Using Hydrogen Peroxide, to kill algae and bacteria, and prevent root rot

InsaneMJ

Well-Known Member
I would go with the tea, over the hygrozym and H202. I've used H202 at 35% for probably a year until HR helped me out with the tea. The tea will help your plant create new root growth and vigerously at that. Hygrozym will help make your problem worse. H202 slows it down a considerable amount but never completely gets rid of it. BTW I run a hydroponic system and I'm running the bennys. I just started to give it to my clones in Rockwool and Coco aswell. I'm already a believer of this tea.
-I.MJ
 

tree king

Well-Known Member
i also broke down and sterilized EVERYTHING with a light bleach solution before the FRESH batch of h202'd water went in.
so
roots looked like rotten chow mein one morning.
I h202'd at 3ml/L of 3% h202 (thats HIGH! i took a chance)
let it sit 24hours
then emptied res, cleaned everything
refilled with distilled and h202'd water (ph'd of course)
refreshing the h202 daily at 20% and lower add backs
then back to basic nutes ...
next time bennies!
you didnt add enough h202. your supposed to put a minimum of 7 ml a gal of 29% every 3-4 days. and thats for maintainence, if you have a serious problem you gotta use 10 times the amount as quick as possible. i just had serious problems with root rot last crop and now i started using h202 and all the problems disappeared and my roots are all white now
 

NEVER OUTGUNNED

Active Member
you didnt add enough h202. your supposed to put a minimum of 7 ml a gal of 29% every 3-4 days. and thats for maintainence, if you have a serious problem you gotta use 10 times the amount as quick as possible. i just had serious problems with root rot last crop and now i started using h202 and all the problems disappeared and my roots are all white now
7ml's of 29% per gallon minimum?? anyone care to elaborate on this?
 

hellraizer30

Rebel From The North
Dude ive put up to 350ml in a 55gal res with no promising results lol hands down tea is the way to go!
And way cheaper
 

tree king

Well-Known Member
Dude ive put up to 350ml in a 55gal res with no promising results lol hands down tea is the way to go!
And way cheaper
hellraizer i think your talkin about a certain type of slime in dwc type systems mainly. ive never scene that before and i do ebb n flow. im talkin about to kill pythium,bacteria, algae, fungus, stopping root disease, etc and pretty much everything except this slime your talking about which ive never scene before. i keep the top off my res in my mother room and theres no algea to be scene anywhere while using h202. i could be wrong but from the research ive done it seems like this weird slime is the only thing that h202 cant eradicate.

question, does this tea you use kill pythium etc? isnt it only for the slime alone?
 

InsaneMJ

Well-Known Member
The "slime" he's refering to I believe is pythium. I had this problem, and it looks like brown build up like a fungus or slimy. Like snot? lol
Also yes it does help kill it. No it's not just to kill the slime. It helps promote new root growth. I've noticed that also my plants tend to take in a lot more water in between resi changes. So their taking in atleast 2 to 3 gallons of water more per watering.
-I.Mj
 

hellraizer30

Rebel From The North
Awsome root growth combined with healthy roots = a major difference in water intake

And this will only come from using tea
 

tree king

Well-Known Member
Awsome root growth combined with healthy roots = a major difference in water intake

And this will only come from using tea
i knew thats what you were saying. that slime has nothing to do with pythium which is one of the main things that cause root rot in the first place. hellraizer what is this slime you speak of, is it Cyanobacteria? have you got it tested by a lab? this tea has nothing to do with running a sterile res which is why people run h202 in the first place am i correct? please explain scientifically what this tea does to the water cause i think its only for this special slime you speak of? ive never heard anyone say that compost tea is a substitute for h202 or bleach before
 

hellraizer30

Rebel From The North
As for scientific proof i dont have but hiesinbergs thread could iron all that out.
Algae, pythium, and bad bactiria I and half this forum have had issues in hydro!
H202 will work for all three but it will not cure 100% from your res. This being said
The tea is a line of good bactiria that you brew into the millions, there so many types
In this tea I could even start to put them on paper lol. Look at it like this bad bactiria
In one corner and good in the other well bad will win every time :( so we brew a army
Of million and throw that into the ring well good wins lol. Having a 100% sterile res
Leaves you open to attack why cus theres no good to protect your water! Im my book
H202 is like slapping a bandaid on a wound. With tea your ph will be rock solid also, im
Not trying to convert the hole forum to tea but i can tell you this every person thats tryed
It is sold
 

