Relentless Root Slime…

I’m now on my 4th attempt at hydro herb (However grown other plants in the past with hydro without problems) and I keep getting this brown “Slime” all over my roots.. I also don’t see any signs of infection other than lacking nutrients.

Specs :
-[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]250watt MH (Hortilux)
-[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]4 gallon DWC (Lightproof)
-[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]Iceprobe chilled @67
-[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]5.6 PH
-[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]200 – 300ppm (Never made it any further)
-[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]Advanced Nutrients (Sensi Grow A+B / Piranah / Tarantula / Scorpion Juice / Earth Tea)
-[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]Advanced Nutrients (Next Grow, unused) Voodoo juice / Sensizme

Root rot has an odor, causes the PH to DROP (usually) however my reservoir has NO order and the ph actually was rising..

A lot of posts I’ve found say that this problem can be caused by algae growing and light leeks.. however I have no light leaks and algae doesn’t produce “Slime”.

H202 doesn’t stop it, as it will be back in under 12 hours even on heavy doeses..

Anyone else have problems like this?

Well, if your water temp is in the 60's, I'd say it's caused by some of that stuff you're putting in there. One of those ridiculously expensive things is fungi, and another is bacteria. They both grow around the roots, and the mycorrhizae grow outward from the roots, and look like smaller roots. The slime may not be root rot, but the stuff growing on the roots. H2O2 may kill what you're paying so much for, and then more grows.

HTH

I only purchased the bacteria / fungal based products after the 2nd attempt.. I figured it might help prevent the slime.

1st attempt was made using stealth hydro ferts, after the failure (Slime.

2nd attempt was done with AN Sensi A+B Piranah and Tarantula and added the iceprobe as well.

3rd 4th just more stuff added with same results

have you tried hygrozime yet? helped me with root rot and i swear by it!

Sensizme(sp?) is AN's version of hygrozime. I honestly don't think my problem is root rot, as it simply doesn't thrive that well in cool, PH regulated water..

I've shifted location, bought ALL new stuff (Meters, pots, new res, air tube, bubble wands) bleached the WHOLE room, and everything that came in contact with the old system.

Shit still pops up..

I have not used Sensizme yet, but plan to depending on research outcome of the cause
If i continue to bleach at this rate of failures i won't have any nose hairs left

what are you using to oxygenate the root zone? usually root rot/slime is due to low oxygen levels in the res.

Whisper 100 (Dual output) with 4 air wands. The water itself is nothing but churning bubbles..

Am i the only person with this problem?

After much research into this “Slime” I came across something rather interesting…

Cyanobacterium, more specifically Synechoecoccus is a single cell colonizing organism (Sort of a Bacteria / Algae cross) that is capable of living in complete darkness ONLY when provided with complex organic nutrients..

This explains the following..
-[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]H2o2 does not “Kill” the organism, only break up the colony..
-[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]How the organism can live at under 68 degrees
-[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]Why the PH goes UP not down
-[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]Why Sensizme and other such products can cause this (they break down organic waste, turning it into organic nutrients)

This organism is also fed by C02, so I’ve been giving this little fucker a PERFECT environment..

Even the Stealth hydro PH Up / Down is completely organic, explaining how it started with minimal nutes..

Thoughts?

Or am i just looking WAY too far into this.

Are you sure that stuff is not in one of those AN products? I've used other products that included some stuff that grew because it was meant to be food for other critters. Bottom line, if your plants are healthy, there may not be a problem.

It could be that you've never felt roots under water before.

HTH

I almost think that would be the case, except it did the same thing with the Stealth Hydro stuff.. However at this time i didn't have the chiller, and that could have been a genuine case of root rot..

I've recently done another "Reset" on everything and i'm working on 3 seedlings (3 seeds out of 20 actually germinated) that i will HOPEFULLY be able to successfully grow. I'll be stepping through this process VERY carefully, as these were my remaining bagseed, and sadly after my move i have no source for additional seeds except ordering (And i don't quite have the balls for that, considering i don't have an alternate address to ship nor do i trust anyone local enough to tell)

My current plan of attack is to use chem nutes until the plants are about 6" and then add a little organic as long as everything is going well. If problems arise i can always remove the organics, something i should have done in the past.

I guess if i fail at this i can use all this AN shit for the grass (in the yard) and have a great looking lawn