Strange Slime buildup on roots

[slowandeasy]

Has anyone figured out the actual CAUSE?

 

[richyrich]

For sure make your own and its super cheap. It is EWC tea. I have been adding all kinds of cocktails lately. AquaShield, Great White powder and root excelurator (it is a microbe). Read through the posts. Some are having success with other products.

You got it right.

"Two-part mycorrhizal inoculants, Earth Nectar and Earth Ambrosia, are for use with soil gardening and in hydroponics systems. When Earth Nectar, containing the concentrated mycorrhizal cultures, is mixed with Earth Ambrosia, the fuel delivery system for the active cultures, they infuse the growing medium with mycorrhiza resulting in stronger plants and increased crop yields. For use with soil or hydroponics

Earth Nectar and Earth Ambrosia are great for use in cloning systems. Used together in these solutions they prevent and protect tender young clones from the slimy buildup that sometimes occurs when the water is not changed often enough. Using these solutions will help bad microbes from attacking and rotting young rooting stems, andd will instead inspire your clones to grow the healthy white roots you are searching for."

Yes, simple EWC Tea is all you need. Best part is that it is super cheap.

Off the shelf stuff: Great White, EA & EN, etc.; I like to add AquaShield in addition; and Root Excelurator, also. There are a lot out there. Just don't add mollasses or carb products to the rez with them. You could have an overgrowth that will mess with your pH, and if your good microbe colony is not doing so well, then you will just have opened the free buffet line for the slime.

It was not an issue of belief. It was just about following advice.

I doubt you will find anyone prior to this thread in these forums using EWC Tea in their hydro set-ups. At least, I couldn't find anyone or anything on it with the search function.

More advice for anyone that may have not caught on yet:

Nothing out of a bottle from a store will give you the diversity you can make for so cheap yourself. Except, maybe that VermiT stuff I mentioned. But, they charge about $25 for a gallon.

You could use pirahna, tarantula, sub-culture, AquaShield, and on n on. They like to bottle all of their stuff separate more maximum $$$. And then most direct you to feed the microbes. This is fine in soil or coco, but it will result in absolute failure in a hydro set-up. If you don't get the slime you will get an over abundance of bene microbes and it will look like slime, too; biofilm. It will suffocate your roots, too.

So, only add the most diverse amount of microbes to your set-up. Only feed them in the brew and not in your system. Make EWC Tea, the absolute cheapest and most diverse colony, or buy bottles from the store, but you will have to mix multiple bottles to get full protection. DO NOT, DO NOT, DO NOT FEED THE COLONY IN YOUR HYDRO SET-UP/SYSTEM. That means NO carb or enzyme products.

I use the carbo load. Use 10-15mL. Here is another good tip. Add some Great White or Plant Success Soluble Mycorrhizae. They are powder form benes. Add them to the brew and they will multiply, too. You will have a super soldier brew.

Now here is what I am up to now. Finally, getting back to hydro after a year or so away I wanted to run an experiment with a beneficial microbe seeded reservoir that I have talked much about in the past. Seeing that I decided to go with the UV light in the reservoir this run I figured I could run an experiment with beneficials in my EZ Cloner. I always got slimed in that thing. We have one confirmed grow from DItrY that he/she got rid of the slime by introducing beneficial microbes to his/her grow. I, also, linked some old posts that I never came across before in all my reading on this site regarding the same.

I completely cleaned my EZ Cloner with Physan20 and set it up. The next thing I had to decide was where I wanted to get my beneficial microbes from. I could buy very expensive bottles that like to sell everything separate. One bottle for beneficial bacteria. Another bottle for beneficial fungi and so on. What I ended up doing is making my own earth worm casting tea. IMO nothing beats a fresh brewed EWC tea for microbes. You get beneficial bacteria, fungi, protozoa and nematodes. And the best of all is you only need a $5 dollar bag of earth worm castings, a bucket, air stone and air pump. Oh, and some molasses or what I used, CarboLoad that I still had stored away. The complex sugars in these products feed the microbes. Get over to the organic soil forum and read about EWC teas. In 24 hours they should look frothy like mine.

I ended up putting some in a gallon container for later use. You can store it in the fridge for up to 7-10 days.

