Brown stuff starting to form on roots

grower_meven · May 5, 2021

Greetings everyone!

I'm running my first grow ever and have it's all been going pretty well so far until I started to notice this brown stuff starting to form in my plant's roots.
I can't really tell if this is some gunk glogging up in the roots or actual root rot, but I'm guessing the latter.

I'm currently on day 24 from seed and the nutrients I've been using are:

TerraAquatic/GHE FloraTrio
TerraAquatic/GHE ProRoots
TerraAquatic/GHE Fulvic
Advanced Nutrients Sensi CalMag Xtra

Let me know if I should post the amounts that I've used as well, but in short I've used ~15% less than manifacturer suggests.

And here's some current 'statistics' of the water (taken before posting this):

PPM500: 550
Temp: 23°C (74°F)
pH 6.0 - 6.1

Air is on average 24°C and humidity averages at 61%.

Now for some pictures.

Roots:

Top:

I'm not going to lie I'm getting pretty concerned that if nothing is done the plant is going to die.

Keeping the water reservoir cooler is a bit hard so I'd have to make some kind of DIY solution for that. However I have read from here that some people haven't had any problems with temps around these parts so maybe I'm doing something wrong?

I don't think there are any light leaks. I'm using an Oxypot Single with an aluminium tape cover on top of the netpot to prevent light from getting through the clay pebbles.

What should I do to prevent this brown stuff from taking over my entire root system?
Maybe it's something from the nutrients I'm using and this is normal?
Is there a product that could help with this? I haven't used any enzymes or bacteria because I honestly I didn't think I'd need any, but maybe some brand has a product that is available to me and can save this?
Is is possible to identify the cause of this?
What would you do if this was your plant?

PS. I don't have access to Botanicare Hydroguard, but is there an alternative from TerraAquatic/GHE (or someone else)? I've read about their Silicate product but would like to hear opinions from someone who knows what it's actually useful for.

Thanks in advance! <3

grower_meven · May 8, 2021

Thanks for the help guys...

I decided to buy Cannazym and potassium silicate but they didn't seem to help much at all. Should I just cut most of the roots away?

airedog · May 8, 2021

Find a way to drop your nutrient temps below 70F and aerate the solution with airstones and air pump; unless you fix the cause, symptoms will keep coming back. Cannazym will provide enzymes to break down dead organic matter but you need beneficial bacteria to combat the root rot. In a pinch, you can use septic tank bacteria; just be sure to buy aerobic bacteria. Did you check Amazon for the HydroGuard? Aqua Man often recommends Southern AG but that can be difficult to source unless you are in the US.

grower_meven · May 8, 2021

I can't get Hydroguard anywhere. It's completely out of stock in my country and Amazon doesn't ship it here (even if it did it would take way too long). Southern AG is out of sight as well. Can't seem to find Bacillus amyloliquefaciens containing products anywhere here..

ComfortablyNumb · Jun 15, 2021

Those roots look good. How much air are you pumping into the water? That's the secret to keeping root rot out.
A nice big air rock at the bottom.

Smokey0418 · Nov 16, 2021

Some of your roots look good, the others I would be checking for anything slimy.

Maybe orca could be found instead of hydroguard if you choose that route.

tobh · Nov 16, 2021

You have two options to get sterile since hydroguard is out of the question. You can use pool shock or hydrogen peroxide.

For pool shock, you can pick this up at any hardware store, it's cheap, just make sure you get ONLY shock, not shock with ph buffers or anything else. The ratio is 5 grams to 1 US gallon. Make a concentrate, then 3 - 5ml per gallon of nutrient solution.

Otherwise, find 29% or 34% food grade hydrogen peroxide. It's also cheap. I use Alchemist brand, but there are others around. use 2 - 5ml per gallon of nutrient solution.

With both of these, wear rubber gloves (not your standard medical nitrile gloves, actual chemical resistant rubber gloves), long sleeves and pants, and eye protection when handling them. Either one WILL burn/scar you. Chemical burns are no fun, mkay. I'm not responsible for you (or anyone else) playing fuck around and hurting themselves, this shit is serious and must be treated as such.

H2o2 will play fine with enzymes like cannazyme. Shock will not. Without being able to introduce beneficial bacteria like hydroguard, these are your options for taking care of rot unfortunately.

Brown stuff starting to form on roots

Brown stuff starting to form on roots

grower_meven

grower_meven

airedog

grower_meven

ComfortablyNumb

Smokey0418

tobh

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