Root rot and GH-Flora DWC questions

[amsterbam]

Hello, I'm a first time grower and I have a few questions regarding DWC. I use for medical reasons. Severe depression, anxiety etc. I decided to do some experimenting with just one plant, (bag seed) to see how manageable it is and what to expect. The plant is about one month into veg from seed, it's topped at the "forth node". I'm using two 2ft fluorescent, one cool white, one warm, I'm also using a 60 watt incandescent bulb for a little more lumens on the underside of the plant. I should probably be using cool white while vegging but this is what i have to work with. I'm on a tight budget!

I'm having some problems with root rot despite keeping the water temp around 68F to 74F at all times - room temp 72F 80F plenty of ventilation, black air hoses, blocking any possible light seepage through the net-pot using Mylar. Room humidity does get rather low down to 30%, I try to spray every hour or two which brings it up to around 50%. I'm currently using a a two outlet air pump the specs are as follows.
For aquariums up to 120 Gallons, Power rating: 5W, Max Flow: 48 GPH, Max pressure: 0.015MPA, Max displacement:3.5L/Min.

I'm using an 26cm air "displacer" with two inlets, wrapped up and placed near the root zone.
According to What kind of pump should I use? How much air does each bucket need? I should have around 500cc's-600cc's/min per gallon The pump I currently have runs around 3500CC/min (max) 3000cc/min on the low end; in a small 1 gallon bucket, 3/4 to half way full. I'm using GH 3 part - Flora Series.

All of these root photos got taken at the same time, in a few pictures the roots looked perfect in others they look horrible!

Roots1:

Roots2:

Roots3:

Air inside bucket.

1) So what gives why do I have root rot,. isn't the temp, and air pump sufficient, I've also blocked the light. How can I stop this root rot?

2) Do I need to use cal mag or molasses in my water with GH's flora series 3 part, if so how much? I have "Grandma's Original Unsulphured Molasses". I use distilled 0ppm water. I'm starting to see some purple om the stem combined with little yellow spotting on leaves. It looks like I'm starting to get a potassium and or magnesium deficiency. Has anyone used the GH 3 part, any tips? possible nute burn?

3) I live in the states and I'm not sure where to get seeds. Does anyone know of a safe place to get seeds?

4) I would like a strain that makes me feel good, active, calm. Basically an anti-depressant. Does anyone know of a train with these qualities or could lead me in the right direction?

Sorry if this is sloppy, I'm disabled and truly use this as my medicine.
Thanks a ton!

 

[amsterbam]

I forgot to mention I keep the ph between 5.7 and 6.0. I kinda let it do it's thing unless the ph starts to shift to much. The water is at 300ppm.
GH Flora nutrients are at M 1/4tsp; G 1/4tsp; B 1/4tsb; per gallon. I mix in distilled 0ppm water.

 

[amsterbam]

ok I did a little more research it seems maybe my water temps are still a bit to high?!

 

[iwltfum]

I always tried to keep the water temp below 70 when I was running DWC, so your close to the right rage. In the 80's is definitely not good. Are you useing anything to keep rot away? something like hydroguard, hydrogen peroxide, z7, hygrozyme? anything like that?

 

[Atulip]

First are you sure you have root rot? Brown roots don't always mean rot, especially with general hydroponics nutrients(seems to stain the roots).

To prevent root rot, change Dwc weekly, use clean/sterile containers, supplement some h2o2 in your water supply, proper airation of water, and avoid shared reservoirs.

If you have root rot, dunking roots in a h2o2 solution and pulling any diseased roots can help. But I have no experience with this, so you may need to read up further on that.

I used gen hydro 2 part duo in my first grow and required cal mag. Supplement 5ml per gallon or more if necessary. Gen hydro Cal mag will stain your roots brown.

Herbies seeds is where I purchase mine. They're very fast and discreet with a large variety of seeds. Otherwise take a look at the sponsor page, there are plenty of seed vendors.

I'm not a strain expert but something sativa should be what you're looking for. If you still need a functional daytime high, look for something with an even THC/CBD ratio.

 

[amsterbam]

I always tried to keep the water temp below 70 when I was running DWC, so your close to the right rage. In the 80's is definitely not good. Are you useing anything to keep rot away? something like hydroguard, hydrogen peroxide, z7, hygrozyme? anything like that?

I'm not using anything ATM, just the 3 part GH.

First are you sure you have root rot? Brown roots don't always mean rot, especially with general hydroponics nutrients(seems to stain the roots).

