Root Rot In Outdoor Potted Pot Plants

hi folks

i need some help & urgently. i feel like a complete cucumber. i did a really stupid mistake with my ladies this yr & i am hoping that there is a way out of this mess.

i introduced root rot to most of my plants by mistake. i had been filling 25 liter water jugs with water & leaving them outside so i had easy access to the water for my lovely ladies. i noticed some weeks ago that there was some algae on the interior of some of the water jugs but didnt think anything was amiss. the sun would hit the 25 liter jugs causing the algae & to heat the water. the jugs would only get about 2 hrs of partial sunlight daily but it was enough. i was watering with this warm & algae laden water. it never occurred to me that this was a big no - no. last yr i had the same problem but contributed it because of too small of pots for the plants, i replanted into bigger pots last yr & solved the problem somewhat, as the plants had already started to flower, growth was slow but they recovered & i had a pretty good harvest in the end.

this problem has only occurred in the last 2 yrs, before that i would lug the jugs of water into the attic into a nice & cool environment. i had stopped lugging the jugs inside last yr, because of a herniated disk in my lower back. walking awkwardly with 25 kgs for only 5 meters or so would do my back in for days. i have about 20 yrs experience growing outside in the ground but only 4 yrs growing in pots on my terrace. outside in the ground, i would always get my water from a hose, a fresh source of water. i have my ladies in 35 liter pots, with bought soil, ph balance good, well draining soil, something similar to perlite mixed in with the soil, was using plagron veg. fert. & am now using a flowering fert, all according to directions. the ladies have already started to bud. i am located in the north of spain, near the spanish / french border, at the feet of the spanish Pyrenees. plants start to bud up here around mid august, depending. they are usually finished around mid october, also depending if they are more indica or sativa.

i have found my plants symptoms on different forums on the internet - wilted leaves, yellowing of leaves, poor growth, poor color, leaves turning white & falling off within a day or 2, etc. some of the photos i have seen, could have been taken of my plants, so it can only be root rot. plus, me playing sherlock holmes, i figured out all by my lonesome my screw up with the water.

i had bought some carbonated / seltzer water the other day & watered 2 of the plants with 4 liters of carbonated water to each plant, thinking that this carbonated water would help the situation. believe it or not, only after a day, i noticed that the plants picked up some. but the effect only lasted a day & then i was back to dyeing leaves, etc.

solutions i have taken so far to redeem the root rot -

1) watered with carbonated water, as mentioned above, but that was only a temporary solution, i need to conquer this.
2) removed the water plates under the pots & have supported the pots so air can circulate freely under the pots.
3) i flushed the pots with a solution of 3% hydrogen peroxide ( h.p. ) & water today. gave them a heavy dose of this solution to flush out any air pockets & any stagnant water & hopefully to kill off some of the root rot. the solution i made was with 5 ml of 3 % h.p. to every 3 liters of water. i know that h.p. kills the good & bad bacteria that is in the dirt. no flowering ferts were given with todays watering. i have noticed in just about 6 hrs after watering with the h.p. solution, the plants look better.
4) i have cleaned out my water jugs with a bleach & sand solution. the bleach to kill off the algae on the inside of the jugs & the sand to help scrap off any of the algae. adding a bit of sand to the water & bleach, you then shake the jugs vigorously. the sand helps to scrap & clean the inside of the jug. it works wonders. from here on out, i will only be using fresh water straight from the tap.

it really isnt an option to replant into bigger pots or remove the plants to clean the roots. so, i need some advice on how to kill off the root rot & reestablish the good bacteria. or at least nurse them along for the next 4 - 6 weeks till they are ready to be harvested. there are no grow shops in my area, so i am limited to the resources that i have available to me. so if any out there in cyber herb land could give a fellow grower a helping hand, i would really appreciate it.

questions -

1) what is the proper amount of 3% h.p. per liter of water should i use from here till harvest to keep the root rot at bay? there is only available 3% h.p. in my local shops.
2) any additive i can add to my water to help kill the root rot & help to promote root growth? remember, i dont have a grow shop around the corner, we are pretty isolated up here. nearest grow shop is about a 1.5 hr drive away.
3) should i be mixing the flowering fert with the h.p. water solution when i water? or should it be done separately, on separate days? should the flowering fert be at normal strength or less than the instructions indicate? the flowering fert is organic.
4) is there any thing i can do to completely kill off the root rot in potted pot plants that are already budding?
5) any other tips or heads up on this subject?
6) should i not be using h.p. & use something else?

this has been an expensive lesson, believe you me!!!!!!!!

thanks for any help in advance!!!!!!!!!!

spanish grower
 

hotrodharley

Well-Known Member
Next year leave your jugs out again - with a few drops of sodium hypochlorite added to control bacterial growth. It will dissipate gradually and not harm the plant.

