DWC Root Slime Cure aka How to Breed Beneficial Microbes

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Siezed

Member
Skybound420 said:
If you're in the USA, you'll have more options than not, but generally, you want warmer and more humid areas (totes) for clones when they're rooting. H Tea is good to use at all times, but you want to let the medium dry before the next feeding. For cloning, I have great success mixing a bloom supplement with a fulvic/humic/kelp mix in equal parts to about 300ppm on the meter. I alternate between feed and inoculations every 24 hours. I clone in rockwool starting cubes too. I'm 100% and see roots in usually 8-10 days like clockwork. I do use RO, but have read pythium is in the air we breathe, and I assume some locations have more of it.

The magic of the tea is best realized when used frequently. I brew a tea for 36 hours and use it, then wait a day and brew another. I slimmed it down to just RO, molasses, Ancient Forest and Great White mycos. I also have other amendments I mix in from time to time such as Fish Shit, some stuff called Photosynthesis Plus, Rhizo, or that fulvic/humic/kelp blend I mentioned above. I grow with synthetic nutes, so I keep all organics to the tea as bennies are needed to properly process organics anyways.
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When you are watering sensitive plants like clones or seedlings do you let the rockwool COMPLETELY dry then soak it or do you let it get moist and then add a little more water? I’ve always let it get almost dry then added a little water to get it wet but not saturated, what’s best at preventing this shit?
 
Skybound420

Skybound420

Well-Known Member
Roots.jpg
Siezed said:
When you are watering sensitive plants like clones or seedlings do you let the rockwool COMPLETELY dry then soak it or do you let it get moist and then add a little more water? I’ve always let it get almost dry then added a little water to get it wet but not saturated, what’s best at preventing this shit?
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I drench the cube till it starts to runoff, then let that go in a tote/dome till nearly dry, but still damp. Maybe about 30% wetness in the cube before drenching again. I do it this way only for the first 2-3 days, then I add less than enough to drench the cube. So if 20ml will produce runoff, I'll use 10-15ml, then just add that measure each day so not to corner myself into checking how much drained/dried by lifting the cube. By giving the clone enough to keep new roots from drying, but not enough that they can't quickly deplete the area of what's needed, then go searching for more. The key to make roots grow aside from keeping them clean with Tea is to challenge the roots to grow in search of water and food, and this is done by holding back how much is given. This practice promotes rapid root growth which will quickly populate the media with roots. The result of that is vigorous plant growth. After I spot roots, I keep doing the same practice for a few more days till I'm confident there is plenty, then I transplant into solo cups. Once in cups, I drench the media once a day or even less if I feel the young plant isn't drawing enough water/feed out of the media. If I want the roots to grow faster I feed less or with less. Ideal is the balance between too much and not enough, but if in either end of the spectrum for too long, the plant will get stressed. So then it's like let the media get nearer to dry, but not for too long.

All that while inoculating with H Tea twice a week, swapping out a feed for an inoculation.
 
S

Siezed

Member
Skybound420 said:
Clear cups inside of colored cups make for a great starting pot that lets you frequently inspect root growth.
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That’s an awesome idea, I’ve always wanted to try coco or rockwool for hydro but one of the biggest things is not being able to inspect the roots like I can with dwc to catch problems early, this is a good way to do that at least for young plants which are most vulnerable, kinda makes me want a whole setup of clear containers inside opaque ones
 
Skybound420

Skybound420

Well-Known Member
Siezed said:
That’s an awesome idea, I’ve always wanted to try coco or rockwool for hydro but one of the biggest things is not being able to inspect the roots like I can with dwc to catch problems early, this is a good way to do that at least for young plants which are most vulnerable, kinda makes me want a whole setup of clear containers inside opaque ones
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If it's possible, I suggest staying in rockwool till after the solocups. I've transplanted large plants from rockwool to soil, so I imagine from RW to any other medium would be fine, but RW mini cubes have lots of air pockets, plus also retains water very well so you get the best of all worlds and I stay in the cups till about a foot tall, and by then they're well out of the woods.
 
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Calveeno

New Member
Greetings All!

Long time lurker. Started DWC growing about 5 years back. Absolutely love it. I'm pretty sure I even stumbled upon this thread in my research when looking into the dreaded Pythium...