tree king

Well-Known Member
As for scientific proof i dont have but hiesinbergs thread could iron all that out.
Algae, pythium, and bad bactiria I and half this forum have had issues in hydro!
H202 will work for all three but it will not cure 100% from your res. This being said
The tea is a line of good bactiria that you brew into the millions, there so many types
In this tea I could even start to put them on paper lol. Look at it like this bad bactiria
In one corner and good in the other well bad will win every time :( so we brew a army
Of million and throw that into the ring well good wins lol. Having a 100% sterile res
Leaves you open to attack why cus theres no good to protect your water! Im my book
H202 is like slapping a bandaid on a wound. With tea your ph will be rock solid also, im
Not trying to convert the hole forum to tea but i can tell you this every person thats tryed
It is sold
so it kills all pythium and green algae? i appreciate you recommending this but its just confusing on what it actually does. i love h202 because it guarentees no pythium and green algae anywhere which are my 2 biggest problems. i dont have any slime problems
 

hellraizer30

Rebel From The North
so it kills all pythium and green algae? i appreciate you recommending this but its just confusing on what it actually does. i love h202 because it guarentees no pythium and green algae anywhere which are my 2 biggest problems. i dont have any slime problems
Yes it kill it
 

woodsmaneh!

Well-Known Member
Some light reading

DISEASE MANAGEMENT IN CROPS PRODUCED IN RECIRCULATING HYDROPONIC SYSTEMS
John C. Sutton, Department of Environmental Biology, and Bernard Grodzinski, Horticultural Science Division, Department of Plant Agriculture, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario N1G 2W1.
Long-term maintenance of health, vigor, and productivity is a major challenge in hydroponic vegetable production. Growers frequently are faced with decline in quality, yield, and profitability of cucumbers, peppers, tomatoes and other hydroponic crops due to invasion of roots by pathogenic and other deleterious organisms, accumulation of phytotoxic substances of microbial and crop origin in the nutrient solution, salt imbalances and other causes. At times, losses are catastrophic such as when root rot and wilting become severe and fruit production ceases following attack by Pythium.
In some production systems, problems associated with harmful microbes and toxic substances are countered in part by continuous or periodic discharge of used nutrient solution into the environment combined with replenishment with fresh nutrient solution. Discharging, however, can pollute ground and surface water with plant nutrients, pathogens, toxic substances, pesticides and other residual materials in hydroponic nutrient solutions, and can thus become a serious liability issue. Discharging and replenishment can also place heavy demands on supplies of fresh water, a further issue of public concern. The long-term answer is not to discharge, but rather practice continuous recirculation of the nutrient solution combined with remediation measures against harmful organisms and toxic substances.
In this article we provide a perspective of root disease and what can be done to manage root-infecting organisms in hydroponic crops. We will use Pythium as our main example of a root-infecting pathogen because it affects all crops in hydroponic systems. However, the principles apply also to Fusarium, Verticillium, ‘deleterious microbes’ on roots, and other pathogens.
How Pythium gets into the nutrient solution and starts an epidemic of root rot.
Various kinds of Pythium that flourish on root systems of hydroponic crops can easily be introduced into the plant nutrient solution on transplants, other living plants, dead plant materials, soil and insects, and on contaminated footwear and machinery. In some instances they can be present in the water supply, especially if this is from surface water. Resistant spores (oospores) of Pythium can survive from previous crops on surfaces of plastic tubing and other components of hydroponic systems.
Why root rot epidemics can be "explosive".
Explosive epidemics involve rapid development of root rot and secondary symptoms such as wilting in large numbers of plants in the greenhouse. They occur because Pythium is able to multiply at a fast rate on the roots and spread rapidly to other roots. Spread is by means of microscopic zoospores that are carried or swim in the nutrient solution and infect the tip portions of young growing roots. Pythium also spreads from root to root by means of cottony hyphae. In cucumber, Pythium builds up in enormous amounts on the slimy root exudates that accumulate and float on the surface of the nutrient solution. Massive invasion of roots of all ages by hyphae in the exudates lead to severe rotting of entire cucumber root systems within a few days (See Zheng, Sutton, and Yu, cited below.) New generations of zoospores and hyphae are produced more or less continuously.
