Rapid Rooters & Algae

Sticky2ice

Sticky2ice

Member
Hey y'all I just wanted to share my situation with everyone. I got some seedlings going in Rapid Rooters & transplanted them into FoxFarm OceanForest soil with 24hrs of light with no problems or burn but, A week later the exposed Rapid Rooter surfaces were caked in white & green algae. I know that this is not a big problem & I am combating it by giving the soil some Hygrozyme & covering up the exposed rapid rooters with more soil so the algae receives less light to grow. I just wanted to put this bit of info out-there so anyone who uses Rapid Rooters in soil could avoid this. :peace:

photo (5).jpgphoto.jpgphoto (3).jpgphoto (4).jpgphoto (2).jpg
 
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tommyo3000

Well-Known Member
Algae can grow on soil, rapid rooters, the side of a bucket, the paper sediment fier in an RO machine, on concrete, etc... and algae does not really eat up your nutes too much.. they are tiny. so don't worry.
 
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TinyGrow

Active Member
Yeah and honestly from what I have read, algea in the soil is actually good for the plants. Am I wrong here? From what I heard, algae is benefitial only if its in the soil - if it grows on the plant itself then you have an issue.

Please correct me if im wrong, I am not standing behind this statment firmly but it is what I was told. If I am wrong please let me know soI dont fuck my plants up.
 
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tommyo3000

Well-Known Member
I don't think algae are good for your plants.. I don't think they are a prob in your soil.. Covering them wasn't a bad idea.. A bit of algae won't do much harm either way... It is indicative of moist soil, tho... Which could invite fungus gnats and stuff.. So a dryer surface will be less conducive to algae and bugs.
 
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tommyo3000

Well-Known Member
Sticky2ice said:
Yeah that's what I should have done from the start (see pic 4), I've had luck in the past using rockwoool cubes like this, but I guess Rapid Rooters are different.
Click to expand...
I personally like to leave the top of the rapid rooter poking out of my medium. I would do the same with rockwool if I used it.
There is no reason to bury cannabis deeper than the roots.. It invites stem problems. This is why mulch is applied around trees BUT not within a couple inches of the trunk/stem. Roots will not pop out of there, so what do you get? wet stem.. What does that do? Invites disease and pests.

Instead of fixing your problem of a too-wet top zone by piling on more "zone", why don't you keep the existing top of your soil drier? Algae won't grow on the top of a dry-ish rapid rooter plug.

You are treating the symptom (algae) instead of the cause (too wet on top.)

tommy
 
Sticky2ice

Sticky2ice

Member
tommyo3000 said:
I personally like to leave the top of the rapid rooter poking out of my medium. I would do the same with rockwool if I used it.
There is no reason to bury cannabis deeper than the roots.. It invites stem problems. This is why mulch is applied around trees BUT not within a couple inches of the trunk/stem. Roots will not pop out of there, so what do you get? wet stem.. What does that do? Invites disease and pests.

Instead of fixing your problem of a too-wet top zone by piling on more "zone", why don't you keep the existing top of your soil drier? Algae won't grow on the top of a dry-ish rapid rooter plug.

You are treating the symptom (algae) instead of the cause (too wet on top.)

tommy
Click to expand...
I agree. The plant I covered with soil in the pic had a split in the Rapid Rooter exposing the root ball/mass, so thats why I covered it so much, the rest will be ok how they are since the roots only popped through the bottom half of the Rapid Rooters, the Hygrozyme is eating the algae alive & I'm getting nitrogen in return so all is well in the garden. As far as soil moisture goes, I water about every 4 days till the soil is almost all the way dry & topsoil is hard like a desert.
 
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