HOLY EFFING ROOTS!! ALL in the 3/4" tubing of my CAP E&F system. Please look, tips?

Hey all, so holy shit lol. I wanted to jsut pull up a bucket and see how the roots were looking, it was hard to pull up and now i see why. Look at this F*^&ing thing!



And this is how much roots are just CHILLIN in the space between the buckets.


OK so those two pics up there were from THE TUBING from the T to that second bucket, thats literally how long it was INSIDE the tubing. When I lifted the bucket it straight up ripped those roots right there at the T. So im like "fuuuuuuuuuk I gotta take that apart and get those out or they gonna rot. Pull it out and im like "HOLY SHIT DUE, its like a damn tapeworm!!"

Anyways, is this just gonna be totally normal thing to deal with? I mean they still have 4 weeks minimun. one thing i know is they have NOT been being turned. Due to the fact that my next run with have scrog nets and shit so i wanted to be used to not having to turn them. I didnt touch any of the other 6 plants. So as of now all the rest of those have mad roots in the tubing. fuck that just worries the hell out of me.

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This is just kind of a look at how they setup... im worried now about that last bucket on the line. where are THOSE roots going? becuase the one i pulled was the FIRST on in the line and the roots were going towards the BACK of the line. ohhh man this is stressing me out lol

Maybe get thicker tubing and do a quick line change. If do it quick obviously to reduce as much stress as possible on the girls. Other than I don't know what I'd do. Maybe use larger buckets next time ?

All in all at least you know they're growing happily.

What a great problem to have. Nice roots.

put something at the opening of the tube that will prevent roots from growing but at the same time let water filter through, suggestions?


screen
mesh filter
cotton-like substance

the trick is you want something that will stop the roots but wont seriously impede your water pump from pushing through water at the same time, its a delicate balance, but i think you can handle it

even one of those brass or copper pipe screensyou get at the headshop would work sufficiently enough i think....like i said, i have faith, good luck buddy, if you need any help, feel free to send me a message

I think they're trying to find a way to grow into ur brain when ur asleep at night! Be very careful!

BUt seriously, i'd take it as a compliment they obviously loving it so much - looks like good roots dude.

And without meaning to sound smart, but beyond the aesthetics of u looking at it, i don't see u mentioning that u having any particular problems or issues??

If all is good (and i reckon they should be if they got that surface area sucking up feed!) and nothing actually clogged up, then i wouldn't worry about it at all. All it means is when these get chopped, u now just gotta clean out alot more pipework, etc to prep for next batch.

Do not put any metal except stainless steel in your system, never brass or copper

I had exactly the same issue which forced me to modify my systems to DWC. Ebb & Flow systems boost root development like nobody's bidnezz but drainage & flow become an issue as your plants roots seek nutes water and/or oxygen.

RedWhiteBlueGreen said:

I think they're trying to find a way to grow into ur brain when ur asleep at night! Be very careful!

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Lol cracked me up with this one.

Ok COOOOOLL ya they arent showing like any visual problems. I jsut got worried cuz i got 4 weeks left still. I was just surprised that it happened like that so damn much lol.

Thanks all for the comments.

Has anyone ever done that? put a metal screen in there or something? I wonder if i should try that. i dunno well see if all of a sudden everything clogs up here or not.

Great looking roots mate
I think whatever you try to use as a screen then the roots will grow through it and that would probably clog quicker.
I think just keep a close eye out for blockages and try to finish this batch and then modify the system with larger hoses for the next run.

word. im wondering, as shitty as it may be to do, if i try and give them a half turn every other dayor something. but i dont want roots to be in there then i end up ripping them and then i got rotten roots anyways to deal with. ya geez. i already put 3/4" tubing in there.. 1" tubing?! deezamn lol. that seems like a lot. If i put bigger tubing in there, wont it just fill that space too? lol

superstoner1 said:

Do not put any metal except stainless steel in your system, never brass or copper

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thank you for correcting me stoner, i did not realize placing a small copper or otherwise screen over the pipe would be harmful to the system, may I ask why not? im not trying to be a smart ass or anything, i genuinely would like to learn why it is not a good idea to do so...thanks for your time.

All metals but stainless will leach into the nute solution and cause problems

Are those two 20L buckets sitting in each other ? If so maybe a 13L sitting in a 20L which would give you more room.

if you do put screen in your tubing make it a little bigger then the hole ..about 2 mil ..and it will wedge in then ..instead of thinking how to put it on just push it in the hole will defo work

superstoner1 said:

All metals but stainless will leach into the nute solution and cause problems

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That is interesting but if you look at autopots they use a root control disc to stop the roots from growing into the valve and that has copper in it, wouldn't that leech into the nute solution also?

"A Marix Disc at the bottom of the 15 Litre pot prevents soil or substrate from falling out of the bottom of the pot while a copper disc in the bottom of the Autopot Tray prevents roots from growing out of the bottom of the 15 Litre pot and blocking the Smart Valve outlet."

Different metals can cause different elements of the nutrients to drop out creating a deficiancy and can leach into the nutes causing metal poisoning to plants.

superstoner1 said:

All metals but stainless will leach into the nute solution and cause problems

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thank you for answering my question friend, i appreciate it...i enjoy learning new things that i did not know...it does make sense that it could cause harm. to the OP. good luck with your problem.

superstoner1 said:

Different metals can cause different elements of the nutrients to drop out creating a deficiancy and can leach into the nutes causing metal poisoning to plants.

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I can understand that and i agree, i certainly wouldn't use anything other than stainless steel to be completely safe but i am sure there are lots of growers using autopots so how do they use copper without poisoning the plants?