Brown roots no smell

[Chris Scorpio]

Geese

Odvious I'm an idiot... I'm using same nutes...duuuuuuu
And I don't smoke much...

 

[TripleCchronic]

I havent used the enzymes yet because I cant find any instructions as the bottle says go to the website but cant find them there either. Im going to the hydro store next week, so maybe I will grab something with more information on it.

 

[FatBeaverBuds]

In dwc you run either a sterile or live environment. Enzyme based cleaners will help keep a sterile setup sterile.

Bennies such as Great White grow into a live environment. I have used Great White with success. Heisenberg tea is another example of a live environment for your buckets.

If you can lock down your outside environmental variables such as room temp, humidity, rezzy temperatures & maintain a clean area then by all means go sterile environment.

If you have trouble controlling any environmental factor that may effect your reservoir health then a live environment is more forgiving since you have active biological components trying to kill off any pathogens.

My $hi& is pretty dialed in so I run a sterile system.

 

[TripleCchronic]

In dwc you run either a sterile or live environment. Enzyme based cleaners will help keep a sterile setup sterile.

Bennies such as Great White grow into a live environment. I have used Great White with success. Heisenberg tea is another example of a live environment for your buckets.

If you can lock down your outside environmental variables such as room temp, humidity, rezzy temperatures & maintain a clean area then by all means go sterile environment.

If you have trouble controlling any environmental factor that may effect your reservoir health then a live environment is more forgiving since you have active biological components trying to kill off any pathogens.

My $hi& is pretty dialed in so I run a sterile system.

Super helpful information. Thank you. Any recommendations as to additives to create a healthy live enviroment?

 

[FatBeaverBuds]

GH flora trio will work fine in either environment btw.

I have only used Great White when I had trouble keeping my rez temps down. I kept getting swampy conditions regardless of what I did. Started great white and ran a live setup and it solved my swampy issues.


I try to keep things as simple as possible. Growing weed should be easy. I prefer the sterile enviro. because #1 it's cheaper and #2 its just less chit to worry about. Great White isn't cheap. Get the powdered vs the liquid. Better shelf life.

 

[hygro]

Just to clarify, you're saying you would run sterile if you could, but instead you're running beneficials via Great White. Yes?

 

[FatBeaverBuds]

I run sterile now. I used to run live. When I did run live I used great white

 

[Stltoed]

Hey there Triple. Welcome to the wonderful world of DWC!!! Imo one of the best ways to grow herb.

GH flora trio nutes will stain your roots brownish. The Micro is just some dark stuff. It's normal, don't worry about it.

That being said colored roots are fine but slime is never good. If your roots get slime and your buckets smell swampy it's definitely time to dump your buckets and sterilize your setup.

To help avoid the slime:
Always sterilize your gear at every reservoir change.
I clean my rezzys every 2 weeks or so.
Water temps....pop a thermometer in there. How warm is your nute solution?
Over 75 degrees F or so can start to see issues.
Light sealing, make sure you don't have light leaks in to your buckets. Slime can't grow without light.
Like Chris said, enzyme cleaners are your friend if it persists.

Side note, In your pics your clay pellet medium looks absolutely soaked. Make sure your water level is around 1/2" to 1" below your netpot.

You never mentioned the PH of your nutes. Get a PH pen or meter if you don't have one. It's essential equipment for growing in DWC. pH @ 5.8 to 6.2 is ideal.

She looks good so far

I was gonna say it's your nutes, as I also grow with the trio, but Fat Beaver (can you say that? Haha) beat me to it. If it doesnt smell like a dead rat you're usually cool. Here are some roots that have a little color but are totally fine.

20180302_182140.jpg

• Stltoed
• Sep 28, 2019

If you're interested in boosting your root mass I used Rapidstart and a Silica additive called Facilitor from Aptus with this one. The House and Garden Root Excellurator products are also good... for you the silver bottle should be used. this stuff gets expensive though. I use Hydroguard for a root innoculent. I've tried Z7 but found it made a mess out of my res. And you need to add ot every couple days, which makes it expensive. Hydroguard lasts much longer and doesnt leave any residue.

Your plants look good man. If you have any questions please feel free to ask.

 

[TripleCchronic]

Thanks @Stltoed for all the useful info. Im currently only adding NPK microbes, B-52 and Dutch Nutrients Cal Mend. I am looking for a recommendation for hydro microbes because the current ones I'm using leave grit at the bottom of my rez.

 

[Stltoed]

Thanks @Stltoed for all the useful info. Im currently only adding NPK microbes, B-52 and Dutch Nutrients Cal Mend. I am looking for a recommendation for hydro microbes because the current ones I'm using leave grit at the bottom of my rez.

I use Hydroguard. It lasts a long time in the res. It works, and it's not too crazy expensive. I've also used Z7. I hate that $hit. You have to add it every three days so their "cheap" claim is bull$hit. The worst part was it foamed up like crazy and made a concrete coating on everything. To be fair I use an Airforce 80 linear pump... it's a monster for 2 17 gallon bins. But, i cant have the concrete thing. I've heard Orca is good, but never used it. I do know you have to add some myco products all the time. I honestly have no idea how it works

 

[TripleCchronic]

Hydroguard is hard to get and super expensive in Canada lol. $84.99 for 1L. How long would 1L last? How much do you use per gallon?

 

[Stltoed]

Hydroguard is hard to get and super expensive in Canada lol. $84.99 for 1L. How long would 1L last? How much do you use per gallon?

