First time Hydro. Brown roots! Help!

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giannoulis

Member
Hi everyone.
This is my first ever DWC setup.
Plants are about 2 weeks old, yesterday I added nutrients for the first time. EC is at .6.
Root growth from yesterday is just amazingly fast but i noticed this brown slime building up.
water temp is a steady 19o C
What is this??
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M

MrFlatbush

Well-Known Member
Here is my take, and it's only a guess.

Light is likely making it into your DWC bucket, causing slime/algae to grow. You only have a couple inches of clay rocks between the light and your rez. That's where it is likely leaking. If I am right and you don't fix it, this problem will soon return after you fix it.

Empty and clean your bucket and all of your gear, (also, make sure the bucket is light tight - it looks thin), fresh clean rez, rinse/clean/trim those sad roots/rocks/netcups, cover those rocks in foil, and be patient.

Welcome to one of the big problems with DWC, IMO....rez changes/dumps are a complete pain in the ass. And the larger your plants get the harder it will be. Eventually a rez change will be close to impossible.

I hope you get this sorted. But first, you gotta get clean.

Cheers and good luck.
 
G

giannoulis

Member
MrFlatbush said:
Here is my take, and it's only a guess.

Light is likely making it into your DWC bucket, causing slime/algae to grow. You only have a couple inches of clay rocks between the light and your rez. That's where it is likely leaking. If I am right and you don't fix it, this problem will soon return after you fix it.

Empty and clean your bucket and all of your gear, (also, make sure the bucket is light tight - it looks thin), fresh clean rez, rinse/clean/trim those sad roots/rocks/netcups, cover those rocks in foil, and be patient.

Welcome to one of the big problems with DWC, IMO....rez changes/dumps are a complete pain in the ass. And the larger your plants get the harder it will be. Eventually a rez change will be close to impossible.

I hope you get this sorted. But first, you gotta get clean.

Cheers and good luck.
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You re most probably right. Besides the thin layer of clay rocks, those red netpots are just a joke i can see light coming in but now it’s probably too late to transfer the plants to black ones. I ve cut some mylar and put it on top of the bucket and I’ll figure a way to make my res completely dark.

I m going to try and sort thingsout tomorrow morning but I ve never cleaned any roots like that (growing in soil for 10 years). Is it possible that I break some roots? What then? You said „trim“. As in actually cut the roots??
 
M

MrFlatbush

Well-Known Member
giannoulis said:
You re most probably right. Besides the thin layer of clay rocks, those red netpots are just a joke i can see light coming in but now it’s probably too late to transfer the plants to black ones. I ve cut some mylar and put it on top of the bucket and I’ll figure a way to make my res completely dark.

I m going to try and sort thingsout tomorrow morning but I ve never cleaned any roots like that (growing in soil for 10 years). Is it possible that I break some roots? What then? You said „trim“. As in actually cut the roots??
Click to expand...
I wouldn't worry about the net cup itself. Just try to eliminate any light getting through the cup of rocks or through your bucket lid. Some aluminum foil always saves the day for simple light leaks.

The brownest roots will likely break off when you rinse them. Don't worry about it. Rinse that shit and clean up. Nice new white roots will grow if you are patient.

And yes, you can cut off nasty roots, to a point. I often trim my healthy roots under some circumstances. Rinse them, handle them if you want. They can take it.

After your gear is clean and rinsed you can then start using one of the shocking products that I think someone mentioned. It will help sterilize anything you missed in your cleaning. You can also keep using it along the way as a preventative.

But, if you don't solve the root cause of your goo, everything else is just a band aid....

Cheers and good luck. This is all fixable
 
G

giannoulis

Member
MrFlatbush said:
I wouldn't worry about the net cup itself. Just try to eliminate any light getting through the cup of rocks or through your bucket lid. Some aluminum foil always saves the day for simple light leaks.

The brownest roots will likely break off when you rinse them. Don't worry about it. Rinse that shit and clean up. Nice new white roots will grow if you are patient.

And yes, you can cut off nasty roots, to a point. I often trim my healthy roots under some circumstances. Rinse them, handle them if you want. They can take it.

After your gear is clean and rinsed you can then start using one of the shocking products that I think someone mentioned. It will help sterilize anything you missed in your cleaning. You can also keep using it along the way as a preventative.

But, if you don't solve the root cause of your goo, everything else is just a band aid....

Cheers and good luck. This is all fixable
Click to expand...
Thanks for your tips. I will try everything you recommended step by step, instead of the shocking product I will use chlorine to make the bucket sterile. (I’m in Europe so I will need to find a similar product and that might take some days - quick remedy - I hope it will work the same way)

I ll keep you posted.
Thanks again
 
farmerfischer

farmerfischer

Well-Known Member
giannoulis said:
Not from the start but I figured I have to because the dust was sitting on the bottom of the bucket. So I rinsed them, but that was before the plants have any big roots
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Next time rinse them before,, use a light bleach water bath then rinse again .. the dust can hide..lol. i use to run flood and drain and used hydroton forever.. the clay dust will stain roots,, get in fill and drain lines and pumps.. the dust can also harbor bactira and pathogens.. ( depending on how it was stored, warehouse, shipping yard.. ect.. )
 
G

giannoulis

Member
farmerfischer said:
Next time rinse them before,, use a light bleach water bath then rinse again .. the dust can hide..lol. i use to run flood and drain and used hydroton forever.. the clay dust will stain roots,, get in fill and drain lines and pumps.. the dust can also harbor bactira and pathogens.. ( depending on how it was stored, warehouse, shipping yard.. ect.. )
Click to expand...
Thanks. It’s a whole new world coming from soil. I hope I ll get used to it :mrgreen:
 
M

MrFlatbush

Well-Known Member
giannoulis said:
Thanks for your tips. I will try everything you recommended step by step, instead of the shocking product I will use chlorine to make the bucket sterile. (I’m in Europe so I will need to find a similar product and that might take some days - quick remedy - I hope it will work the same way)

I ll keep you posted.
Thanks again
Click to expand...
You are more than welcome. Again, they are only guesses on my part. I am a long time flood and drain guy with limited DWC/SWC experience. Happy to help

Cheers!
 
futurebanjo

futurebanjo

Well-Known Member
giannoulis said:
Didn’t have time to source black ones yet but I used black tape to cover a big part of them
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I've got clear air lines too, gonna do the same thing and use black duct tape to cover about a foot of the lines before they enter the tank.
I figure that will be enough, as the light wont realisticaly be able to travel down the inside of the tubes for any significant length?

The lid of the tank is also designed where any tubes go in, the edge of lid sits lower than the top of the tank, so the line has to do like a 45 degree bend.

I'm just about to do my first DWC, coming from compost, so apologies for commenting, but this is a usefull thread for me too, Good luck!

I've also made some cardboard guards for the tops of the baskets that I can adust as they grow, or just make new ones:

 
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