To prevent root rot, change Dwc weekly, use clean/sterile containers, supplement some h2o2 in your water supply, proper airation of water, and avoid shared reservoirs.

If you have root rot, dunking roots in a h2o2 solution and pulling any diseased roots can help. But I have no experience with this, so you may need to read up further on that.

I used gen hydro 2 part duo in my first grow and required cal mag. Supplement 5ml per gallon or more if necessary. Gen hydro Cal mag will stain your roots brown.

I'm not a strain expert but something sativa should be what you're looking for. If you still need a functional daytime high, look for something with an even THC/CBD ratio.

Honestly I'm not sure if it's root rot, the roots do look very brown compared to some of the newer growth. If general hydroponics nutrients are known to stain roots that's probably it. I may rinse the roots with some distilled 5.8ph water just to see if it clears up some. If it doesn't I guess ill add some h2o2.

I've been cleaning everything up weekly. I haven't added any h2o2 I've read mixed things, some people say it's great others say it can kill beneficial bacteria?!

Thanks for the replies!

 

[Atulip]

I'm not using anything ATM, just the 3 part GH.




Honestly I'm not sure if it's root rot, the roots do look very brown compared to some of the newer growth. If general hydroponics nutrients are known to stain roots that's probably it. I may rinse the roots with some distilled 5.8ph water just to see if it clears up some. If it doesn't I guess ill add some h2o2.

I've been cleaning everything up weekly. I haven't added any h2o2 I've read mixed things, some people say it's great others say it can kill beneficial bacteria?!

Thanks for the replies!

Small amounts of h2o2 are fine. I used about 1/2 mL of 29% h2o2 per gallon I added to reservoir with no issues. Mainly for sterilization, to kill anything in my tap water before adding it. I haven't experienced root rot myself, but I did have brown stained roots. Root rot should have a smell, and roots would be dying/falling out.

My healthy, but brown, roots from my Dwc grow.

 

[amsterbam]

I rinsed the roots off they don't smell; well no worse than a fresh batch of GH. I guess I'll have to wait and see, I was getting ready to buy hydrogaurd. Thanks for all your input.

 

[iwltfum]

h2o2 can be very helpful in DWC, but it will definitely kill beneficial bacteria and enzymes- not that the gh is helping to keep them alive at all either. You just have to decided whether you want beneficial bacteria/enzymes or not. At the moment, you are not adding any extra microbial life or enzymes, so you really wont be killing anything but the bad stuff. But if you want to start cultivating some microbes/adding enzymes (they can be helpful for keeping rot away or for whatever reason you want to use them), then don't invest in alot of h2o2 and definitely don't use them together.

 

[amsterbam]

Hey guys, thanks a ton for the replies. I have a couple more questions.

1) Can I bring a plant to harvest using the 3 part GH nutrients, molasses, and h2o2? If this isn't enough, what else should I grab? I'm trying to keep this "test bed" as cheap as possible while still keeping it viable. I just recently watched a video, they were talking about how some of these "weight gain" products only add weight to the stem. I'm more interested in getting stuff the plant needs for big thc filled buds, or something you guys used that actually made a difference.

Here is the video that explains the "stem weight gain" products. you will need to copy and paste youtube kept automatically embedding itself. youtube.com/watch?v=e05oBJYlbPk&feature=youtu.be&t=1h23m41s see what I mean?

2)I know my lighting is horrible, but I'm looking into getting a 130watt - 300 watt equivalent mars hydro LED for 53euro - 60usd. I heard LED's cause a cal-mag deficiency, SO should my unsulfered molasses counteract that ?

3) What are these "beneficial bacteria/enzymes" and is it worth using those over the h2o2?

 

[cawwwrin]

I am fighting root rot also in my DWC setup.

You can definitely grow a plant using 3 part nutes, but I'm sure everyone would agree that there are a lot of great products available today to help enhance plant size, yield, etc. I couldn't really hear what they were talking about in that youtube video, but "stem weight gain" products? That term sounds odd, but I'm assuming these products are very similar to any other yield/size enhancher?

Have you seen the GH Flora Series kit? You can purchase it on Amazon for around $40 USD and it comes with 3 part nutes, as well about 5 more of their products (sample size). Very affordable in my opinion and then you get to try a handful of their other popular nutes/supps such as KoolBloom, Floralicious +, Florablend, Rapid Start, etc.