And, here is the EZ Cloner ready to go. Notice, I went ahead and threw in a biological filter. Keep you updated.

^^^ All good stuff.

 

[richyrich]

Alright, I finally got around to an idea I had for a while now. I made this now as a back up just in case my UV light in the rez experiment begins to fail.

I posted quite a bit on using beneficial bacteria and fungi in the past. I incorporated ideas given to us just recently along with ideas I remember from reading Big Tokes bio bucket sticky. Bio buckets work by harnessing the benefits of benes in a hydro system; and water temps are not even an issue in that system. In bio buckets lava rocks are used to provide a home for the benes. I wanted to create something different to be able to just drop into a reservoir. I wanted to have a suitable housing for the benes to take a stronghold in the rez; to out compete the brown slime algae and other pathogens. So, I created what is below. It cost no more than $15 not including the cost of buying benes in a bottle if you choose too.

Here are the parts needes. 1 piece of 2" pvc pipe any length you want. 2 couplings, 2 end caps with 3/4' threading in the hole, 1 1/2' barb with 3/4" threading and aquarium biological filters.


Take your 2" pvc pipe and stuff it full of aquarium biological filters. At this time you may want to sprinkle some benes on the filters (the powdered kind).


Take a coupling and end cap and attach as so. This will be the exit.


Do the same and screw in the barb fitting to this end. This is the end where you will connect the pump.


When done this is what you should have.


I built mine as a back up and eventual experiment. Please, if any of you want to make one let us know what happens. It's probably going to be a while before I try mine out.

^^^

 

[richyrich]

hi 10k, I agree completely that the hydro companies sell alot of crap. I mean when you read a bottle of hydro marketed BB, and they say to reapply every week, at every nute change and in large doses, you know they have missed the point completely. A bottle would last a few weeks if used as directed but then they want you to buy another one dont they.

You got it right about the nitrogen cycle. In aquaponics you have ammonia from the fish waste that is broken down to nitrites, which is then converted to nitrates by a different class of bacteria. The plants remove the nitrates to prevent toxic buildup. Fish can tolerate moderate levels of nitrates but not of the other two. Since we dont add any significant amounts of ammonia in a hydro setup, its probably true that a different class of bacteria to those above, in biofilters for ponds and aquaponics, are colonising the roots and making the nutrients more aborbable.

I took a bit of filter medium from my pond filter and that still did the job so the ones that take over in a hydro environment must be already present. I think that water flow alone in a large container is not enough to get a strong colony. How many people have installed a pump in there pond expecting to get clear, clean smelling water only to be dissapointed. You gotta have a water flow of oxygenated water passing through a large suface area.

In a DWC you already have a waterflow of oxgenated water. Just put a piece of koi filter matting next to the airstone and add a bit of that BB bottled stuff. Here is what it looks like:



It is the blue fiberous stuff behind the airstone/tube. Richyrich, you said that it wont be easy to take care of them, but its extremely easy. Not adding h2o2 is easier than adding it. Not letting it dry out and not turning the airpump off is a given anyway. Simple as that really and its an elegant solution

^^^

 

[richyrich]

Check out the whole site. They have a whole bunch of stuff. Check these bad boys out.

Ultima II Bead Filters - With "Cyclonic" Backwashing!
This is the next generation of filters and the best tool for Koi ponds. The Ultima II is specifically engineered to meet the environmental demands of fish ponds. The lightweight media is designed for very high flow rates.

The tubular bio-media has low head loss and a very high biofilm surface. The “Y” shape on the inside and wings on the outside afford a protective surface under backwashing, and with the patented backwash system will keep the media from clogging. Ultima II Bead Filters
The same properties have been added to this media in three different sizes with random lengths and diameters to avoid stacking.

The Ultima II tubular bio-media offers the highest surface area for growth of beneficial bacteria. No other backwashable pressurized filter compares. Cleaning the filter is done by internal jets. The Ultima II is also the ideal filter for aquariums where very high flow rates are desired.

Those media things I posted above are only 28 bucks for 1/2 cu. ft.; that is cheap and plenty. Plus they are seeded with some benes already. They have some blue Japanese matting there too. It's pretty pricey at $90. I'm sure other sites have smaller pieces for less.

Still waiting for someone to plumb one of these units to a system.

