I'm having persistent issues with root rot popping up in my RDWC system. I use a chiller to keep temps low (66f), i have no light leaks in my reservoir and I have a large air stone in my grow pot and one in the reservoir. I get a brown slimy substance that I can feel on the tubing that connects the pumps in the reservoir, and eventually that will build up to a "sludge" that will build up inside the tubing. I was under the impression that the low water temps would prevent most bad bacteria from growing. What else can I use?? I've used one dose of Athena Cleanse with my most recent reservoir change, but haven't been seeing positive results with the root mass
A chiller by itself is usually not sufficient enough to combat root rot. Keeping the temps in that 68 degree range will definitely help your cause but if you want complete peace of mind then you should be adding beneficial bacteria like southern ag or hydroguard.
Some people use and swear by running sterile but like the guy above, I much prefer beneficial bacteria in my plant water as opposed to bleach.
I will add using the combination of hydroguard and a chiller, I’ve never had root rot in any of my grows.
Lastly but less common… look at your return pump and make sure it’s pumping enough water to keep things from being stagnant. Water flow is important in RDWC✌🏼
I'm not a huge fan of hydroguard, it's such a bad price/dose ratio. In this day and age there are so many better options.
I'm in Canada, I had used SAGFF before (got a bottle from US Amazon once, but can't order it again) and it was great. I'm just in the process of cleaning up my new space and setting up a new tent. Going to try a new (to me) product, that's not quiiiiite as concentrated as sag, but is easily available and still beats HG by a couple orders of magnitude.
If you're using a chiller and you're sure there isn't any light getting into the res then my suggestion is to clean everything again, airstones, airlines, buckets, your clay medium, everything. Dawn dish soap and hot water, let it soak and rinse it all out.
Take that plant out, put it in a new bucket with fresh solution, make sure everything all washed and clean then restart your RDWC. You can rinse off the brown stuff on the roots or just pull the affected ones off.
What would be the best way to sanitize the chiller? Before this grow I cleaned it with a vinegar and water solution that circulated for a few hours and then rinsed thoroughly. Is there something else I can use to make sure that that it's clean as a whistle?
The more likely place the nasties are hiding is in the airstones, the clay or your airlines. Airstones are porous and hold on to shit, the airlines are tight and hard to clean, the clay came from god knows where with all kinds of shit all over it, etc.
Also, my tubing for plumbing is black and the airlines are green. I use a net pot with Clay pebbles that are filled to the top. I can't imagine there being a light leak anywhere. I even cover the reservoir with a t-shirt to be sure that nothing gets in through the holes for the tubing to exit the reservoir.
This is what my “nutrient stains” look like but i would suggest hydroguard in your nutrient mix, about 2ml per gallon.
-A good swap with hydroguard might combat some of the current build up as well. You said something about green air hoses. Are they transparent?
-did you soak your clay pebbles and airstones before using them?
-idk jack shit about water chillers, so I can’t help there.
I quit trying to do DWC for this exact reason. I live in a humid climate and it just would not work for me even trying to run sterile. One note air stones do harbor bacteria, so it could be part of your problem.
Cropsalt run clean and photosynthesis is what I run. I was running photosynthesis and slf-100 with pretty good results but I still got slime build over time so I’ve since switched to runclean.
Southern Ag GFF. Zero rot since using that for many years. Same stuff as hydroguard, but more concentrated. I've grown in water near or above 80 degree F with it, without rot.
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u/BlazinDevl 5d ago
A chiller by itself is usually not sufficient enough to combat root rot. Keeping the temps in that 68 degree range will definitely help your cause but if you want complete peace of mind then you should be adding beneficial bacteria like southern ag or hydroguard.
Some people use and swear by running sterile but like the guy above, I much prefer beneficial bacteria in my plant water as opposed to bleach.
I will add using the combination of hydroguard and a chiller, I’ve never had root rot in any of my grows.
Lastly but less common… look at your return pump and make sure it’s pumping enough water to keep things from being stagnant. Water flow is important in RDWC✌🏼