bennies 'v' sterile 'v' nothing

M

mainliner

Well-Known Member
so iv seen a few people not useing either bennies or sterile stuff (very few)

and id just like to clear the topic up for myself and others.

we all know the reason people use bennies instead of sterile or vice verser, ......... So the argument really is


bennies or sterile 'v' nothing
 
jijiandfarmgang

jijiandfarmgang

Well-Known Member
I've went from

nothing (chlorinated municipal water)>well water/RO sterile>well water/RO bennies (a little)>well water /RO nothing (a little)

experimenting now.....but I was having some issues with an aerocloner on well/ro water ......very frustrating

Even with RO on my well I was getting a poor success rate and stem rot in the aerocloner (unless I kept it actively sterile, or bennies)

I recently installed a inline UV sterilizer (just for inital treatment, not actively treating) and have tried cloning with only water in my aerocloner. So far so good. To early to say it fixed everything for sure though.

I think its just that some people have poor water, and this can handicap them. Good water, healthy plants, high DO, decent temps, = no sterile or bennies necessary

People over-chlorinateing for sterile is bad, and people dumping too much food for bennies can cause a breeding ground for bad bacteria.

As far as bennies helping growth......I haven’t used them enough to know.

It seems like most people who use hydroponics are modern day alchemists.

Why play the Nute Soup game if you don't have too?

- Jiji
 
M

mainliner

Well-Known Member
jijiandfarmgang said:
I've went from

nothing (chlorinated municipal water)>well water/RO sterile>well water/RO bennies (a little)>well water /RO nothing (a little)

experimenting now.....but I was having some issues with an aerocloner on well/ro water ......very frustrating

Even with RO on my well I was getting a poor success rate and stem rot in the aerocloner (unless I kept it actively sterile, or bennies)

I recently installed a inline UV sterilizer (just for inital treatment, not actively treating) and have tried cloning with only water in my aerocloner. So far so good. To early to say it fixed everything for sure though.

I think its just that some people have poor water, and this can handicap them. Good water, healthy plants, high DO, decent temps, = no sterile or bennies necessary

People over-chlorinateing for sterile is bad, and people dumping too much food for bennies can cause a breeding ground for bad bacteria.

As far as bennies helping growth......I haven’t used them enough to know.

It seems like most people who use hydroponics are modern day alchemists.

Why play the Nute Soup game if you don't have too?

- Jiji
Click to expand...
surely just relying on good tap water cant garantee a completely bacteria free grow ? Can it ?
 
M

mainliner

Well-Known Member
jijiandfarmgang said:
Its how everyone used to do it, and tons still do. Think outside your local hydro grow-store community.

Bacteria is everywhere, its just that bad bacteria doesn't take over.


- Jiji
Click to expand...
would you recommend it
my waters 7ph 53ppm
its fresh hill side pennie water in England ...... The farmers love it.


edit ... Soft water
 
hydroMD

hydroMD

Well-Known Member
mainliner said:
if im totally unsure as to what to do, do would i use bennies........just to make sure ?
Click to expand...
If you dont have a base understanding of the setup your running, or the nutrient solution, I would recommend a very simple inoculation, for pathogen protection only. Run a few rounds, get stuff dialed. Introduce one or two things and see if you notice a difference. Switch back to basics and reaffirm its the additive and not your skill set producing results.

#1 factor of growing is recognizing what the plant wants from clues it gives before defeciencies occur. (Leaf/stem vigour. Color changes. Water/nutrient uptake. growth spurts etc) And being able to change variables to create the best suited environment ( light ntensity, canopy temp, ambient air temp, root zone temp, nutrient dilution, air flow etc)



With more variables, you will have a harder time narrowing down problems along the grow.

Once you have homed your skills try implementing new techniques.

If you can do 2 seperately plants, id suggest inoculation for one, and leave the other as a control.
 
M

mainliner

Well-Known Member
hydroMD said:
If you dont have a base understanding of the setup your running, or the nutrient solution, I would recommend a very simple inoculation, for pathogen protection only. Run a few rounds, get stuff dialed. Introduce one or two things and see if you notice a difference. Switch back to basics and reaffirm its the additive and not your skill set producing results.

