# Root rot prevention with chlorine, hypochlorite, monochloramine...



## poindexterous (Jan 3, 2011)

*With most of the challenges of hydroponic gardening over the years I have been able to find solutions that have proved consistent and lasting, yet root rot has been more elusive. It will go away for long enough periods of time that I assume I've solved it, only to show up again, and with methods and in systems that did just fine the previous round. It will randomly strike some plants but not others even in the same system, despite taking the normal measures of prevention: nutrient aeration and temp, system hygiene, etc. H2O2 never seemed to help either. So I'm looking for a final solu...bad choice of words...a permanent fix.*

*I'm just focusing on hydroponic methods using refined nutrients and inert media, not organic methods as the treatment methods I'm mentioning would not apply to organics.*

*Having read through tons of posts here and elsewhere I noticed that the most consistent positive results were from products containing chlorine. At least three different hydroponic "root health" supplements list chlorine in various forms as the active ingredient, although dilute doses of pool or laundry hypochlorite are said to be just as effective and much cheaper. *

*I'm just beginning to experiment with chlorine so I can't yet speak of results but I tried an experiment with one plant where I brought the nutrient solution to 3ppm free chlorine using a pool test kit, and it seems to have no adverse effect on the plant after several days of recirculating. 3ppm is a typical level for a swimming pool.*

*I'll keep updating as I see if this method works in the long run, but for now I have a few questions: My test kit shows both "free chlorine" and "total chlorine", the free chlorine gets used up pretty fast, but the total chlorine stays, so in order to keep some free chlorine more must be added, but then the total rises even though the free does not. So I'm wondering what ppm of total chlorine is ok? Anybody have any experience with chlorine??*


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## jrinlv (Jan 3, 2011)

I used it (Brand name chlorox) for a round and think it is hard on your pumps and plastics. I now use horticulture peroxide (35%) at 5ml per gallon. 

No matter what you use you will need to add it again every 3-4 days. With the peroxide my water stays very clear, it's nice...JR


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## poindexterous (Jan 3, 2011)

jrinlv said:


> I used it (Brand name chlorox) for a round and think it is hard on your pumps and plastics. I now use horticulture peroxide (35%) at 5ml per gallon.
> 
> No matter what you use you will need to add it again every 3-4 days. With the peroxide my water stays very clear, it's nice...JR


I haven't gone at high as 5ml/gal with the h2o2, so perhaps it's worth another try with the higher dose. How much chlorox did you use per gal and how often? Thanks


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## drgreentm (Jan 4, 2011)

poindexterous said:


> I haven't gone at high as 5ml/gal with the h2o2, so perhaps it's worth another try with the higher dose. How much chlorox did you use per gal and how often? Thanks


 bleach is a good alternative to h202 or peroxide i should say. choempi's thread says 6-8 drops per gallons witch i have figured out to be about 1/4 tsp per 5 gal's at 6 drops per gallon you cant use this treatment for organic nutes pretty sure you know this already think you already stated it in your first post. from the thread it states you have to add more every day or so if im not mistaken. chlorine will eventually dissipate from sitting water i will get you a link.


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## choempi (Jan 4, 2011)

jrinlv said:


> I used it (Brand name chlorox) for a round and think it is hard on your pumps and plastics. I now use horticulture peroxide (35%) at 5ml per gallon.
> 
> No matter what you use you will need to add it again every 3-4 days. With the peroxide my water stays very clear, it's nice...JR


How is it hard on your pump and/or plastic? I have run clorox continually and have noticed no such effects. Cheap pump?


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## choempi (Jan 4, 2011)

drgreentm said:


> bleach is a good alternative to h202 or peroxide i should say. choempi's thread says 6-8 drops per gallons witch i have figured out to be about 1/4 tsp per 5 gal's at 6 drops per gallon you cant use this treatment for organic nutes pretty sure you know this already think you already stated it in your first post. from the thread it states you have to add more every day or so if im not mistaken. chlorine will eventually dissipate from sitting water i will get you a link.