H202 is an oxidizer and algae is an organism that lives in oxygen deprived places. Take a weed puller or other rod and aerate the hell out of the soil including any and all root systems. Cut those roots doing it and they will regenerate. But most importantly get AIR down the roots. The roots are the part of the plant that NEED oxygen.

Ram that rod repeatedly - over and over and over again, into your root areas. Then leave it alone for a week. Watch for improvement quickly. Rid the plant of algae by giving it what algae hates - oxygen.
 

*BUDS

Well-Known Member
Yeah stop flopping yours jugs out. Seriously though how do you know its 'rootrot' you havn't even looked at the rootball? Green water would not give you root rot ,you get that from major overwatering or in hydro pathogen buld up in the res thats too warm, not in soil bro.
Something else is wrong and can you put some pics up that link doesnt work.
 
Que pasa! That's a hell of a first post condense it you'll get more respones welcome to the club :roll:
i know its a long post but i thought it would be best to include all pertaining info to save people time & effort in trying to give me help. i can be long winded b*st*rd at times or so says my ex wife. theres a saying in spanish " pasa no, uvas " ( raisins no, grapes ). thanks for the welcome by the way. if you think this is a long word count, i have a web page about my black truffle farm here in spain - the truffle spore. now that is a long word count.

all the best
 

*BUDS

Well-Known Member
Also you cant use Peroxide in soil it kills needed bacteria and micro-organisms.
 

HotShot7414

Well-Known Member
This happened to me once before i just added 2 table spoons of rooting power to a gallon of water and shook it up and poured it,and my growth didn't stop at all.And my roots went crazy.
 
Welcome..are they allowed to dry between waterings?
thxs for the welcome.

yes they are allowed to dry between watering. i am home 24 / 7, so i control things pretty well. i usually let the plants start to droop abit before watering. i have found that that is the best way to stop over watering. i have 10 plants - 3 big bud, 2 ak - 47´s & 5 white widow. they all have different watering needs, i keep a written log of when watered, when fertilized, etc.

i will up load photos tomorrow as its night here now.

thxs for the sugestions.
 
Next year leave your jugs out again - with a few drops of sodium hypochlorite added to control bacterial growth. It will dissipate gradually and not harm the plant.

H202 is an oxidizer and algae is an organism that lives in oxygen deprived places. Take a weed puller or other rod and aerate the hell out of the soil including any and all root systems. Cut those roots doing it and they will regenerate. But most importantly get AIR down the roots. The roots are the part of the plant that NEED oxygen.

Ram that rod repeatedly - over and over and over again, into your root areas. Then leave it alone for a week. Watch for improvement quickly. Rid the plant of algae by giving it what algae hates - oxygen.
thanks for the reply but i am scared to try your suggestion as it seems a bit too drastic to start damaging the roots in that manner. i do agree with you about how algae hates oxygen, thou.
 

Wetdog

Well-Known Member
Yeah stop flopping yours jugs out. Seriously though how do you know its 'rootrot' you havn't even looked at the rootball? Green water would not give you root rot ,you get that from major overwatering or in hydro pathogen buld up in the res thats too warm, not in soil bro.
Something else is wrong and can you put some pics up that link doesnt work.
^^^^^^That^^^^^^

I use green water all the time with no ill effects.

*BUDS is quite correct, something else is wrong.

Wet
 
I see your avatar..Basque? Hope I spelt that right.
the avatar was 1 i just picked from the standard avatars offered here. you spelled basque correctly. im a yank by birth, spanish by choice. i now live in the province of huesca, spain. im a black truffle farmer here. google - the truffle spore & thats me.
 
hi folks

i have taken some photos of my suffering ladies. i sure hope someone can give me a heads up of what is wrong. any questions about what i did or didnt do, plz fire away.

thxs in advance to everybody

spanish grow
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Coho

Well-Known Member
Looks like its using its leaves for flowering. I feed 1/2 strength N nute along with my bloom nutes to help control it. my guess anyway.
 

hotrodharley

Well-Known Member
thanks for the reply but i am scared to try your suggestion as it seems a bit too drastic to start damaging the roots in that manner. i do agree with you about how algae hates oxygen, thou.
Live and learn. I'm 60+ growing since 1964 and you're on here asking basic stuff.
 
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