Poll: Sterile Res Or Do You Run Bennies?

  • Thread starter macdiesel
  • Start date
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Do you run a sterile res or bennies in your system?

  • Sterile

  • Bennies


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M

macdiesel

20
3
I've only run sterile res under current systems. I'm currently using UC roots. The people on the phone at UC have said that UC is more than pool shock, and that it's also a chelator or some other stupid shit like that. Of course, they won't divulge the mystery ingredient that makes their product $200 for 2.5 gallons. I have my doubts that it's anything more.

Current culture has also told me on the phone to NOT run bennies in their systems, so I haven't thus far....however I see more and more people running bennies in their rdwc systems and having great success in controlling root rot.

I use well water, so I'm constantly fighting pythium. UC roots works, but it's wayyyyy too damn expensive.
 
All4freedumb

All4freedumb

874
93
I've ran both ways with GREAT success. If I were running well water that caused issues I would be running bennies without a doubt. I have done side by sides with bennies and uc roots and on two runs the bennies just took the win with looks and yield. With that said my best UC harvest I used neither of them. I am not sure that all teas are made equal so I would keep that in mind and check out Caps bennies, Og Biowar. Or at least something you know that has been made with quality. I don't get or buy the idea of no tea in the UC but to each is own. I never did like pissing contests. I was always the one that would piss while doing circles on really windy days just to keep those people away... I hope you get things handled and set the way you know it should be. So my vote would depend on the water being used, plant strain and environmental. In your case I vote for bennies...
 
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All4freedumb

All4freedumb

874
93
One more thing, a friend of mine asked me the same thing as he was using well water and having issues. He still was shy to jump in with bennies. So, we build a small two bucket uc system he has tossed in the corner. He is not looking at yeild of those two tucked away just how they deal with the same water. If you have the time/ space that might ease your mind and show you what you need. Once again, my best wishes to you.
 
caveman4.20

caveman4.20

5,969
313
I'm thinking about running some hydro after about 4 yrs. Of soil and soiless.
The thread title reminds me of the discussion back then of wether anything non synthetic belongs in hydro system? Seems like I'm reading more and more on organic components in hydro systems. I'm all ears.
 
M

macdiesel

20
3
This is such an awesomely helpful response! I was looking at the ogbiowar page. It looks like they use a cup of tea per 5 gallons of rdwc solution. I run a 32xldb that has 230 gallons. 230 divided by 5 = 66 cups divided by 16 cups = 4.125 gallons of tea per 7-10 days in the system. Does that seem excessive?
 
R

redlife215

752
143
If u are having trouble with root rot but still want to run a sterile results add something called hydro sparkle.
 
All4freedumb

All4freedumb

874
93
I make a gallon of tea for every 50-55 gallons with the tea I run. So, that's pretty close. Fyi, I do not put tea in my top off. Only in my initial mix. Maybe Capulator will chime in...
 
cephalopod

cephalopod

96
18
I make a gallon of tea for every 50-55 gallons with the tea I run. So, that's pretty close. Fyi, I do not put tea in my top off. Only in my initial mix. Maybe Capulator will chime in...
Crown feed and definitely in homeopathic doses about 1-2 oz. per gallon.
 
All4freedumb

All4freedumb

874
93
Crown feed and definitely in homeopathic doses about 1-2 oz. per gallon.
Huh? Yes I do crown feed bennies when I run sterile here and there but no I don't fear my roots swimming in a live stew. So I do run a live mix in my UC. Oh and it works great too.
 
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cephalopod

cephalopod

96
18
I brew a tea[still working on honing my skills here too, don't have a microscope so it's pretty hard to say] and hand water with a small 1/2 gallon pump sprayer. I try to moisten the net cups pretty evenly and give the base a good rinsing. I recently added a drip top feed [waiting on 1/4" soaker hose in the mail to make halos] on a cycle timer so the amounts rinsed through when I hand watered get cycled around or the amounts that I hand watered are getting rinsed out, still pretty early to tell. But I can see marked improvement of mycorrhiza activity on my roots. I can say definitely on a personal level I'm finding the homeopathic doses giving the best results. I made the mistake of using about double what I'm currently running and ended up with what I'm guessing was a biofilm starting to form.