6 to 8 drops per gallon add back every 3 or 4 days and no problems ever again.


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## poindexterous (Jan 4, 2011)

choempi said:


> 6 to 8 drops per gallon add back every 3 or 4 days and no problems ever again.


Hey Choempi, when I was digging through posts about chlorine I recall you were there as well as a guy by the handle of "Fatman", wow did that guy know his stuff ! I think I read he was banned?? How'd that happen?? Seems like he was a real asset here.

And so a little bleach has worked like a charm for you? No root rot since? What kind of ponic system do you run?


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## ounevinsmoke (Jan 4, 2011)

poindexterous said:


> *I'm just focusing on hydroponic methods using refined nutrients and inert media, not organic methods as the treatment methods I'm mentioning would not apply to organics.*


Just wondering why you would prefer chemicals over organics?


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## Heisenberg (Jan 4, 2011)

I tried sterilizing agents for a long time to try and fix a root slime problem. Beneficial microbes ended up being a magic bullet for me. I prefer them over bleach.



ounevinsmoke said:


> Just wondering why you would prefer chemicals over organics?


Organics turn into chemical fertilizer once they are decomposed.


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## poindexterous (Jan 4, 2011)

ounevinsmoke said:


> Just wondering why you would prefer chemicals over organics?


Guess it seems cleaner and more controllable in hydroponics, ponic nutes are just mineral salts which are pretty benign as opposed to synthetic chemicals, if I was convinced I'd do better with organics I may reconsider.


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## poindexterous (Jan 4, 2011)

Heisenberg said:


> I tried sterilizing agents for a long time to try and fix a root slime problem. Beneficial microbes ended up being a magic bullet for me. I prefer them over bleach.


I thought microbes and enzymes were just for more "organic" nutrients? Is that not so? What product worked best for you?


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## choempi (Jan 4, 2011)

I really do not mean to be flippant about organic grows at all. I especially like hiesenbergs posts.

Being said, the OP asks for the effectiveness of bleach in preventing root rot and the answer is the same, non-organics; 6 to 8 drops per gallon add back every third or forth day. Done.


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## Heisenberg (Jan 4, 2011)

poindexterous said:


> I thought microbes and enzymes were just for more "organic" nutrients? Is that not so? What product worked best for you?


You are 99% correct. In hydro the only reason to use them is to prevent disease. This is a job they do very well, and superior to any sterilizing agent. They do offer a few other small advantages, but since they are not needed to break down organics and what not, you don't have to care for them as much. You don't add housing or food for them.

I make my own microbe 'tea' using several cheap products as well as EWC. I make 2 gal every 10 days, it keeps in the fridge. I use that two gallons to inoculate gallons and gallons of res water. Products I like; aquashield and ZHO powder are cheap and very effective. Great white is the best but expensive. Advanced Nutrients products are overpriced and questionable quality. Fungi.com sells a powder for $6/oz that contains an excellent collection of microbes, and is in fact the same powder great white uses; they just add vitamins and bio-stimulants and repackage. 

Anyway I have a post here detailing how to make it if you are interested. It's cheap and easy, and IMO the proper way to prevent disease in a perpetual DWC garden.


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## Heisenberg (Jan 4, 2011)

choempi said:


> I really do not mean to be flippant about organic grows at all. I especially like hiesenbergs posts.
> 
> Being said, the OP asks for the effectiveness of bleach in preventing root rot and the answer is the same, non-organics; 6 to 8 drops per gallon add back every third or forth day. Done.


Agree, bleach was one of the only things that killed the slime in my res, and my plants showed no signs of stress from it. Nothing wrong with using it if that is your preference. I simply didn't like the idea of bleach in my res, though I have no logic to back up the apprehension.

OP, I prefer synthetic nutes as well. I use the entire dutch master line. You are spot on when you say it is easier to control and be more precise. Organic material must be broken down by microbes before it is available for uptake by roots. Since hydro is about enhancing and fine-tuning the growing process, it seems prudent to use nutrients that do not depend on microbes to process them. Of course some growers are experienced enough to utilize organics in hydro and still have complete control, and those grows are indeed amazing.