#1 factor of growing is recognizing what the plant wants from clues it gives before defeciencies occur. (Leaf/stem vigour. Color changes. Water/nutrient uptake. growth spurts etc) And being able to change variables to create the best suited environment ( light ntensity, canopy temp, ambient air temp, root zone temp, nutrient dilution, air flow etc)



With more variables, you will have a harder time narrowing down problems along the grow.

Once you have homed your skills try implementing new techniques.

If you can do 2 seperately plants, id suggest inoculation for one, and leave the other as a control.
Click to expand...

and i wont have anything else to worry about if i just stick to what it says on the bottle of bennies.
 
Last edited:
Alienwidow

Alienwidow

Well-Known Member
Mainy, id recommend getting a five gallon bucket with the lid thats built in. Getting some base nutes, calmag, and thats about it. I used superthrive but thats up to you. Kiss. Grow it, see what happens. If it screws up chances are itll be sooner than later. Leave the bennies out of the equation. Ive never used them or seen anyone use them and had great results.
 
M

mainliner

Well-Known Member
Alienwidow said:
Mainy, id recommend getting a five gallon bucket with the lid thats built in. Getting some base nutes, calmag, and thats about it. I used superthrive but thats up to you. Kiss. Grow it, see what happens. If it screws up chances are itll be sooner than later. Leave the bennies out of the equation. Ive never used them or seen anyone use them and had great results.
Click to expand...
iv got a set up :)

just wanted to clear a few things up on the topic:)
 
StinkBud

StinkBud

Well-Known Member
Interesting topic and something I'm exploring now. It's been a long time but I remember my mentor telling me not to put anything in the res like bleach or H2O2 because it will kill all the natural bacteria. At the same time he never added any bennies either.

Just so we are on the right track here what is the goal of using bennies? Does it increase your harvest amount? Will it keep the funk from growing in your res? Will it make your buds better, bigger, more flavor? What's the whole point. I'm thinking the real benefit of running bennies in hydro is that it will help keep the bad bacteria in check.

When I think of bennies I naturally tend to think of soil. With soil, many of the nutrients the plants need are in the soil but in a form unavailable to the plant. Rock Phosphate is a perfect example. It's a fucking rock! The bacteria help break down the nutrients for the plant and in return the plant feeds the bacteria in what's referred to as a symbiotic relationship. So when growers use bennies in soil it's to help increase nutrient uptake. Of course there are other benefits (duh) but let's keep this shorter than a book.

With hydro we have the pleasure of using nutrients already in a form available to the plant. All the plant has to do is suck'em up. We can give them synthetic nutes or a tea-like organic based nutes. It's all the same to the plant. Do we really need bennies? I've been growing the kill for so many years I'm thinking no but maybe I'm missing something. I was just looking at some Hydroguard...Should I drop the coin?
 
C

churchhaze

Well-Known Member
I just run the correct nutrients, EC, pH, and powerful airpumps. (not sure if you need as powerful airpumps with recirculating). Roots tend to rot after they die, not before.

I think it's a poor environment in general that causes roots to become mushy, die, and rot because I've never actually had issues with it.
 
Tone5500

Tone5500

Well-Known Member
I use hydroguard never had any problems with roots at temps 75 -78 is this because of hydroguard or just keeping my plants happy with correct temps and balanced nutes . Dunno I mean everyone said you needed a watt of air per gallon and tha isn't ture at all scents I grew two 6 foot tall plants in 15 gallon totes sharing a 7 watt air pump . I have started to tone out the noise and just go with the flow . G/l .
 
Tone5500

Tone5500

Well-Known Member
I was thinking of witching from hydroguard to subculture b because hydrogaurd has a self life of 6 months once opened .
StinkBud said:
Interesting topic and something I'm exploring now. It's been a long time but I remember my mentor telling me not to put anything in the res like bleach or H2O2 because it will kill all the natural bacteria. At the same time he never added any bennies either.

Just so we are on the right track here what is the goal of using bennies? Does it increase your harvest amount? Will it keep the funk from growing in your res? Will it make your buds better, bigger, more flavor? What's the whole point. I'm thinking the real benefit of running bennies in hydro is that it will help keep the bad bacteria in check.