Lack of microbial competition and antagonism favor pathogenic organisms in hydroponic systems.
Nutrient solutions in hydroponic crops lack abundant and diverse microbial populations (microscopic fungi, bacteria, animals) especially during the first 8 - 12 weeks after transplanting (See Zheng, Sutton, Yu; cited below). Thus, Pythium and other pathogens in plant nutrient solutions are not faced with good levels of natural enemies and competitors, which in more natural environments (soils, plant residues) help keep populations of pathogens down. In other words, biological control of Pythium in root zones of hydroponic crops normally is poor or absent, an important factor contributing to the explosiveness of root rot epidemics.
Environmental stress factors predispose hydroponic crops to attack by root-infecting pathogens.
Stress conditions such as periods of high temperature, low levels of dissolved oxygen in the nutrient solution, low light intensity, and nutrient imbalance greatly increase susceptibility of hydroponic crops to attack by Pythium, Fusarium, Botrytis, and other pathogens. This predisposition of plants to disease by environmental stress factors is a principal factor contributing to severe disease outbreaks, especially of Pythium root rot.
MEASURES FOR DISEASE MANAGEMENT BASED ON INFORMATION PRESENTED SO FAR:
1 Sanitation and sterilization of materials, equipment, and surfaces in the greenhouse should be rigorous.
2 Much emphasis should be placed on producing pathogen-free transplants. It is not enough that roots of transplants appear healthy; plants without symptoms (such as brown roots) can easily harbor Pythium. ONE diseased transplant is enough to start an epidemic of root rot in a hydroponic system.
3 Maintain good insect control.
4 Consider filtering water from outside sources (eg. through sand), especially if it is surface water.
5 Regulate the microclimate and conditions of the plant nutrient solution so as to avoid or minimize predisposition of crops to disease. That is, avoid stress conditions as much as is practical. Many growers have recognized the value of oxygenation of the nutrient solution, especially in warm weather. emperature of solutions should be below 27oC when possible.
Remediation treatments of nutrient solution as it recirculates outside the crop zone.
Considerable attention has been given to inactivating, killing, or removing spores of Pythium, Fusarium, and other pathogens from the nutrient solution as it recirculates outside the crop zone. Physical ethods include sand or lava rock filtration, ultrasound, heat, and ultraviolet (UV) light, some of which are discussed elsewhere in this Conference. At the University of Guelph, we have conducted detailed studies of the UV doses needed to inactivate different kinds of spores of Pythium, and Fusarium in water and hydroponic nutrient solutions (see Sutton et al., cited below.) Generally, doses of 40 to 50 mW.s/cm2 are sufficient to destroy almost all of these kinds of spores. There is little question that spores of pathogens can easily be destroyed or removed from the nutrient solution as it recirculates outside the crop, whether by a UV apparatus, filtration, or other means.
What is unclear, however, is the impact of such treatment on pathogen populations and disease in the root zone of the crop. In our studies in growers’ greenhouses, killing of spores that were in nutrient solution recirculating outside the crop only marginally reduced the progress of root disease and only slightly promoted yield. Much more research is needed to fully understand the value of UV and filtration treatments as remediation measures against pathogens and also against phytotoxic substances.
Protection in the root zone.
Besides remediation of nutrient solutions against pathogens and toxic substances, more direct protection of roots generally is needed to fend off Pythium and other pathogens. There are several possible options:
1 Use of beneficial microbes (discussed below).
2 Use of chemical agents.
\Various surfactants, silicates, oxidants (H2O2, O3, chlorine) and fungicides have been evaluated, chiefly in North America and Europe, but all have disadvantages (eg. not very effective, phytoxicity, practical shortcomings, costs, use registration). Nonetheless, some may have a role in integrated disease management, and other good possibilities so far unimagined or untried almost certainly exist.
3 As mentioned above, minimizing environmental stresses is extremely important.
Taking advantage of beneficial microbes.
There is now good experimental evidence to indicate that it is possible to utilize selected microbes to achieve the following in hydroponic crops:
-protect roots against pathogens and other harmful organisms.
-induce systemic resistance in plants so as to protect foliage against diseases such as powdery mildews and Botrytis.
-promote plant growth and productivity (independent of effects on disease; i.e. in healthy as well as diseased plants).
-sanitize nutrient solutions so as to destroy unwanted microbes, prevent mucilage accumulation, break down dead roots, and destroy phytotoxic substances.

