DWC Root Slime Cure aka How to Breed Beneficial Microbes

G37Kush

Active Member
Hey Heisenberg have u seen any difference between using great white,ancient forest, and aquashield in a tea?
 

Heisenberg

Well-Known Member
Hey Heisenberg have u seen any difference between using great white,ancient forest, and aquashield in a tea?
Great White or mycogrow soluble (identical products) and perhaps mycomadness are the most diverse products on the market. There are actually a few products which contain 'this or that' strain which isn't included in great white, but the difference is negligible for the purpose of disease prevention, and as I said, the product as a whole still isn't as diverse. For this reason, great white surpasses simpler inoculation products such as ZHO, aquashield, and even the sub-b/m. In short, some products contain only fungi, some contain only bacteria, while products like great white contain both and a more diverse selection of each. Remember, diversity is the key to controlling slime.

There may be situations where a gardener does not want decomposer microbes, but still wants the benefit of mycorrhizal fungi. Some gardeners may not want the aggressiveness of trichoderma. That is why it is beneficial for companies to have a variety of products offering different inoculations. When fighting slime, we want as many as possible.

The lab which makes great white/mycogrow has superb standards and quality assurance, but there are many strains of microbes which can not be farmed in a lab, such as nematodes. We must get these types from natural sources, such as the ancient forest soil amendment, homemade compost, or even just plain old earth worm castings. IMO, ancient forest is the most diverse and logistically viable source.

I agree with Mr Bond about liquid light + saturator as a foliar spray. The results are such that I would not even be tempted to use something else. However, if you do have a current spray, use it up first, no need to run right out and spend money, or perhaps use it on veg and save the LL for bud. As I have always within this thread, I recommend all dutch master products for DWC, with the exception of Zone.(use tea instead of zone) Silica, replicator, and the APS spray are optional, but very nice.

If you use these products in a DWC with the tea and are diligent about res conditions, humidity, temps and air flow, you can get an amazing harvest from a 600wt light.
 

G37Kush

Active Member
Thanx again. I'm glad I went with the premium products that were recommended. I'll let u know how things are brewing over here after 36 hours of exposure to the bene tea.
 

gimmethatfish

Active Member
I've been having problems with cyanobacteria in my DWC. My first DWC grow I tried to find a solution and eventually came on this thread. I cleaned my res, lines, drip emitters, pumps, buckets, etc. with 29% h202; I also fixed some light leaks in my res. Despite all this, I had cyanobacteria again in my next grow, and was driven back to the tea. Although my harvest was much better and my plants were much healthier, their roots were still constantly being attacked by the slime, and even the best could have had 3x more root mass.


I'm at a loss now and I could really use some advice.

Is it possible my nutrients are harboring the cyanobacteria?
Should I invest in an aquarium chiller?
Should I just use tea from start to finish?
Is this a problem I can ever get rid of?
 

fallinprince

Active Member
I've been having problems with cyanobacteria in my DWC. My first DWC grow I tried to find a solution and eventually came on this thread. I cleaned my res, lines, drip emitters, pumps, buckets, etc. with 29% h202; I also fixed some light leaks in my res. Despite all this, I had cyanobacteria again in my next grow, and was driven back to the tea. Although my harvest was much better and my plants were much healthier, their roots were still constantly being attacked by the slime, and even the best could have had 3x more root mass.


I'm at a loss now and I could really use some advice.

Is it possible my nutrients are harboring the cyanobacteria?
Should I invest in an aquarium chiller?
Should I just use tea from start to finish?
Is this a problem I can ever get rid of?

