I’ve seen the slime many times throughout the years and have tried many things to eradicate it and now I found the secret. The Slime is known as Brown Slime Algae but don’t be fooled by the name because it is not an algae. People have thought for many years that it was an algae but electron microscapy has shown that it is actually a Cyanobacteria. Anyone who has had to deal with this slime knows how nasty this stuff is and it multiplies like crazy within 24 hours. The Slime comes from your drinking water and can be very hard to get rid of. Some people can get rid of it with a good Bleach or Physan20 but I’ve had the slime for years in 3 of my EZCloners and no matter how much Bleach or Physan 20 that I use, it just keeps on coming back stronger. Every time I get the slime I have to resort to going to the grow shop and buying a new easy cloner which is why I currently have 5 ezcloners. I believe that if you have the slime and you tried to clean it with Bleach or Physan 20 and it didn’t work, it is because the specific slime that you have has built up a resistance to chlorine. There are organic approaches in keeping the slime at bay but it is still there waiting for the opportunity to take hold of your plants.
Here's a couple of pictures of some cuts that have "The Slime":
Here are pictures of new cuts that came from the same EZ Cloner that was covered with Slime after I gave my Erythromycin treatments for 6 days (cuts were in the cloner for 10 days):
The slime looks like clear, brown or yellow snot. In this post, I will explain how to get rid of the slime forever. The first approach that I would suggest that you do is to quadruple the dosage of bleach or physan20 and run your cloner or equipment for 24 hours with the bleach or physan 20 after soaking the lid or equipment in the bathtub for 6 hours with bleach. If you continue to get the slime after that, then you will know that the slime that you have has become resistant to chlorine and you will have to take the more extreme measure.
Here is a picture of the Erythromycin product that I use:
The extreme measure that you may need to take is an antibiotic and the antibiotic that I’m talking about is Erythromycin. If you must take this extreme measure, do not treat this lightly. You do not want this slime building up a resistance to Erythromycin and becoming a Super Slime. You will also want to wear gloves, goggles, a mask and long sleeves so that you don’t inhale or get any erythromycin on you. You can buy Erythromycin at a store that sells exotic fish. You will need to give at least 4 treatments over 4 days and you will want to finish all 4 treatments so that the slime isn’t able to build up a resistance. If you are trying to clean out your cloner, it is important to take out the sprayers and clean out the inside of the manifold. I was surprised to see that inside one of my manifolds, there was slime everywhere. Take the manifold to the bathtub and fill it up with hot water and just keep shaking out the dreaded slime. You should know when it is all gone because when you fill the manifold up with water and turn it upside down, you will see water coming out of every hole where the sprayers were. If you still see a clog then that will be a sign that you still have slime in there. If the slime is stuck inside one of the sprayer holes, you can use a toothpick to stick in there to release the slime back into the manifold and then continue filling it up with hot water and shake the rest of it out. After you are done with washing everything out, you will want to unclog any sprayer and screw them back into the manifold and fill up the Cloner or equipment up with just water and add your first treatment of Erythromycin. You will continue to add your Erythromycin every 24 hours for at least the next 3 days but to be safe I would continue treatments for a total of 6 days. Make sure when you are treating your cloner or equipment that your pumps are turned on so it will clean the inside of the pump and manifold.
When you are done with your treatments, make sure that you throw out your neoprene collars and buy new ones to avoid possible contamination and also because the collars can hold the Erythromycin. You should also throw out any filters, tubing and air stones and replace them with new ones. Next you will want to dump out all of the water / Erythromycin solution and thoroughly wash out your cloner or equipment with water including the pump and manifold. Make sure to run your pump when you are cleaning it with water. Now you will be bacteria free and The Slime will be gone forever. From this point on, you should also consider boiling your water for 20 minutes on the stove and letting it come back to room temperature and only add back that water to the cloner to avoid getting another case of the slime.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyanobacteria
Damn, why didn’t I think of that? I have never had it when growing plants, but have experience with it in aquariums, which is a much harder problem to solve because you cannot easily nuke everything and start over.
it hasnt, ive done both already. ive also thouroughly cleaned the cloner numerous times used with shock, bleach and physan 20
ive ran it as low as 65F. should i go lower? when i ran it at 65F the clones sat in the cloner for about a month and never got roots. this was with ph'd well water and bleach at about 5 drops per gallon.
You should be good at 65-68f, if you're still getting root rot and dampening off then there is definitely something else going on.
Snype;5979686 said:
Have u had any luck with slime after you used Erythromycin? I am having a similar slime issue that i just cant find a solution to. I have lowered temps(69 degrees). thoroughly washed out cloner with bleach, vinegar, and or physan 20. I have used Ro and tap, with and without clonex solution, with and without clear rez just tryin to trouble shoot the problem. I, like u went out and bought a new cloner and still, slime in 3 days!! I even bought ro from a store with brand new machine. I was thinkin something had built up in the old ones. Also, have used cloners for 7 years and have seen this slime in the past but never this fast. I have takin a hundred + clones a month for years with 100 percent success rate....but now, outta nowhere, this slime comes along and treats me like im a rookie. Is it paossible that the bacteria could come from the cuttings themselves? It is the only thing that makes any sense