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## poindexterous (Jan 4, 2011)

Heisenberg said:


> You are 99% correct. In hydro the only reason to use them is to prevent disease. This is a job they do very well, and superior to any sterilizing agent. They do offer a few other small advantages, but since they are not needed to break down organics and what not, you don't have to care for them as much. You don't add housing or food for them.
> 
> I make my own microbe 'tea' using several cheap products as well as EWC. I make 2 gal every 10 days, it keeps in the fridge. I use that two gallons to inoculate gallons and gallons of res water. Products I like; aquashield and ZHO powder are cheap and very effective. Great white is the best but expensive. Advanced Nutrients products are overpriced and questionable quality. Fungi.com sells a powder for $6/oz that contains an excellent collection of microbes, and is in fact the same powder great white uses; they just add vitamins and bio-stimulants and repackage.
> 
> Anyway I have a post here detailing how to make it if you are interested. It's cheap and easy, and IMO the proper way to prevent disease in a perpetual DWC garden.


Thanks for that info, I had assumed beneficial microbes needed organics to survive, but it sounds like not, and all I'd need them to do is prevent disease, so perfect. I add a little H2O2 to my rez, more for the extra oxygen than to disinfect, will that harm beneficial microbes? Or might they be fine with it?


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## Heisenberg (Jan 4, 2011)

poindexterous said:


> Thanks for that info, I had assumed beneficial microbes needed organics to survive, but it sounds like not, and all I'd need them to do is prevent disease, so perfect. I add a little H2O2 to my rez, more for the extra oxygen than to disinfect, will that harm beneficial microbes? Or might they be fine with it?


It will kill them. It will also strip your nutes of any chelating agents, if your nutes use them. If your airpump provides 1wt per gallon then you have enough bubbles, although more is a good idea.


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## Tiger Woods (Jan 5, 2011)

I hate when I see add a few drops, no offense to anyone but its just not precise. How much is in a drop anyway? I don't remember?

Fatman suggest clorox at 1ml per 10 gallons every 3-4 days. Choempi has a great thread where fatman chimes in. Another very informative thread and more on topic is titled Root Rot and he also goes into more detail on using bleach for that purpose as well as for pathogen control every 3-4 days.

I don't have the link but it shouldn't be to hard to find. Type in root rot bleach and it should pop up. Sometimes Googles search engine works better just type in rollitup.org and whatever your looking for.

I prefer synthetics in hydro just makes more sense.
Hydro- chemical
Soil-organic

Don't get me wrong organics does have its place, I believe its in dirt,lol. For years my belief are the keys to growing consistantly,quality and on time are Ventilation,Light,Temp,ph and pathogen control. Now iam thinking that pathogen control is still up for debate(when using incolant/mychorizzal)just not necessary when using GW and the like. I've been trying my best to keep life out of my rez. but after extensive research this GW is the real deal and will be trying it out. It just breaks one of the most important keys(pathogen control) since I won't be able to us bleach/h2o2 as it will just kill everything the GW has added to the rez. I guess in essence and from what I've read(heistinberg apparently agrees) there's simply no need for it and the GW regulates everything for me saving me the 3-4 day dose.

Peace and Good vibes to All!


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## bird mcbride (Jan 5, 2011)

I have operated a flood and drain table for years and I have never had bud rot or rootrot. In my personal op I use cheap fertilizer (mg) domolite lime and ashes. In our commercial tables we use eco-bloom A&B, and ph down and ph up if neccesary. The only bud rot I've seen in our commercial ops was when Doug the electrician set up a contant flow system in an attempt to prove my F&D tables were inefficient.


