Could Cold Res Change Cause Root Rot?

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slimjimham

slimjimham

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I had the most beautiful bright white roots in veg using cultured solutions nutes with uc roots.

Temp was prob about 65* in the res, no chiller but on cold basement floor...

I changed the res with a new batch of nutes with cold tap water i think it was like 54* (good water 30ppm) and a couple days later they were cream color when i looked, added a bunch more uc roots, the next day slime.... now it's starting to whiten up with new growth.

What do you think it was, the cold tap water? Maybe the 2ml per gallon i put in want enough at the change?

Its killing me because i know I'm not getting things to potential, i can clear it up no prob worth uc roots when it happens... it just slows things way down.

I don't have this problem in flower...
But am i unknowingly slowing things down there too by shocking the roots initially when i change the res with 54* water?

I'm thinking about getting a couple res' s one for veg one for flower so there isn't a temp shock to the roots, what do you think... id prob then use half res water half tap or whatever so the temp stayed more in the range it is in the system...

Thanks

I keep having this problem at res changes in veg
 
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slimjimham

slimjimham

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Well the reason i ask is this doesn't happen to me in flower only veg it seems, maybe just because the flowering roots are more established and stronger?

Also I've never heard of a cold water res change giving roots shock to the point of giving them root rot.

So if that's what you think it is I'll get a res just to hold water long enough to warm it up to the point where its not shocking the roots....
 
slimjimham

slimjimham

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Well i just ordered a 33g covert tank for veg and a 66g covert tank for flower by general hydroponic. Tanks are collapsable so neighbors don't get too curious, will also make em easy to store in the summer when water temp is higher
 
DapperDon

DapperDon

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Again, you just answered your own questions lol. Once the roots are formed they are very susceptible to temperature variations. Think of them as you would your nervous system. You never want your rez to dip below 65 or they get a case of the chills. Next time do you add back a little at a time or wait until it has raised temp.
 
slimjimham

slimjimham

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Yeah things will be easier when i have the res's in. Everything is looking back to normal now, love and learn. Hydro plants don't like cold tap water in the winter ha
 
F

FooDoo

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Your problem is the tap. That stuff gave me root rot instantly and that was with municipal that's at .3 ec that was treated with uc roots.

I rocked a collapsible rez from autopot and it got moldy halfway thru a grow. The tarp fabric let's too much air and light thru, and I'm guess mold spores.

My buddy got a 200 gallon and it did the same thing.

We switched back to food grade upright plastic rez'
 
slimjimham

slimjimham

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I'm pretty sure it was the water temp. I guess it's even cooler than i thought, like 44*!

The blue lab takes a bit to read the temp, i didn't let it sit long enough.

I just set up another uc system and had my hand in there with the tap water adjusting seals and it was like painfully cold.

I could be wrong but all the flowering plants do amazing, and like i said those roots were thick bright white before the cold as fuck res change, if it was an issue with my tap wouldn't it have prevented the roots from being bright white for the first 2/3 weeks of its life...+2 in clone

i guess time will tell but my tap water is 30ppm on the 500 scale, and 7.2ph. City water.

The tanks are general hydroponic covert, 33gallon and 66 gallon. I could be wrong but i trust gh in this relm, and it's food grade plastic. I think if my waters good I'll be fine

as to your moldy water, the keurig coffee maker water tank at my work molds up like you said in a few days, my keurig water tank never does, even if i leave it for months without use.

So i think my water is good, like i said we'll see if that fixes it but even current culture reccomends using tap as long as its under like 150/200ppm
 
F

FooDoo

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I don't see why cold water would cause root rot. Temperaute has nothing to do with the creation of bacteria colonizing in the root mass which causes rot, and if anything, lower temperatures hinder such things from happening.

Since the beginning of dwc, its always been common shared information and experience that warm water promotes bacteria reproduction that onsets root rot.

As for your question about "why wouldn't i have gotten root rot in first stages of growth before tank change."

For that, we'd have to be scientists in a laboratory to attempt finding an answer. Maybe the bacteria has always been there, but your healthy plants and ideal.conditions kept them at bay. Maybe the cold water shocked the roots and the plants, which gave the bacteria a slight edge to take hold. Maybe the new tap water had more contaminates then previous batches provided by the city. There's a million variables.
 
DapperDon

DapperDon

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FooDoo said:
I don't see why cold water would cause root rot. Temperaute has nothing to do with the creation of bacteria colonizing in the root mass which causes rot, and if anything, lower temperatures hinder such things from happening.
Click to expand...

Hi FooDoo, I think I can answer your question. What happens is when you shock the root mass with a temperature change like that is that it causes plant tissue damage which in turn begins the process of cellular necrosis which then bring on the bacteria that causes root rot and so on and so forth. I am grossly oversimplifying everything that is happening, but just trying to convey the information in a non tl;dr way. I hope that helped.
 
F

FooDoo

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DapperDon said:
Hi FooDoo, I think I can answer your question. What happens is when you shock the root mass with a temperature change like that is that it causes plant tissue damage which in turn begins the process of cellular necrosis which then bring on the bacteria that causes root rot and so on and so forth. I am grossly oversimplifying everything that is happening, but just trying to convey the information in a non tl;dr way. I hope that helped.
Click to expand...

Articles and studies supporting this would be nice. I'm a "don't believe anything you hear, and only half of what you see" type of guy.

I also stated I think the cold temperature was a shock, however I don't see it causing cellular necrosis (aka the death of cells). A study showing 44 degree water causing root cells to be damaged would be beneficial to that claim. I also don't see damaged cells turning into dead cells "which then bring on the bacteria." I can see bacteria, that is already currently in the water at a controlled and sustainable state, start to over populate with the new dead cells to eat on. But that means tap water, has that bacteria in it.

I can test this by dropping my water temp to 44 on ro and seeing if I get root rot. I'd put my bank roll on it not happening.
 
slimjimham

slimjimham

399
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Try to put some 2 week old veg plants roots in 44* water... i am by no means saying I'm definitely right since I'm new to this but i think it's reasonable to think some tender roots would die off under those circumstances, the dead material would then decay and cause infection... we'll see if the problem comes back when my res comes in tomorrow.... I'll keep you updated either way
 
slimjimham

slimjimham

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I'm a little confused, i thought higher levels of oxygen inhibited pyth, as well as low temps which inhibit pyth... am i wrong on that? My dogs been sitting next to the bed crying for 20 minutes trying to get me up, he thinks the package on the steps was for him ha
 
Papa

Papa

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i've run my water at 59 degrees and had no problems. now, abrupt temperature change is something else, but i have no experience with that.
how high were you running your nutes?
 
ZurichTheHunter

ZurichTheHunter

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Hey SJH - As you probably know... there many variables in troubleshooting these types of problems. So that we can better help you, please provide a little more insight.

What nutes are you running (including supplements and when)?

What are your DWC Hygiene practices?

Are you running RO or Tap Water?

What is the pH?

What is the TDS PPM?

Are you flushing the DWC in the day cycle or the night cycle?

What Temp do you run the DWC at?

Do you have pictures of your system that can give us an idea of your setup?
 
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