Chlorine Friendly Nutrients In Canada

The lid is white... just looks that way. I think what you see is the landscape fabric that I use to cover the hydroten. I use this to make sure I don't get any fungus knats. It's grey and the light makes it look yellow. The container is a cooler so the lid has a half inch lip that goes inside the cooler and the lid is double walled with insulation between the outside and inside layer.

Thanks, OldMedUser. Yes, after I took second look I see it was the wrong stuff and so far it looks like I won't be able to get the right stuff.

The Older Guy said:

The lid is white... just looks that way. I think what you see is the landscape fabric that I use to cover the hydroten. I use this to make sure I don't get any fungus knats. It's grey and the light makes it look yellow. The container is a cooler so the lid has a half inch lip that goes inside the cooler and the lid is double walled with insulation between the outside and inside layer.

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I grew a lot of plants in RubberMaid tubs that have thin blue or grey lids and never put anything on the tops to block light and never had any algae problems. Just made sure the net pots were right full of hydroton balls so no light could get through at the top of the pots. Landscape fabric may block airflow around the base of the plants which can lead to stem rot so you'll want to keep an eye on that. It does breathe but not well.

The Older Guy said:

Thanks, OldMedUser. Yes, after I took second look I see it was the wrong stuff and so far it looks like I won't be able to get the right stuff.

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I ran sterile all the time so never needed any of that bacterial stuff. Lots of stuff you can't get from Canada's version of amazon. Could not find silver nitrate anywhere for making STS with so made my own from a $20 .9999 silver coin I got at the post office and boiling nitric acid. Managed to find a chemical supply place in Ontario to get 500g of the sodium thiosulphate for only $22 but shipping as a hazardous material via Purolator cost $69 more.

It looks like I will be running sterile, or at least try to. Pretty much wanted to go that route anyway. I tried Hydroguard and still got root rot. Ya, a lot of times you have to come up with your own version of whatever you might need. I'm not familiar with STS so I did a quick read lol. Have a bit of an idea now. Thanks for the tip on the air flow. I also have yellow stickiest down and nothing is showing up so I think I may have won the battle...for now. If I don't see any in another week I'll probably take the fabric off.

The Older Guy said:

and the lid is double walled

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i've got one last guess for ya. lol.

have you run any foaming cleaner in your lines? maybe you got some crap in a line that is breeding the pythium? i've used star san for homebrewing and hydro: it's a self foaming, self rinsing acid based sanitizer that's safe for humans

rkymtnman said:

i've got one last guess for ya. lol.

have you run any foaming cleaner in your lines? maybe you got some crap in a line that is breeding the pythium? i've used star san for homebrewing and hydro: it's a self foaming, self rinsing acid based sanitizer that's safe for humans

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The owner of a hydro store I used to go to before he shut down gave me a sample of a product called Enzymes Komplete Natural Cleaner but I never used it for anything yet. Canadian product and works for media etc and hydro systems. I always found a little dish soap and bleach good for the hardware and peroxide for the rez. Haven't opened it yet.

Just checked out the link and it's made in my old home town in Richmond, BC next to Vancouver so must be good.

Hi rkymtnman. The only thing I've run through my lines is a strong bleach solution. Have always wondered if there was something specifically for that. That's interesting; I'll check into that cleaner... thanks.

Bet it is good OldMedUser, lol; after all there's a great deal of experience out in that area. I'll check it out.

The Older Guy said:

The only thing I've run through my lines is a strong bleach solution

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that was kinda my line of thinking: that maybe the top, corner, elbow, etc of one of your lines is harboring the nasties. that foaming stuff gets in every nook and cranny.

Plenty of us old timers have dicked with rdwc for years.Eventually you get rid of all the friggen hoses pumps chemicals etc and switch to organic and a SIP. Sub irrigated planter.

Youll thank me later.

That's right rkymtnman; it only takes one little spot to get it started again. You guys have give me a lot of info and I appreciate it. It'll be gone

Hi Myke. Thanks for dropping in. I've grown a lot of different ways, and yes hydro can be a real pain, but I would like to see a couple totally successful grows to see just what the yields could be and how many weeks it takes. When you say Sub irrigated planter... do you mean something like the AutoPot system?
Edit: I just read some of your post back in 2021. Have a pretty good idea of what you do. Looks good.

You should be able to source sts ingredients from e bay. Got mine there a few years ago. I make beer and it’s true starsan is good stuff. It’s phosphoric acid and a surfactant. Kills mold and bacteria and is cheep. You will find some at your local brew store. I soak my hydroton in it for a few days to kill all the bugs.

Turpman; you just brought up something I have never thought of. I wash and soak the hydroten, but have never sterilized it. I guess I never thought about it because, if I remember right hydroten is made using heat. I don't use RO water to wash it because so much, so if there's anything in the water it's on the hydtoten. Lesson learned

rkymtnman... I checked on the Star San cleaner. Am I right in thinking that you are able to pump it and it foams as soon as it gets into the pipes, but it's not something you keep returning through the pipes. Once it starts to come back to the res you stop pumping and the cleaner does the rest? Also, the stuff is made in the U.S. so when they say 1 ounce of Star San to 5 gallons of water; I'm thinking it's a U.S. gallon which is 3.8L. What do you use for a dilution rate. I found it on Amason.ca

i added the suggested amount (it doesn't need to be exact) and let it run for probably 30 minutes throughout the entire system

Ic. I was wondering if where it foams if the pump would keep pumping. Turpman soaks his hydroten with it. I've never added anything to the water when I soak it, but it makes sense to...

O, I ordered some today. Should have it in plenty time to soak the next hydroten.

TOG It's like a soap so you need to agitate it to make it foam. You could just circulate it off and on for a while. It is mostly phosphoric acid so you will need to rinse nutralise it all out after for plant use. I haven't really tested how sterile it makes the hydroton, but it should kill whatever it touches. I use a 5 gallon pail with holes in the bottom as a strainer. Pressure cooker would be another good way to sterilize as well.

Another option ive been cotemplating giving a go is the stinkbud NFT system.
Basically a 4x4 vinal fence post as the gutter. Sprayers inside the gutter, res pump and timer.
No media to clean. Just the gutter and net cup.

Why do you run water through a water softener? My understanding was it was not a good idea?