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## choempi (Jan 5, 2011)

bird mcbride said:


> I have operated a flood and drain table for years and I have never had bud rot or rootrot. In my personal op I use cheap fertilizer (mg) domolite lime and ashes. In our commercial tables we use eco-bloom A&B, and ph down and ph up if neccesary. The only bud rot I've seen in our commercial ops was when Doug the electrician set up a contant flow system in an attempt to prove my F&D tables were inefficient.


If your system is tight, no need to change a thing. There are a lot of Dougs in this hobby.


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## choempi (Jan 5, 2011)

Tiger Woods said:


> I hate when I see add a few drops, no offense to anyone but its just not precise. How much is in a drop anyway? I don't remember?
> 
> Fatman suggest clorox at 1ml per 10 gallons every 3-4 days. Choempi has a great thread where fatman chimes in. Another very informative thread and more on topic is titled Root Rot and he also goes into more detail on using bleach for that purpose as well as for pathogen control every 3-4 days.
> 
> ...


Excellent post and the reasoning is sound. Heisenbergs posts and methods are also excellent.


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## Tiger Woods (Jan 5, 2011)

Choempi- appreciate it.


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## MightyZeppelin (Jan 5, 2011)

I prevent root rot the old fashioned way by keeping my reservoir at 65deg. Pythium cannot live at that temp.


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## choempi (Jan 5, 2011)

MightyZeppelin said:


> I prevent root rot the old fashioned way by keeping my reservoir at 65deg. Pythium cannot live at that temp.


You chill or what? What size res, as we know the bigger the res the easier to maintain temp...


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## poindexterous (Jan 5, 2011)

Sounds like the Great White stuff is worth a shot.

Back to the chem theme though, anyone ever try Exel LG systemic fungicide? Supposed to stop both root rot and bud rot by adding to the rez, and be fairly natural and harmless.....?

What happened to "fatman" ? Not around anymore?


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## poindexterous (Jan 5, 2011)

MightyZeppelin said:


> I prevent root rot the old fashioned way by keeping my reservoir at 65deg. Pythium cannot live at that temp.


My rez stays pretty cool, mid 60's, yet still get the root rot sometimes, I'm sure my containers are a bit warmer than the rez though since they're closer to the lights. My system is top feed recirculating, medium is perlite. It'd be tough to keep the roots so cool with top feed since the nutes aren't always flowing, alas. Aero would make it more plausible.


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## choempi (Jan 5, 2011)

poindexterous said:


> Sounds like the Great White stuff is worth a shot.
> 
> Back to the chem theme though, anyone ever try Exel LG systemic fungicide? Supposed to stop both root rot and bud rot by adding to the rez, and be fairly natural and harmless.....?
> 
> What happened to "fatman" ? Not around anymore?


Fatman got bounced, he was a bit of a dick, but knew hydro.


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## Heisenberg (Jan 5, 2011)

MightyZeppelin said:


> I prevent root rot the old fashioned way by keeping my reservoir at 65deg. Pythium cannot live at that temp.


*Findings from Cornell U studies*
In a close examination of Pythium-infected plants submitted to plant disease clinics during recent years, we have found that of the over 120 known species of Pythium, three are consistently causing crop losses: Pythium aphanidermatum, P. irregulare and P. ultimum.

Pythium ultimum favors cool greenhouse temperatures: the minimum for growth is 41° F, maximum 95° F and optimum 77-86° F. When other organisms are inhibited by cool temperature, P. ultimum can prosper. 

P. aphanidermatum has a higher minimum temperature (50° F) than P. ultimum and a very high optimum temperature at 95-104° F.

P. irregulare, is somewhat intermediate between the other two in terms of its temperature preferences, but it shares with P. ultimum an inability to grow at high temperatures. It can grow at 34° F but has a maximum of 95° F and an optimum of 86° F.

--------

Pythium is a little whimpy bug that's easy to fight and prevent. Just improving res conditions alone often goes a long way. Common products such as sm-90, Zone, physan 20 ect kill it easily. It is a joke compared to another water mold 'brown slime algae' as it's known in the hydro community. Being a cyanobacteria, it's able to completely shrug off zone and sm-90. It doesn't care about cold water and is able to make it's food by chemical conversion if light is not available. Physan 20 and bleach both kill it, but do not keep it from coming back without constantly running them in the water.