Welp, after running into what looks to be Pythium (browning/sliming of the roots, abnormal left growth, stunted growth) for the last time, I've finally pulled the trigger. Wasn't able to source the exact ingredients, but this is what I've settled with:

- BlueSky Organics Myco Grow
- Botanicare HydroGuard
- Mother Earth "Sugar Load" Heavy Brix Molasses ~Unsulfured~
- Gro4 Earth Worm Castings

And this is the recipe:

- 2 Gal Filtered Water (HydroLogic SmallBoy w/ upgraded Catalytic Carbon Filter)
- 1/4 to 1/2 tsp Myco Grow
- 10 to 15ml Hydroguard
- 2 Handfuls EWC (placed into a compost tea bag)
- 1 tbsp Molasses (mixed in with some hot water to dissolve first)

Bag hangs on the side with an air pump directly underneath it, and another air pump closer to the center of the bucket.
Brewed for 48 hours, and added one cup total onto the base of the plant, and another 2 cups directly into the bucket.
3 days after, I added a total of 1 cup to the bucket.
The rest is history.

I have nothing but thanks and praise to Sir Heisenberg and all those who've helped along the way. Thank you all so very much. I will pass along this knowledge to fellow growers and hope that someday we can all move towards organic growing :) I'm on another grow site, and have mentioned my success due to this Tea.

Hit me up if you have any questions. I live in Toronto, Canada, and we just recently legalized!!!

Cheers!
 

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Joint Monster

Joint Monster

Well-Known Member
Looking for a Good Myco's product.

Not just any Myccorhizae, but something that also contains Trichoderma. (For preventative measures for Pythium.)

- Myco Maddess (Humbolt Nutrients) - I've used once and seemed to have good results. Gave my hydro a bit of a dirt taste to it though.

- Great White - Seems to be the top notch product but highly priced.

- MycoGrow (Fungi.com) - Looks like a great reasonably priced product, but don't seem to ship to Canada?

- Myko's (Extreme Gardening) - Used once, and it seemed to be great. No funny after taste like myco madness. Does not contain Trichoderma. And their other beneficial bacteria product Azo's also does not contain Trichoderma.

Any other opinions or options? Should I just go with the Great White?
 
Skybound420

Skybound420

Well-Known Member
Joint Monster said:
Any other opinions or options? Should I just go with the Great White?
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I doubt the mycos would influence the flavor of your smoke, so if you have good results with something, I say keep using it, especially if you're able to find it in your country/area. FWIW, increasing sulfur in the nutes will help with the flavor by making the smoke taste a lot sweeter. I have my S up to 65 and my smoke is super sweet. Great White is fantastic, but like you said, they'll kill you on shipping and customs. I know Heisenberg gave a lot of alternatives in post #1, so refer to it first to see if you can find anything locally. Also, don't be afraid to use multiple products to recreate what's in GW, IMO. Another thing to consider is to contact manufacturers to see if they have any resellers in your country because ya just never know, maybe some little mom and pop joint in the middle of Tim-buck-to might have just what you're looking for, but they're not on the web yet. Reach out to Kelp4Less. They seem to be geared towards the canna industry and Canada is more Canna friendly than your southern neighbors.

https://www.kelp4less.com/shop/
 
Joint Monster

Joint Monster

Well-Known Member
Skybound420 said:
I doubt the mycos would influence the flavor of your smoke, so if you have good results with something, I say keep using it, especially if you're able to find it in your country/area. FWIW, increasing sulfur in the nutes will help with the flavor by making the smoke taste a lot sweeter. I have my S up to 65 and my smoke is super sweet. Great White is fantastic, but like you said, they'll kill you on shipping and customs. I know Heisenberg gave a lot of alternatives in post #1, so refer to it first to see if you can find anything locally. Also, don't be afraid to use multiple products to recreate what's in GW, IMO. Another thing to consider is to contact manufacturers to see if they have any resellers in your country because ya just never know, maybe some little mom and pop joint in the middle of Tim-buck-to might have just what you're looking for, but they're not on the web yet. Reach out to Kelp4Less. They seem to be geared towards the canna industry and Canada is more Canna friendly than your southern neighbors.

https://www.kelp4less.com/shop/
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Thanks for the reply!