When I think of bennies I naturally tend to think of soil. With soil, many of the nutrients the plants need are in the soil but in a form unavailable to the plant. Rock Phosphate is a perfect example. It's a fucking rock! The bacteria help break down the nutrients for the plant and in return the plant feeds the bacteria in what's referred to as a symbiotic relationship. So when growers use bennies in soil it's to help increase nutrient uptake. Of course there are other benefits (duh) but let's keep this shorter than a book.

With hydro we have the pleasure of using nutrients already in a form available to the plant. All the plant has to do is suck'em up. We can give them synthetic nutes or a tea-like organic based nutes. It's all the same to the plant. Do we really need bennies? I've been growing the kill for so many years I'm thinking no but maybe I'm missing something. I was just looking at some Hydroguard...Should I drop the coin?
Click to expand...
 
70's natureboy

70's natureboy

Well-Known Member
StinkBud said:
Interesting topic and something I'm exploring now. It's been a long time but I remember my mentor telling me not to put anything in the res like bleach or H2O2 because it will kill all the natural bacteria. At the same time he never added any bennies either.

Just so we are on the right track here what is the goal of using bennies? Does it increase your harvest amount? Will it keep the funk from growing in your res? Will it make your buds better, bigger, more flavor? What's the whole point. I'm thinking the real benefit of running bennies in hydro is that it will help keep the bad bacteria in check.

When I think of bennies I naturally tend to think of soil. With soil, many of the nutrients the plants need are in the soil but in a form unavailable to the plant. Rock Phosphate is a perfect example. It's a fucking rock! The bacteria help break down the nutrients for the plant and in return the plant feeds the bacteria in what's referred to as a symbiotic relationship. So when growers use bennies in soil it's to help increase nutrient uptake. Of course there are other benefits (duh) but let's keep this shorter than a book.

With hydro we have the pleasure of using nutrients already in a form available to the plant. All the plant has to do is suck'em up. We can give them synthetic nutes or a tea-like organic based nutes. It's all the same to the plant. Do we really need bennies? I've been growing the kill for so many years I'm thinking no but maybe I'm missing something. I was just looking at some Hydroguard...Should I drop the coin?
Click to expand...
I'm with stinkbud, I've been growing the kgb in hydro for many years and never bothered with anything fancy. I like to keep it super simple. I have used GH Flora for over 20 years (for the most part) and just mix it in good old fashioned well water and the plants are happy and healthy and the smoke is always top shelf (not me talking, I hear it all the time). I guess it is for people that don't have access to good water or something. In that case I would just use RO water with my GH and call it good. I still haven't figured out why you guys need bennys yet but I don't feel like I am missing out on anything.
 
M

Mithrandir420

Well-Known Member
I use straight tap water with GH 3 part. I don't even bother letting the chlorine evap. I scrub my ressies after each harvest but when I change my nutes I just drain and fill and mix. Never had an issue, never had root rot. Pulling good harvests with outstanding quality.
 
B

BuddyLeeCU

Member
jijiandfarmgang said:
I've went from

nothing (chlorinated municipal water)>well water/RO sterile>well water/RO bennies (a little)>well water /RO nothing (a little)

experimenting now.....but I was having some issues with an aerocloner on well/ro water ......very frustrating

Even with RO on my well I was getting a poor success rate and stem rot in the aerocloner (unless I kept it actively sterile, or bennies)

I recently installed a inline UV sterilizer (just for inital treatment, not actively treating) and have tried cloning with only water in my aerocloner. So far so good. To early to say it fixed everything for sure though.

I think its just that some people have poor water, and this can handicap them. Good water, healthy plants, high DO, decent temps, = no sterile or bennies necessary

People over-chlorinateing for sterile is bad, and people dumping too much food for bennies can cause a breeding ground for bad bacteria.

As far as bennies helping growth......I haven’t used them enough to know.

It seems like most people who use hydroponics are modern day alchemists.

Why play the Nute Soup game if you don't have too?

- Jiji
Click to expand...
Is your cloner aeroponic?

Try this...run it constantly for the first 7 days more or less till root tips pop then put it on a cycle timer to only run every 5 minutes for one minute. A small pump constantly running in a gallon or so of water builds up a ton of heat.
 
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