Beneficial Bacterias in RDWC?

giantcola

giantcola

Well-Known Member
Hi Growers!
Just cleaned up my 4 buckets RDWC system for a new run, the seedlings are already waiting in rockwool cubes to be put in the system.

I plan on flushing the whole system with a run of R/O water and Hydrogen Peroxide (in addiction to the main clean up i've already done), before filling it up with the nutrient solution.

I'll be using bennies (Great White), I'm sure they work well in DWC with already established plants, but i've never used them in an empty RDWC system..
Will they survive being recirculated by the pump? Having no roots to attach to?

Every answer is appreciated!
 
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giantcola

giantcola

Well-Known Member
Great White worked very well for me in RDWC but with an already established colony of bennies attached to the roots, as i had the plants transplanted from single DWC buckets..

Another option I'm thinking about would be growing the plants with Peroxide for a few weeks then switching to the beneficials, maybe pouring them directly inside every bucket and turning the water pump off for two days, to let them establish on the roots... (Always lots of air bubbles and water temps 65-72 F)
Maybe I'm being paranoid, what do you think? :roll:
 
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Bucsfan80

Bucsfan80

Well-Known Member
giantcola said:
Great White worked very well for me in RDWC but with an already established colony of bennies attached to the roots, as i had the plants transplanted from single DWC buckets..

Another option I'm thinking about would be growing the plants with Peroxide for a few weeks then switching to the beneficials, maybe pouring them directly inside every bucket and turning the water pump off for two days, to let them establish on the roots... (Always lots of air bubbles and water temps 65-72 F)
Maybe I'm being paranoid, what do you think? :roll:
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My first two runs I did that. Keep it "sterile" for a few days then add gff
 
Wastei

Wastei

Well-Known Member
There's no real advantages in using microbes in hydro compared to oxidizers like bleach(sodium hypochlorite) or H2O2.

There is one product in the states that's controlled and work well and that's "Southern AG garden friendly fungicide" containing 98% bacillus amyloliquefaciens. Hydroguard contains the same but is heavily diluted.

People have a lot of problems using Great white in hydro and I would strongly advice against using it.
 
calvin.m16

calvin.m16

Well-Known Member
Wastei said:
There's no real advantages in using microbes in hydro compared to oxidizers like bleach(sodium hypochlorite) or H2O2.

There is one product in the states that's controlled and work well and that's "Southern AG garden friendly fungicide" containing 98% bacillus amyloliquefaciens. Hydroguard contains the same but is heavily diluted.

People have a lot of problems using Great white in hydro and I would strongly advice against using it.
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I kinda agree I mean beneficials are cool but they're beneficial not mandatory, cleanliness and sterility especially in pure hydro is critical.
 
Bucsfan80

Bucsfan80

Well-Known Member
I know I'm asking for it but like I stated b4 I've used them on two runs, but since I haven't used none or oxidizers. I think light leaks are the main culprit
 
giantcola

giantcola

Well-Known Member
Wastei said:
There's no real advantages in using microbes in hydro compared to oxidizers like bleach(sodium hypochlorite) or H2O2.

There is one product in the states that's controlled and work well and that's "Southern AG garden friendly fungicide" containing 98% bacillus amyloliquefaciens. Hydroguard contains the same but is heavily diluted.

People have a lot of problems using Great white in hydro and I would strongly advice against using it.
Click to expand...
I would say price mainly.. GW lasts a long way in his powder form and requires a little bit, while using Food Grade H202, (i have 12%, 1,5 ml/lt for 80 lt res, like every 4 days)... will cost much more.
Also I've read that H202 could cause problems with the uptake of chealated nutrients.
Another thing is the major ph fluctuation in a small res compared to the bennies, even if it could be managed daily or so with PH-..

In DWC i never had problems with GW, and experienced an overall boost in root growth speed compared to H202. (Given the fact that are ZERO light leaks and temps are under control).

I manage light leaking by having a completely closed system: guarnitions on every junction, black light proof tubes and panda film on top of the netpots.

Thank you for every answer!
 
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thenasty1

thenasty1

Well-Known Member
bennies work great in hydro
until they dont. ask me how i know
do yourself a favor and get a jug of pool shock. run it at 2 ppm (1 ppm for clones or seeds) and reapply every three days or however long it takes for you to not be able to smell it in the water
 
calvin.m16

calvin.m16

Well-Known Member
giantcola said:
Algae and Bad Bacteria growth, leading to slime formation and root rot
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Yeah that is why I dont grow hydroponics and grow in coco. Too finicky unless you have pH dosers, chillers and use lots of harsh chemicals to keep pathogens out. Obviously it all depends on scale (4 plants or are you growing 100 plants for example), water quality, environment and more.
 
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