Root rot - help me save my plants!

[Mindovermatter]

Update:

- Dipped the bottom part (coco) into solution of nutes+enzymes+h202 at 6.0 ph 400 ppm for 1/2 hour. Then let them dry with fans for 1 hour. The rockwool didnt and is still wet, but when I felt the coco it was dry on the surface up to maybe 1 inch and I had to push down my finger to feel any moisture.Then put them back to bubbler.

- Also measured them, good growth, one of them had grown a whopping 1" in 2 days. But still the smell of rot was back after about 12h, and I did a res change. Noticed the coco was still wet and it dripped. New water 400ppm 6.0 ph at lower level, maybe 2 inch beneath the pots. They seem to be looking better and leaves are nicer anyway. The RW cubes are slowly drying. Noticed what looked like a necrotic spot on of the leaves and that worried me about pythium, or what is this? Also while the roots up in the RW seem white, the roots on the coco seem more yellow, but I dont know if its because of the medium or real rot still. But the smell is alarming ...

- Will update in a couple of days with more pics. Can someone tell me if I am on the right track please?

- How long time in hours is a "drying" or how do you know what dry is what method do you recommend?

 

[Guest]

nah it aint locked.. I just got nothin to tell ya man

sounds like you're doing well. signs of healthy white new root growth, as well as vertical growth and new node growth are signs that it has snapped out of its problem and begun to grow again. keep a close eye on the tips of your leafs, especially the new growth (but also lower growth)

I wouldnt have dipped them but apparently they liked it. I do think enzymes are a great idea ..

I was gonna congratulate you on fixing it but the necrotic spots could be a couple different things. where are they showign up (newer growth, older growth) and what part of the leaf, or does it seem random?


when you say "Drying" in your last question is that supposed to mean rockwool cubes drying? should be dry within the first day they go back under the HPS if thats what you're asking.

sounds like you're not out of the woods yet, but you've found the path..

 

[Mindovermatter]

I was gonna congratulate you on fixing it but the necrotic spots could be a couple different things. where are they showign up (newer growth, older growth) and what part of the leaf, or does it seem random?


when you say "Drying" in your last question is that supposed to mean rockwool cubes drying? should be dry within the first day they go back under the HPS if thats what you're asking.

sounds like you're not out of the woods yet, but you've found the path..

ok hmm the spot is on the middle leaves on the side of the leaf of the one who grow that 1". It looked really ugly like whitish and I knew right away that was a bad sign, now I just looked and it has turned brown but still has like drop of water on it and it seems moist.

Drying well, I blew with fans for 1h. Is that enuff or should I blow for 4h you mean? Really dry?

 

[Guest]

hmm when these kinds of spots show up on along the edge and tip, it can be a sign of calcium. however what you described doesnt sound like that to me. to be honest I have no idea what that is, it could very well be pythium, I have no idea.

as far as drying out the rockwool, if you're using a bubbler system, it should be pretty dry ALL the time.. the roots will be lazy and not work their way into the system if the rockwool stays wet. then, the roots are suspended in the water.. so they DONT need moisture from the RW..

what I do is keep it damp enough so it doesnt die, but dry enough that it has to fight to get to the rez.. and my roots hit the rez in 2-4 days based on strain, from clone, at which point I let the RW dry out completely as the plant has found its source of sustenance and the new battle is getting enough oxegyn.

 

[Mindovermatter]

but dude if I dry them now the coco (remember the bottom part) will be dry long before, and I think alot of the roots will die...or can they survive a couple of hours without moisture? Anyway the tanks inside spalshing thing gets enough himidity so I see driplets of water on the coco ...

And I dont use a HPS I use an enviro light.

 

[Mindovermatter]

OK so how how do I dry these pots???

Cause the dwc adds moisture to the media so even if I dry them as soon as they in the bubbler they will get a little moist anyway ... should I do something drastic and remove the coco? most guys use pebbles for dwc right?

1 step forward, 2 step back...

 

[Mindovermatter]

BTW I should ask tell you guys what I think is the cause of the problem: I had a 5 gallon bucket which I let stand for 2 weeks which I used to dipp the pots in ... I changed it first after I could notice a faint smell ... I think it must have become foul by staying there and infected my plants

 

[Guest]

I use hydroton for dwc and at this point, if you feel that RW staying soaked is contributing to your problem (I believe it is) then I would consider trying to swap out as much of it as possible w/o damaging root system for rocks.. this may be tough though and im not sure if damaging the roots would be worth it.

why did you dip the pots in anything? (referring to the 5gal bucket you told us about)

if the bubbler is keeping them too wet have you tried lowering the water level?

I assumed you used an HPS light, they would help dry out a lot.. not sure what envirolight is, does it produce much heat?

 

[Mindovermatter]

I use hydroton for dwc and at this point, if you feel that RW staying soaked is contributing to your problem (I believe it is) then I would consider trying to swap out as much of it as possible w/o damaging root system for rocks.. this may be tough though and im not sure if damaging the roots would be worth it.

why did you dip the pots in anything? (referring to the 5gal bucket you told us about)

if the bubbler is keeping them too wet have you tried lowering the water level?

I assumed you used an HPS light, they would help dry out a lot.. not sure what envirolight is, does it produce much heat?

I dipped them because, I didnt know how to get enuf water to the whole cube. thats how I started, I thought a simple ebb-o-flo.

I lowered it now so they are 2 inch above w, but still the condensation inside causes mist ... and since I cut the pots open I can clearly see it on the coco as doplets ...

enviro is a new kind of light, the one I have is 125w, and not so warm no the average temp is 75, at night 65 but I got a nice fan blowing in there and they are getting drier by the look of it. Hope it clears itself til tomorrow or not I dry them with fan.

I think my problems is I should also use hydroton...tomorrow I'll see if I change the setup again.

 

[SuperBonBon]

Can any Bio-Bucket specialists take a look at:

http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=45009

And let me know what you think? Can't tell if it's lack of DO or some other problem.

Thanks,

SuperBonBon