DWC Root Slime Cure aka How to Breed Beneficial Microbes

Heisenberg said:
With stubborn cuttings, I have the best luck when I prepare a res 24 hours before I place plants into it and use housing. Be sure to inoculate plants as soon as they show roots to establish some bennies before plants go into water, and be sure to leave an air gap even if it's just 1/8 inch at first. I am finding rhizotonic helps a lot, and I got a bottle of rapid start today to try out.

I believe some strains just do not like to have their roots submerged.

As I said earlier, I also see improvement when I spray the foliage with a 50/50 mix of tea.
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I do fill up the water to the bottom of the netpot. Leaving an air gap is better?

I'll try doing the res before I add plants next time, just have to get more buckets. I notice I can spray this brown off with a sprayer(what I did last time) and it didn't come back until a res change.

Is it possible nutrients are contaminated? Or PH down? Never had all these issues until I switched nutrients from Ionic to Dynagro.
 
firsttimeARE said:
I do fill up the water to the bottom of the netpot. Leaving an air gap is better?

I'll try doing the res before I add plants next time, just have to get more buckets. I notice I can spray this brown off with a sprayer(what I did last time) and it didn't come back until a res change.

Is it possible nutrients are contaminated? Or PH down? Never had all these issues until I switched nutrients from Ionic to Dynagro.
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All synthetic nutes seem to be okay. Do you have city water, well water, or does it come from a tower?

Leaving a gap is necessary because no matter how much oxygen you manage to get into the water it will still only be a small fraction of the the roots total needs. An air gap allows the plant to form sections of air roots, which are thick and cord-like, and also prevents pockets of anaerobic water from forming in the bottom of the cups. Just be careful that new roots do not dry out and become air pruned. It does require some diligence if plants are very young.
 
I found some cheap wire-frame waste baskets at my dollar store the other day. One of them will easily fit inside a 3 gal bucket. You guys may want to pick some up if you are regularly brewing rocks in your tea. You can place the rocks in the basket, drizzle them with molasses, and lower it into the brew. This way you can easily get the rocks out of the tea without having to stick your hand down in it or pour it out.


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Heisenberg said:
All synthetic nutes seem to be okay. Do you have city water, well water, or does it come from a tower?

Leaving a gap is necessary because no matter how much oxygen you manage to get into the water it will still only be a small fraction of the the roots total needs. An air gap allows the plant to form sections of air roots, which are thick and cord-like, and also prevents pockets of anaerobic water from forming in the bottom of the cups. Just be careful that new roots do not dry out and become air pruned. It does require some diligence if plants are very young.
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I use city water right from the tap. Smells of chlorine wicked bad which is why I got an RO so I could make tea without having to buy water.

I used to leave an airgap but someone told me it was better to keep the water at the netpot.

Maybe this is why im starting to see brown roots after a res fill up and once the water is down a couple inches from the netpot this is when I see recovery?

All my plants ive grown in DWC just continue to grow the roots thats already out and very rarely do new roots come out. I noticed top feeding the tea forces a bunch of roots out. Are my plants not healthy or do some strains just grow roots this way and don't bush out. Roots get like 4-5ft long on flowering plants, but once they got a good deal of roots they don't put more out, just keep growing the ones there longer and branch those out more.
 
Heisenberg said:
I found some cheap wire-frame waste baskets at my dollar store the other day. One of them will easily fit inside a 3 gal bucket. You guys may want to pick some up if you are regularly brewing rocks in your tea. You can place the rocks in the basket, drizzle them with molasses, and lower it into the brew. This way you can easily get the rocks out of the tea without having to stick your hand down in it or pour it out.


View attachment 2554622
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Brew is done, 48 hrs. I just lifted the pump bag with a couple of handfuls of lava rocks out of the brew and into the pump bucket.

I just rolled the bag down to expose the pile. Now to dose the plants and begin dosing the reservoir, etc. I'll certainly get the wire box. Much better. Thanks!
 