An example of the experimental evidence is given in Zheng, Sutton, and Yu (cited below) in which two microbial agents controlled Pythium root rot in hydroponic cucumbers for about 90 days after transplanting (to our knowledge the longest control period yet achieved). The agents also induced resistance to powdery mildew (no mildew developed in treated plants, but was severe in untreated plants), and destroyed the cucumber root mucilage (which Pythium thus could not use as food).
Intensive research is now needed on formulating beneficial microbial communities that are self-sustaining (or can easily be sustained artificially) in the root zone, and which serve to achieve A-D above. The goal is to develop measures that are effective throughout the life of each kind of hydroponic crop. This is a ‘tall order’, but could well be possible given sufficient attention in laboratories and greenhouses. Integration of the use of beneficial microbes with other remediation treatments such as exposure of nutrient solutions to UV radiation and filtration of the solutions should not present practical difficulties and may well optimize the health of hydroponic crops produced in systems with recirculating nutrients or other technology.

Disease Management Summary
-Very thorough and adequate sanitation in the greenhouse.
-Use of pathogen-free transplants.
-Maintain adequate levels of dissolved oxygen (5-7 ppm or 11-14%).
-Maintain stress-free environmental conditions.
-Consider remediation of nutrient solutions by UV radiation and filtration as components of disease management programs.
-Keep aware of advances in biological remediation technology.
-KEEP AHEAD OF DISEASE.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:
RESEARCH SUPPORT: Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food, and Rural Affairs, Flowers Canada (Ontario) Inc., Center for Research in Earth and Space Technology (CRESTech), Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), CEA Technologies International, Inc., Trojan Technologies Inc., National Research Council/IRAP.

RESEARCH COLLABORATORS:
University of Guelph: J.C. Hall, M.A. Dixon, M. Yu, W. Liu, M. Johnstone, R. Tschanz, Y. Zhang,
N. Owen-Going, S. Chatterton
Harrow Research Centre (AAFC): J. Zheng, J.C. Tu
Growers:
Tony, Dora and Gus Mastronardi (Ruthven)
Rob Hansen (Kingsville)
AMCO (Leamington)
Flagship Farms (Leamington)
REFERENCES:

Zheng, J., Sutton, J.C., and Yu, M. 2000. Interactions among Pythium aphanidermatum, roots, root mucilage, and microbial agents in hydroponic cucumbers. Canadian Journal of Plant Pathology (in press, September issue).
Sutton, J.C., Yu, H., Grodziuski, B., and Johnstone, M. 2000. Relationships of ultraviolet radiation dose and inactivation of pathogen propagules in water and hydroponic nutrient solutions. Canadian Journal of Plant Pathology (in press, September issue).
Sutton, J.C., and Evans, R. 1999 (December). Water treatment technologies for managing root disease in hydroponic peppers - Phase II. Report on IRAP project at Villacanale Farms, Ruthven. 58 pp.
 

NugNinja

Member
what is the proper water to hydrogen peroxide ratio? I have heard about this and tried it but it burned the hell outta my leaves (luckly after a flush the plant came back around) and i hardly put any peroxide in compared to the amount of water.
 

tree king

Well-Known Member
what is the proper water to hydrogen peroxide ratio? I have heard about this and tried it but it burned the hell outta my leaves (luckly after a flush the plant came back around) and i hardly put any peroxide in compared to the amount of water.
7 ml gal of 29% every 3-4 days
 
Top