Please Help A New Grower

So i'm having a reoccurring problem with my plants roots. The roots start out very healthy. Plump, nice and white with little white hairs sticking out. But after a few days, the start to get extremely skinny, dry out and get crispy until they eventually just break off. I am pretty confident it isn't root rot. The roots are not turning brown, they are not coated in a slimy, smelly sludge. They simply seem to just dry out, turn crispy, and break off.... I've looked all over the web for any kind of information on this, but, so far, no luck. I'm growing three plants in a DWC system. (The RootFarm hydroponic garden system to be exact) using RO water. I have taken all the necessary precautions to avoid plant health issues. Such as, oxygenating the water using a high quality air pump and air stones running 24-7, Keeping any light from leaking into the nutrient solution inside the res. I check the PH of the water every 6 hours and maintain it at 5.7-6.1 at all times. I am at a complete loss for what the issue could be.

It's hard to tell from the picture I provided (This was the best one I could get after many attempts) but that long, hanging stringy-looking-thing is a root. It used to be thick and white and healthy but it has turned into a crispy, stringy dead mess. This is happening to all of my plants. I've changed the water numerous times and the plants always come back with fresh, healthy root growth but within a couple of days, they just dry out and the same thing happens over and over. any tips/advice/suggestion would be hugely appreciated. Thanks in advance!

What are the temps of your water and are you feeding them? After a couple of weeks your supposed to start giving them calmag. Also I am new to growing as well jus thought I’d comment. Good luck!

something in the water must be causing the slimey sludge have you tried changing your rez out?

Brian326 said:

What are the temps of your water and are you feeding them? After a couple of weeks your supposed to start giving them calmag. Also I am new to growing as well jus thought I’d comment. Good luck!

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I'm feeding them a nutrient line called Root Farm. It's a two part feeding sytem. One basic nutrient and an advanced nutrient. I'm not sure if it has Calcium and magnesium in it. But it claims to have everything a plant needs from seedling to harvest. This is hard, making me wanna switch back to soil :'(

I love growing in soil with fabric pots, but I clone with hydroponics more specifically aeroponics. Maybe do jus water til you see good root growth then add some calmag or some water with dissolved Eppsom salts that may help I know temperatures can also be big issues.

CapollaLabs said:

something in the water must be causing the slimey sludge have you tried changing your rez out?

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I've changed the water out a couple times with fresh reverse osmosis water. Which seems to correct the problem for a few days, I'll see plenty of new root growth. But after a couple days, the roots dry out or something. They turn into crispy little skinny threads and break off. There actually isn't any sludge or anything. The roots just go from being healthy, firm, thick white roots to dying, crispy, thin stringy things that break off.

FuckSalt420 said:

I've changed the water out a couple times with fresh reverse osmosis water. Which seems to correct the problem for a few days, I'll see plenty of new root growth. But after a couple days, the roots dry out or something. They turn into crispy little skinny threads and break off. There actually isn't any sludge or anything. The roots just go from being healthy, firm, thick white roots to dying, crispy, thin stringy things that break off.

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What's the update on your plants? Did they get better?

How far is the water from the roots? Are they actually sat in the water or are they above it?