I was able to turn off the top feed and clean this up pretty good with 3ml/gal 29% h2o2. The roots that were submerged had this film beginning to collect on them. Most of the root mass I was able rinse free and it was still healthy, but there was a smaller portion that had already died off. A few stressed a little but nice new white fuzzies have come in to help fill the spaces. I just wish I never rocked the boat with all my zeal for the tea. Slow and steady.
 
All4freedumb

All4freedumb

874
93
Are you running a UC system, or one of the like, with a top feed? I have done that in the past and ran into many issues down the road. I found that staying clear from watering my net pot gave best results. Imho I think the roots in the module uptake more than enough and when the crown is fed as well rot comes to play. I ran water lines to each module but dropped the water away from rootzone. This was just to insure a fresh h2o brought from chiller to each module. I only top feed certain strains just entering my UC if the roots have yet to pop out the pots. I hit them with about 2 cups once a day for the first 3 days. That's if I don't have them quite ready for my switch into the UC. I do crown feed a few times down the road but not the mix in the buckets. I even drop my water level a little lower than most with certain strains. I found that some like the roots submerged the whole run and some like more drought conditions. Do you make your own tea? If so do you mind sharing your mix? It sounds like you know a bit about something.. ;)

I brew a tea[still working on honing my skills here too, don't have a microscope so it's pretty hard to say] and hand water with a small 1/2 gallon pump sprayer. I try to moisten the net cups pretty evenly and give the base a good rinsing. I recently added a drip top feed [waiting on 1/4" soaker hose in the mail to make halos] on a cycle timer so the amounts rinsed through when I hand watered get cycled around or the amounts that I hand watered are getting rinsed out, still pretty early to tell. But I can see marked improvement of mycorrhiza activity on my roots. I can say definitely on a personal level I'm finding the homeopathic doses giving the best results. I made the mistake of using about double what I'm currently running and ended up with what I'm guessing was a biofilm starting to form.

I was able to turn off the top feed and clean this up pretty good with 3ml/gal 29% h2o2. The roots that were submerged had this film beginning to collect on them. Most of the root mass I was able rinse free and it was still healthy, but there was a smaller portion that had already died off. A few stressed a little but nice new white fuzzies have come in to help fill the spaces. I just wish I never rocked the boat with all my zeal for the tea. Slow and steady.
 
cephalopod

cephalopod

96
18
Yeah I have some home made 8 gallon[veg] and 13 gallon[flower] buckets with 3" plumbing. First round in the UC went well. Cloned in a home made aero and tranplanted into 8" net pots, set the water level about 1" below the baskets and hand watered until roots hit the water. I vegged and flowered with out any hang-ups. Fast forward work has me away from home more often and I started having issues on my transition from the cloner to 8" baskets.

After looking around I decided to try the top-feed drip emitter. When I first transfer clones to veg I set the timer for the drip pump to 15 sec. on and 1 min. off and after things start to push out I dial back. I have currently been running 15 sec. on 1 hr. off. Really it's just enough to keep my hydroton lightly moist and not dried out. I do drop my water levels as flowering progresses. The kit I bought was plain jane and the emitters where just hitting a portion of the baskets and it seemed that the most abundant and healthiest root growth, this was encouraging that the emitters where continuing to be beneficial. So I figured why not try the top-feed with a soaker hose halo and hope for more even growth and I should specify lateral growth is what I've been looking to promote. My tea is basically heisenberg black strap, ancient forest, vermiblend, aquashield, Endo Maxx.

What problems did you encounter?
P.S. I'm always looking to learn more. I see you have some nice trunks there. I started out in aeroflo tubes and could get about 2" trunks, but the root mats would get so thick that the bottoms would rot and they were always clogging the tube drains, among other issues prompted me to make a switch, like some of these awesome grows I see around here.
 
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Alice D

Alice D

143
63
Yeah I have some home made 8 gallon[veg] and 13 gallon[flower] buckets with 3" plumbing. First round in the UC went well. Cloned in a home made aero and tranplanted into 8" net pots, set the water level about 1" below the baskets and hand watered until roots hit the water. I vegged and flowered with out any hang-ups. Fast forward work has me away from home more often and I started having issues on my transition from the cloner to 8" baskets.