 

[StealthyStalks]

RickyRich, that will make an excellent reef system for the BB's!
I am assuming your reservoir is aerated or you are running DWC already???

I had the same idea, but I am going use a vertical stand pipe and use the recirculation pump in my reservoir to pump the water to the top and let it constantly cascade down through the lava rock filled tube. It will keep my reservoir aerated at the same time too. I nixed my DWC and went ebb and flow so I need to keep the solution aerated at all times to keep the BB’s in the reef system alive.

Once the BB's are established, these reef systems should be good to go from crop to crop without having to blow money on all the hyped up crap that's out there. Speaking of which, I think I am going to try using your EWC Tea and only the EWC Tea on my next run to see how it does. I didn't realize it had all the other BB's in it, like fungi, protozoa and nematodes, until I read your post from yesterday. It sounds like that is all I need!

I am trying to keep things simple and not cave into the hype of the growing industry who wants you to buy all sorts of things to supplement their incomplete nutrients. My next run will only consist of: CNS17 Grow and Bloom, Floralicious Plus, RickyRich’s EWC for hydro and nothing else. Physan-20 will be used to sterilize my system between crops with the exception of my reef system.

 

[StealthyStalks]

Has anyone figured out the actual CAUSE?

Usually the slime algae is already in the tap water and when you start a fesh grow with it it has nothing to compete with so it takes over.

 

[chronisseur]

Its an algae that dont need light. i got this crap returning with RO water and H202 alone... the spores must have been in the netpot / clay still etc.. after scrubbing everything out and bathing the roots etc its not so bad but really must be prevented with heavy doses of H202 and by avoiding organic products unless you have a strong beneficial environment. noticed the wall-of-water airstones are worse as it builds up on them first, then the filter and most surfaces. looks like snot, smells like crotch.. you have to zap it and sterilize everything and then keep it clean (I cant find Physan locally but thats what I need). This appeared in 2 separate light-proof self-contained res containers (1 2.5gal DWC and one rubbermaid faux-aero cloner)..
when u take the clay out you will find little chuinks of it all throughout.. its best to just start again if u have this as the plants can survive but will be stunted and the system itself will keep producing more of this crap unless properly cleaned.

this is such a nasty shyte ive decided to forego converting to hydro! screw that! im just gonna run an auto-water right from my well to organic pails with everything in them already - no need to mix anything or adjust pH etc! If youre going hydro its just too hard to use organics - stick to the chemicals and then you can zap any beasties without concern!

 

[richyrich]

RickyRich, that will make an excellent reef system for the BB's!
I am assuming your reservoir is aerated or you are running DWC already???

I had the same idea, but I am going use a vertical stand pipe and use the recirculation pump in my reservoir to pump the water to the top and let it constantly cascade down through the lava rock filled tube. It will keep my reservoir aerated at the same time too. I nixed my DWC and went ebb and flow so I need to keep the solution aerated at all times to keep the BB’s in the reef system alive.

Once the BB's are established, these reef systems should be good to go from crop to crop without having to blow money on all the hyped up crap that's out there. Speaking of which, I think I am going to try using your EWC Tea and only the EWC Tea on my next run to see how it does. I didn't realize it had all the other BB's in it, like fungi, protozoa and nematodes, until I read your post from yesterday. It sounds like that is all I need!

I am trying to keep things simple and not cave into the hype of the growing industry who wants you to buy all sorts of things to supplement their incomplete nutrients. My next run will only consist of: CNS17 Grow and Bloom, Floralicious Plus, RickyRich’s EWC for hydro and nothing else. Physan-20 will be used to sterilize my system between crops with the exception of my reef system.

Sounds like a plan for success. Disconnect reef system at clean up time and plumb back into next round sterilized hydro system like you have stated--excellent.