Ditch that incandescent!!! IMO all that is doing is adding heat. I would remove it, or replace it with a CFL. CFL's are very affordable and way more effective. I use a 300w LED and I've never had a CalMag deficiency due to lighting. Then again, I also use Botanicares CalMag throughout growth haha. I don't think a CalMag deficiency could be caused by lighting. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

All living ecosystems need beneficial bacteria to help break things down, convert one thing into another, and do many other things I forgot about in high school, that are beneficial. A DWC setup can definitely be looked at as a contained ecosystem. These benefical bacteria are DEFINITELY worth using over H202. I picked up 30% H202 as well as Botanicare's Hydroguard from my local hydro store when I started battling root rot a few weeks ago. Maybe, IMO, H202 helped disinfect my buckets, but it wasn't until I removed all H202 and added Hydroguard that I started to see good new growth on my roots. I heard these products work great at treating and preventing root rot, and I don't think I would I would grow hydroponics anymore without them. This did cost me about $25 USD, but it could have prevented any root problems in the first place and now I have enough to use for other buckets and future grows.

I hope any of this helps!

 

[amsterbam]

I am fighting root rot also in my DWC setup.

You can definitely grow a plant using 3 part nutes, but I'm sure everyone would agree that there are a lot of great products available today to help enhance plant size, yield, etc. I couldn't really hear what they were talking about in that youtube video, but "stem weight gain" products? That term sounds odd, but I'm assuming these products are very similar to any other yield/size enhancher?

Have you seen the GH Flora Series kit? You can purchase it on Amazon for around $40 USD and it comes with 3 part nutes, as well about 5 more of their products (sample size). Very affordable in my opinion and then you get to try a handful of their other popular nutes/supps such as KoolBloom, Floralicious +, Florablend, Rapid Start, etc.

Ditch that incandescent!!! IMO all that is doing is adding heat. I would remove it, or replace it with a CFL. CFL's are very affordable and way more effective. I use a 300w LED and I've never had a CalMag deficiency due to lighting. Then again, I also use Botanicares CalMag throughout growth haha. I don't think a CalMag deficiency could be caused by lighting. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

All living ecosystems need beneficial bacteria to help break things down, convert one thing into another, and do many other things I forgot about in high school, that are beneficial. A DWC setup can definitely be looked at as a contained ecosystem. These benefical bacteria are DEFINITELY worth using over H202. I picked up 30% H202 as well as Botanicare's Hydroguard from my local hydro store when I started battling root rot a few weeks ago. Maybe, IMO, H202 helped disinfect my buckets, but it wasn't until I removed all H202 and added Hydroguard that I started to see good new growth on my roots. I heard these products work great at treating and preventing root rot, and I don't think I would I would grow hydroponics anymore without them. This did cost me about $25 USD, but it could have prevented any root problems in the first place and now I have enough to use for other buckets and future grows.

I hope any of this helps!

He was talking about the light spectrum and how HPS seems to make a heavy stem, then he went into weight enhancers and how some basically beef up the stems, so I called them "stem gain".

I have a 300watt, 135watt draw on the way, it's for a small space 2x2ftveg 1.5x1.5ft flower. So I'm glad to hear you saw no cal-mag deficiency with yours using calmag. CalMag deficiency in led

I'll try to ditch the incandescent.

I will attempt the beneficial bacteria route with heisenberg's tea

I found some additional infor on Some of the main Beneficials at the Root Zone

If anyone has further input please post it, I'm reading as I'm asking, crunch time.
Thanks so much for the reply your input helped!

 

[landfarmer]

If its root rot you will definitely see it in the plant and smell it...i had a clogged air stone and root rot happened with in hours there was a god awful swamp smell in my entire room, and the plants looked like they werent watered for days

 

[Lurch Farmer]

personally I would get nutes not owned by Monsanto.
Just saying

 

[JimmyV]

For what its worth, I don't think you have root rot at all! At least from your pictures and from what you've said about the smell. I use all Canna products and my root systems in all my plants look exactly what yours look like! Mine also have no smell just like yours. If you ever switch to the Canna line they have several things to help with root growth. They also sell Boost, which is expensive but WOW what it does for the size of your plants in particular the bud sites! Its expensive as well but sometimes you have to dig a little deeper in order to get the results you're looking for.

As far as your lights go, cfl's work just fine and aren't too expensive at all. They don't put out much heat either. If you have a Walmart, Lowes, or Home Depot around you, you'll be able to find plenty of cfl's at those places. While in veg look for the cfl's in the 6400 range and once you go into flower stage look for the the cfl's in the 2700 range. You'll find those numbers on the backs of the light box when you're looking at them in the store. Right now all of mine are in flower. I'm using LEDs as well as a couple cfl's in the 2700 range and all are looking really good right now.

