What is this white cluster stuff on my roots?

It appears to be growing in the lower parts of the container where light can get down. I originally taped most of the 4 or 5 gallon clear plastic container to block the light, but I left a bit where I can view the roots. I guess it wasn't a good idea. I'll tape it right up, but will that fix the problem or should I look at treating it with something? Even the name of what it is would help immensely. Thanks.



That last pic is old, to give an idea of the container it's in, and then it's sitting in a shorter, squatter runoff catching container.

100% Cocotek coco and chem nutes (dutch master gold)

Thanks

If roots get any light they can turn green and even start to grow foliage on occasion. It looks a bit like perlite but could be a fungi or a beneficial bacteria colony. Dig one up and see, it could even be insect eggs or something.

it looks like some roots are not in too good shape

Hard to tell, but I suspect root aphids.

dam...looks like soem crazy shit....looks to be mycelium?

just not so much a desirable root inhab myco. heh

root aphids.

bonecarver_OG said:

it looks like some roots are not in too good shape

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Thanks I will start a thread asking for opinions and assistance!

Thanks everybody, I think it's the root aphids too. Damn. Gonna try tobacco juice I think. Cheerz.

hehe i used those same tubs for my mycology research

Lazyman said:

If roots get any light they can turn green and even start to grow foliage on occasion. It looks a bit like perlite but could be a fungi or a beneficial bacteria colony. Dig one up and see, it could even be insect eggs or something.

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[citation needed]
roots ignore light, as anyone who clones can tell you.

I've seen roots go green but have no pics. Where they got exposed at the top of the pots, when coco dries and blows off, etc.

If thats what root aphids do may I never get them in my life! You need Merit or Bayer Tree and Shrub to kill them. Nothing else works- period. There is a thread in the infirmary of the horrible battle they can be.

Be SURE you make proper identifacations. They have some very good pics of them in the thread- very very small- like mite sized. Stare at your medium and after awhile you might notice tiny bits of dust moving. Usually once you see them there are 1000's. Once they fly your fucked, cause other then the above products you can never kill them all.

But I am not sure thats what you have- I think you would have noticed by now if it was bugs. It might have fungus in the coco (good or bad). That looks way more like fungal growth, especially being that bright white. How fast is it spreading? Do you see it in areas of no light as well?

Try a treatment of SM-90. It's light weight enough that your probably not going to hurt anything, and it will knock out most of the microlife. I would also start brewing yourself some aero-compost tea and pump it full of bene's for awhile after the SM-90. There is that EM-1 stuff too (I have only read about it).

Roots tips are photophobic, as in they die in the presence of light, as far as I know anyways. The greening roots I thought was algae on them. I could be so wrong too, its not something I play with.

roots air prune, but grow just fine in the presence of light. ever been to epcot center? in 2nd grade, didnt you put the potato in a glass of water to watch it root?

Well, no, but many years later I started growing cannabis and noticed it then. I wish I had a pic. All I can say is that it wasn't slime or algae. The roots, meaning the big thick ones that happened to be near the surface and exposed, went green, in the way that the stem is green, but even darker. Strain was sensi shiva skunk but I've seen it on others. Tell me Wait, if you uncovered a root like this, say 1/4 to 1/2 inch diameter, and exposed it to light on the surface, what reaction do you think it would have? You seem to be saying it would just die/disintegrate/disappear? If it didn't "prune itself" away and it stayed there, would it stay brilliant white? I am saying it will stay there and go dark green.

Citizen, thanks buddy. I've been reading up all day and it quickly became apparent I will need something heavy duty for root aphids. But you make a great point about identification. I can say with certainty that it's only in the area that had light hitting it.

I had a dig around and I have some tiny ants around the pot and occasionally on the coco - these are just after the moisture I think - they're all around my house. I used my trich loupe to look at the surface, could not see anything living in the first inch or so. I dug down into an affected bit and dug one of the perlite looking things out. What do you know, it looked like perlite close up too. (zero perlite is in there). It was soft and fibrous and I squished it very easily and it was somewhat juicy/absorbent/fragile.

I only found one thing flying around and that was this guy:



Any thoughts? I'm tempted to try a beneficial microbe thing called Bio Bugs. Also, I am pretty sure I noticed this same stuff on the roots of my last harvest. It didn't alarm me as it wasn't widespread through the pot.

Edit: Hmmm I found some really tiny white bugs in the effected coco. One was a bit larger and looked a lot like a root aphid closeup I found on google. Also found a photo that looks like my flying thing. I guess I'll try bayer root and shrub or whatever it was called.

i think that's a fungus gnat, can you get any macro pics of the soil stuff?

I can mate. I'm just off to bed though. But it looks exactly like perlite really, but not. A photo will look exactly like a grain of perlite.

if you have ants, you have a very chance of having root aphids.
azamax is working for me. soil drench every few days seems to be keeping them under control.

yeah scrub that looks like a male root aphid, they have wings and can be easily mistaken for gnats. look very very closely at the top of your pot. stare at it for a good 20-30 seconds. see anything move? the females are small and like to crawl around the rims of the pots and the top of the coco

bayer tree and shrub liquid concentrate is the solution. will work wonders, promise

Yeah thanks for all the help fellas, really do appreciate it. Reality has sunk in - I have root aphids

I had made up a batch of tobacco juice but on further reading it's not gonna help to the level I want. I'll try to buy the Tree & Shrub today. Do I understand right that if I apply the tree & shrub, it's systemic, so it will kill the ones in the coco, it will kill the ones flying around (eventually) and they shouldn't come back if I don't introduce new clones/coco/etc? Is there a point to bombing my house, or is the systemic Tree & Shrub enough to eradicate the problem?

in my experience they are nearly impossible to get 100% rid of. i am trying to keep them under control in my hopes i can still pull of a good harvest. I have been soil drenching with azamax and its working out good so far. They are still there. but they have not got totally out of control.

sprayer bottle.

pour in h202 until reaches 5:1 ratio. or just use 2 tablespoons (1oz), if not accustomed to using hydrogn p...

fill the rest w/ tap water...

squeeze container to make space & spray (in stream) the hostiles... spray down all the sides... spray on top of media, until visibly moist. spray drainage holes...

dont water using regular nutes during this time. let media dry out so that the only water present is that filled w/ h202...

repeat every other day...

they will be dead in 7-14 days...

general preventative measures are spraying w/ h202 @ least weekly as a semi-media drench, & especially along the sides & bottoms of the containers.

these hostiles grow in green & black containers too; not isolated to clear containers, or containers that get light. that is where they live... have to make their living environment hostile w/ a strong oxidizer. fries their eggs, exoskeletons, & they die...

never acquired a product to eliminate hostiles... h202 works for that; just adjust amount & application rate to aerate, general sterilization &/or direct elimination...

hope this helps. enjoy your garden!