Surprisingly GW and Extreme gardening are the only ones I've seen stocked Locally. (Even the Myco Madness I had shipped last time but I can't even find that around here.)

(GH Subculture B&M too, but I have not heard good things about those.)

Maybe I'll spend the little extra and go with the Great White then. I was just reading weird things about putting it in water, but I think those might not be the most accurate posts.

It's weird, but it sort of tasted how the myco's tea smelled if I got any on my hands. (That I brewed with the Myco Madness.) And I did stop using it 1 week out in hydro.
 
Skybound420

Skybound420

Well-Known Member
Joint Monster

Joint Monster

Well-Known Member
I think you helped clarify things for me! That was a great post by the way.

Subculture-B is only $40 for a 150g. I don't like how they do not list what the CFU of each bacteria is in the product.

White Shark seems to have the highest count (almost double Myco Madness). Which is why it might be twice the price of Myco Madness.

I think I might just try Great White this round and see what all the GW Hype is about. ($115 to an 8oz ... we'll see what it does.). ...unless (extreme gardening) Azo's Contains Trichoderma, I'll have to see the package at the store, can't seem to find anything online about it.
 
Skybound420

Skybound420

Well-Known Member
That's probably a smart choice to go with GW. I also had fair results with RealGrower's Recharge, but compared to GW, it is lacking a lot of CFUs as well as a less diverse colony. I had decent results with Sweet Myco Tea which I think is from XG too. Whatever you can get your hands on tho, it all adds up. Another thing a lot of growers overlook aside from DWC is over watering. Too much too often will hinder the gains you'd get even from HB's tea. So if in soil or soilless, less (water) is more. Gotta let the roots dry to encourage growth. If the plant stalls, it's 95% because the roots also have stalled.
 
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Igotusoakin

Member
Ok so if like to know how often to add to the Rez before changing the water? For example, would it be ok to not change the res for 3 weeks or more while adding more tea as you are going along?
 
Skybound420

Skybound420

Well-Known Member
Igotusoakin said:
Ok so if like to know how often to add to the Rez before changing the water? For example, would it be ok to not change the res for 3 weeks or more while adding more tea as you are going along?
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I grow top feed in rockwool, and only feed 3 times daily and recirculate that. I find my res beginning to deplete after 6 days, so I can only imagine that it would not be wise to keep the same mix in a DWC grow for much longer than that. Generally, people swap out their reservoirs every 7 days.
 
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Igotusoakin

Member
Skybound420 said:
I grow top feed in rockwool, and only feed 3 times daily and recirculate that. I find my res beginning to deplete after 6 days, so I can only imagine that it would not be wise to keep the same mix in a DWC grow for much longer than that. Generally, people swap out their reservoirs every 7 days.
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Ok so is need to replenish after 7 days and not worry about the tea, right?
 
Skybound420

Skybound420

Well-Known Member
Igotusoakin said:
Ok so is need to replenish after 7 days and not worry about the tea, right?
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The tea is a preventative measure. You don't need to use it, but if you choose to, it will work to prevent problems. Perhaps you should read the first post of this thread as it has the most information, best applications, frequencies, options for those in other countries etc.
 
athomegrowing

athomegrowing

Well-Known Member
Skybound420 said:
I doubt the mycos would influence the flavor of your smoke, so if you have good results with something, I say keep using it, especially if you're able to find it in your country/area. FWIW, increasing sulfur in the nutes will help with the flavor by making the smoke taste a lot sweeter. I have my S up to 65 and my smoke is super sweet. Great White is fantastic, but like you said, they'll kill you on shipping and customs. I know Heisenberg gave a lot of alternatives in post #1, so refer to it first to see if you can find anything locally. Also, don't be afraid to use multiple products to recreate what's in GW, IMO. Another thing to consider is to contact manufacturers to see if they have any resellers in your country because ya just never know, maybe some little mom and pop joint in the middle of Tim-buck-to might have just what you're looking for, but they're not on the web yet. Reach out to Kelp4Less. They seem to be geared towards the canna industry and Canada is more Canna friendly than your southern neighbors.

https://www.kelp4less.com/shop/
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I finish with dry kool bloom. Smoke tastes better. Great white is worth the cost, though I also use orca and enjoy it because it's more convenient.
 
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