Root Rot in Hydroponics

[BillyB]

Hello fellow farmers,

I think I may have some root rot going on in my Flow-n-Grow system. My questions for you are:

• What is root rot?
• How can I prevent it from happening in UC & flow-n-grow systems?
• If I get it, how do I properly deal with it?
• In a UC system?
• In a Flow-n-Grow system?

As always, your thoughts, knowledge and suggestions are very much appreciated!

 

[StonerB]

A bad disease. Keep oxygen levels high and water temps low. If you get it early you might want to toss it, sterilize and start over. Many people use the bullshit "fix" of using gallons of H202 . This CAN work but if you want a real solution not just a fix look into chillers, or a HUGE res that just wont get hot. If your water temp is in range and you still get rot issues a UV bio-filter may be helpfull , just make sure you run ONLY synthetics if one of these are deployed.

 

[BillyB]

Thanks for the helpful advise StonerB. It must've been the temp in the rez, we had a heat spell last week and the rez was bumping up to 76 degrees some days.... I think I'm gonna check out a water chiller today.

 

[kushsmoker30]

don't forget bout caps bennies, u may want to give them a shot 1st. i had probs like that in my res n used Great White n things got way better, now imagine what can happen with caps packs + ur plants will love it.

 

[BillyB]

Ha ha Ha,how ironic. I just bought some on eBay yesterday. I can't wait to see what they're all about. Thanks for the tip!

 

[kushsmoker30]

got some coming as well.

 

[BillyB]

I just uploaded a pic of the roots of one of the plants in my Flow n Grow system - it was a medium growing one out of all of them, I thought it would be a good average representation of what is going on. I'm holding up the pot and took a photo of the bottom of the pot. The roots look a little yellow, maybe even a brown tint to them. Is this normal?
I started out with clones that I brought straight over from the ezcloner and put them in the flow n grow. The roots don't feel slimy at all, and the plants look healthy and happy. I'm just paranoid the roots should be whiter... Any thoughts on this?

 

[kushsmoker30]

don't touch em with ur hand, i read the oil from our hands causes roots to rot or something like that. to me they don't look bad from pics, i have deff seen worse roots by far also better 1's as well.

i always feel like when i look at my roots thats when they get ugly, no joke i'll lift up the corner of the coco matt n peek at em n the look amazing then i'll do it a few more times over the period of a few day n they start to look a lil shittier. i'll leave em alone n check em in a week n the look a white n fuzzy, sometimes i wonder if maybe the air hitting em when take a peek.

 

[cctt]

I've used similar systems but not Flow'n'grow specifically. Do the roots hang into standing water at the bottom? How often is this water exchanged by the flood cycle? If that water's oxygen levels drop (either by plant or microbial activity) too low it can cause bad things.

 

[kushsmoker30]

don't touch em with ur hand, i read the oil from our hands causes roots to rot or something like that. to me they don't look bad from pics, i have deff seen worse roots by far also better 1's as well.

i always feel like when i look at my roots thats when they get ugly, no joke i'll lift up the corner of the coco matt n peek at em n the look amazing then i'll do it a few more times over the period of a few day n they start to look a lil shittier. i'll leave em alone n check em in a week n the look a white n fuzzy, sometimes i wonder if maybe the air hitting em when take a peek.

or maybe the light as roots don't seem to like it very much

 

[skuzz99]

i use fongarid if i get root rot. works really well.

 

[manitoid.]

Dutchmaster Zone works wonders as both a preventative and to combat an infection.

 

[StonerB]

Bennies are normally great for roots in ALMOST all situations. IN deep water culture growing you simply dont have to surface area needed to maintain a healthy population of them around the roots. In systems like this with so much water vs. oxygen I like to keep it sterile with synthetics, even if its cool oxygen rich water. Unless you continually apply the beneficials they simply wont give the results they do in other systems because you will be dumping them out weekly with res changes. IF you keep adding them im sure it will work but that can get costly so I would look into brewing your own ACT tea as a source. On the other hand if you keep it sterile with synthetics ive heard good things about the zone from DM , and even if things get a little dirty some H2O2 goes a long way. I LOVE the roots excelerator but have heard diff stories regarding its "organic" content. Some claim it has bennies but others claim to have seen it under a 300X scope and saw no signs of life OR former life (all salt crystals) WTF? It works wonders for most and even big Mikes dumb ass recommended it (paid by H&G im sure)

 

[StonerB]

Thanks for the helpful advise StonerB. It must've been the temp in the rez, we had a heat spell last week and the rez was bumping up to 76 degrees some days.... I think I'm gonna check out a water chiller today.

They work VERY well and are more efficent than an AC but still cost a lot up front. To test if it will help your situation try the ghetto chiller first. Just freeze about a dozen water bottles and rotate a few into the res each day, this method takes work and effort but is effective, cheap, and takes only your freezer power thats most likely already running.

 

[BillyB]

I've used similar systems but not Flow'n'grow specifically. Do the roots hang into standing water at the bottom? How often is this water exchanged by the flood cycle? If that water's oxygen levels drop (either by plant or microbial activity) too low it can cause bad things.

Yes, they do hang in the water below - ther's a out 1" of water & 2" of air in-between the bottom of the bucket and net pot. The water is exchanged three times in a 24 hour period. I just added Cap's bennies to the Rez a few days ago, so I'll see what happens...

 

[BillyB]

I have read Roots Excel works well for root rot, it is a bacteria that will encapsulate any healthy root and allow it to push through and regenerate fresh roots.

I'm using RE in my rez, but I'm still seeing these darker roots.

i use fongarid if i get root rot. works really well.

Where do you get Fongorid, is it available online somewhere?

 

[BillyB]

They work VERY well and are more efficent than an AC but still cost a lot up front. To test if it will help your situation try the ghetto chiller first. Just freeze about a dozen water bottles and rotate a few into the res each day, this method takes work and effort but is effective, cheap, and takes only your freezer power thats most likely already running.

I think I'll try this out, thanks fo the creative idea. I just love ghetto rigging some stuff sometimes 

 

[kushsmoker30]

I'm using RE in my rez, but I'm still seeing these darker roots.
Where do you get Fongorid, is it available online somewhere?

man i know i'm not a well known farmer here, but i can tell u as i run H&G. roots excel is not what u need, "Rhizotonic" "Rhizotonic" "Rhizotonic" is what will turn that around. IMO for my finding as i've been threw 4-5 bottles Roots excel n more then i can count of Rhizo, Roots Excel will bust out root to the bottom of the pot it will explode em but i also seems to make em kinda dirty as it is dark brown n it falls out in a res within 1 or 2 days unless u run a pump. Rhizo is around 70 a L. once u got roots there use 2-4 ml a Gal n ur roots will continue to grow get white n all fuzzy n delicate looking n it does not do the nonsense mess that Roots excel does in a res.

if i get RA's during flowering i use Azamax, i feel that azamax kinda hurts my roots so i follow up with Rhizo n before u know it plants taking off again..........Roots Excel for busting or exploding roots to the bottom of the container AND Rhizotonic to maintain or help ur rotts recover. also works great on transplants the are water logged, just foliar spray a couple x's a day n ur roots will take off n so will the plant. peace

 

[Capulator]

I'm using RE in my rez, but I'm still seeing these darker roots.
Where do you get Fongorid, is it available online somewhere?

fongarid is a systemic and shoudl only be used in veg. It works amazing. You can get it shipped from Australia. They do not sell it in the states.

 

[Thoth]

Fongarid is good stuff, I highly recommend it. No good if you want to grow organic, but if you're ok with chems then it's the shit.