Should I switch to sterile?

  • Thread starter Lynch_Ironside
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chillkoots1

chillkoots1

16
13
I shouldn’t have smoked before posting this… feeling like my ability to articulate my thoughts is a bit hindered but we’ll give it a go.
this is my first rdwc / fourth dwc grow
I’m running a total of 30 gal / 3 totes
A couple weeks ago I had an algae/ bacteria bloom, brown slime. I believe it was due to light leaks, I couldn’t have kicked myself harder as I’ve dealt with this before and knew the importance of light proofing.
After I was finished beating myself up I followed aquamans cure for root rot thread and it was a chore to say the least. It was an all day event or seemed like it anyway.

Now in the process of pulling my plants and trying to shimmy the slimy air stones through the roots without causing damage I failed miserably and know I broke a ton of roots.
as I rinsed them in the sink I was able to pull off some of the broken bits but it was extremely hard to tell what was broken and what wasn’t.
now I could do this whole process again but honestly I don’t want to, I’ve got everything tied down and now the plants are bigger it will be even more of a pain in the ass. Also, unless I turn into Edward scissorhands and hack away at the roots I don’t think I’ll be able to get all the dead matter out of there.
so to the point of this thread and question…
I’m experiencing huge massive gigantic ph fluctuations. 6.5 to 4.7 in 16 hours.
now I know ideally I should be 5.4 to 5.8 and 5.5 to 6.5 is acceptable, yesterday I did a complete res change after noticing the drop to high 4’s. After the change it was sitting at 6.5 , this morning back to 4.7 ppm went from 750 to 770. I’m thinking I have dead roots floating around or more likely tangled up in there. Bb southern ag and enzymes don’t seem to be enough and the enzymes are expensive, 36 usd for a liter. I’m waiting on my ro water to finish and plan on doing another res change today. I’m going to max out the enzymes and double up the bb but I don’t have much hope for that to work.
GET TO THE POINT!!!
Ok so would switching to a sterile stop the decaying matter/ kill the bad bacteria that’s causing these fluctuations?
Have you tried UC Roots?
https://cch2o.com/product/cultured-solutions-uc-roots/
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