Aeroponic Brown Roots

I have my timer set to 15 minutes on/15 minutes off, how am I still getting brown on my roots? They are not rotten or rotting, its more like a layer of browness (for lack of a better word). I recently re-added an airpump that pumps 24/7, but is there any other reason this would be happening other than the oxygen level in the water since for 15 minutes intervals it gets nothing but air?

Do they smell? What kind of nutes are you using?

1 min on 5 min off. I think you have your timing off. I started a aeroponics set up from stinkbuds instructions and have asked multiple ppl questions. They all tell me the same thing though make sure the timer is set to 1 min on 5 min off. Ill get some pics for ya but I have had them in for three days now and there loving it.

With the timer I'm using the shortest interval is 15 minutes on or off. Where do you get timers that control shorter times and how much are they? I'm using foxfarms nutes at half strength. They do not smell but I have a very little sense of smell so I can't tell, and I'm pretty sure I wouldnt know what kind of bad smell it would smell like anyway. I was thinking of dipping it in a H2O2 dip for like 30 minutes to clean it off or so but I dont even know if that would work or not.

i think some nutrients turn your roots brown. if your plants look good i would ignore the brown roots.

Make sure your res. tempms are in the low 70's preferably 68.......High temps will cause root rot. The oxygen levels in co0ler water is far greater.

Im having the same issue myself, started running 15on 30 off. They looked better, so I pushed even more 15 on / 45 off, they still look great so I might do 15 on/ 60 min off. Im going to keep cutting the time back untill i notice the plants are starving of water then leave it. I am pretty sure your overwatering, when theres not much roots its ok for 15/15 cycle but when the roots grow big they stay wet, longer. you want them to dry out just before rewatering. Hydrogen peroxide takes the brown away and cleans em up, but I cant find the high concentration peroxide anymore, so Im trying to solve the problem before it happens. Ill let you know how my starvation expiriment goes.

Mine are brown as well. But that is from the nutrients.

99% chance it's from the nutes, so no need to worry. If you're still freaked out, get some Stress Zyme from your local Petsmart, fish store, etc etc, it's like 3 bucks and works in place of h202 or hydrozyme - and a hell of a lot cheaper. As far as your timer is concerned, you're fine with 15 on 15 off. If you like, you could change it to 15 on 30-45 off. These guys that spend that 50-75 bucks on the 1 on 5 off timer, wasted their money. I've checked out both and there really isn't any difference in growth rates. I've included a pic of the Stress Zyme - Wally World carries the stuff too. If your roots aren't slimy, they're not rotting. Do your plants look healthy? Let's see some pics though!!

What happens when you ouch the "browned root"? If it falls apart between your fingers it is some type of rot,bacteria or something. If the roots hold strong Dinobelly might be right and youhave nothing to worry about. If they're frail like mine were then your in trouble. I am interested in the Stress zyme though has anyone ever used it?

I've used it for fish but how would you use it for plants, as a dip or in the res? I added an air fan to one of the holes I drilled for a pot which should deliver some cooler air. How else can I cool it besides buying a Chiller? I'll post some pix up tonight fo sho.

UrbanAerO said:

What happens when you ouch the "browned root"? If it falls apart between your fingers it is some type of rot,bacteria or something. If the roots hold strong Dinobelly might be right and youhave nothing to worry about. If they're frail like mine were then your in trouble. I am interested in the Stress zyme though has anyone ever used it?

Click to expand...

Just follow the instructions on the bottle as if you were putting it in an aquarium. It's basically the same as hydrozyme, but since it's not marketed for growing, it doesn't carry the markup that most products in our growing world do.

Please tell me you all realize just how RIDICULOUSLY marked-up EVERYTHING at the hydro store - ANY hydro store - is? IE the Aeroflo......it's like $300-$900 - it can be built for less than $100 with just a tiny bit of know-how. Unfortunately we're at the mercy of a market that's driven by something that's "illegal" so the companies are able to rip people off.

