Chlorine Friendly Nutrients In Canada

[Turpman]

A sofener will remove most minerals before it hits the ro. It replaces them with salt which the ro has no problem dealing with.

 

[The Older Guy]

TOG It's like a soap so you need to agitate it to make it foam. You could just circulate it off and on for a while. It is mostly phosphoric acid so you will need to rinse nutralise it all out after for plant use. I haven't really tested how sterile it makes the hydroton, but it should kill whatever it touches. I use a 5 gallon pail with holes in the bottom as a strainer. Pressure cooker would be another good way to sterilize as well.

Thanks for that Turpman. My pump is a 3/4 hp pump. Way bigger than I need, but already had it, so I used it. 1/3 hp would really be all I need. The pump is outside the res and uses a foot valve so I have been wondering how much foam I would get by pumping, because I think if there's a lot it might loose its prime. I've been looking at submersibles, but they are a bit expensive.

I've also looked at the same set up, but using pipe. the pipe would cost a bit, but you could use just about any size you want. the one thing I wondered about is the roots of the plants gradually blocking the flow and the last plants getting a small amount of nutes and maybe blocking enough to cause an overflow. I haven't done a lot of research on this system, so just have thoughts on it right now.

 

[The Older Guy]

Why do you run water through a water softener? My understanding was it was not a good idea?

Hi Myke. Where I live the water is very high in Iron. So much that when I moved into this house you actually couldn't tell what color the bathtub was. It looked bronze... it wasn't lol. The ppm coming out of the water softener is 80 ppm. I have never checked it going in... some day I will. I used the water out of the water softener for quiet some time before I put the RO system in with no Ill affects. Out of the RO system it shows 0 ppm on my tri meter. There must be something there; just too low for the meter to read.

 

[myke]

Hi Myke. Where I live the water is very high in Iron. So much that when I moved into this house you actually couldn't tell what color the bathtub was. It looked bronze... it wasn't lol. The ppm coming out of the water softener is 80 ppm. I have never checked it going in... some day I will. I used the water out of the water softener for quiet some time before I put the RO system in with no Ill affects. Out of the RO system it shows 0 ppm on my tri meter. There must be something there; just too low for the meter to read.

Well thats good its works for yeah.No experience with softeners,it was my understanding the sodium wasn't good so thats why I mentioned it.

 

[myke]

Thanks for that Turpman. My pump is a 3/4 hp pump. Way bigger than I need, but already had it, so I used it. 1/3 hp would really be all I need. The pump is outside the res and uses a foot valve so I have been wondering how much foam I would get by pumping, because I think if there's a lot it might loose its prime. I've been looking at submersibles, but they are a bit expensive.

I've also looked at the same set up, but using pipe. the pipe would cost a bit, but you could use just about any size you want. the one thing I wondered about is the roots of the plants gradually blocking the flow and the last plants getting a small amount of nutes and maybe blocking enough to cause an overflow. I haven't done a lot of research on this system, so just have thoughts on it right now.

As mentioned already its your system causing issues.I use to run experiments if I had a finicky strain.Basically separate dwc pails so I could feed differently.Would get root rot almost instantly even though it was all set up right.No light leaks etc.
But no issues in my main system which was rdwc,return lines on the bottom back to res and feed lines (3/ on top with just an average pump,200g/hr.Air stone in ea bucket.My rule was have more water in the res outside then whats inside the room.
I didnt have to but I did run h202 just in case.
You see several over complicated rdwc systems here.I stuck to the most basic for simplicity/maintenance etc.
Cant really tell since your pics are terrible but it appears you have more of a hybrid dwc/rdwc? not sure.
Anyway,good luck.

 

[myke]

Ill also add that a healthy plant has a much better chance of fighting off RR then a sick plant.
In your pic that plant isn't happy.Was RR already in or?

 

[myke]

One more thing would be air stones,there a perfect spot for RR to live.I always soaked mine in bleach and changed them out when I flushed and re filled with nutes.