I'm 99% sure my Acapulco Gold is dead. I'm sad. I foliar sprayed and inoculated on Tuesday. The younger ones clawed after I sprayed them. But, they are cranking away. The old Acapulco has been through hell over months. It looks dead with limp, lifeless, shriveled leaves. It was recovering and growing nice white roots back. Can a foliar spray suffocate the foliage? It was a very sick plant. I don't want to accept it's dead.
 
Jeeyah said:
I'm 99% sure my Acapulco Gold is dead. I'm sad. I foliar sprayed and inoculated on Tuesday. The younger ones clawed after I sprayed them. But, they are cranking away. The old Acapulco has been through hell over months. It looks dead with limp, lifeless, shriveled leaves. It was recovering and growing nice white roots back. Can a foliar spray suffocate the foliage? It was a very sick plant. I don't want to accept it's dead.
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So long as you sprayed them properly, i.e during lights off or raised lighting, your spray prolly didn't hurt anything. In my experience when a slimed plant seems to be recovering with new roots and then suddenly gives up and dies it's has likely fallen victim to a systemic pathogen, probably pythium. Advanced root rot is nearly impossible to cure even with tea. Sorry for your loss. I have felt that pain before.
 
Hi Heisenburg,
I picked this "Multi-Enzyme Formula" made by Soil Secrets LLC, used for cheap. Looks really old. I couldn't find it on the company's website but they are still in business and going strong. Looks like it's "Diver's [can't make it out], Black Kelp, Green Kelp, Earthworm Castings, Cultured Humus..." and other proprietary elements.

I'm currently brewing Aquashield, ZHO and Rooter's Myco so I don't think I have castings in my tea. I know you said to add enzymes once a colony is established but since this has earthworm castings in it I was wondering if I could add it to my brewing tea(maybe instead of molasses?) or would there be a problem with the other ingredients? Says to add 5-10 ml per gallon every two weeks for a hydroponic res.

Thanks,
-turkey

SS_Multi-Enzyme_Forumula.jpgSS_Multi-Enzyme_Forumula-2.jpgSS_Multi-Enzyme_Forumula-3.jpg
 
Hi Heisenberg

First grow in DWC . Been fighting brown algea since 30th day of veg. Ph was rising from 5.5 to 7 in less than 5h. Plants ended up with brown slime on roots and pythium did manage to set it. ( Was using Hygrozyme at that time stopped using it after)

Following your directions ( physan then tea ) I was able to save my grow but ever since my plants have been infected ( lightly brownish roots) and its like if it was kept in control but just waiting to surge again. T

The roots in the water have always been pearly white but the roots in the airgap always stayed light brown until 3 weeks ago (brown stuff growing on roots ONLY in the air gap).

The problem I have now is that the tea i make doesnt seem to work. I noticed 3 things that were different in my 4 last batches of tea. No foam , weird sweet smell and the last batch had white slime covering the pantyhose with the ewc ???? Have you ever had this problem??

Im now 2 weeks from harvest ( wont be a big one but better than nothin...)

I also tried those new batches of tea in my ebb and gro to prevent problems. Ph was stable but the smell was really bad after 2 days and there was white slime covering the inside of the res.

My ingredients are the same except i had to buy a new bag of EWC. Tea is made with RO water / Subculture B / ZHO / EWC / Fancy Molasse ( couldnt find unsulphered but worked with same in the past ...)

My questions to make it simple:

1) Ever had rot only in air gap??
2) Ever had similar results when making tea?
3) Ever had really bad smelling res after adding tea?

Thx
 
Frankfrank said:
My ingredients are the same except i had to buy a new bag of EWC. Tea is made with RO water / Subculture B / ZHO / EWC / Fancy Molasse ( couldnt find unsulphered but worked with same in the past ...)
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I would suggest brewing without the molasses. My first tea didn't have any "food" in it and it worked just fine. Although, I assume that there is some kind of microbe food in my Rooter's, since they recommend putting it directly into the res(in some sort of "housing").