Sorry, I'll step off my soap-box for the moment.

urban areo im in the same boat and tried everything if i dont find the cure im goin soil i use hydrozyme, great white, and gh flora series and still rot every damn time in my stealth hydro bubbleponic setup fuckin sux i had good luck till i started to flower and then bam root rot since even started over and bleached everything and fucking 3 weeks in and rotting as we speak

Hey bro you have brown algae...
get some physan 20 .. dose at 3 mil per 25 gallons.. then add beneficial bacterias .. pref earthworm casting tea.
you can get some more info here.. read page 1, then skip to page 29..
its a long read.. if you want you can read the whole thing
http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=55259&page=1
plus rep me if this saves ur ass
peace n luv.. hope everything works out

Nutrients dye the roots, nothing to worry about if the plant look healthy

but if your roots are convered with a brown slime, and your ph is going up constantly, you have brown algae.
period.
GH micro dyes roots, but there isnt a brown layer of snot over um

medimary is the man, i have read and searched for hours on this shit and no one has given me the proper cure, so im clickin the link now and i will let you know how it goes

hey dipstick.. I would 86 the hygozyme..

hygrozyme= i grow slime

In my experience using enzymes before the beneficials have had a chance to take hold, is just giving the slime a buffet..
my 2 cents.
*edit* also when you go to make the earthworm casting tea. may I suggest using wiggleworm brand of castings. Good stuff

hey dipstick.. generally if your ph is going up its the brown algae, if its going down .. root rot of some sort

Roots turn brown as they die due to receiving in adequate levels of dissolved oxygen. roots do not breath in oxygen. roots only reciveoxygen through taking in water that contains dissolved oxygen. Roots also can be turned brown by some nutrients, typically only organic nutrients or chemical nutrients in which someone unwisely has added organic nutrients or supplements. Typically the roots that die do so from a lack of DO are roots in the center of a rootmass as little DO richwater makes it into the center of the root mass.

Roots exposed to oxygen usually have no anerobic bacteria in close proximity. So what. Both anerobic and oxygen loving bacteria eat only the putrefied roots that are the result of root rot. They do not cause root rot. All water and soil not containing disinfectants have bacteria and enzymes present that cause the putrefication of dead roots. This putrefication of dead roots is root rot. IE when you buy things like Hygrozyme you are buying bacteria and enzymes that cause root rot as well as the aerobic bacteria and enzymes that convert the rotted roots into nitrate fertilizer. Hygrozyme fails to tell anyone this. It is hard to decptively cause people to believe Hygroxzyme prevents or cures root rot when it actually supplies in large numbers the bacteria that also cause root rot when dead roots are present. They also fail to tell you the bacteria and enzymes are naturally present in soils and water not containing disinfectants. You are just paying to get a higher concentration of the bacteria and enzymes that quickly die to normal minimal levels due to a lack of food in a chemical nutrient system. They have food only when roots start dieing or in a organic nutrient reservoir or a soil system. where they are already at high levels without hygrozyme being added. Deceptive advertising on their behalf. These supplied enxymes grow and multiplty rapidly with dead roots present as a food source and these are circulated through out the system in a recirculating reservoir. Algae require light to grow.

So what can I say except if your running no organics add 4 drops of chlorox per gallon of water each day for two days and 2 drops per gallon after two days until harvest.

As far as a suggestion that 68 degree water is healthier than 78 degree water or that there is substantially more DO. NOT. Roots need little DO. They do need contact with an adequately large volumeofwater with a DO of at laest 2 ppm to recive adequate DO. This seldom happens with the roots at the cemnter of the root nasses in small tube aero, NFT or DWC sytems. Oxygen saturated water at 68 degrees F contains 9.08 ppm. at 78 it is 8.16 ppm. That is only aboat a 10% difference. That means a negligible difference. If yu can't get a high velocity or adequate large volume of water to the roots easily and quickly the DO whether it starts at 8 or 9 ppm will likely be at less than the minimum2 ppm regardless. DO will only typically diffuse through about 10 mm of flowing water.

Algae regardless of the color requires light to grow. If there is a large amount of soluble iron (Fe2+) in the water Fe2+ aeration causes the reduction of the iron to Fe+ which is soluble and precipitation of the iron occurs. Chelation of Fe2+ is suppose to stop this but that does not always occur especially if organic nutes are being used. The iron precipitate that covers the pumps and reservoirs, sprayers pipes and roots. The precipitate is a reddish brown color. It is often seen on sinks and showers but is more commonly present in untreated well water as most water treatment plants treat it with oxidants for removal if it is at high levels in the water they distribute.