Yeah that probably wont work out. That price is nuts. How much it would cost depends on how big your system is, and how often you change your nutes. I have a 50 gallon system. A full shot of Hydroguard for me is about 50 teaspoons, which is like 250ml I think. I'm waaaaay to stoned to do the math on a liter. It looks like you'll have to find another innoculent. You can add peroxide every so often. That has to be the cheapest way to do it. I'm just kidding... it WILL work, it will even increase the Oxygen in your water, but I cant recommend it. I just cant believe it would help the quality of your buds. I use 30% peroxide to clean with all the time. I once noticed a faint odor in my bucket. I just eyeballed a dose of peroxide and burnt the crud out of my roots. I brought the plants back, but they were screwed. Moral to the story... peroxide is great, but you gotta be careful. And 30% will burn the crap out of you too.

 

[pr3tti]

Hey brother if you're in Canada go to Homegrown Hydroponics and get Hydro Sparkle from Dutch Nutrient Formula. It's a polyquat-based emulsifier designed specifically for hydroponic use. It's like $29.95 CAD for the smallest 500ml bottle. I use 2.5ml with my 5gal bucket once a day when I'm having slime bad, and then 2.5ml per bucket change once a week for maintenance.

​

Those are not stains from nutes, your roots are either being smothered by a cyanobacteria or attacked by some kind of water mold (Phytophthora), similar to what I find in my tap water. There are like 3000 different kinds of species, symptoms are similar. The hardy spores come from your water supply. It needs just phosphates, silica, and nitrites to feed on and multiply and it doesn't need light, but light leaks will increase their population as well. I find Vitamin B1 which is in a lot of nutrients especially all-in-ones, is a huge feast for these bacteria/mold as well.

I was literally just in your position a week ago and I had to do a ton of research to find a product to clear my slime issue. This product has saved my roots and clears the water VISIBLY. It'll kill bacteria and viruses as well in the water. Good luck fellow canuck.

Word of caution: If planned to use long-term, might want to consider a UV sterilizer for your water supply. If you only 1 method of attack, over time you'll breed bacteria and molds resistant to it, so consider adding a second method of attack like UV sterilization of new rez water on weekly changes to completely eliminate all pathogens long-term.

 

[TripleCchronic]

Started using UC roots. Disappointed though because im pretty sure it kills beneficial bacteria to. Wanted to run a live res.. also now having a leaf spotting issue..

The spots start out red then turn yellow orange.

 

[Stltoed]

Started using UC roots. Disappointed though because im pretty sure it kills beneficial bacteria to. Wanted to run a live res.. also now having a leaf spotting issue..

The spots start out red then turn yellow orange.

Looks like a micro issue to me. Or a Calcium issue. Roots look great. How are you feeding them?

 

[TripleCchronic]

10ml/g Micro 10ml/g Gro and 2.5ml/g Bloom 9.5 ml/g cal mend 7ml/g B-52 and recently started 2ml/g UC roots and .5ml/g rhino skin. My last res change 3 days ago I only used the micro gro and bloom though to try and rule out calcium exess because I had a calcium deficiency before but it looked different.

 

[Stltoed]

So you're using Gen Hydro nutes? What are your PPMs? This may very well be a Ph issue... hows your Ph? Has your meter been calibrated recently? How old is the plant? Sounds like you're heading into flower?

I use the Gen Hydro trio. I've never had any issues with it unless I over did it with the nute strength, or my Ph was wonky. It's pretty forgiving. A Ph issue will give you all sorts of headaches and may cause one issue to look like another. For instance a bad Ph. can lock out Magnesium, Potassium and some metals like Iron. No amount of these elements will help as they are biounavailable.

 

[TripleCchronic]

My ppm meter broke but my pH I keep between 5.7 and 6.2. When its gets to 6.2 I pH it immediately back to 5.7. Its constantly been rising and my plant want drinking much. Since my last res change when I stopped using the calmend and b 52 its drinking more and the pH has barely moved.

 

[Stltoed]

My ppm meter broke but my pH I keep between 5.7 and 6.2. When its gets to 6.2 I pH it immediately back to 5.7. Its constantly been rising and my plant want drinking much. Since my last res change when I stopped using the calmend and b 52 its drinking more and the pH has barely moved.

I'd get a new meter for the PPMs so you know what the overall strength is. I personally try to keep it around 1000, but deep in flower I will go to 1150 knowing that number will come down relatively quickly. Ph meters go out of calibration pretty easily, you may want to invest in one that you can adjust to a standard. I have this one... I cant recommend it because it's stupid expensive.

20200118_160526.jpg

• Stltoed
• Jan 18, 2020

I thought I needed a new probe and it was $200. Take a look at Blue Lab if you want a desktop version, or a handheld for that matter, they make good stuff. Whatever you buy make sure you can calibrate it.

Your gonna want a fair amount of Calcium while in flower. You shouldn't leave it out completely. It's kinda hard to overdose on Calcium. Kept at normal levels it shouldn't be an issue.

Have you seen this? This works great if you fill your pots by hand. I use an auto fill valve so I have no idea what sort of water they are using.

Hydro_trouble_shoot_sheet001.jpg

• Stltoed
• Sep 30, 2019

Tell me about your system...

 

[TripleCchronic]

I have a 5 gallon dwc bucket that I do res changes on once a week.