After looking around I decided to try the top-feed drip emitter. When I first transfer clones to veg I set the timer for the drip pump to 15 sec. on and 1 min. off and after things start to push out I dial back. I have currently been running 15 sec. on 1 hr. off. Really it's just enough to keep my hydroton lightly moist and not dried out. I do drop my water levels as flowering progresses. The kit I bought was plain jane and the emitters where just hitting a portion of the baskets and it seemed that the most abundant and healthiest root growth, this was encouraging that the emitters where continuing to be beneficial. So I figured why not try the top-feed with a soaker hose halo and hope for more even growth and I should specify lateral growth is what I've been looking to promote. My tea is basically heisenberg black strap, ancient forest, vermiblend, aquashield, Endo Maxx.

What problems did you encounter?
P.S. I'm always looking to learn more. I see you have some nice trunks there. I started out in aeroflo tubes and could get about 2" trunks, but the root mats would get so thick that the bottoms would rot and they were always clogging the tube drains, among other issues prompted me to make a switch, like some of these awesome grows I see around here.
I've been told by water culture masters to steep ancient forest or just a quality worm castings for 24 hours with very little sugars. Maybe 10-15 ml per 5 gallons while using 1-2 handfuls in a nylon stocking. Well aerated no longer than 24 hrs and its that simple. Using 1 cup per 5 gallons if having root issues if not 1 cup to 10 gallons. Always add some fresh every couple days and then change out red weekly. Or you can just use cultured solutions roots but I found I needed 3-4 ml. Per gl every 3 days tops to keep the pearly whites.
If you are making teas less is more on any beneficial products. I've found very little ZHO & aquashield w/castings to work great but becareful of the amount of sugar used. Not much aerate for 24 hrs strain or use water off the top Id add directly to epi center. Sometimes crown feed depending on their age. Personally I'd use a simple tea to start veg & then flower once root system is massive I go sterile. Love it. Good luck
 
cephalopod

cephalopod

96
18
I've been using 12ml Blackstrap, Auqashield , EndoMaxx and 50ml cup measure of the vermiblend and ancient forest per gallon of room temp RO bubble hard for 24 hrs. I thought uc roots was hydrochlorous acid like muriatic acid I believe? Sounds like a reasonable approach to me, thanks for the advice, it's duly noted.
I've been told by water culture masters to steep ancient forest or just a quality worm castings for 24 hours with very little sugars. Maybe 10-15 ml per 5 gallons while using 1-2 handfuls in a nylon stocking. Well aerated no longer than 24 hrs and its that simple. Using 1 cup per 5 gallons if having root issues if not 1 cup to 10 gallons. Always add some fresh every couple days and then change out red weekly. Or you can just use cultured solutions roots but I found I needed 3-4 ml. Per gl every 3 days tops to keep the pearly whites.
If you are making teas less is more on any beneficial products. I've found very little ZHO & aquashield w/castings to work great but becareful of the amount of sugar used. Not much aerate for 24 hrs strain or use water off the top Id add directly to epi center. Sometimes crown feed depending on their age. Personally I'd use a simple tea to start veg & then flower once root system is massive I go sterile. Love it. Good luck
 
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Owlfarm

Owlfarm

128
43
I’ve run both sterile and bennies on and off for years. Last couple years I’ve done all sterile. I recently started up a new building I’ve been working on for a couple years and have had lots of problems. It’s on a well, but I have extensive filtration. Anyhow a buddy of mine convinced me to run bennies again, and I’m still on the fence if it’s working or not.
I usually do a tea in a five gallon bucket with 100 ml molasses, handful of earthworm castings, handful of soil from my yard. Then some mycorrhizae product with a broad spectrum of species.
I only added 2 liters of tea to a 300 gallon system though, so maybe I need to add more?
See what you guys think of these pics. I don’t like the curling tips on growth and the long stringy roots.
20822667 63E0 46FA A279 C80CF6CAF8C0
5A39294F 2298 496B A253 14274AE08E55
 
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