Maybe brew smaller batches of tea and really watch everything close. Did you make sure all of your sterilizing element was washed away really good? White slime is just early brown slime. It starts out white like snot and then goes brown when it takes off.
 
Just an update my roots dont look brown anymore and look white under an HPS, most likely tan in normal light.

The plant drinking about a gallon since saturday lowered the water level and that has helped the roots breathe better I think. Next res change i'll leave a couple inches of space between pot and water level and see if that gives me overnight brownish roots.
 
Frankfrank said:
Hi Heisenberg

First grow in DWC . Been fighting brown algea since 30th day of veg. Ph was rising from 5.5 to 7 in less than 5h. Plants ended up with brown slime on roots and pythium did manage to set it. ( Was using Hygrozyme at that time stopped using it after)

Following your directions ( physan then tea ) I was able to save my grow but ever since my plants have been infected ( lightly brownish roots) and its like if it was kept in control but just waiting to surge again. T

The roots in the water have always been pearly white but the roots in the airgap always stayed light brown until 3 weeks ago (brown stuff growing on roots ONLY in the air gap).

The problem I have now is that the tea i make doesnt seem to work. I noticed 3 things that were different in my 4 last batches of tea. No foam , weird sweet smell and the last batch had white slime covering the pantyhose with the ewc ???? Have you ever had this problem??

Im now 2 weeks from harvest ( wont be a big one but better than nothin...)

I also tried those new batches of tea in my ebb and gro to prevent problems. Ph was stable but the smell was really bad after 2 days and there was white slime covering the inside of the res.

My ingredients are the same except i had to buy a new bag of EWC. Tea is made with RO water / Subculture B / ZHO / EWC / Fancy Molasse ( couldnt find unsulphered but worked with same in the past ...)

My questions to make it simple:

1) Ever had rot only in air gap??
2) Ever had similar results when making tea?
3) Ever had really bad smelling res after adding tea?

Thx
Click to expand...

A picture's worth a thousand words:

Current batch of tea... 42h brewing
First time i get that. Is that good???

IMG_1105.JPG
 
Frankfrank said:
Hi Heisenberg

First grow in DWC . Been fighting brown algea since 30th day of veg. Ph was rising from 5.5 to 7 in less than 5h. Plants ended up with brown slime on roots and pythium did manage to set it. ( Was using Hygrozyme at that time stopped using it after)

Following your directions ( physan then tea ) I was able to save my grow but ever since my plants have been infected ( lightly brownish roots) and its like if it was kept in control but just waiting to surge again. T

The roots in the water have always been pearly white but the roots in the airgap always stayed light brown until 3 weeks ago (brown stuff growing on roots ONLY in the air gap).

The problem I have now is that the tea i make doesnt seem to work. I noticed 3 things that were different in my 4 last batches of tea. No foam , weird sweet smell and the last batch had white slime covering the pantyhose with the ewc ???? Have you ever had this problem??

Im now 2 weeks from harvest ( wont be a big one but better than nothin...)

I also tried those new batches of tea in my ebb and gro to prevent problems. Ph was stable but the smell was really bad after 2 days and there was white slime covering the inside of the res.

My ingredients are the same except i had to buy a new bag of EWC. Tea is made with RO water / Subculture B / ZHO / EWC / Fancy Molasse ( couldnt find unsulphered but worked with same in the past ...)
Click to expand...

Slightly different conditions can make a difference in which microbes dominate your tea. These may not even be conditions you and I are aware of or able to influence. In most batches of tea my air stones come out perfectly clean looking, while sometimes they are coated in a thick bioslime like you describe. I have moved these gunky slimy air stones into my DWC buckets after brewing with no ill harm. So long as the tea smells earthy/shroomy/mossy, or like bark it's fine.

