Fire Bean
- 55
- 18
Thought I'd share something I've learned over the years..
Roots should be kept cool, 66-68 degrees is optimal. Higher temps do not facilitate higher metabolism like in the leaves. Instead elevated temps at the root zone causes several problems. Roots need O2. In water, dissolved oxygen (DO) and temperature are inversely related. This means that higher temps result in lower DO.
Warm root zones also promote pathogen growth, many are facultative anaerobes, and many are aerobes that further reduce DO levels at the root cellular interface. Adding antimicrobial substances to your reservoir is of no benefit if the plant is already healthy. Only macro & micro nutrients are required in hydroponics. Healthy plants synthesize all the antimicrobials they need - remember that these are sessile (non-mobile) organisms that have had hundreds of millions of years learning how to defend themselves (trichomes should spring to mind). Most microbial pathogens will be incapable of making a statistically significant impact on yield by eliciting endogenous defense mechanisms of heathy roots.
If you read up a little on plant biology you can easily side step most of the crap that’s marketed at you on the shelves in hydro stores, and this will hopefully save you both time and money in the long run.
:)
Roots should be kept cool, 66-68 degrees is optimal. Higher temps do not facilitate higher metabolism like in the leaves. Instead elevated temps at the root zone causes several problems. Roots need O2. In water, dissolved oxygen (DO) and temperature are inversely related. This means that higher temps result in lower DO.
Warm root zones also promote pathogen growth, many are facultative anaerobes, and many are aerobes that further reduce DO levels at the root cellular interface. Adding antimicrobial substances to your reservoir is of no benefit if the plant is already healthy. Only macro & micro nutrients are required in hydroponics. Healthy plants synthesize all the antimicrobials they need - remember that these are sessile (non-mobile) organisms that have had hundreds of millions of years learning how to defend themselves (trichomes should spring to mind). Most microbial pathogens will be incapable of making a statistically significant impact on yield by eliciting endogenous defense mechanisms of heathy roots.
If you read up a little on plant biology you can easily side step most of the crap that’s marketed at you on the shelves in hydro stores, and this will hopefully save you both time and money in the long run.
:)