actually talking about a cyanobacteria that is not killed by most sterilizing products meant to be ran continuously, such as sm-90 or dutch master Zone. It also doesn't need light, loves oxygen, doesn't care about water temps, and laughs at h202. Almost all root problems will respond well to proper res maintenance. It's when you've done everything right, sterilized over and over, and are still plagued that you should suspect the slime. At this point most people give up, but an easy solution was found, which is to add beneficial microbes to displace, starve and attack the slime. If done right, it really is a very effective cure.

As with all root disease, it is extremely easier to prevent the slime than it is to purge it. The best defense is proper res maintenence (no organic material, period) and good healthy plants. The slime attacks the young and the stressed/sick.

Some other clues that you may have the slime...

Root rot stinks, brown slime algae has no odor until it's very advanced, at which point the roots die and regular root rot sets in

Most root disease cause the PH to drop, the slime will cause it to rise

Plants still appear healthy on top for quite a while with the slime

Enzyme products cause the slime to explode in a matter of hours

sguardians2 said:

Good looking out. But I noticed that those guys are not using a DWC/bubbleponics system in their grows, they are using ebb and flow set-ups, which are very different as their res, is separate from the system and it is set on a timer to flood the plants then flow out back to the nute res. I'm not very well informed about that system but it works a lot different than DWC/bubbleponics, where the plants are grown on top of the reservior.

I'll keep reading the thread through to see if anyone with a DWC/bubbleponics system has experienced the same issues. I also would caution against using any organics in your system as they can wreak havoc.

Anyone out there seen this problem with DWC/bubbleponics?

Click to expand...

why no organics in the system?

Heisenberg said:

At this point most people give up, but an easy solution was found, which is to add beneficial microbes to displace, starve and attack the slime. If done right, it really is a very effective cure.

As with all root disease, it is extremely easier to prevent the slime than it is to purge it. The best defense is proper res maintenence (no organic material, period) and good healthy plants. The slime attacks the young and the stressed/sick.

Some other clues that you may have the slime...

Root rot stinks, brown slime algae has no odor until it's very advanced, at which point the roots die and regular root rot sets in

Most root disease cause the PH to drop, the slime will cause it to rise

Plants still appear healthy on top for quite a while with the slime

Enzyme products cause the slime to explode in a matter of hours

Click to expand...

What beneficial microbes work for you?

normajean123 said:

why no organics in the system?

Click to expand...

Organics cause bacteria growth in you system.

golddog said:

Hey guys, I am not busting anyones balls, and I will stop following this thread.

Check out this link on icmag : https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=55259

If you are going to do DWC, you want to read thru this thread....

Good Luck

Click to expand...

Thanks for the excellent information +rep for the heads up and to Heisenberg for in depth information on the problem and the beneficial microbe answer, keep it coming folks!

sguardians2 said:

Organics cause bacteria growth in you system.

Click to expand...

is there a way to combat that with some nute? and also is there something that can be used to prevent any clogging or is that not a big deal?

h2o2, low doses of chlorine or dutch master zone.

While reading through the thread suggested by golddog, I see that most that had these issues admitted to them occurring after using additives, I've learned through experience and with information from more experienced DWC/bubbleponics growers like BoomerBloomer57 on this and other forums to keep my nutrient regemin simple, I only use base nutrients and ph adjusters in my system, and so far have avoided this problem.

I use a combination of ancient forest EWC, aquashield, and ZHO powder. The ZHO has fungi that actually attack and eat the slime. Everything else just works to displace and starve it. Diversity is the key and that comes from the ancient forest.

Also, I can say from experience that while ebb and flow systems are at risk for root disease, they tolerate the brown slime algae just fine. If you find you must give up on DWC because of the slime, ebb and flow is a comparable alternative as far as yield.

I'm keepin my reservior santized with h2o2 every 4 to 5 days and am going to use base nutes only in my reservior at 1/4 to 1/2 strength.

I'll mostly foliar feed to keep as much stuff out of my reservior as possible, I hope this helps avoid the nasties.

sguardians2 said:

I'm keepin my reservior santized with h2o2 every 4 to 5 days and am going to use base nutes only in my reservior at 1/4 to 1/2 strength.

I'll mostly foliar feed to keep as much stuff out of my reservior as possible, I hope this helps avoid the nasties.

Click to expand...