Brown slime algae is a problem that appears to be inherent to DWC. Ebb and Flow systems prevent this slime by design, as the roots sit in air most of the time.

In any case, beneficial microbes will take care of it all. They can also be sprayed on foliage to treat PM and to stimulate the stomata.


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## choempi (Jan 5, 2011)

Heisenberg said:


> *Findings from Cornell U studies*
> In a close examination of Pythium-infected plants submitted to plant disease clinics during recent years, we have found that of the over 120 known species of Pythium, three are consistently causing crop losses: Pythium aphanidermatum, P. irregulare and P. ultimum.
> 
> Pythium ultimum favors cool greenhouse temperatures: the minimum for growth is 41° F, maximum 95° F and optimum 77-86° F. When other organisms are inhibited by cool temperature, P. ultimum can prosper.
> ...


Fucking Heisenberg getting all down with it. Good info.

Bleach ain't so hard to add every 3 or 4 days...

Just sayin'


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## supaleeb (Jan 6, 2011)

1/2ml of Physan 20 per 10gal + 15ml of H2O2 (29%) per 5gal of nutrient for the most sterile reservoir disease prevention.

Been using it since I had problems with brown algae a few months ago, or the Hydro Herpes, as they call it over at ICMag..

Haven't seen any sign of root rot or brown algae since I sterilized everything and began running physan/h2o2 preventatively.

Cloner runs at exactly 70F, other units run at 65F. Anything above 70F can exacerbate the problem.


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## poindexterous (Jan 6, 2011)

supaleeb said:


> 1/2ml of Physan 20 per 10gal + 15ml of H2O2 (29%) per 5gal of nutrient for the most sterile reservoir disease prevention.
> 
> Been using it since I had problems with brown algae a few months ago, or the Hydro Herpes, as they call it over at ICMag..
> 
> ...


So you can add Physan 20 directly to the rez? I had thought it was just for "hard surfaces" as they say. Is 1/2ml per 10 gal considered strong or mild, or is there a standard range people use?


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## javawanabe (Jan 6, 2011)

Hey friend. Question for you regarding the DM "Gold?" line of nutes. Do you follow their feeding schedule or do you water in down a bit (pun intended)? Just wondering because I was gonna give them a go and a cat suggested I half the company's recommended dose.

Thanks.


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## pro grow (Jan 6, 2011)

exactly 1-2mm granules for growth medium. 

References:
http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2001/ast09apr_1/

Once you have that then see if you even need to worry at all.


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## javawanabe (Jan 6, 2011)

choempi-
question for ya...

i run an aeroflo2 system so my rez addbacks are significant (3-5 gallons RO water a day) Do you think at this add back rate that your 6-8 drops of clorox per gallon would still be the recommended dosage?

thanks.


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## poindexterous (Jan 6, 2011)

Was just trying to find the ingredients of Dutch Master Zone. Closest thing I could find is on their data sheet: "Slight blue green colored liquid with a noticeable chlorine odor."

Sounds like DMZ is a chlorine or chloramine product like Pythoff ? Anyone know?


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## lopezri (Jan 6, 2011)

Have you considered a solid chlorine? I'm not an expert on any of this but I do remember a pool guy once telling me that the reason I couldn"t keep the ph balanced in my pool was because the previous owner was using liquid chlorine instead of solid time released tablets. If I recall correctly, the guy did say something about total chlorine and parts per million. Not sure exactly what he was talking about but when I switched to solid tablets it fixed the problem.


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## poindexterous (Jan 6, 2011)

lopezri said:


> Have you considered a solid chlorine? I'm not an expert on any of this but I do remember a pool guy once telling me that the reason I couldn"t keep the ph balanced in my pool was because the previous owner was using liquid chlorine instead of solid time released tablets. If I recall correctly, the guy did say something about total chlorine and parts per million. Not sure exactly what he was talking about but when I switched to solid tablets it fixed the problem.