 

[richyrich]

Its an algae that dont need light. i got this crap returning with RO water and H202 alone... the spores must have been in the netpot / clay still etc.. after scrubbing everything out and bathing the roots etc its not so bad but really must be prevented with heavy doses of H202 and by avoiding organic products unless you have a strong beneficial environment. noticed the wall-of-water airstones are worse as it builds up on them first, then the filter and most surfaces. looks like snot, smells like crotch.. you have to zap it and sterilize everything and then keep it clean (I cant find Physan locally but thats what I need). This appeared in 2 separate light-proof self-contained res containers (1 2.5gal DWC and one rubbermaid faux-aero cloner)..
when u take the clay out you will find little chuinks of it all throughout.. its best to just start again if u have this as the plants can survive but will be stunted and the system itself will keep producing more of this crap unless properly cleaned.

this is such a nasty shyte ive decided to forego converting to hydro! screw that! im just gonna run an auto-water right from my well to organic pails with everything in them already - no need to mix anything or adjust pH etc! If youre going hydro its just too hard to use organics - stick to the chemicals and then you can zap any beasties without concern!

You are on the right track. Correct on the fact that it does not need light like typical blue-green algae. I went into detail about that severallllll pages back. Stay chem ferts and get Physan20 asap. Follow the advice of others here just a few posts up.

 

[Born420]

that slime looks gross

 

[robertmarley]

Richy how's that aero cloning going for you? still chugging along?

My cloning success with rapid rooters is hit or miss.. wish my aero cloner still worked. Seems every other batch of clones in the rapid rooters is complete success or complete failure, the cloner was money when it worked

 

[OMountainMix]

We had problems like this early in growing, 4-5 years ago. We have had no problems since I took over cleaning the gear. I get a clean scrubby pad and scrub the entire thing, inside and out, ESPECIALLY the holes where the neoprene collars go with hot water and antibacterial soap. I make sure that it dries out completely. We reload with fresh water and hydrobact. Let it sit. Then add power clone and put in the clones. We don't put anything else in.

To be honest, I think a lot of you have these problems because of 1. your water (well water is bad for hydro, we found that out at our last grow) 2. cleaning of gear (clean it like you're going to eat from it) 3. adding weird stuff in your cloner (KISS)

The only problem i've had was when I was not VIGILANT with cleaning my res on my 8 plant hydrofarm. Check everything 1-2 times a day. If something looks hinky, CLEAN IT RIGHT AND CLEAN IT RIGHT AWAY.

My husband's old partner was here yest and we had the same discussion. It's about vigilance and diligence. It's also about having the best equipment, but honestly we spent so much on the best equipment that got ruined and is long gone because of a lack of vigilance and diligence.

I also think your water has a lot to do with whether you're successful, hydro or not. Our previous partner had an old house with frankly shitty water pressure and shitty water. It made hydro impossible, it made cleaning gear correctly impossible. Sure he was not vigilant and diligent and said frankly that hind sight is 20/20 and he certainly would start out doing things right from the get go, but still, I think the water is a big deal. I certainly learned that at my other grow, where the water is sucky. Still, we realized it and were able to fix it for this round . . . .

Robertmarley, I've been through exactly what you're describing. We had an ez cloner, my husband was hit or miss with it. We passed it on to his partner, he got a few rounds and then ever4ything died. We gave him two Botanicare cloners, they didn't work, and then weirdly the ex clone worked. Again, I think it was cleaning and frankly, I don't think it's good to use bleach on plastic. Now that I do the cleaning, I am surprised to see where in the thing any slime could build up. Clean it good and try again. These things DO work and are expensive for a reason. But they have to be cared for like anything else you spend money on.

Hopefully I haven't offended anyone, but I hate seeing people lose their babies, I've been through it many times . . .

 

[Indecent]

There has been speculation that Hygrozyme can cause an outbreak of brown algae. It looks like I have the beginning of some root rot and wanted to use Hygrozyme to help take care of some of the dead roots/plant material.

With this in mind, does anyone think it would be possible to take a gallon or so from the main reservoir, add hygrozyme and a recirc pump to it, and wait a day or so to see if there is any algae growth? If it is reacting to algae spores in the water it might be a way to see if it is a problem without causing slime buildup in all the buckets.

Does anyone think this would be a good way to see if hygrozyme will be a problem in my system?

 

[420somewhere]

I don't know that the Hydrozyme causes the Brown Algae, but when you add it to a solution with lots of nutes, it grows some slime very quickly (it is eating the nutes).

In my Bubbleponics system there was so much slime that it clogged up my pump. THEN I GOT THE BROWN ALGAE. Which is difficult to deal with.

So I think there is a relation.