Again, for what its worth, I don't think your plant has root rot! So keep the good fight going and good-luck! Oh btw I'm 100% disabled as well so I'm sure you're just like me and find its much harder to tend to all of this stuff! For anyone to say its easy to grow, i just have to call bs on that, lol. Its a real challenge for me to have to tend to the daily needs of my plants for sure! I did buy one item that has helped me a lot and that was a ph meter. It was by Blue Labs and cost $109. I know that might sound like a lot but there was no way I could deal with having to use the drops for checking my ph any longer! Its still hard for me to be able to take the lids off of the buckets, but at least now all I have to do is hold the ph meter in the bucket for a short amount of time to get my readings. It was so much work having to bend down and take the lid back some to get a water sample and then to have to use drops into it to check it! Anyhow, good luck with what you're doing!

 

[amsterbam]

personally I would get nutes not owned by Monsanto.
Just saying

I used GH because of this video, it's also why I'm using warm and cold florescent bulbs ETC. It does seem very simple and outdated but I needed to start somewhere.
Mr green

I hadn't a clue, sorry if my nutrient choice upset anyone!! Thanks for pointing it out. Some people don't know what Monsanto is or that if you're drinking soda in the states you're drinking GMO corn syrup most likely...
GMOs (or “genetically modified organisms”) are organisms whose genetic material has been artificially manipulated in a laboratory through genetic engineering, or GE.

here's a little info on mostantos, if anyone's interested. From what I've read, try not to use GMO FOOD*
Over the past decade, Monsanto has become a pop cultural bogeyman, the face of corporate evil. The company and its genetically modified organism (GMO) seeds have been the subject of muckraking documentaries (“Forks Over Knives” and “GMO OMG“), global protests, and assaults by everybody from environmental activists to “The Colbert Report.”

 

[amsterbam]

For what its worth, I don't think you have root rot at all! At least from your pictures and from what you've said about the smell. I use all Canna products and my root systems in all my plants look exactly what yours look like! Mine also have no smell just like yours. If you ever switch to the Canna line they have several things to help with root growth. They also sell Boost, which is expensive but WOW what it does for the size of your plants in particular the bud sites! Its expensive as well but sometimes you have to dig a little deeper in order to get the results you're looking for.

As far as your lights go, cfl's work just fine and aren't too expensive at all. They don't put out much heat either. If you have a Walmart, Lowes, or Home Depot around you, you'll be able to find plenty of cfl's at those places. While in veg look for the cfl's in the 6400 range and once you go into flower stage look for the the cfl's in the 2700 range. You'll find those numbers on the backs of the light box when you're looking at them in the store. Right now all of mine are in flower. I'm using LEDs as well as a couple cfl's in the 2700 range and all are looking really good right now.

Again, for what its worth, I don't think your plant has root rot! So keep the good fight going and good-luck! Oh btw I'm 100% disabled as well so I'm sure you're just like me and find its much harder to tend to all of this stuff! For anyone to say its easy to grow, i just have to call bs on that, lol. Its a real challenge for me to have to tend to the daily needs of my plants for sure! I did buy one item that has helped me a lot and that was a ph meter. It was by Blue Labs and cost $109. I know that might sound like a lot but there was no way I could deal with having to use the drops for checking my ph any longer! Its still hard for me to be able to take the lids off of the buckets, but at least now all I have to do is hold the ph meter in the bucket for a short amount of time to get my readings. It was so much work having to bend down and take the lid back some to get a water sample and then to have to use drops into it to check it! Anyhow, good luck with what you're doing!

Thanks so much for the info very detailed, and I think you hit the nail on the head when you said it's not easy. Some of this communities members make it look too easy! I posted a new thread with some new issues. I'm trying to match the title with the content, it's kinda hard with so many questions. I'm sure glad this place has the answers, and awesome people!

Thanks for the posts everyone!

 

[Lurch Farmer]

Monsanto bought Gen hydro sometime in 2014.
It most likely doesn't bother anybody.
Most don't even know.

 

[JimmyV]

Good to know you actually read what people post! So many times a person will start a thread and then let it drift away without ever coming back which I hate to see. Im sub to your thread and I plan to follow you and see how it all turns out for you. I hope you have a good day and keep us updated to what you finally come up with as far as the root issues. Take care

 

[iwltfum]

Monsanto bought Gen hydro sometime in 2014.
It most likely doesn't bother anybody.
Most don't even know.

It was actually this past April that the trade went down. I think the fact that people don't even know about it is kind of scary. Shows you how much pull they have with the media, who basically didn't cover the story at all. It seems like there is literally one news article about it.