Can I soak in H2O2 in between tanks of organic nutes?

Dee Welch

Member
I am doing DWC with Foxfarm Trio for nutes. I know I can't use H2O2 to manage pathogens (and will use non-organic nutes in future!), but I am seeing some beginning signs of root rot and want to take care of it right away. I have been researching Hygrozyme, but it seems like more prevention than cure. My question is this: Can I rinse my roots and put them in a tank of just H2O and H2O2 for a few hours to clean them up before switching back to a tank of Foxfarm + Hygrozyme for maintainence or will the reaction between the H2O2 and any trace remaining organic nutes be detrimental to my plants? Please advise, thanks!
 

Dee Welch

Member
I do rinse the roots off in plain H2O during my weekly reservoir changes. The FoxFarm Big Bloom stains the roots brown and leaves some sediment so I like to get that off. It was during the last rinse I noticed some of the roots were a bit slimy as well, and a couple broke off during the rinse. I'm hoping that adding Hygrozyme to my regular reservoir water will keep this from happening in the future, at least until my next grow which will be inorganic and maintained with H2O2. Do you think just running them in fresh water for a few hours before adding nutes/Hygrozyme will be enough to get the situation in check? I thought a good H2O2 soak would be really beneficial, I'm just worried because of those damned organic nutes. :/
 

zem

Well-Known Member
yes but at the right dosage, if you put too much h2o2 you will destroy roots
 

Dee Welch

Member
Thanks for the responses so far! I've been lurking some time now and learned a lot here. I just got done doing some thinking/googling/smoking and came to the conclusion that I'm just gonna buy some Canna nutes (a la Al B Fuct) and some H2O2 and do this right the first time. That Hygrozyme is expensive stuff, and I'm not guaranteed results. Inorganic and H2O2 should be foolproof-ish. I hate to have wasted the money on the Fox Farm nutes, but live and learn, Maybe my soil-growing friend will want them... Anyhow, my next res change is Monday so I guess I'll start the new regimen then. Should I do an H2O2 soak and/or a flush in the meantime?
 

Heisenberg

Well-Known Member
Switching nutes will help a great deal, but you may find h202 is not enough to keep disease away. If that turns out to be the case, consider using beneficial microbes instead of a sterilizing agent. I personally would never recommend an enzyme product in DWC.
 

Dee Welch

Member
Last night I washed my reservoir, tubing, and air stones in H2O2 and water and refilled my res with ph'd water and H2O2 (at 2 1/2 tsp/gallon). 80% of the brown on the roots went away within 30 minutes or so. After an hour however my plants started drooping heavily. I drained the res again (lots of funk in the water) and refilled with ph'd water and H2O2, this time at 1tsp/gallon. An hour later at lights out they were looking much better, and at lights on (8AM) they were back to normal. No new root growth, but the existing ones look cleaner so that's a start. I guess I should have eased them into the full 2 1/2 tsp/gallon dose a little at a time though...

In related news I went to the hydro store today and picked up Canna Flores A&B as well as an extra airstone. It's nice having a hydro store a half mile away!!! :D
 

Dee Welch

Member
Switching nutes will help a great deal, but you may find h202 is not enough to keep disease away. If that turns out to be the case, consider using beneficial microbes instead of a sterilizing agent. I personally would never recommend an enzyme product in DWC.
Thanks for the input! I've read your thread on beneficial microbes and it seems like sometimes that's the only thing that gets the job done, especially if you are insistent on using organics. I am hoping that switching to the Canna and introducing H2O2 keeps things in check for me, but I have your thread bookmarked just in case! :)
 

zem

Well-Known Member
how much is your H2O2 strength in%? it varies, ive seen from 3% to 50% and how much is a teaspoon in mils?
 

Dee Welch

Member
The peroxide is 3% and there are approx 5 ml per tsp. So I'm running 3% at roughly 5ml/gallon now. I'm about to change out the tank of water/H2O2 and replace with Canna nutes and H2O2. Plants are still looking happy up top, and I'll get a better look at the roots during the res change.
 

Dee Welch

Member
Update: Roots look even whiter, and there is some new growth in several areas. No ill effects from the new sauce (Canna Aqua A+B @ 10 ml/gallon and H2O2 @ 1.5 tsp/gallon). I think I'll add some extra H2O2 tomorrow and just keep attacking the funk until it goes away. I seem to be winning the battle so far, I'm glad I caught it when I did! Thanks everyone for the input. :)
 

Dee Welch

Member
So I've been adding 1 tsp/gallon per day to the res up until the res change yesterday. Besides the Canna nutes I added H2O2 at 2 tsp/gallon to the fresh tank. Root balls have almost doubled in size and thick, bright white, new roots are filling in. Plants look great! H2O2 is the truth. :clap:
 

zem

Well-Known Member
ya, i have a big 30L of 35%h2o2 thats a lifetime supply i add 1ml/L maximum equivalent to your 10ml/L 3% it's great stuff. i mostly use it to prevent larvae so i add much less 1/2 to 1/4 the dosage and i never see a single larva in my res
 
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