Yes, I've mainly experimented granular calcium hypochlorite pool shock, which actually goes a lot farther than liquid bleach. I think one gram of pool shock yielded the same chlorine as 12ml of standard 6% bleach. With both though the "free/available" chlorine would be gone in just hours in a hydro system, while the "total" chlorine would stay around, thus to maintain any level of free chlorine would take regular additions of hypochlorite. So to keep the free chlorine steady it caused the total chlorine to keep rising, which concerned me, and is my main hesitation with using chlorine.


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## supaleeb (Jan 6, 2011)

poindexterous said:


> So you can add Physan 20 directly to the rez? I had thought it was just for "hard surfaces" as they say. Is 1/2ml per 10 gal considered strong or mild, or is there a standard range people use?


Ohhh yes. You can definitely add it to the res. 1/2ml per 10gal is fairly mild. Physan 20 can be used in stronger concentrations if you need to sterilize your system or contain a bad algae problem.


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## choempi (Jan 7, 2011)

javawanabe said:


> choempi-
> question for ya...
> 
> i run an aeroflo2 system so my rez addbacks are significant (3-5 gallons RO water a day) Do you think at this add back rate that your 6-8 drops of clorox per gallon would still be the recommended dosage?
> ...


Yup, by the gallon add usual dose and if you have a significant number of gallons of the res after 4 days, then add back that number of gallons.

Probably not explained well, it is not a big deal at all.


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## javawanabe (Jan 7, 2011)

thank you!


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## pro grow (Jan 7, 2011)

poindexterous said:


> Was just trying to find the ingredients of Dutch Master Zone. Closest thing I could find is on their data sheet: "Slight blue green colored liquid with a noticeable chlorine odor."
> 
> Sounds like DMZ is a chlorine or chloramine product like Pythoff ? Anyone know?


So am I to understand your looking for a chemical to use in hydro (aeroponics?) that only kills the mitocondria responsible for root death and not the kind responsible for root building? I dont think anything is that good. You could try suplementation of Mycorrizal fungi to improve root infostructer.


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## pro grow (Jan 7, 2011)

Heisenberg said:


> I tried sterilizing agents for a long time to try and fix a root slime problem. Beneficial microbes ended up being a magic bullet for me. I prefer them over bleach.
> 
> 
> 
> Organics turn into chemical fertilizer once they are decomposed.


Someone already said that whoops. Heres some ...
http://www.megagro.com/mycoboost.htm


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## Heisenberg (Jan 13, 2011)

javawanabe said:


> Hey friend. Question for you regarding the DM "Gold?" line of nutes. Do you follow their feeding schedule or do you water in down a bit (pun intended)? Just wondering because I was gonna give them a go and a cat suggested I half the company's recommended dose.
> 
> Thanks.


Follow the 'standard' feeding schedule for hydroponic use. People who use half strength are the same that complain of deficiencies and reach for the calmag. Use a PPM meter to monitor the plants uptake.


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## Shexy8 (Aug 24, 2013)

holy shit.. I think i may have brown algae and NOT root rot... BUT when i give the roots an h2o2 bath... they FIZZ like crazy.. so i assume it is a bacterial infestation.. wow.. this is baffeling to me! If i have been fighting the WRONG thing for months.. then I am such a failure.. I think i should go with a beneficial brew instead of sterile.. im not sure tho.. please tell me something that i can do! i have 4 more seeds starting right now.. and i want them to be ready to go into a nice environment..


