DWC Root Slime Cure aka How to Breed Beneficial Microbes

kingtitan said:

You can do organics in hydro, its a more advanced form but you must get a handle on hydro itself before you go that route.

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Joint Monster said:

@Mr.jojodancer305 Make sure you cover the tops of those yellow lids with something, they are not 100% light-tight.

@nicksol86 I see what you're saying, about organics. The three bottles all say they're okay for both hydro and organics right on the label. (I just wanted to make sure in terms of using with the Bennies Tea.)
^Tea gets strained (not that fine though) before going into res, that way I hope to get the benefits of the organics nutes without clogging up my system/stones.



I don't think I have any slime. I am using EWC.

I'll probably add a little bit, one at a time (so just a bit of flora nectar in the tea this time) and see how they react. It's sugar cane and molasses so it *should* help breed them microbes.

& Thanks for clearing up that myth!

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Mr.jojodancer305 said:

Cover the lids with what ? PpPlea let me know what I can use

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Joint Monster said:

In no particular order..
Duct Tape. Garbage Bag (White>Black). Poly/Panda Film. Mylar. Reflective insulation. Foil (I wouldn't).

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Joint Monster said:

@Mr.jojodancer305 Make sure you cover the tops of those yellow lids with something, they are not 100% light-tight.

@nicksol86 I see what you're saying, about organics. The three bottles all say they're okay for both hydro and organics right on the label. (I just wanted to make sure in terms of using with the Bennies Tea.)
^Tea gets strained (not that fine though) before going into res, that way I hope to get the benefits of the organics nutes without clogging up my system/stones.



I don't think I have any slime. I am using EWC.

I'll probably add a little bit, one at a time (so just a bit of flora nectar in the tea this time) and see how they react. It's sugar cane and molasses so it *should* help breed them microbes.

& Thanks for clearing up that myth!

Click to expand...

nicksol86 said:

Organics and non organics don't mix together though right ?

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• 1 gallon of RO water
• 15ml of Hydroguard
• 1/2 teaspoon Great White
• 1/2 tablespoon unsulfured molasses
• 1/4 cup of Ancient Earth

nicksol86 said:

Are there any products on Amazon that I can order in place of the mycogrow soluble or zho powder or great white? I couldn't find the mycogrow or zho powder on Amazon. I found great white but read bad stuff about making tea with it. Is there any products with a link to something on Amazon that will work? Got the ancient forest soil and hydroguard but not sure what myco product to get on Amazon? Please and thank you

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John1961 said:

Hi folks,

I don't post her much but after what I've learned using this tea, I just had to share some pics.

I'm currently on my third DWC grow. All three grows have been plagued with the brown slime and it was only until I discovered this thread when I figured out what I was dealing with and how to fix it.

My brew consists of:

• 1 gallon of RO water
• 15ml of Hydroguard
• 1/2 teaspoon Great White
• 1/2 tablespoon unsulfured molasses
• 1/4 cup of Ancient Earth

I brew this in an aerated bucket for 48 to 72 hours in my basement where the temp is around 67 or so (where I also have my grow tent). I decided to brew a little longer than the standard 48 hours since my temps are a few degrees lower than the low to mid 70's as recommended in this thread. After brewing, I then just strain my bucket into a pitcher and I'm ready to go.

My reservoir holds five gallons of water so I began my treatment regimen using five cups of tea along with my nutrients (AN PH Perfect Connoisseur Parts A & B). Strain is Trainwreck.

Here is my plant at Day 0 of treatment using my tea. I had just scrubbed the tub clean and rinsed the roots using a sprayer, getting off as much as the slime as possible.

At this point, she had been growing for 9 weeks and I had far more growth topside than root growth in the tub. Admittedly, I should have picked up on this problem weeks ago, but I am always learning. And by this point, she had pretty much stalled out. She wasn't getting any bigger and she barely drank water or ate any nutrients for a couple of weeks. From the picture below, you can see why.

I continued my treatment regimen by adding a cup of tea to the reservoir every two days. Here are the roots at Day 2 (48 hours since treatment began). You can see that the roots are lightening up and there are new white roots coming in.

Day 4 of treatment. Another cup of tea added to the reservoir. I was amazed to see all the new growth coming in.

Day 6 of treatment. Mama mia! What an explosion of roots! As you can imagine, by this time growth on the topside was showing signs of recovery as well.

Day 8 below. Reservoir just changed the day previous and I began again with five gallons of RO water and 5 cups of tea. By this time, not only did I have a mass of white roots above the water line, but now I could see a growing mass of white below the surface.

And finally, here I am at Day 13 since treatment began. The root mass in the tub has exploded beyond I ever imagined it would. Tomorrow is another reservoir change and five cups of tea.

And I think I'm ready to flip to flower. Wish me luck!

And of course, a massive thanks goes to Heizenberg and everyone else who posted on this tread.

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DrCannaPath said:

Ive been brewing with great white alone with excellent results for years .. never had an issue. I use half the scoop of great white with a tablespoon of molasses .... used to brew for exaxtly 48 hours. Noe i do it for 36

Check out my current Organic Fruit Garden:
https://www.rollitup.org/index.php?threads/945580/
and my previous Organic Run:
https://www.rollitup.org/index.php?threads/930415/
and my previous QuadStrain grow :
https://www.rollitup.org/index.php?threads/916619/
and my previous TriStrain grow :
https://www.rollitup.org/index.php?threads/883569/

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John1961 said:

Hi folks,

I don't post her much but after what I've learned using this tea, I just had to share some pics.

