Root rot with low res temps

Bepis

New Member
Hey everybody! Long time lurker, first time poster. Sorry if this post ends up too long, but I want to include all of the information.

This is my first grow, but it’s pretty much all I’ve been doing since quarantine stated.

I’m using a 5gal bucket DWC system. Tap water, Terp Tea grow, Roots Excelurator gold. I keep the res cool by adding a frozen water bottle whenever the temp approaches 70°F. The res is aerated by a 3W pump (whisper 20) with a single circular air stone. The grow tent is ventilated, has circulating air blowing on the plant, and provides about 40W of full spectrum to the plant. (For now)

3/15 start baby clone in DWC

3/25-4/6
I left the water unchanged and didn’t chill it or check the temperature. I realized this was a problem because I started getting root rot, the grow smelled like shit. I used 4tsp of terp tea in the res this time.

4/6
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4/6
I cleaned, replaced the water, only used 1tsp terp tea to let it heal, using roots Excelurator, and started chilling the water. Most of the original roots shriveled up or fell off. A couple of those eventually healed.
4/7
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4/6-4/11
Not much was happening, but I could see some roots propogating in the side of the net pot.
4/11
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4/13
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4/15
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4/16
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4/16
Ignoring the old root rot bits, I started noticing a little bit of slime on the bottom of some of the thick root cluster, so I replaced the water. Since the roots were doing so well, I increased the nutes to 2tsp. Used roots Excelurator again. Here’s where I may have f*d up: I forgot to pH the water (at all) until 4/17 morning and the water was up to the net basket (oops).

4/17
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4/17
pH was at about 8 when I finally checked it. I added GH pH down until it was steady back at 6 and the water has at this point been on the lower end of 65-70°F since the first case of root rot.

today:
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Can high pH cause dark, limp roots? Would this be caused by the water level being too high? I’m worried that something that I’m doing wrong now will come back to bite me later when I have more to lose.
 

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Bepis

New Member
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FYI: the leaves haven’t shown any concerning signs this whole time. When the roots get damaged the growth slows, but I haven’t noticed anything else.
 

70's natureboy

Well-Known Member
The plant looks pretty good. Maybe it isn't root rot. I have never heard of your nutes so I have no opinion of that. When I hear tea I think of slime. My DWC res sometimes gets up to 75 degrees and never gets root rot. I'm just an old school boring GH guy.
 

Bepis

New Member
The plant looks pretty good. Maybe it isn't root rot. I have never heard of your nutes so I have no opinion of that. When I hear tea I think of slime. My DWC res sometimes gets up to 75 degrees and never gets root rot. I'm just an old school boring GH guy.
Are you running beneficial bacteria or sterile? Boring GH sounds a lot better than a dying plant haha
 

Renfro

Well-Known Member
If you are running bennies then it's likely a colony of the beneficial bacteria thats on the roots.
 

Bepis

New Member
If you are running bennies then it's likely a colony of the beneficial bacteria thats on the roots.
The roots are shriveling up and some of the leaves are starting to curl at the edges. Is that normal for beneficial bacteria to do?
 

Renfro

Well-Known Member
The roots are shriveling up and some of the leaves are starting to curl at the edges. Is that normal for beneficial bacteria to do?
Wouldn't be too beneficial lol.

The plant pictured looks ok? Or am I missing something?
 
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