 

[The Older Guy]

One more thing would be air stones ,there a perfect spot for RR to live. I always soaked mine in bleach and changed them out when I flushed and re filled with nutes.

Thanks for the input myke.

Yes; the plants already had root rot and don't look all that happy. They are starting to recover and I can see that the RR is starting to back off, but it's going to take awhile.

Yes, many bad things hide in air stones. I always soak mine in H2O2. Maybe bleach would be better...

Quick idea of the system.... Each plant is in a 48L camper cooler. Temps are pretty stable at 65 to 66F. I was running the temps cooler to keep the RR down, but am now adding a much stronger H2O2 solution so I brought the temp up close to where it should be. Nutes are pumped into the bottom of the cooler/pot and returned to the reservoir off the top which is 1/2 to 1" from the bottom of the net pot. Thinking the warmest nutes would be at the top and more used up nutes at the top. The new nutes come in right where the air stone is located. There is about 25L of nutes in each pot at any given time. I had a 90L res, but in the last few days it has been changed out for one that is double that size. Each pot has a 6" diameter air stone and a air pump for each one. Very good bubble action in each one. Also, there are two of these air stones in the res. They are both on one pump, but still get good bubble action.

I think I am getting the RR before the plants get moved to the flower room. I don't have a chiller for that room and was not running a very strong solution of H2O2 at all. I guess once it starts, almost no matter what you're doing it will continue.

 

[The Older Guy]

I should mention that I feed/water every 15 min. and the pump pushes a lot of water. This is how I control the temp, ph, and the ppm of the solution. I check each container once in awhile and they are always very close or the same as the res.

 

[myke]

It was mentioned already,cant remember who but In Canada here we can get enzymes komplete for RR.You can also use h202 with it.I used it once did a good job but turn your air down or off as it foams up a lot. I used 1ml per gallon I think it was.

 

[The Older Guy]

It was mentioned already,cant remember who but In Canada here we can get enzymes komplete for RR.You can also use h202 with it.I used it once did a good job but turn your air down or off as it foams up a lot. I used 1ml per gallon I think it was.

Thanks for the info. I checked it out and ordered some on Amazon.ca. Pretty pricey, but going to give it a try and see what happens. Anything is better than RR

 

[The Older Guy]

I've used them in ponds And they work extremely well keeping the water crystal clear. I've never done RDWC just DWC and flood and drain but they are used in recirculating hydro systems to prevent root rot and other nasties. They sell them just for that purpose although the ones targeting hydro growers are more expensive than just using one for a pond.

The downside is that it degrades chelates causing them to precipitate out of solution. But that's going to depend on the nutrients your using. I notice you're using Remo nutrients and took a look at those and the micronutrients they use are all chelated. That may or not be an issue though and it could possibly be solved by adding some additional Micro when topping off between reservoir changes if it was a problem.


Hi xtsho
I did a test using my UV light(Rainfresh Model # R830). The UV light is rated for a max flow of 30L a minute. I mixed up 18L of nutes and and used a Meg drive #2 to pump the nutes. The pump is rated for 250L/hr or just over 4L/min. The in and out of the UV light was a very short run so I expect I got the full flow from the pump. I run the pump for 20 mins and the water did get cloudy. Looking real close you could see the precipitates in the solution. Thinking after the fact... at the speed the solution was traveling one pass would have been enough to do what we want taking into consideration the size of the system. I may have to do another test and do one pass to see what happens. Have to give it all more thought.

Issues to deal with:- I feed every 15 min The bulb wouldn't handle being turned on and off that much
- the UV should be installed inline to sterilize only what goes to the pots
- the UV cannot be allowed to go dry
- maybe just deal with the res and sterilize every few hours with the timer set according to L in the res so the nutes only make one pass by the UV light; if one pass is actually ok, but over time the nutes will make several passes through the system

I did read that the chelate EDDHA handled UV light much better than all the rest. I guess the easiest thing to do is to find a brand of nutes that only use the EDDHA chelate; that is if there are any available. Any info from anyone would be great...