Yes you can get rid of it completely by ensuring clean clones and a water chiller that keeps your water temps 74 or under (when not using the tea) or simply lowering the overall room temperatures to 74

Using the tea from clones to finish will keep everything under control and keep your root mass growing out of control (good thing)
 

fallinprince

Active Member
View attachment 1721584View attachment 1721585
This is after 2 days suddenly i got this

IMG_20110802_194527.jpg This is a Before shot

I have a whole bunch of the same plant and yet this one the largest is the only showing signs of problems roots still look great

Ph is 5.7
Tds is a little low at 400
R/o Water
RH 35-50%

Rest of the info is in my journal anyone have any advice? Mr bond u better be lurking today :-P
 

fallinprince

Active Member
W/o the tea your water temps can go down to like 58F and not hurt the plants. With the tea the microbes like above 74 i do believe it is listed somewhere in this thread
 

mr.bond

Well-Known Member
View attachment 1721584View attachment 1721585
This is after 2 days suddenly i got this

View attachment 1721586 This is a Before shot

I have a whole bunch of the same plant and yet this one the largest is the only showing signs of problems roots still look great

Ph is 5.7
Tds is a little low at 400
R/o Water
RH 35-50%

Rest of the info is in my journal anyone have any advice? Mr bond u better be lurking today :-P
hey prince,

just off some basic reference materials it looks like Magnesium lockout but believe me I'm no expert... haha. what nutrients/additives are you using? have you done any foilar?

bond
 

mr.bond

Well-Known Member
Just to clarify. Water temps shouldn't go below 70F and above 75F with the tea correct?
70-75 is an ideal temperature range. microbial activity becomes very inactive below 68F... and temps above 75F are more prone to slime infestation in veg. ive used the tea with ambient temps as high as 100F to keep slime at bay. it wasnt totally effective at 100F, but it was at 94F...

BAHND
 

G37Kush

Active Member
Is it normal if I adjusted pH to 5.8 before work at 5pm. Came back and it's at 6.2pH. This is more than 36 hours with the bene tea. The reason I ask is I've been having pH rising issues. Wasn't sure if this would be considered normal?
 

Heisenberg

Well-Known Member
Going from 5.8 to 6.2 in 12 hours may be normal, depends on the number of plants and their nutrient intake. In any case the best you can do is adjust it back down, most likely the PH will become more stable as the bennies become established. Remember a slight upward drift in PH is normal and desirable, and cheaper pens will often give slightly different readings each time they are used.
 

Heisenberg

Well-Known Member
Is it possible my nutrients are harboring the cyanobacteria?
Should I invest in an aquarium chiller?
Should I just use tea from start to finish?
Is this a problem I can ever get rid of?
Use the tea from start to finish, although you can slack way off as they get closer to finish. If you do a final flush, leave out bennies during the flush. Do not worry about a chiller, unless you can make one yourself cheaply. Your nutrients are probably not the source of the slime, but they may be exasperating it if they contain anything organic. Once the slime becomes established, it is most likely going to be around forever, and without tea inoculations it will regain a foothold. Many, many people have had terrible cases of slime but with the tea, they grow completely slime free, so there is hope for your setup.
 

hellraizer30

Rebel From The North
Hey heisenberg what about myco maDness by humbolt its cheap an avalible in my area? Would this be
Close to the mycogrow you use? The analist is on the humbolt website if you dont mind looking at it
 

mr.bond

Well-Known Member
Hey heisenberg what about myco maDness by humbolt its cheap an avalible in my area? Would this be
Close to the mycogrow you use? The analist is on the humbolt website if you dont mind looking at it
Heisenberg mentions this product earlier in the thread. See below:
"Myco Madness: Excellent product containing a diverse collection of bacteria and fungi, including trichoderma. Has a good track record for use in tea. I think the granular would be fine to use in the tea."

mr.bond
 

Heisenberg

Well-Known Member
Hey heisenberg what about myco maDness by humbolt its cheap an avalible in my area? Would this be
Close to the mycogrow you use? The analist is on the humbolt website if you dont mind looking at it
Heisenberg mentions this product earlier in the thread. See below:
"Myco Madness: Excellent product containing a diverse collection of bacteria and fungi, including trichoderma. Has a good track record for use in tea. I think the granular would be fine to use in the tea."

mr.bond
Yep, it's a great product, but to clarify, the poster was asking specifically about granular he had lying around. Ideally you want the soluble powder, which contains slightly more beneficial ingredients.


CONTAINS NON PLANT FOOD INGREDIENTS:
9.5% Humic acids (derived from Leonardite)
5% Alaskan humus, 5% worm castings
3% glucose
 
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