Grow Mediums Mega Crop in reservoir smell?

[briefbriefs]

Hey all! Has anyone had any experiences with skunky water smell in their reservoir after using Mega Crop? My res (after 2 days) smells a little skunky, mildewy, kind of like a pond. I only used silica, mega crop and finished off with Flying Skull Z7 (an enzyme that keeps your lines clean) Is this normal? It’s my first time using an autopot. Would it help to use an air stone to oxygenate the water? I was using a wave maker pump but it didn’t seem to make much of a difference.
( calling @bushmasterar15 @Olderfart @Nosias @pop22 avengers assemble!)

 

[pop22]

Yes it's normal, MC contains some organics which can cause a bit of smell. I've used it in auto pots with no problem.

Hey all! Has anyone had any experiences with skunky water smell in their reservoir after using Mega Crop? My res (after 2 days) smells a little skunky, mildewy, kind of like a pond. I only used silica, mega crop and finished off with Flying Skull Z7 (an enzyme that keeps your lines clean) Is this normal? It’s my first time using an autopot. Would it help to use an air stone to oxygenate the water? I was using a wave maker pump but it didn’t seem to make much of a difference.
( calling @bushmasterar15 @Olderfart @Nosias @pop22 avengers assemble!)

 

[briefbriefs]

Phew thank you!! I was going crazy not knowing.

Yes it's normal, MC contains some organics which can cause a bit of smell. I've used it in auto pots with no problem.

 

[Olderfart]

Hey all! Has anyone had any experiences with skunky water smell in their reservoir after using Mega Crop? My res (after 2 days) smells a little skunky, mildewy, kind of like a pond. I only used silica, mega crop and finished off with Flying Skull Z7 (an enzyme that keeps your lines clean) Is this normal? It’s my first time using an autopot. Would it help to use an air stone to oxygenate the water? I was using a wave maker pump but it didn’t seem to make much of a difference.
( calling @bushmasterar15 @Olderfart @Nosias @pop22 avengers assemble!)

With my 10 gallon reservoir, there was an odour, but not one that seemed to change much with age. MC has a distinct smell from the get go.

Even if you have some bacterial or fungal mischief going on in the reservoir, I doubt that it will affect nutrition of your plants negatively. At any rate, with my 10 gallon setup with three plants, I did not have a problem. If the odour you have is annoying, just back off on how much nute mix you leave in there, and let close to all of it get used before adding more. A top on the reservoir might also help, mine was lidded all the time which contained whatever smell there was, and may have reduced microbial activity by eliminating light. More oxygen from an air stone may make things better, or could make it worse if it helps whatever bugs are involved.

Another issue that may be more relevant is that if you have stuff growing in your reservoir, you may be heading for blockages in nute lines, so be careful of that. I avoided that problem with different filtration than most peeps bother with. The standard filter supplied by Autopot is a vulnerability in my opinion.

 

[Nosias]

Phew thank you!! I was going crazy not knowing.

Well you maybe crazy ... hard to tell yet Ok Sorry. I turn my lid upside down and put it on a little crooked. This always more air to get out of the rez. I found this helps me and my rez.

 

[briefbriefs]

With my 10 gallon reservoir, there was an odour, but not one that seemed to change much with age. MC has a distinct smell from the get go.

Even if you have some bacterial or fungal mischief going on in the reservoir, I doubt that it will affect nutrition of your plants negatively. At any rate, with my 10 gallon setup with three plants, I did not have a problem. If the odour you have is annoying, just back off on how much nute mix you leave in there, and let close to all of it get used before adding more. A top on the reservoir might also help, mine was lidded all the time which contained whatever smell there was, and may have reduced microbial activity by eliminating light. More oxygen from an air stone may make things better, or could make it worse if it helps whatever bugs are involved.

Thank you for replying! It makes me feel better that others notice an odour (i see you speak The Queen's english as well!) and that its just normal. I added an airstone last night and left it running overnight and it didnt change the pH at all, and it also REALLY helped with the smell. Now i have it on a timer... two hours on, two hours off. I had the lid on the entire time since i mixed the nutes, but leaving it cracked justttt a little bit has helped with the condensation and the smell as well.