 

[The Older Guy]

I've been focusing on the root rot and forgot to mention about the Power Si. When mixing I add the H2O2 first to the RO water, let it mix and then add the Power Si. The Power Si causes a white foam to form. The nutrients all mix in without any problem. When in the res with the air stones a bit more foam forms. There's nothing in the foam; totally white. The foam leaves after three or four days and does not leave any residue in the res. When I add to the res , if it's a nute mixture with Power Si the foam returns and again leaves after a few days. Has anyone else experienced this?

 

[myke]

Thanks for the info. I checked it out and ordered some on Amazon.ca. Pretty pricey, but going to give it a try and see what happens. Anything is better than RR

You have to introduce it slowly,meaning add 1/4-1/5 of what the bottle says.Then a few days add more.Doesn't say it on the bottle but if you read all the web stuff its there somewhere.

Do a search here on the Si,loads of info.Myself I used it once,turned my water brown, plants didn't like it.On the shelves it sat.

 

[The Older Guy]

You have to introduce it slowly,meaning add 1/4-1/5 of what the bottle says.Then a few days add more.Doesn't say it on the bottle but if you read all the web stuff its there somewhere.

Do a search here on the Si,loads of info.Myself I used it once,turned my water brown, plants didn't like it.On the shelves it sat.

I see myke. That's strange that it changed the color of your water. That's how I will add it next time. I change the res every two weeks. Should the Power Si only be added when the res is changed or does it get used up slower than the nutes? I've been adding it whenever I add the nutes or water to the res between res changes.

 

[myke]

I see myke. That's strange that it changed the color of your water. That's how I will add it next time. I change the res every two weeks. Should the Power Si only be added when the res is changed or does it get used up slower than the nutes? I've been adding it whenever I add the nutes or water to the res between res changes.

My first paragraph is about adding the enzymes komplete,so its not confusing.

The Si I think was user error,gave up on it so Im really no help.

 

[The Older Guy]

My first paragraph is about adding the enzymes komplete,so its not confusing.

The Si I think was user error,gave up on it so Im really no help.

Gotcha, myke. Now that I have reread what u said it still is a big help and will keep this in mind when I start using it. Thanks for pointing that out.

 

[myke]

The EK should fix your RR .The foam gets in every corner.It will also foam up through your net pot.

Edit, keep your res about 1/2 full.The foam will push your roots up against your lid then as the foam fades your roots are stuck to your lid.Maybe lowering the water level will help.

 

[The Older Guy]

The EK should fix your RR .The foam gets in every corner.It will also foam up through your net pot.

Edit, keep your res about 1/2 full.The foam will push your roots up against your lid then as the foam fades your roots are stuck to your lid.Maybe lowering the water level will help.

Thanks for that myke. You would think the manufactures would give you the heads up on this happening instead of having to learn it the hard way. Thanks to people like yourself, and sites like this, people like me don't have to learn it the hard way. Wile waiting for the EK to come I have been using very strong peroxide using the advice from OldMedUser and at this point the roots are showing improvement. Once I receive the EK and add it to the fight I'm pretty sure I'll be ok. With what I have learned here and using these products from the start I'm hoping RR will be a thing of the past.

 

[The Older Guy]

I just noticed that I didn't say what I thought was "very strong peroxide". I always hate it when someone says... a few drops of this or that.... mixed this strong or weak and so on and I see I did the same thing lol. Now; to expand on that. At present I am using 5ml/L of 29% H2O2 in a new res, and if I don't add to the res and the level hasn't dropped any more than 10 or 15%; the next day I add 30% of the total H2O2 I put in the day before. For example: A new res of 200L of nutes would get 1000ml of 29% H2O2. If no water added the next day I would put 300ml of H2O2 into the res. My system is RDWC. This strength is definitely helping with the root rot.