- I'll preface the post by saying I have been brewing Tea to combat various issues; my method as described over in Heisenberg's thread. Posted over there as well:
1 Tbsp. Myco Madness
2 Handfuls of Ancient Forest in a tied-off sock
10 Gallons of tap water (sat for 48 hours to offgas)
4 airstones
2 Tsp Molasses
Let brew 48 hours, refrigerate any unused portion.
Long time lurker, first time poster. I've had some issues with a DWC setup I'm helping a buddy with - the problem manifested when I moved 12 plants from a RWDC veg station to a larger RWDC blooming station. I've actually already lost a batch of 12 plants in the bloom station due to this exact same shit and decided to try using tea to combat it, but apparently it is not working for my issue.
Veg station
Lighting: 2 x T5 fluorescent with supplemental LEDs.
EC - 1.2
pH - 5.9
H20 Temp - 66 F
Air Temp - 69 F
RH - 42%
Nutes are KISS'd in Veg, 5mL FoxFarms Grow per Gallon of H2O (usually use Ionic grow, ran out) and 2.5 cups of the Tea. pH is adjusted up with Pro-Tekt Silica and down with GH pH down.
Here are a few pics of the ladies in the Veg station. I wish I had taken a few of the roots -- they were nice and white with a small brown spot near the top middle that appeared after the first inoculation with the Tea. I started with the tea 1 week after they were fully rooted (roots in water) in this system, about 2 weeks ago. There is some slight nute burn on the new growth tips, I attributed this to the tea as they are able to absorb nutrients more efficiently so I adjusted the EC down by 20%.
I transplanted them into the bloom station yesterday, which means I just moved the buckets over to a larger recirculating setup. I was going to veg them over there for an additional 3 weeks before initiating bloom.
Bloom Station
Lighting: 2 x 1000W HPS, 1 x LED supplemental for a slightly smaller plant
70 G H2O (Tap, offgassed for 48 hours)
350 mL FoxFarms grow
2 Gallons Tea
30 mL Pro-Tekt Silica as pH adjuster
EC - 1.0
pH - 5.9
H2O Temp - 64.5F
Air Temp - 68F
RH - 38%
CO2 - 900 ppm
So, I go to bed last night thinking everything is gravy. I go down to check on the ladies an hour ago, and I see the roots of some of the plants are covered in sludge, and the pH of the water has shot up to 6.8. Everything else has remained static -- the water temp, the EC, etc.
Above and below the bloom station:
Whatever this shit is, it rinses right off with very light spraying and leaves a residue in the water that initially floats in suspension, a few particles on the surface of the water and eventually settles in clumps on the bottom of the container. Very little adheres to the walls of the reservoir or growing containers, but there is a slight film.
A bit of background and initial hypothesis:
I lost a previous set of 12 ladies to the exact same issue. I did a bit of research and started brewing tea and cut out some of my nutrient regime. I was able to salvage 3 of the 12 and am currently blooming them out in simple bubble buckets. I treated with tea and there is some new root growth but they never fully recovered. Here's an example, apologies for the HID washed photo:
As I stated, I began brewing the tea just over 2 weeks ago and treated this set of 12 with it in the veg station as a preventative, and they did fantastically as evidenced by the initial photos except for the slight overfeeding. When mixing a fresh reservoir, there was an initial cloudiness and ph spike (from 5.8 to 6.6) but I adjusted it and the cloudiness cleared up in 48-72 hours. The pH to date in that system has been rock solid, varying between 5.8 and 6.2 as the plants were drinking. When I mixed the fresh reservoir in the bloom station prior to transplant yesterday, and the resulting cloudiness and spike today, it exhibited the same behavior that I experienced in the set of 12 that I lost 6 weeks back. The water clouded, there was a pH spike, and then a few days later it cleared up. I'm beginning to think this is an algal bloom of some kind; the bloom station is not light proofed nearly as well as the veg and has much more powerful lighting.
Any thoughts or advice anyone has is greatly appreciated.
Another DWC root problem thread
- Thread starter FPines
- Start date
topfuel29
Well-Known Member
when do you change your nutrient solution?
Do you clean everything with a H2O2 solution?
Your nutrient solution Temp is low. try to get that up @70F
It's important to start off Fresh and clean every Nutrient change to avoid problems with slime and root rot.
Good Luck on Your Grow
Do you clean everything with a H2O2 solution?
Your nutrient solution Temp is low. try to get that up @70F
It's important to start off Fresh and clean every Nutrient change to avoid problems with slime and root rot.
Good Luck on Your Grow
I use bleach - rinse w/ h202 + h2o - rinse w/ h2o. The nutes went into the system 12 hours before the plants. I just checked the system about an hour ago and the plants and roots both look great. I'm starting to think I used a bit too much tea and the resulting sludge was due to the chloramine in the tap water I use. Going to start pre-treating my water with ascorbic acid @ 2 grams per 100 gallons to remove the chlorine from it.
Cheers.
Cheers.
48 hours later and the plants look fantastic both above and below. Lots of new root growth underneath and an inch or two up top. Rez is clear and healthy looking/smelling. Upper roots are stained brown but no buildup and all new growth is pearly. I'm starting to think I overdosed the tea by a large factor and the resulting sludge was the end effect.