Experience:
Current System:
PROBLEMS:
thankyou for your help.
- 3 decades
- aero, hydro, soil
- indoor, greenhouse, outdoor
Current System:
- Greenhouse
- Light Assist
- Light Dep
- Large Scale NFT 24 hr Recirculatory Feed System w/ multiple zones running different nutrient lines & recipes
- Automated EC Dosing & pH management (freshly calibrated)
- H2O chiller system in operation - water temps at constant 68 degrees day & night
- Resi Size - 350+/- gallons
- Nutrients - mostly GenHydro FloraDuo & Cutting Edge Solutions
- DNA - various
PROBLEMS:
- Note: keep in mind that I have many zones independent of each other running at the same time. All variables are controlled so it is very easy to pinpoint cause/effect.
- Algae - normally, with NFT, eliminating light pollution in the NFT system is impossible. Algae will grow, and it's not the biggest problem in the world. But it has been an issue with clogging my feed tubes. So I would like to run a "dead resi", as in, full synthetic nutrients and no living organic matter in my system. That way the tubes stay clean and flowing properly. Im spending way too much time unclogging the tubes on a weekly basis with slime/algae that builds up over a few weeks.
- H2O2 - I attempted to use peroxide (alchemist brand) at a dosage rate of 500ml to the 350 gallon system. This is appx 1/4 the recommended dose. Within 5 minutes 1100 freshly transplanted baby plants wilted and died. I contacted the makers of the product and they said that was about 10x the dosage rate they would use on live plants and that their label specifically only recommends to use as a sterilization agent in between grow cycles. The label actually says that it can be used every four days. When I mentioned this to their rep, he began to stumble on his words. Needless to say, I no longer feel comfortable using this product for anything but sterilization in between grow cycles.
- Physan 20 - my next attempt at preventative management of the algae was to add Physan 20. It worked well at sterilization of the system (killing off any algae prior to flushing the system). I then added it again to a new zone of freshly transplanted babies. I did so at a rate of 2 tablespoons per 350 gallon system. This resulted in the babies wilting and developing a white slime/sludge at the roots. See attached picture, you can see the before & after. Nearly every feed tube was clogged with this same matter, way worse than any algae outbreak I've seen 6-7 weeks into a run.
- System is fully flushed as to remove the Physan 20
- Beneficial Bacteria - Botanicare Hydroguard was then added to the system to heal the roots (assuming the slime is root rot of some sort?) at a dosage rate of 1 liter / 350 gallon system.
- I need a long term solution to algae management, while also understanding sterilization, beneficial bacteria, and enzymes. Any and all input is welcome.
- Physan 20 - where did I go wrong here? Two different grow shops told me this product was completely safe to use with living plants.
- Botanicare Hydroguard or GenHydro DEFGUARD - both are Beneficial Bacteria (same active ingredient: Bacillus Amyloliquefaciens) to different degrees of potency. It is my understanding that these will help get my babies back to good root health. Correct me if I am wrong.
- Cannazym - I picked up some CANNA Cannazyme but it is my understanding that Enzyme products work best with organic nutrients / soil type systems. Being that I am trying to run a pure water culture system with a "dead resi" of purely synthetic nutrients, enzymes are not the long term solution Im looking for although they would attack the algae would they not?
- GenHydro FloraShield - It is my understanding that this is a sterilization product made up of Beneficial Bacteria that is safe to use with living plants, throughout each grow cycle, as well as a good product for sterilization after a system flush. Im inclined to use a full gallon of FloraShield per 350 gallon system on a weekly basis in between each reservoir flush/exchange. Could this be my long term solution to algae, as well as keeping my feed tubes clean of organic buildup, all while not killing my babies in the process.
thankyou for your help.
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