New Grower New, first grow

[DMHeights]

Can't really help you at all except, I wouldnt worry about the drooping during your "night time" its probably just because you moved the lights closer, more intense and mimicing the sun, these girls really do a dance throughout the day when you're outdoors

 

[LaoWhoo]

Thanks DM, figured that was a part of it but suspect they're also not gettin enuf O2, hence the rot slime at the water line of 2 roots now as well as the air hose. Roots don't show it too well in pic, but it's all the way up into the pot and a second well-established root has some at same level. Didn't quite feel the need to cut these, so they're in a 30 ml/gal solut of 3% H2O2 cuz that's all we had, bubbling away furiously in the small 7 gal res that I originally discarded. Other materials are disinfecting in the main res. Gonna follow with a water only rinse, then sum water and Hydroguard only for a day or two. Know this stuff is nasty and sum woulda just begun over but the roots below the spots seem decent., and above ground haven't been too affected, xcept maybe the 1st leaves of the affected plant. Have it bubbling all the way up through the Hydroton. The 2 stones in the smaller res make a huge difference to the oxygenation--other 2 stones for the big res will be here tomorrow. Should be done w/ treatment and rinse by then. Will just check this scrubbing process thru the day. For those running a regular sterilizing solut the solution is half what I put in so I may only treat it an hour or two. Will see. Water pump is never goin back in the main res tho. It just added heat and spread the snot throughout. It'll go in the small res for germination only, 1st 2 weeks.

 

[LaoWhoo]

After 4 hours of bubbling H2O2 solut the snot is gone f/ the new site it had covered and all that's left of the original area is a stain. Think I'm goin over to organic teas. They run at a higher PH, wh/ will feel weird, but don't think I can argue against all the natural defenses they provide against what just happened. It'll be here Sunday so they'll be in water in the small res til then.

From what I've read HG doesn't really work w/ synthetic nutes, so we'll be usin organic for the HG (and other benefits) as well as the synthetic GH series for quick nute uptake. Gonna be a bit of a balancing act, but what's key here is low temps--the 68 F I can maintain w/ 3 frozen water bottles/day. Gotta see about PH since the organics go higher. This snot has me craving a healthy biome fulla good microbes.

 

[LaoWhoo]

Been about 7 hours of scrubbing bubbles and the stain is nearly gone. Hit it a few times w/ spray bottle set on jet. Girls are tolerating their bath really well--biz as usual above ground. Nuther hour or 3 and I'll change it out with water only. Every1 says you can't do synthetic and organic, or can't do organic hydro. The Boogie Brew site FAQs says otherwise. I'll have sumthin sorted by then (Sunday). They need a full day or 2 in good clean water anyhoo. Roots are all sparkly white like a toothpaste ad and I'm fukn keepin em that way. Jeez what the hell. Can't believe I let that happen.

Moral of the story? Never name your plants.

 

[LaoWhoo]

Reading Heisenberg's thread about maintaining healthy bennies in DWC. May not be root rot but cyanobacteria wh/ loves O2 and doesn't need light. And it doesn't go away after H2O2 treatment. Girls had 7 hours treatment and wasn't noticing any further improvement so switched out to water. Sprayed some Hydroguard on the affected areas and dosed water with prescribed amount. BUT I failed to filter the water first so this may not take. If it IS cyanobacteria it'll reappear in 12-36 hours (b/c the chloramine I didn't filter outa the water will kill the HG anyway). But if it doesn't reappear than hopefully it's just your garden variety bad slime. Either way, I'm determined to make the organic tea in conjunction (unfortunately?) w/ the synthetic GH nutes b/c the plant has already begun on these and you can't just switch these 2 horses midstream. The BB site says in such a situation we'll probably be usin about a 10% solut weekly to maintain a healthy biome that, acc. to Heisenberg, WILL keep the bad stuff out even if it is cyano. Off to look at images of yellow snot to try and guess what it was.

 

[LaoWhoo]

After an hour in water flush the roots that were matted have separated into beautiful long hairs that aren't tangled any longer.

 

[LaoWhoo]

Realized that the incidence of this stuff happened along a line of site--from the air line to the main root and second root of Sally, just above the water line. You could tie a string from these straight out an air line hole in the side of the res that I made and abandoned. Good one einstein. Well, there's a 218-page thread of people swearing by the root increase they got by using the tea and now that I know this I can't go back. "The mind, once expanded, can never regain its original dimensions" or whatever O. W. Holmes said. Can't help but identify w/ the girls, and what are we if not walking talking biomes. More parasites comprise us than cells, or so I've read (over 7 trillion?).

Not sure how I haven't killed them yet. Realized not only did I not filter the rinse water they were in over night, but I also didn't PH it. Just awful. Poor saggy things--especially Ernestine, as usual, our canary. Switched out immediately this morning with filtered water, 15 ml HG, 10 ml cal-mag, (for 170 PPM water from 60), and then 5ml Micro/10ml Grow/5ml Bloom to ease them back in the 5 gal res and 2 stones. Total PPM of only 315. Temps at 71.5, lights at a moderate 21"

 

[Frenjamin Banklin]

Go light with any additive for DWC until you know what will happen, bennies teas and sugars can take off like crazy depending on your existing environment. Big thing is never ever ever let any light into your reservoir. Good bacteria don’t need light but bad bacteria love it. Keep all the light out of your reservoir no matter what. Towels can be a big help draped around the stem and top of bucket like a Christmas tree skirt.

 

[LaoWhoo]

Thx Frenjamin. Note the edit above for easing them back in. Good idea re: the Christmas tree blanket. I fashioned dark light blocking cardboard shielding for the cages yesterday. Although I'm not sure whether/how I'll incorporate other bennies in this grow (besides the Hydroguard), or whether these girls will even recover my cleansing and mess-ups, I'm pretty determined to pursue the organics route b/c of the root gains experienced by others and the prophylactic advantages. Things seem to have come a way since the sharp divide b/t organic soil/synthetic DWC. I'm all for making the water as soil-like as possible, whatever that means and even if it's only to keep this slime away.

edit We're growing in the basement with 2 sump pits, and chances are I'm just blowing the bad stuff into the res. The alternative would be to go organics/soil but for whatever reason I'm drawn to DWC. With such there's a decent chance that even goin sterile wouldn't be as easy/successful as usin bennies, and am learnin that Real Growers Recharge is a 3d alternative. In the meantime I'm lookin at sterilizing the sump pits.

 

[LaoWhoo]

We have coming the following: 3 ingredients for Heisenberg's tea, Boogie Brew tea, and Real Growers Recharge. The last is the simplest and expressly designed to stand up to synthetics. It'll be here Monday and by then the girls will have been back on their nutes a coupla 3 days, hopefully w/o any re-emergence of the slime. Keepin nutes low and counting on the Hydroguard to help. Lookin forward to taking an active role in root development/protection, even if we have to start another grow over. But given how early and suddenly the slime came on, and the basement environment, feel that this is our best chance at saving them and at DWC. If we have to go over to soil so be it, but not w/o a reason (other than the obvious). But people are doin it, and w/ great results.