If you look thru this post you will see that some folks are using a worm Tea for beneficial bacteria in their res. Once it becomes established, then it seems OK to add Hydrozyme. But if you have already gotten the Brown Algae it may not be possible to get rid of it.

The basic problem with the Bubbleponics System I bought was that the pump heated the water in my tub as much as 5-10 degrees and I didn't realize it until it was to late.

I pulled everything out and put them soil. I will try the Bubbleponics in the future, when it is cooler outside.

There is a lot of good information in this thread and on this site which I have not found on other sites.

Peace -

 

[Indecent]

I don't know that the Hydrozyme causes the Brown Algae, but when you add it to a solution with lots of nutes, it grows some slime very quickly (it is eating the nutes)
....
....
If you look thru this post you will see that some folks are using a worm Tea for beneficial bacteria in their res. Once it becomes established, then it seems OK to add Hydrozyme. But if you have already gotten the Brown Algae it may not be possible to get rid of it.

I don't have any algae problems, but I did have a pump failure and am concerned about root rot problems.

From what I've gathered, the hygrozyme provides a good environment for the algae to grow quickly (if it is present, even on a microscopic scale). What I'm hoping to do is determine if I have anything present that would cause an outbreak before it actually happens.

I'm hoping that taking some of the water out and simulating a recirculating setup (with no plants) will let me see if I have the potential for outbreak without having to harm anything.

 

[ItsGrowTime]

I know it's loing but the people new to this thread really should consider reading from the very beginning. Hygrozyme is a catalyst for the slime. It is not the cause. Hygrozyme will NOT fix a slime issue but rather will make it much worse!! Physan20 is THE solution to kill an infection. Most anything else is a waste of precious time. This has all been covered in the thread.

 

[Indecent]

I know it's loing but the people new to this thread really should consider reading from the very beginning. Hygrozyme is a catalyst for the slime. It is not the cause. Hygrozyme will NOT fix a slime issue but rather will make it much worse!! Physan20 is THE solution to kill an infection. Most anything else is a waste of precious time. This has all been covered in the thread.

If you're talking to me, I already said I don't have the slime and never have. I have no reason to suspect that Hygrozyme will cause a problem in my setup, but since it has been discussed in here directly and several people have shared their experience it seemed like a good place to ask.

I'm asking if I could pull water from my reservoir, mix Hygrozyme, run a pump and airstone, and wait to see if it causes adverse problems that are described in this thread. If hygrozyme will be a catalyst for the outbreak it should occur regardless of whether it is being used at that time to feed a plant, correct?

 

[Rednick]

If you're talking to me, I already said I don't have the slime and never have. I have no reason to suspect that Hygrozyme will cause a problem in my setup, but since it has been discussed in here directly and several people have shared their experience it seemed like a good place to ask.

I'm asking if I could pull water from my reservoir, mix Hygrozyme, run a pump and airstone, and wait to see if it causes adverse problems that are described in this thread. If hygrozyme will be a catalyst for the outbreak it should occur regardless of whether it is being used at that time to feed a plant, correct?

Indecent.
If you have already answered your own question, then why ask it again, and again, and again.
You might as well try it and see what happens.
If you read the whole thread then you would know what the answer is to your question. Even though you already answered your own question.
Try it see what happens.
If you want to ask this question again, please start a new thread, as it is unrelated.

Or send Richy a PM.

 

[Indecent]

Indecent.
If you have already answered your own question, then why ask it again, and again, and again.
You might as well try it and see what happens.
If you read the whole thread then you would know what the answer is to your question. Even though you already answered your own question.

Or send Richy a PM.

Do you honestly think I'm posting just to hear myself talk? If I keep attempting to re-clarify my question, it's because I haven't received confirmation that my understanding is correct.

I did read the whole thread, and I'm asking to make sure I understand the nature of how it spreads and develops. If you can confirm my question, why not share it? Surely it would have taken less time to answer my question directly than to type 74 words that appear to accomplish nothing. Or is that your way of helping?

If you want to ask this question again, please start a new thread, as it is unrelated.

I love it. You've been here 3-4 months and you're coming off like the Mayor's wife. Not only is this thread a sticky, but it contains most of the useful information regarding hygrozyme and algae buildup as a catalyst, and several people who have first hand experience have posted here and appear to read through it frequently. Seems like a reasonable place to ask..