Slimey roots, Res temps

jrsaces

New Member
Hey guys just another quick question for the pros..... Been getting the dreaded clear slime on my roots. Still fighting with res temps in my 2 5gal dwc setups. My local hydro shop (I know...mostly idiots) suggested Rhizotonic @$65/liter. Well, it's not working.

Now I've been reading alot about Physan 20. Should I give this a shot, and if so, can it be used along with the Rhizotonic?

Right now I am only using Floranova Grow and the Rhizo.

Here is my setup. I have another 5" S+P inline on the way that will run 24/7 on my cooltube. The 6" inline w/scrubber will be set on the temp controller when needed. My buckets are raised with wood strips to allow air flow, and right now I have a ridiculous amount of fans trying to keep the res temps down. I am even keeping the tent open all the time right now to no avail. My res temps are still fluctuating between 68-75 and that is with adding ice cubes every 6 hours or so. At this point I don't know what to do short of buying a cooler. Money is starting to get very short.

Any suggestions? Thanks.

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Re: Slimey roots, Res temps.......

HUGE setup for just 2 plants, anyway is the slime clear or slightly brownish clear? I have heard that nutes could cause slime on the roots aswell, and IF possible try to keep your res temps between 68 and 75. First off try rinse your root VERY carefully with your hand, but first try clean it off with H2O2(Hydrogen Peroxide) no idea where to get some though sorry. arent your roots getting enough oxygen by any chance, could be all sorts of things tbh.
how many bubblesrocks you got per plant because it could turn worse ( into root rot ) if theyre not cleaned thoroughly and not get enough oxygen.
Now your res temps, your bulb is HUGE for 2 plants!! is it metal Halide or HPS of not those 2 what is it?
Most of this light will be wasted anyway so why didnt you start cheap man you wouldnt have had any probs with res temps if you used like CFLs. Your plants are small they dont need that much attention yet.
I have mine standing outside and i spent 40-50$ on seeds and soil and i let nature do all the work for me :) This on the other hand has been proved slower but you dont get root rot and all sorts of stuff like that.
If your wondering I got this info off a friend so i was just tryin to help as im actually a newby grower :)
Easy as pie right?
 
Re: Slimey roots, Res temps.......

Thanks for your reply Auto. Slime is definitely brownish clear. I have tried an h2o2 solution with no nutes for a week, worked for a few days and then, bam! more slime.

At first I was thinking root rot, but after fishing through all the forums (can't read enough!) I am leaning towards brown algae. I just can't see how the algae would form, considering my buckets are lightproof and I am using black air lines. I only open the tops to quickly add ice/check PH levels.

I was under the assumption that algae comes from light leaks.

As you can see from the pics, I have 3 air pumps. Each bucket has 1 pump w/4 ft. flexible air stone, and they are sharing the dual outlet pump with with a 5" el cheapo stone at the other end. From what I've been reading, seems like enough air.

I am using a 400w MH for the time being. It is constantly cooled, and I can touch the glass with no problem. Almost no heat at all from 2-5" away, and I am keeping the tube around 8-12" away from the canopy. The temps at my canopy stay between 73-83 deg., which isn't much higher than ambient........ Can't see how my lighting could be an issue either.

I realize this is a pretty big setup, but I am planning for the future. I have been picking up these pieces one by one when I come across a few bucks. Although I am only growing the 2 plants now, I would like to jump to 4-8 plants after this (potential) harvest. I originally started with cfl's and oscillating fans, but why not upgrade if you have the means. Problem is, the well has run dry, and I think I am still a couple of pieces away from a fairly good setup.

Bottom line is, I have to get these 2 plants healthy. That is my main concern right now.

I still don't know what to do............
 
If you have come across the idea of using Physan 20, then i'm guessing you have read through quite a few 'root slime' posts, so you probably already know some of this.

When to suspect brown slime algae is when you have typical symptoms of root rot, yet the standard cures haven't worked. If your slime persists despite low res temps, high dissolved oxygen, complete darkness, and h2o2 treatments, then it's probably not typical root rot. Brown slime algae prefers to make it's food via photosynthesis, but is also able to utilize chemical conversion, in other words it doesn't need light. There also seems to be a lack of putrid odor that typical root rot has. BSA has a earthy scent that can be pleasant or unpleasant, but it doesn't really smell like rot. Its not discussed much in grow forums because it is not a typical problem for cultivators, but if you read through some forums about aquarium maintenance you'll find info on it.

Physan 20 is really potent stuff that's meant to use once in a while to sterilize water containers, I think it's meant for situations like outdoor hot tubs overgrown with algae. You can put it in your res with the plants and they will be a little stressed from it, but ok. You can't run it continuously. The slime WILL be back in a few days.