I'm currently on my third DWC grow. All three grows have been plagued with the brown slime and it was only until I discovered this thread when I figured out what I was dealing with and how to fix it.

My brew consists of:

• 1 gallon of RO water
• 15ml of Hydroguard
• 1/2 teaspoon Great White
• 1/2 tablespoon unsulfured molasses
• 1/4 cup of Ancient Earth

I brew this in an aerated bucket for 48 to 72 hours in my basement where the temp is around 67 or so (where I also have my grow tent). I decided to brew a little longer than the standard 48 hours since my temps are a few degrees lower than the low to mid 70's as recommended in this thread. After brewing, I then just strain my bucket into a pitcher and I'm ready to go.

My reservoir holds five gallons of water so I began my treatment regimen using five cups of tea along with my nutrients (AN PH Perfect Connoisseur Parts A & B). Strain is Trainwreck.

Here is my plant at Day 0 of treatment using my tea. I had just scrubbed the tub clean and rinsed the roots using a sprayer, getting off as much as the slime as possible.

At this point, she had been growing for 9 weeks and I had far more growth topside than root growth in the tub. Admittedly, I should have picked up on this problem weeks ago, but I am always learning. And by this point, she had pretty much stalled out. She wasn't getting any bigger and she barely drank water or ate any nutrients for a couple of weeks. From the picture below, you can see why.

I continued my treatment regimen by adding a cup of tea to the reservoir every two days. Here are the roots at Day 2 (48 hours since treatment began). You can see that the roots are lightening up and there are new white roots coming in.

Day 4 of treatment. Another cup of tea added to the reservoir. I was amazed to see all the new growth coming in.

Day 6 of treatment. Mama mia! What an explosion of roots! As you can imagine, by this time growth on the topside was showing signs of recovery as well.

Day 8 below. Reservoir just changed the day previous and I began again with five gallons of RO water and 5 cups of tea. By this time, not only did I have a mass of white roots above the water line, but now I could see a growing mass of white below the surface.

And finally, here I am at Day 13 since treatment began. The root mass in the tub has exploded beyond I ever imagined it would. Tomorrow is another reservoir change and five cups of tea.

And I think I'm ready to flip to flower. Wish me luck!

And of course, a massive thanks goes to Heizenberg and everyone else who posted on this tread.

Click to expand...

Mr.jojodancer305 said:

So when you do a Rez change do you add food if so at what strength? 1/2 strength?

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• Advanced Nutrients PH-Perfect Connoisseur 'Grow' series , Parts A & B, 40ml each
• Cyco Silica Supplement, 10ml (for increased stem strength)

John1961 said:

I change my reservoir weekly on Sundays, refilling it with five gallons of RO water, five cups of tea, and my nutrients as follows:

• Advanced Nutrients PH-Perfect Connoisseur 'Grow' series , Parts A & B, 40ml each
• Cyco Silica Supplement, 10ml (for increased stem strength)

I just PH-adjust as needed and dump this in my reservoir. The above puts my starting PPMs at about 850 at the beginning of the week. By the end of the week, my PPMs have dropped to around 300. But keep in mind, I adjust my nutrient strength weekly, depending on what week I'm in, whether I'm still in veg or have transitioned to flowering, etc. During the week, I just top off with plain RO water (this week she's been drinking about a gallon each day). I add a cup of tea on Tuesday morning, another on Thursday morning, and one final cup on Saturday morning. And then Sunday, I start all over with a fresh reservoir.

Here is my plant today, three full weeks after my tea regimen began and one week after flipping my light to flower. I'm staying on veg nutes for another week or two until the stretch has started to slow down and buds begin to form. Then I'll switch to Advanced Nutrients PH-Perfect Connoisseur 'Bloom' series, Parts A & B.

Click to expand...

John1961 said:

I change my reservoir weekly on Sundays, refilling it with five gallons of RO water, five cups of tea, and my nutrients as follows:

• Advanced Nutrients PH-Perfect Connoisseur 'Grow' series , Parts A & B, 40ml each
• Cyco Silica Supplement, 10ml (for increased stem strength)

I just PH-adjust as needed and dump this in my reservoir. The above puts my starting PPMs at about 850 at the beginning of the week. By the end of the week, my PPMs have dropped to around 300. But keep in mind, I adjust my nutrient strength weekly, depending on what week I'm in, whether I'm still in veg or have transitioned to flowering, etc. During the week, I just top off with plain RO water (this week she's been drinking about a gallon each day). I add a cup of tea on Tuesday morning, another on Thursday morning, and one final cup on Saturday morning. And then Sunday, I start all over with a fresh reservoir.

Here is my plant today, three full weeks after my tea regimen began and one week after flipping my light to flower. I'm staying on veg nutes for another week or two until the stretch has started to slow down and buds begin to form. Then I'll switch to Advanced Nutrients PH-Perfect Connoisseur 'Bloom' series, Parts A & B.

Click to expand...