Another issue that may be more relevant is that if you have stuff growing in your reservoir, you may be heading for blockages in nute lines, so be careful of that. I avoided that problem with different filtration than most peeps bother with. The standard filter supplied by Autopot is a vulnerability in my opinion.

What product do you recommend to mitigate that? I have z7 in my res right now which is marketed as an enzyme that keeps your lines clean, so at least i have that as protection for my lines. I remember you telling me/showing me about the filter setup you've got, and its amazing! Im a little burnt out on tweaking my system right now, so ill wait until the next grow to install that. For now, the little golf filter will have to do...for now...

Well you maybe crazy ... hard to tell yet Ok Sorry. I turn my lid upside down and put it on a little crooked. This always more air to get out of the rez. I found this helps me and my rez.

Lol dont you know? we're all crazy here! Also, thats a good idea! does the ambient light leak affect the nutes in the res? All i have is very dim daylight coming in sometimes.

 

[Nosias]

Thank you for replying! It makes me feel better that others notice an odour (i see you speak The Queen's english as well!) and that its just normal. I added an airstone last night and left it running overnight and it didnt change the pH at all, and it also REALLY helped with the smell. Now i have it on a timer... two hours on, two hours off. I had the lid on the entire time since i mixed the nutes, but leaving it cracked justttt a little bit has helped with the condensation and the smell as well.



What product do you recommend to mitigate that? I have z7 in my res right now which is marketed as an enzyme that keeps your lines clean, so at least i have that as protection for my lines. I remember you telling me/showing me about the filter setup you've got, and its amazing! Im a little burnt out on tweaking my system right now, so ill wait until the next grow to install that. For now, the little golf filter will have to do...for now...



Lol dont you know? we're all crazy here! Also, thats a good idea! does the ambient light leak affect the nutes in the res? All i have is very dim daylight coming in sometimes.

Just no direct sun light on the rez. very dim sounds fine. Or put a blanket over the top.

 

[Olderfart]

What product do you recommend to mitigate that? I have z7 in my res right now which is marketed as an enzyme that keeps your lines clean, so at least i have that as protection for my lines. I remember you telling me/showing me about the filter setup you've got, and its amazing! Im a little burnt out on tweaking my system right now, so ill wait until the next grow to install that. For now, the little golf filter will have to do...for now...

I can't help with that product as I have no experience with anything of that nature, nor have I dug into the issue. I did not experience any plugging or buildup of deposits in lines or valves in over 90 days, so I had no need.

Others here that have experienced plugging have cured plugging of lines by backflushing with water from a syringe, but if the autopot valve itself gets plugged, just turn off the nutes, pull the valve apart and give it a good cleaning by hand. You may not run into any problem. Just keep your eye on the autopot tray, and if it ever dries out completely, you have a blockage that needs to be dealt with. No problem if you are home, but if you leave for a week or two, your plants could get unhappy before you return. I haven't heard of people using MegaCrop alone having blockages, and I doubt that your enzyme product is a risk, so you should be good even with the standard filter. If you do have to leave for a while, I suggest flushing the lines thoroughly, cleaning the valves, and confirming that everything is working properly before leaving.

 

[Olderfart]

Oops, forgot to add - another issue with stuff growing in the reservoir is that the gunk could in theory at least foul the autopot valve so the float valve controlling nute intake does not seal completely. Keep an eye on water levels in your trays so you have a sense of how high the liquid in them gets. You will notice that the water level at maximum just barely covers the hose input fitting on the valve. If you detect it getting higher over time, or if it ever gets high enough to spill out of the hose groove, clean the valve immediately. If the float valve controlling the nute input fails to seal, the reservoir will empty into your grow space. Be a bit of a mess if it made it to a wall to wall carpet.

 

[BII]

And watch for precipitation too that apparently comes along sometimes with the microbial growth. It sometimes seemed that the added kelp (or something similar brown color) would precipitate out.