I recommend dutch master root zone. It cleared up my problem when nothing else would, and it is safe to run in the res continuously. You can run it with your nute solution so, you don't have to put them on str8 water for a while, like after Physan 20. It also takes care of bugs and bacteria. One drawback is that you can not use beneficial microbes, which I think are useless for hydro anyway. A bottle of it is cheap (around $15) and mine has lasted for several months now, with the bottle still almost full. I use 1ml per gallon when I fill my res for the week, and that's normally all that's needed. Occasionally if I have a tub that I haven't changed for a week or so I will get a slight odor, and I add 1-2ml more as a booster. (this will also kill powdery mildew if used as a spray)

New growers are faced with many challenges, and it's so nice when a product offers a solution and makes a constant pain in the ass, a thing of the past.

Good luck, let us know how it turns out.
 
Problem is, the well has run dry, and I think I am still a couple of pieces away from a fairly good setup

^^ get used to that feeling :) Doesn't matter how many toys you have, youll always think you need more.
 
I,m too busy to read all to above posts, but get some HYGROZYME it will solve the problems your having and this can be used to rinse roots very effectively. The bigger the reserve the less fluctuation in temp...
 
Thanks Grumpy...... + Rep.
Thank you :)

I,m too busy to read all to above posts, but get some HYGROZYME it will solve the problems your having and this can be used to rinse roots very effectively. The bigger the reserve the less fluctuation in temp...

If he has the suspected brown slime algae, an enzyme product will make it 10 times worse. This is why some people with root rot say enzymes saved their crop, and others say it killed them.
 
Just to give ppl hope,

This is what my roots looked like with res temps at 65, a 950gph air pump with a 4 foot air wand, 0 light leaks and moderately heavy h202 treatments. I even sprayed the roots down with straight peroxide at one point.

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That was just before adding DM root zone. This is 5 days later.


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I have scrapped the 5gal buckets for a nice size cooler. I have modified it, and it holds exactly 10gal of solution with the water line 2 in below the 5" net pots. I can now keep my res under 65deg.!!!!!!!! I thoroughly rinsed everything in an h2o2 solution before transferring, and all was good for about 24-32 hours. Today I check and slime is back and res is starting to smell. Floranova Grow, Cannazyme and Rhizotonic were added to new water.

I am out of ideas. I think I am just going to scrap this project and start fresh with new seeds.

Could it be that the plants were still infected after their h202 bath and I brought the nasties over to the new res?

They are still fairly young and I have some new seeds. What do you guys think about starting over now that my setup is "optimal"?

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Umm... My roots are brown from the GH micro, and not far from the color you appear to have. There's no slime in mine but there was a similar slime you described the first run through the res.. I washed it all off. It appears to be doing it the first time I setup a res, over the course of two weeks.

What was your PH at, and what did it smell like?

My res temps very from the primary position under the light to the auxiliary positions in the garden. Strange how 1 foot makes the difference from from 75F to 71F.

Some people have speculated that the ions exchanges for some nutrients can react to different materials in the garden (air stones, and line materials, and non food-safe plastic tubs/buckets), yielding a precipitate that is sometimes a gel like substance or a hard participate.

For the most part, none of the slime I've had, has lasted past the first res change in the tub, and none of it smelled. Oddly my roots smell like fresh vegetables.. Cucumbers with a touch of lawn grass and that's at 71-75.

Dissolved oxygen levels are reduced at higher temperatures, but that can also be offset by super saturating oxygenating into the water, so you're replacing the oxygen as quick or quicker than it's being used.
 
When I first switched over to the new res my PH was holding steady at 5.8 while there was no slime. As soon as the slime started to form, PH shot up to 7.0.

It was starting to smell like a dumpster. I realize that the Rhizotonic smells pretty rotten, but the res did not smell this bad when I started. It has gotten alot worse over the last few days.

I dumped the plants today and will start fresh with seeds I have on hand. I just want to figure out this problem so I don't make the same mistake twice!

Thanks to all that helped......
 
So.. I was reading... and it made me think of you. :)

Root Exudation and Rhizosphere Biology -- Walker et al. 132 (1): 44 -- PLANT PHYSIOLOGY

We have a very, very inferiour knowledge of what plants exude into the reservoir/earth. I'm thinking perhaps that strain is exuding something into the res, that's precipitating the slime you have.

Also.. how much air are you pumping into it, and is the air relatively cool? If not, try relocating the pump outside of the lighted area.. I found that usually good for a few degrees.
 
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