Sick plant with healthy plants in hydroponics setup

[richdoh1]

I have 3 plants in one hydroponics tank. 2 of them are very healthy but the third has brrn struggling and now its much smaller than thr others and getting no light. I want to remove it but its roots are grown in with the 2 healthy plants. What should I do?

 

[013]

I don’t grow hydro but - cut the weaker one away by the roots would be my guess..... if you are careful you might be able to isolate it and save the smaller chick

how about you @Rexer ?

 

[richdoh1]

I was gonna cut it away as I really have no other place to put it. Im just concerned about leaving the old roots in there with still having about 6 weeks left in flower. And I dont want to damage the roots on the other 2 plants trying to seperate them.

 

[013]

@bluter - do you have a minute?

I agree, the cut away roots left behind may cause an issue too.

 

[Rexer]

I was gonna cut it away as I really have no other place to put it. Im just concerned about leaving the old roots in there with still having about 6 weeks left in flower. And I dont want to damage the roots on the other 2 plants trying to seperate them.

Yeah- I wouldn't tug too hard if the roots have become entangled.

Pictures would be helpful to see the difference (inside res as well)

I'm not an expert- can only say what I would do and you've given very minimal info.

1st- I would do everything to get the problem child/plant inline with others.

2nd of you're dead set on removing you have a few options that I can think of. You could cut it right at the stem going into the reservoir. There will be some rot introduced- if your using H2O2 in your system it will help. If you try to pull the roots you could damage the healthy plants roots.

Or

Keep her small and clip away to keep her alive, but under the main canopy. You'll have to keep an eye out in case she hermies on you.

@bluter or @GoogleGenie have more experience and might/probably will have some insights or tricks I'm not thinking of.


Also- are these photos or autos?

 

[bluter]

are you running a common res ? ages ago i had a 4-pot system with a common res. they either all make it or none most times. if one gets sick they all get it.

if pre flower or not too far in you can remove the offensive one and cut it out of the root structure. if in veg no problem, the rest will jump right back, so long as there are no other issues with their root systems. let them veg a few days longer is all.

if in flower you are gonna lose some weight and development but they should be ok if early. 2 - 4 wks. anything after gets dicey.

 

[bluter]

oh yeah ... above only applies to photos.
if auto all bets are off. the one thing you can't beat is the clock.


edit: you have to get all the offending plants roots out. it involves cutting away root structure from the other plants as well. there's no way around it it. i've cut roots in both active and passive hydro.

 

[richdoh1]

Yeah its a common res. The other two are healthy and the problem one was struggling in veg which made it much smaller than the other 2. Now it doesnt get much light. I put a T5 right next to it to help but its not enough. All the leaves are and starting to look bad. Also the roots dont look as healthy. I just dont want it hurting the other 2 healthy plants. I have 4 air stones and using hydroguard to help prevent against root rot. So I think my only options are to try and keep it going till I harvest or cut away as much of the roots as possible without damaging the others. And just leave the entagled cut away roots and hope for the best.

 

[bluter]

get it out of there fast. one goes bad, get's rot, and that's it for the rest.
common res systems are straight outta the 80's probably earlier. all i know is ran one in the 80's.

there's so much better tech now. i haven't run rdwc for a century but i'd probably do chillers and a separated bucket under current system now.

 

[richdoh1]

So I should cut the roots out trying to minimize how much I have to remove good plants roots in order to get it all? Im 3 weeks into flower.

 

[richdoh1]

I do want to make a better setup next grow. Any suggestions or should I make my own. Im using the superponics16 reservoir by supercloset now.

 

[bluter]

a few pics of what you are dealing with would really help. if the runt got root rot the others could be done for no matter.

 

[richdoh1]

No root rot yet but that is my worry. And why im trying to get it out of there before it creates a problem. I dont have any pics cause im at work. I will post some later on when I get home. I need to change the water today anyway.

 

[GoogleGenie]

A little late to the party.

My 5c - as the others have said, separate the one you want to cull from the others by the roots. Make sure you cut the roots of the little one, not the other plants. If you are concerned with the left over roots you can use something like cannazyme (or any other enzyme product) which will help break down dead roots. Just make sure you top feed the other 2 with some of your enzyme feed to make sure it gets to all of the roots.

Also, as the others have said - pictures go a long way here - without them, we're pretty much guessing.

 

[richdoh1]

Update.. So far so good. I was able to remove most of the roots from the dying plant. There is some that was left that I had to cut away. I added some cannazym and everything looks good so far. Idk if its related but I havnt had aa much ph down in order to keep it at 5.8.