Sterile vs bennies in warmer temps

[5BY5LEC]

Forgot to add, I cringe at the thought of running bene's in hydro. Ive been left with some right messes attempting to do so. I like my nute solution clean and clear, ill rarely get a bit of bio film from my silica that i add if it falls out of solution.

Done right, your water will stay crystal clear with very little to no buildup on the sides of the buckets.
Sterile will do you just as well too though, although I think sterile works much better if your water has very little organic/bacteria load to begin with IE Distilled Water or RO.

 

[Johnny Lawrence]

Forgot to add, I cringe at the thought of running bene's in hydro. Ive been left with some right messes attempting to do so. I like my nute solution clean and clear, ill rarely get a bit of bio film from my silica that i add if it falls out of solution.

I just looked it up. You're supposed to use .5ml per litre of water. The 1 litre bottle of this stuff is close to $40, which means Hydroguard, as overpriced as it is, still comes in at around 1/3 of the price.

 

[Huktonponics]

I just looked it up. You're supposed to use .5ml per litre of water. The 1 litre bottle of this stuff is close to $40, which means Hydroguard, as overpriced as it is, still comes in at around 1/3 of the price.

Isn't hydroguard some sort of beneficial ? 2 different types of product.

Silver Bullet and Endosan stay active for up to 6 weeks aswell.

 

[Huktonponics]

Done right, your water will stay crystal clear with very little to no buildup on the sides of the buckets.
Sterile will do you just as well too though, although I think sterile works much better if your water has very little organic/bacteria load to begin with IE Distilled Water or RO.

All water has bacteria in I think, even if filtered. Check your shower head, rub your finger under the outlet of your tap, check your water tank. Even chlorine / chloramine and fluoride only keep them at bay in till they find something to feed off.

I'm not saying benes don't work in hydro, but if you want more of a set it & forget it, I'd go sterile and find a product that works for you to keep it sterile, especially now we're approaching or in the hotter months. I use great white, tnc bactorr and tnc mycorr on my mother plants that are hand watered in coco, they work great, lots of diversity of benes, and I use the insect frass from my bearded dragons live food as a top dress aswell, but in my recirculating flood & drain 100% sterile without a chiller ( even though I have a hailea hc500 ) it just dumps too much heat.

 

[Johnny Lawrence]

Isn't hydroguard some sort of beneficial ? 2 different types of product.

Silver Bullet and Endosan stay active for up to 6 weeks aswell.

I understand that, but as expensive as it is, Hydroguard works. The product you referenced(I understand that it utilizes silver) is over 3 times the cost. And I never go longer than 10 days(usually 7) between rez changes, so I don't need something that lasts for a month and a half.

Southern AG is even cheaper. I was simply using Hydroguard as an example.

 

[Huktonponics]

I understand that, but as expensive as it is, Hydroguard works. The product you referenced(I understand that it utilizes silver) is over 3 times the cost. And I never go longer than 10 days(usually 7) between rez changes, so I don't need something that lasts for a month and a half.

Southern AG is even cheaper. I was simply using Hydroguard as an example.

That Endosan which someone on here pointed out to me as I didn't know about it, is even cheaper, and comes in a 3% and a 5% too. Swapping over to that when I've finished my gallon of the overpriced horticulture stuff ( yes I know, it's stupid expensive ) but still works out cheaper than straight h2o2 if going sterile.

 

[Lurker500]

Just done a water change. Tap water. Roots look fine. Leafs look fine. I'll continue to use endosan at 5ml per 10 Litres. 230 litres in my setup.

 

[Huktonponics]

Just done a water change. Tap water. Roots look fine. Leafs look fine. I'll continue to use endosan at 5ml per 10 Litres. 230 litres in my setup.

Which one you using mate, the 3 or 5 ?

::edit::

Nevermind I saw your post of first page, 5%

 

[Lurker500]

Which one you using mate, the 3 or 5 ?

::edit::

Nevermind I saw your post of first page, 5%

5%. I've used silver bullets for 2 years.. Feel like I've wasted a whole lot of money.

 

[Huktonponics]

5%. I've used silver bullets for 2 years.. Feel like I've wasted a whole lot of money.

Me too since you pointed it out, but still a saving over using straight h2o2. The silver bullet is a 3% solution aswell.

 

[GrowRijt]

Thanks for the heads up on the southern Ag tip guys. I almost pulled the trigger on hydro guard. I’m back to ebb and flow after a very long break in soil. Love both ways of growing and looking forward to getting back to hydro and some nice automation.

 

[fragileassassin]

Thanks for the heads up on the southern Ag tip guys. I almost pulled the trigger on hydro guard. I’m back to ebb and flow after a very long break in soil. Love both ways of growing and looking forward to getting back to hydro and some nice automation.

1ml per 5gal as a starter dose
1ml per 10gal as a weekly maintenance dose if you dont change water.
This is how ive used it and have been very very happy with it.

 

[Offmymeds]

I switched to sterile in my flood and drain system many years ago, and never looked back it worked great.

I like pool shock over bleach, chlorine is actually a natural building block for plants. I mixed a 1/2 tsp of shock granules into 1 gallon of water to make a solution. Then add 1ounce of that solution per gallon in the res about every 3-4 days. Everything will stay clean and healthy.

You sold me. I'm sick of root rot. I'm ordering HTH Super Shock today. I hope the mix ratio is the same.

You must clean your system with it between runs. Do you simply run a stronger solution through then flush it?

 

[rkymtnman]

HTH Super Shock today.

wrong stuff. just plain old Shock.

 

[Offmymeds]

Advice please. I put HTH Super Shock in my Amazon cart bc it's $3.92\lb. Then I see HTH Ultimate Shock for $17.14/lb. Is there any significant difference? conentration?

 

[Offmymeds]

wrong stuff. just plain old Shock.

Got it. I found the plain old Shock. 1.5lbs for $21.97 on Amazon. That's a lifetime supply for me. Thank you.

 

[rkymtnman]

Got it. I found the plain old Shock. 1.5lbs for $21.97 on Amazon. That's a lifetime supply for me. Thank you.

if you don't have one, i'd advise you to buy a digi scale accurate to 0.01 grams. i got mine off ebay for like $25. you'll want to be very precise measuring it out.

 

[Thundercat]

You sold me. I'm sick of root rot. I'm ordering HTH Super Shock today. I hope the mix ratio is the same.

You must clean your system with it between runs. Do you simply run a stronger solution through then flush it?

I didn’t clean my system with it between runs, just used it in the reservoir. Between runs the only thing I specifically cleaned was my pots. Periodically I’d take all my plants out and clean the trays too, but I just used water and a scrub brush for that. Same for res changes, water and a little scrub down and it was ready for fresh nutes.

 

[Offmymeds]

I didn’t clean my system with it between runs, just used it in the reservoir. Between runs the only thing I specifically cleaned was my pots. Periodically I’d take all my plants out and clean the trays too, but I just used water and a scrub brush for that. Same for res changes, water and a little scrub down and it was ready for fresh nutes.

This keeps getting better. Thanks again.

 

[Offmymeds]

if you don't have one, i'd advise you to buy a digi scale accurate to 0.01 grams. i got mine off ebay for like $25. you'll want to be very precise measuring it out.

Do you use the same mix as Thundercat? Here is the mix he posted:
"I mixed a 1/2 tsp of shock granules into 1 gallon of water to make a solution. Then add 1ounce of that solution per gallon in the res about every 3-4 days."
1/2 tsp is 2.13 grams