Few thoughts,

If you run your nutes 1/4 strength, you should expect deficiencies and reduced yield, despite foliar feeding. The slime has shown up for me in a res with no additives, 0 ppms. You shouldn't be afraid to run chem nutes at the proper PPMs. If you use nutes that utilize chelating agents, h202 will reduce their effectiveness (but not as much as the slime). When you do foliar feed, use liquid light + saturator if you can, it's amazing. Be careful not to let it drip into the res.

It took me a while to let go of the urge to keep a sterile res, but trust me, EWC tea + proper res maintenance will keep root disease away.

Guess I'm lucky, I'm on my 3rd bubbleponics grow. I haven't had any slime or root rot. I use tap water, I don't even check the rez temps. My room is at about 75 degrees. I just check the PH daily and adjust if needed. My bubblicious plants are flourishing and smell soo sweet. This system seems to be idiot proof if you pay attention to the PH, proper nute amounts and change out the rez at least once a week. Good Luck.

SlickRickMcgee said:

Guess I'm lucky, I'm on my 3rd bubbleponics grow. I haven't had any slime or root rot. I use tap water, I don't even check the rez temps. My room is at about 75 degrees. I just check the PH daily and adjust if needed. My bubblicious plants are flourishing and smell soo sweet. This system seems to be idiot proof if you pay attention to the PH, proper nute amounts and change out the rez at least once a week. Good Luck.

Click to expand...

Thats what the dude at the local hydro store told me too , he said when he did DWC his res temps were in the 70's and 80's and he had success..

Awesome thread!! I have been researching dwc/bubbleponics in hopes I will be able to grow in this manner. I have been told it is harder than soil, but from what I understand of it, it is simple (relatively speaking!). This thread has helped me see this more so, and reassured me I won't be working my ass off to maintain everything. It will be about as much as my soil grows are now.

Heisenberg said:

It took me a while to let go of the urge to keep a sterile res, but trust me, EWC tea + proper res maintenance will keep root disease away.

Click to expand...

Hey heisenberg, wouldn't EWC tea be considered organic? I suppose those are the beneficial microbes I think you mentioned that help with the brown slime, is that right?

It's organic in the sense that they are living organisms, but when I say no organics in the res I mean no organic food. The slime and nasty stuff tends to outgrow the bennies when there is organic food to decompose. That is why we don't follow traditional EWC tea recipes that call for kelp and other stuff...we only want the microbes.

Nice!

I'm running 1/4 strength AN base nutes for the first two weeks, actually a bit less, reservoirs running at 425 and 411 ppms right now, including tapwater ppm @ 234. My plants are responding very well. I'll let my plants tell me if they want more during this period.

Because I've grown well before using a "sterile" reservoir, but running higher ppms with AN base nutes, to my way of thinking, is pretty sterile because the nutes are chemical based, formulated for hydro.

Reading about this slime stuff made me kinda nervous, and enticed me to want to do just about anything to avoid the "noid". But I'll just keep running the way I always have and keep a tea handy.

Thanks for the responses folks.

sguardians2 said:

Because I've grown well before using a "sterile" reservoir, but running higher ppms with AN base nutes, to my way of thinking, is pretty sterile because the nutes are chemical based, formulated for hydro.

Reading about this slime stuff made me kinda nervous, and enticed me to want to do just about anything to avoid the "noid". But I'll just keep running the way I always have and keep a tea handy.

Thanks for the responses folks.

Click to expand...

I agree if it isn't broke don't fix it. If the slime was a big threat for you, you would have gotten it already. That isn't to say it can't show up at any time but I wouldn't spend too much time worrying about it. Just practice proper res maintenance. I should also note that once your plants are big and healthy they will do a great job at shrugging off the slime all by themselves. The slime attacks the sick and the young.

And how did manage the brown slime???

The only effective solution that I've found is to run Physan 20 in your reservoir at a maximum level of 1ml per gallon or 1/4 teaspoon per gallon, less may be more in this case, for a maximum of 24 hours. Then drain and sterilize everything, airstones, tubes, net pots, reservoir, everything, in bleach or a physan 20 solution.

Next, you should clean the slime from the roots in running water, you will lose some roots, but they will recover.

Before doing any of this you should be brewing an EWC tea for 24 hours. in advance of draining you reservoir, about when you are running the physan 20 solution in your reservoirs. There are several EWC recipes out there, just find the one you like best or can afford and make it.

After your stuff is sterilized and your tea is brewed, refill your reservoir and add 2 or 3 cups of your EWC tea to it, then let it sit for at least four hours with the plants re-installed before you add any nutes. Your plants can take up to two weeks to recover.

You'll want to add EWC tea every three days to replenish your beneficial bacteria colony.