Swapping from organics to synthetic?

[Jeff]

I am running a dwc system and and using organics ime getting a greyish slime on the roots at the pot the long roots are fine and white and the slime is not smelly but I've recently heard that organics are not really any good in dwc cuz it gets like this I could be wrong tho just wot I've read. I was wondering if its ok to swap from organic veg nutes to synthetic bloom? Ime planning on swapping from iguana juice to sensi bloom ph perfect? Do you think it will effect the plant allot? Will it stop the slime? Anyone who has experienced this or could give any advice would be great.

 

[The Medicine Man]

compost tea for the win!! That'll get your slime gone. I use synthetic nutrients with compost tea.

 

[Jeff]

So I can swap them without any problem? The slime isn't realy effecting the plant to much I can wash the slime off I thought swapping to synthetics would stop it. And synthetic sensi bloom is supposed to be ph perfect so I should have less ph problems so hopefully it works for me and I don't have to ph twice a day! What type of tea do you use does it eat the slime or something?

 

[The Medicine Man]

Swapping to synthetics won't necessarily get rid of the slime, though. Once it's there... it's there. You need enzymes to eat it, so utilizing a beneficial microbe tea will be your best bet, rather than switching out your nutrient schedule.

 

[Jeff]

Thanks medicine man I think ile still change because I want to have the ph perfect in there so I hopefully don't have to adjust it every day! Ile get some enzyme additive and give it a bash! Is the slime that much to be worried about the other roots in the res look alright and the plant seems ok there's a few white bubbles in the slime aswel wen I looked this morning?

 

[The Medicine Man]

Any sot of biofilm I get worried about.

 

[Jeff]

Oh shite I new its not good ile swap it tonite and wash as much slime of as I can! My res temps are about 75-80 aswell so thats not helping either till I get my led hopefully in the next few weeks. Oh and do you make your own tea or buy one I woz looking at sensizyme is this the kind off thing I need? Still in the learning curve with the dwc sorry if Ime asking stupid questions.

 

[BigBuddha]

As I understood it - aside from organic matter clogging up hydro systems and causing gunk- organic nutes need the microherd in soil to break-down their components into chelatable form.. and they're also not measurable with ec equipment.. hence why all hydro nutrients are refined salts or chemicals (yuk).

Good luck getting it sorted out dude.. it looks like some folks here are helping with that process. The microherd tea sounds like a good idea to sort out the shit that's already there. Sending over lots of green vibes.

 

[The Medicine Man]

Oh shite I new its not good ile swap it tonite and wash as much slime of as I can! My res temps are about 75-80 aswell so thats not helping either till I get my led hopefully in the next few weeks. Oh and do you make your own tea or buy one I woz looking at sensizyme is this the kind off thing I need? Still in the learning curve with the dwc sorry if Ime asking stupid questions.

No no, you're asking the right questions, not dumb ones. What I would do is get something like Ancient Forest if possible, some earth worm castings and if you can find some (this time of year it's easy to get) Biotone Start Plus. That's got a nice amount of colony forming bacteria and fungi in it. Get a 5 gal bucket and toss into a sock 2 handfuls of Ancient Forest, a handful of earth worm casings, and 3-5 tablespoons of the biotone and then maybe 4 tablespoons of molasses. Put an air pump to it and let it bubble for 48 hours. You should see a foam start happening and when it's foamy, add 3-5 drops of olive oil. The bubbles are showing you it's working, but those bubbles and foam will also cause anaerobic areas where the herd can die. See the bubbles and add olive oil to calm the foam down, and then add a cup per gallon to control the slime and then 1 cup per 5 gallons as maintenance.

Super easy and wayyyy cheaper than a zyme product.

 

[The Medicine Man]

As I understood it - aside from organic matter clogging up hydro systems and causing gunk- organic nutes need the microherd in soil to break-down their components into chelatable form.. and they're also not measurable with ec equipment.. hence why all hydro nutrients are refined salts or chemicals (yuk).

Good luck getting it sorted out dude.. it looks like some folks here are helping with that process. The microherd tea sounds like a good idea to sort out the shit that's already there. Sending over lots of green vibes.

Yup, organic nutes need a herd to break down the nutrients into something a plant can uptake... inorganic nutrients. There really isn't anything wrong with mineral salts, but the PGR chemicals that a lot of boosters contain aren't always that great. Mineral salts are just something that's immediately available to the plant. They are able to be used in such a low concentration that the herb doesn't even need a flush period. I feed up until harvest and I have patients that flip out because of the smoothness of my medicine. I run a totally synthetic nute line and add sea salt and bennie tea now.

And right, organic nutes don't measure with an EC pen. Im too crazy about things to not be able to measure stuff... Im a baker by trade so I need my recipes and exacting standards. I get too paranoid without it. hahaha