I must have gotten really lucky with my first plant cuz i never had problems but I am getting all kinds this time. Well my 2 week old plants have a pretty good root structure but they aren't growing like they should, not fast enough. They are in a 3 gallon DWC bucket. There is nothing they are sitting in. Which brings another question .... Is it bad to have the roots free flowing? I know roots can become entangled but that will not be a problem b/c they will eventually be separate. Do plants need to be sitting in something like those hydroton things or can the root be free flowing like I di last time (which worked out fine last time) The leaves are coming very slowly. The roots have a whiteish-opaque slimy stuff. I have changed the res and washed the roots and it came back. All that is in the water is GH nutes. Previously there was some superthrive (which i am just not sure about...) but i did not add it after the change. I also had some rooting hormone that I really shouldn't have used. But that was 2 water changes ago. Any idea on what the slime is? I have good water movement from a whisper fish filter motor that I removed from the filter itself. I just have the motor in the water creating surface agitation. I am using tap water. My area has water with a very low TDS and all in all it is pretty good water. I used to breed discus fish that require supreme water and I researced a lot about my water. Also, it is not algae, i know algae. But I must admit there is probly a little light hitting the roots. I wasn't worried cuz it was so very little but now that I think about it, would that have anything to do with the slime?
Are your plants just sitting at the bottom of the bucket? They should be in net pots right above the water line. You shouldn't have any exposed roots, so that's where Hydroton helps by covering all your roots. The rocks also make the plant more stable.
the plants are sitting in a floating styrofoam peice with holes cut out. The roots are not exposed.........but some light is getting in around the edges. I'm gonna fix that right now. I was just reading and it looks like it's probly a bacterial problem and indeed the small amount of light could be a big part of the problem. Also organic material, but thats not gonna go away cuz the plant themselves are organic material. I think I will start by making sure NO light penetrates.
That slime is pythium girl. Will kill your girls if you don't correct it. Light, high water temps, low oxygen levels will all contribute to it. Block any light getting down there, make sure your water temps are under 72 degrees and add air to your buckets if needed. Food grade H2O2 will help in getting rid of it...
i just saw ur reply after rep to my own post in the pest/problems section. I figured out it was probly pythium. The water has always been cool and had a lot of oxgen....but the light was just recently eliminated. Can I do anything else to help? oh just saw u said H202.....how much and how do i use it? thanks!!!!!!!!!! a lot.
heres are the really crappy pics i have of them (lets just say the digi that took them can be attatched to a keychain). 2 days ago and now. they are backwards tho, the curly one is on the right in the first, the left after i added the pool noodle pink peices to raise them up (after all this i do believe the curling was a mixture of having it's roots completely submerged with no "air roots" and the pythium).they look better than they did 2 days ago so i spose thats good. and dont mind the runt, he's got some new growth so i think he will make it (maybe i should stop calling her "him" tho!). i accidently tore it's roots off a week ago. /monthly_2007_02/57a6c9358dc5e_matti006.jpg.9aef8af21aaf097f3bc51212e9510a4c.jpg /monthly_2007_02/57a6c9359312c_matti008.jpg.5a03315b18d30a9459f412bfa77d5ac5.jpg
If you use food grade H2O2 add in 5-10 drops per gallon of ressy water. There is also a product called SM-90 that will help too...use as directed.
Here is a post I did a while back on the use of SM-90 for pythium problems... http://www.growkind.com/forum/showthread.php?p=174698#post174698
nah i'm sorry but i need no pump. surface agitation is what i have always heard works... it's not just moving the water, it's seriously splashing it. The motor is spinning right at the surface and it's creating loud splashing and bubbles. I have fresh air coming in over the surface of the water as well. My last grow I did the same thing and the plants were beyond awesome. And last time actually I had it splashing even less. Air pumps, if what ur talking about is like the bubblers everyone uses, are not what aireates the water. it's water continually being moved across the surface that oxygenates the water. A lot of people here and everywhere have it wrong. Same with fish tanks, thats why fish filter move the water through a filter rather than just creating bubbles. i hate to contradict people, especially people who have been at it long than I, but I do believe I am right on this one at least....
Canna, you are right about that. Bubblers do not infuse oxygen into the water. It's the bubbles agitating the surface of the water and breaking the surface tension and creating more surface area that gets the oxygen into the water.
hey hey no sarcasm :rolleyes2:. Not thats it working for me right now but that is not the problem i'm having. it is true tho......
lol i know i know. i mentioned in another post " geez i'm flooding the forum....". sorry ! i'm a worrier, to the worst extent. I have been waiting for this so long I am deeply obsessed with this grow. :rolleyes2: sorry!
You are right Cgirl. T.O.A. breaking the water surface is what aerates the solution. Alien hit it right on the nose...
anyone tried this? http://cheaphydroponics.com/cart/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=126 at $125 a gal it should work real fuckin well.
Really? I wonder why my plants are doing well then, because my airstones are so buried in the roots of the plants that I can't even see the bubbles on the surface Weird.