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## oxanaca (Aug 25, 2013)

Shexy8 said:


> holy shit.. I think i may have brown algae and NOT root rot... BUT when i give the roots an h2o2 bath... they FIZZ like crazy.. so i assume it is a bacterial infestation.. wow.. this is baffeling to me! If i have been fighting the WRONG thing for months.. then I am such a failure.. I think i should go with a beneficial brew instead of sterile.. im not sure tho.. please tell me something that i can do! i have 4 more seeds starting right now.. and i want them to be ready to go into a nice environment..


nice job with the resurrection

better look at this
https://www.rollitup.org/dwc-bubbleponics/361430-dwc-root-slime-cure-aka.html


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## Shexy8 (Sep 1, 2013)

it doesn't matter if ROOT rot can live at that temp... it is "brown slime algae" that can live at low temps... when first beginning to grow, brown slime algae looks like white little snot that grows on net baskets and around and on roots.. it starts to choke the roots and they start to turn a tan - brown color.. this develops into root rot and roots turn dark tan... and then brown....

so yes.. killing root rot is easy.. it's the brown slime algae that is a monster in DWC systems..


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## Shexy8 (Sep 1, 2013)

thank you so much man... that thread is the fucking best.. saved my plants! WOOT.. and i have a perfect climate .. i mean PERFECT and i still got brown slime and root rot.. seriously... it was crazy.. i kept res temps at 58.. and had root zone h2o2 and chlorine.. facking ridiculous..


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## joe macclennan (Sep 1, 2013)

2 grams of the 48% cal hypo pool shock per gallon water. Use 1-4 ml of this solution per gallon rez. Worked great for me. It got my slime problem under control and now am currently not running any sterilizers for close to a month 

heres my story. https://www.rollitup.org/hydroponics-aeroponics/655319-using-bleach.html


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## steallytoes (Oct 25, 2013)

Heisenberg said:


> Follow the 'standard' feeding schedule for hydroponic use. People who use half strength are the same that complain of deficiencies and reach for the calmag. Use a PPM meter to monitor the plants uptake.



Hey Heisenberg, you seem to be very knowledgeable and willing to help. I was wondering if you could shed any light on UC roots from current culture. Its ingredients seem to be an oxidizer of some sort. Im running it in my Under Current RDWC, and my roots are just tinged brown and not growing. Im wondering if more of that would help, and what other products it could possible be used with. (bleach, H2O2, or a beneficial bacteria/ fungi tea) Also confused as to what my issue is. Again not slimy just a light brown tinge and no root grow/nute def. Thanks man.


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## CocoCola (May 2, 2015)

Shexy8 said:


> thank you so much man... that thread is the fucking best.. saved my plants! WOOT.. and i have a perfect climate .. i mean PERFECT and i still got brown slime and root rot.. seriously... it was crazy.. i kept res temps at 58.. and had root zone h2o2 and chlorine.. facking ridiculous..


Peroxide reacts w/ chlorine. So you may not have actually done an adequate experiment on utilizing either. Those who claim success w/ h202 used higher concentrations of the 29% solutions. The back of the bottle says 3 ml/gal and I've read of higher does being the effective dose. 

Greenhouse studies show 2 ppm (or 2 mg/L) of free chlorine at (specifically) pH 6.0 to be the effective dose for solving these problems.


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## Tone5500 (May 3, 2015)

CocoCola said:


> Peroxide reacts w/ chlorine. So you may not have actually done an adequate experiment on utilizing either. Those who claim success w/ h202 used higher concentrations of the 29% solutions. The back of the bottle says 3 ml/gal and I've read of higher does being the effective dose.
> 
> Greenhouse studies show 2 ppm (or 2 mg/L) of free chlorine at (specifically) pH 6.0 to be the effective dose for solving these problems.


You are correct sir h202 destroys CL2 and at the wrong ph would give a reaction off gasing .


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## CocoCola (May 5, 2015)

Actually, the studies that show the most effective sterilizing are at pH 6.0. THey've tried different pH's and 6.0 is the most effective. This is because of an equilibrium between the hypochlorous acids and hypochlorite ion and Hypochlorous acid is 100 fold more sterilizing....not to mention morphing mineral salt build up.

Here's one example, nut there are many many more for diff species of pathogens. consensus is pH 6.0, 2 ppm free chlorine, with 30 seconds to several minutes of exposure time. 

http://ghex.colostate.edu/pdf_files/Pythium.pdf


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