# White mucus like substance in my NFT Hydroponic System



## shubhamkasera (Jan 9, 2021)

Hello,
I'm a newbie here. I earlier had success in growing greens using my hydroponic system. Since a few months, I've not been able to grow anything, thanks to the white mucus like substance which build up at the bottom of the net cups, and covers the roots. 
After discussing it with other growers, I restarted the system after cleaning if with Bleach and then running it with H2O2.
Im using GH Flora Nova Grow as my nutrient solution with Phosphoric acid as a PH Down. I also mix 3% of H2O2 for every 1 Litre of RO Treated water. 
After complete sanitisation and restarting the system, I got the same problem again. Temperature is around 20 degree centigrade and humidity is around 50%.

Ive been reading about beneficial bacteria and I came across Great White. Im wondering if anyone faced similar issues ever while growing in NFT Setup and how one could tackle this issue. Will great white help?
Also I'm from India and most of these products are not available here. Thank you for your help!


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## Cx2H (Jan 9, 2021)

Greetings. I have a random question or two. 

Do you have air pumps in your set-up?

Do you have air filtration in the grow room?


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## Beehive (Jan 9, 2021)

Its some kind of Slime fungus. Looks like snot and coats the roots. Clogs up hoses, fills the pump. 

I forgot its specific name but its a system wrecker. To the point the whole system needs to flushed and cleaned. But it'll come back. I'm not sure if it comes from the water or the air. I've given up on a hydro design because of the snot. No matter what I did. It would infect the whole system over and over. 

No idea how to get rid of it or fix it. From bleach to h2o.


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## SnoopyDoo (Jan 9, 2021)

I also abandoned hydro because I could not defeat the dreaded slim. I even replaced everything including cleaning tools and it still came back. I think it's in the water. I was conducting experiments to try and isolate the problem and ran plain water in a reservoir with h2o2 and it showed up on day ~3-4 - all new equipment, no plants. That's when I gave up on hydro.


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## shubhamkasera (Jan 9, 2021)

Cx2H said:


> Greetings. I have a random question or two.
> 
> Do you have air pumps in your set-up?
> 
> Do you have air filtration in the grow room?


Yes I run an air pump 24 X 7 which is in the resevoir. I do not have an air filter in the room


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## shubhamkasera (Jan 9, 2021)

Beehive said:


> Its some kind of Slime fungus. Looks like snot and coats the roots. Clogs up hoses, fills the pump.
> 
> I forgot its specific name but its a system wrecker. To the point the whole system needs to flushed and cleaned. But it'll come back. I'm not sure if it comes from the water or the air. I've given up on a hydro design because of the snot. No matter what I did. It would infect the whole system over and over.
> 
> No idea how to get rid of it or fix it. From bleach to h2o.


That's exactly what is happening with me. It just come back after cleaning with bleach, h2o2, soap, etc.

I have been trying to fight this for a while now. I even scrapped my old system and built a new one from scratch, but the snot still came back. I'm trying to see if beneficial bacteria might help.


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## shubhamkasera (Jan 9, 2021)

SnoopyDoo said:


> I also abandoned hydro because I could not defeat the dreaded slim. I even replaced everything including cleaning tools and it still came back. I think it's in the water. I was conducting experiments to try and isolate the problem and ran plain water in a reservoir with h2o2 and it showed up on day ~3-4 - all new equipment, no plants. That's when I gave up on hydro.


That sounds disheartening. I'm trying and trying. Today is the 4th time cleaning. Let's hope this thing goes. I'm thinking of not adding h2o2 and add beneficial bacteria instead.


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## SnoopyDoo (Jan 9, 2021)

shubhamkasera said:


> That's exactly what is happening with me. It just come back after cleaning with bleach, h2o2, soap, etc.
> 
> I have been trying to fight this for a while now. I even scrapped my old system and built a new one from scratch, but the snot still came back. I'm trying to see if beneficial bacteria might help.


Beneficial's didn't help me. As a matter of fact, I'd say they made it worse. Switch to hand watering soil or some other media or a drain to waste system where the water reservoir is depleted in 2-3 days.


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## rmax (Jan 10, 2021)

What is the water source - well/municipal/rain/other - that produces the slime? Any similarities?

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## shubhamkasera (Jan 10, 2021)

rmax said:


> What is the water source - well/municipal/rain/other - that produces the slime? Any similarities?
> 
> Would the following be helpful?
> 
> ...


Hi, my water source is packaged drinking water. The ppm of it is 30
I am using food grade plastic container as my resevoir. Also I have two more systems which is the same in other places which are doing well. So I doubt that's the issue


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## shubhamkasera (Jan 10, 2021)

I just checked my Ph meter was not accurate. I got Ph strips which tells me that my water has Ph of 6 whereas the pH meter tells me it's 7.4

Im starting again this time without adding H2o2 and going with the pH the strips tells me. Keeping fingers crossed. I also have put a collar on every net cup to prevent any light from leaking. Will keep you guys posted


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## SpideyManDan (Feb 2, 2021)

shubhamkasera said:


> I just checked my Ph meter was not accurate. I got Ph strips which tells me that my water has Ph of 6 whereas the pH meter tells me it's 7.4
> 
> Im starting again this time without adding H2o2 and going with the pH the strips tells me. Keeping fingers crossed. I also have put a collar on every net cup to prevent any light from leaking. Will keep you guys posted


Any word? I really hope you figured it out.


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## shubhamkasera (Feb 2, 2021)

SpideyManDan said:


> Any word? I really hope you figured it out.


Hi, 
So I've changed the water and working with GH Flora nova nutes. But I'm not getting good root growth. There are barely any roots and my plants are not growing. There is no white mucus substance anymore. You can say I'm still struggling.


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## race winslow (Feb 7, 2021)

shubhamkasera said:


> Hi,
> So I've changed the water and working with GH Flora nova nutes. But I'm not getting good root growth. There are barely any roots and my plants are not growing. There is no white mucus substance anymore. You can say I'm still struggling.


I'm using the Cultured Solutions line of nutrients. It's a fully synthetic line based on the clean method of hydro. UC roots basically prevents microbes of any sort to propagate in your water. It does not impact nutrient uptake or cause deficiencies. I keep my water around 70 degrees fahrenheit and have a higher volume air pump to keep the water well oxygenated. I'm also using lids to prevent light penetration and green tubing to prevent issues in the air lines. Water circulates at 440 gallons per hour. I've gone eight weeks without changing water. The ph remained stable and PPMs were fine. 
Shown in this photo are 4 different auto flower strains. There is some variation in the foliage due to different strains having different nutrient preferences. All were fed off a common reservoir. 
I've done Dwc in single none circulating buckets. I was using Advanced Nutrients for that set up. However, I went to a circulating system because of the constant maintenance required of the 5 gallon bucket set up. I


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