Help! I have pics of the problem. Need advice to stop it.

greenlyfe

Member
I have a problem that resulted from a couple of issues. My water temp being too high (75-80F), bad algae problem, I mean bad, and I think too much nutes (SH 1/4 strength :confused: ) that I added when I had to change and de-algaefy:lol: the tank at day 11. Im taking care of the res temp problem and this is what they look like now at day 13....I appreciate all help


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Do you have down "slime" on your roots? It could be the algae. How did you "de-algaefy? Algae can be tricky to get rid of! Trust me! In the past when I have had problems, I cleaned everything with 35% H202 (can't source the 50%) and bleach. Then soak the roots in H202 and cut away and bad, real brown areas. I then run the whole system again for a day using H202 at around 4ml / gallon (no nutes). Flush again, then run as per regular with H202 @ 2ml /gallon throughout the grow. I have also used various fungicides with varying success.

Your res temps are a little high, but even at 80F, H202 @ 1-2ml/gallon should curb algae problems, and assist in bring DO levels up.

A lot of threads cover algae in more detail, never hurts to search around.
 

HSA

Well-Known Member
Greenlyfe: I feel your pain. I too have had algae bloloms in my reservoir and I found a few things that helped. One, flush you baby's roots in clean water while you scrub your tub air stones and lines, anything and everything in the tub. I used a shower head on the roots and a lot of dish soap on everything else. Just make sure it all gets thoroughly rinsed. Then refill with a new batch of nutes and a dose of hydrogen peroxide. I don't use the 35% medical grade like Rube does because the lower grade 3% is safer to use and available everywhere . I keep a teaspoon per gallon of the 3% H2O2 and that works for me.

What I did see is that your net pots are uncovered and light getting into your tub will get things going. You can get white plastic net pot caps for about fifty cents a piece at a hydro store and they block out most of the light. Your plants are still small so they should be easy to install. You naturally have algae in water, microscopic plant life, that in the presence of light, with all those wonderful warm nutrients you're using, allow them to reproduce or bloom. Block out the light, monitor your pH, keep the reservoir cool and clean and you shouldn't have as much problem in the future.
 

greenlyfe

Member
Do you have down "slime" on your roots? It could be the algae. How did you "de-algaefy? Algae can be tricky to get rid of! Trust me! In the past when I have had problems, I cleaned everything with 35% H202 (can't source the 50%) and bleach. Then soak the roots in H202 and cut away and bad, real brown areas. I then run the whole system again for a day using H202 at around 4ml / gallon (no nutes). Flush again, then run as per regular with H202 @ 2ml /gallon throughout the grow. I have also used various fungicides with varying success.

Your res temps are a little high, but even at 80F, H202 @ 1-2ml/gallon should curb algae problems, and assist in bring DO levels up.

A lot of threads cover algae in more detail, never hurts to search around.
Yeah thats the conclusion I'm coming to after some research, I just wanted some opinions from those who know. Im starting a compost tea today and hopefully I can save them. they are getting worse daily. Thanks for the response Goldberg +rep ya!.....
 

greenlyfe

Member
Greenlyfe: I feel your pain. I too have had algae bloloms in my reservoir and I found a few things that helped. One, flush you baby's roots in clean water while you scrub your tub air stones and lines, anything and everything in the tub. I used a shower head on the roots and a lot of dish soap on everything else. Just make sure it all gets thoroughly rinsed. Then refill with a new batch of nutes and a dose of hydrogen peroxide. I don't use the 35% medical grade like Rube does because the lower grade 3% is safer to use and available everywhere . I keep a teaspoon per gallon of the 3% H2O2 and that works for me.

What I did see is that your net pots are uncovered and light getting into your tub will get things going. You can get white plastic net pot caps for about fifty cents a piece at a hydro store and they block out most of the light. Your plants are still small so they should be easy to install. You naturally have algae in water, microscopic plant life, that in the presence of light, with all those wonderful warm nutrients you're using, allow them to reproduce or bloom. Block out the light, monitor your pH, keep the reservoir cool and clean and you shouldn't have as much problem in the future.
Im using 3% also. The light was an issue with my reservoir also. How do I get them to recover? and do you think a compost tea would help to recover and prevent along with the extra light blocked?
 
To be quite honest, I wouldn't even waste my time with 3%, it's garbage IMHO you would need a vast amount of it to get the desired effect. Get the 35% or 50% if you can get it. Trust me and ask any old timer in here, get the good stuff.

How are the roots looking? Are they brown or slimey? Root damage is permanent; new root hairs can form, but damaged roots will not regenerate. Lightly infected roots may turn white again if treated promptly.

If it is Pythium, I would maybe try a Hydrogen Peroxide root dunk
-Remove each plant from system, snip off potions of the roots system badly diseased.
-Dip/swish each plant and container into a strong H2O2 solution, until diseased roots have been removed. Repeat as required. The H2O2 should burn off the pythium-infected outer root layers. Sterilize all equipment too and clean the shit out of everything. Add anti-pythium additives, Vitamin B1, and fresh nutrients to a sterilized reservoir at a lower strength.

FloraShield ,Root Shield or Hydro Shield (or any other product along those lines) may help as well.

Good Luck!
 

greenlyfe

Member
I hope you can tell here in these pics, but it looks like my tap root is what would be considered brown

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as you can seethe babies are looking bad...can I and how do I bring them back?
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The leaves are not happy. Can I cut that tap root part tht I think is infected? Thanks for your help Rube
 
They actually don't look too bad (yet). I would try and dip them first.

Did you clean the rec etc?

You can always cut roots, obviously this is less "risky" when they have a strong root system as opposed to tap root plus a few pokers. I would try a good dip first. Any cutting will cause some stress, which may have more of an impact with younger plants.

IMHO, tea won't help solve your problem on this run. I think you should be dosing the shit outta the res with H202 to sterilize which is the opposite of breeding beneficial bacti.
 
Some nutes may also turn the roots brown. A tell tale is the slime associated with it, which basically chokes out the root.

New growth, for the most part, looks goods which is a positive in this situation. They can easily recover, but cleaning as much of the algae out of the system as you possibly can is necessary.
 

greenlyfe

Member
Some nutes may also turn the roots brown. A tell tale is the slime associated with it, which basically chokes out the root.

New growth, for the most part, looks goods which is a positive in this situation. They can easily recover, but cleaning as much of the algae out of the system as you possibly can is necessary.
Thanks Rube, the new growth looks excellnt so I do have high hopes for a good recovery. I'll dip them and hope that works. All I can get a hold of is 3% until my grow shop opens in 2 days. You think if I did a 15 sec dip it would help the slime? And whats gonna happen with the leaves and lower sections..will they rebound with new growth?
 
I might let them sit for a few minutes at least. Full strength at 3%. Rinse them out really good after.

The leaves that are already turning yellow will not come back. New growth shouldn't be a problem, if you curb the algae. I usually pinch them off once they look "dead" (droopy or completely yellow (almost whitish).
 
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