Algae on SURE TO GROW (problem solving thread)

[coopdevillan]

Hello my wonderful community.

Here is my issue and please keep it to topic and be aware I have used rockwool prior to sure to grow so am aware of its pros and cons. Also I am NOT interested in playing with other media at the moment. So if I could just get your focus on this issue at the moment I would appreciate it

THANKS

So I am using a cotton like media called Sure To Grow. Honestly ME PERSONALLY I think the stuff has much potential and I have been playing with it for a little. It does have it's issues but so does that blonde at the gas station you always eye

No but really ALL media does. And what makes a effective grower is being able to puzzle through the issues and roll with the punches. Right.

I am getting a little trouble at about a week to a week and a 1/2. The media will begin to grow green algae on it. More so on the bottoms and sides as I try to keep the tops dry as poss. So then it spreads to the tray or poss from tray to media not sure.

I had a thought but not sure if it matters. Does it have any change in things being some of my foliar spray is "organic" b1 ????

How would this affect my clones ? The algae on the cubes I mean ? What does algae do to your grow really ??? The only thing Im aware of is getting PH to fluctuate if to bad possibly PPM ??

Well I'll close for now. Knowledge is poweR.

 

[greensister]

Thats from moisture. Its not harmful and will go away when the medium dries out. Im a soil guy and every now and again i get that on my perlite. I let it dry out, it turns brown and no one cares.

 

[IAm5toned]

any medium that has exposure to both moisture and light, will grow algae, sooner or later, unless your in a sterile enviroment like a space station. in enviroments that have both moisture, light, and a high nute content, algae will show its face alot quicker. lucky for you algae and plants evolved alongside each other, so unless the algae becomes endemic (just takes over the whole rez/hydro system) its really not going to be a problem. if it does become endemic, it could choke out your roots,hold excess moisture to the point of mold, clog your pump and lines, and a host of other pain in the ass problems. unfortunatly, it will be hard to get rid off. in the future, sterilization techniques can be put into place to keep this problem to a minimum, but you will have to tear down your op and sterilize it medical style to acheive this, and then take the proper steps to avoid contanimation once sterilization is complete.

algae is also a great indicator species.... a sudden die off/break can tell you your water quality has shit the bed, and massive algae blooms can tell you your over feeding/high ppm before your shit burns...........

 

[IAm5toned]

i also forgot something important....
you can use an aquarium UV inline filter to stop it dead in its tracks from spreading...
but using an inline filter will lower your rate of flow, so you might have to adjust your watering schedule to accomodate this, or get a bigger pump with a bypass setup in the rez, so you can adjust the pressure/rate of flow on the line.

 

[smallclosetgrowr]

is there anyway u can stop the light from hitting the sides and bottom of the cube ? if the algea gets to your stem your gonna have massive problems ...

 

[BlueFish]

I had an algae problem because the pH of my water here is crazy high (8.4 out of the faucet). I lowered the pH to around 5.8 and the algae was under control in about a day. There's still a bit in my reservoir, but the pump and sidewalls aren't slimy anymore.