If tea smells bad, even slightly like sweat, socks, rotting food, stagnate dish water, ect, something went wrong. The most likely cause is under aeration. Do you start with clean air stones each time? Is your air pump in good condition? If you are using a cheap walmart-type pump one isn't enough. I use four dual outlet pumps for two gallons of tea. You can also outstrip the oxygen by adding too much molasses initially, which causes an explosion of micro-life beyond what the water can support.

My questions to make it simple:

1) Ever had rot only in air gap??
2) Ever had similar results when making tea?
3) Ever had really bad smelling res after adding tea?
Click to expand...

I have never heard of roots browning above the water line while looking clean below it. I can not think of a situation which would cause this, provided they are not simply drying out.

I occasionally have excessive gunk in my tea and it doesn't seem to hurt anything so long as it doesn't smell bad. Try making a batch without the EWC as that is the only thing you have changed recently.

I did have one bucket which developed an odor even after I added tea, but this was due to advanced root rot. The tea itself should never cause your res to smell.
 
My Ladies are 3,5 week old. From day 1 I used the Tea in a doses of preventing not curing.
Since 4 days most of my ladies have Slime (I think it is slime..).
I changed the Tea doses in curing mode and it didn’t got worse but it’s not getting better either.
My leaves looked okay but now some leaves are hanging down, curling downwards. I think I’m going to get some kind of deficiencies.

  • What can I do? Please help me…
  • Can I foliar feed and with what?
  • My res is 90L, and I added 6L Tea. Should I increase the dosis?
  • I didn’t clean my system yet. Should I do so?

Some pics are included. I only use Locas formula, GH Micro and Bloom. Nothing else. I’m not running in DWC but I use the GH Dutch Pots Aero’s.
I read the thread of Mr. Frankfrank on page 244 and I’m noticing the same root problems he describes. Roots hanging in the Air are covered with Slime and the lower parts of the roots that are in the water are clean!

Plant 2.1.jpgPlant 2.2.jpgPlant 1.2.jpgPlant 1.3.jpgPlant 1.1.jpgPlant 2.3.jpgPlant 1.4.jpg

Hope hearing from you guys real soon! :sad:

Thanks!
 
forty8 said:
Some pics are included. I only use Locas formula, GH Micro and Bloom. Nothing else. I’m not running in DWC but I use the GH Dutch Pots Aero’s.
I read the thread of Mr. Frankfrank on page 244 and I’m noticing the same root problems he describes. Roots hanging in the Air are covered with Slime and the lower parts of the roots that are in the water are clean!
Click to expand...
I am not Heisenberg, I am not an expert, but I would raise your water level and possibly spray/clean the brown roots with diluted tea to reinoculate. The new root growth looks good though.

On a different note, can Actinovate be used in/with the tea?
I've searched and several members mention using it in this thread but the info is very vague.
 
IMG_0544[1].jpgIMG_0543[1].jpg update here! Finally got all of my ingredients for the tea. ZHO, aquashield and ancient forest! I have been brewing for 24hrs so far. Of my 2 plants the one with the most established roots has been doing fine even after the res change. The other has new roots and starting to get a little brownish/blackish in some spots. I have realized that i used tap water that has been open to air for 6 days to get rid of the clorine, but just read my water report and it says there is cloramine used in it. is it okay to use this water in the tea? If not, can i use purified water? And can i use any of the ingredients in the res to help with the slime until i brew another batch? Thanks to all!
 
Whats new Heisenberg? I havent kept up with this thread over the last year so I was wondering what your current tea recipe is? Im going to be running a 300 gallon vortex brewer this year for outdoor plants and was wondering what you would recommend for ratios on that scale. Also are you still using DM liquid light, saturator, and snowstorm as your foliar regiment? Looking forward to the new Breaking Bad episodes this summer.
 
Heisenberg tea has kicked my slimes ass- thanks Heisenberg- i now have some plain ole root rot- i have a low res temp and massive air- will the tea work on this too? thanks
 
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