Hydroguard or southern ag gff?

Billy, just my 2 cents.. those roots honestly didn't look THAT bad.. i wouldn't have cut them especially if they had new growth coming out.. BUT.. at long as the plant stays healthy then all is good :)
 
Agreed; there was more slime on the submerged portions of the roots not visible in pic. I couldn't find any definitive info regarding best practice in that situation. They probably would have recovered using the GFF without the chop, maybe even a little quicker. Thankfully, the plant made a full recovery.
 
icetech said:
AG is good for like a year... the thing is eventually the bacteria dies.. anything that doesn't go bad isn't living bacteria.. that being said a quart should last at least 6-10 months.. mine has been going for quite awhile now.
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In the past I've bought 3 jug of Hydroguard from different retailers, all came expired well past the 2yr mfg stamp. It has a shelf life of 6 months after opening. AG GFF doesn't have a mfg date or expiration date. How do you know it is 1 year old or not? Dates starts when you open it?

Read around that AG GFF bacteria is in a suspended/inactive state and seems to have a much longer shelf life than Hydroguard. Once mixed with water it comes alive but dies in a week if not fed. Thats why you can't just premix in a bottle and leave around.
 
ah.. well that's awesome news then :) I didn't know that.. once again.. AG.. cheaper and lasts much much longer :) people need to stop the hydroguard stuffs...
 
Can you mix AG with HOCL or Cleanse? I'm running Athena Blended in my autopots, been having issues with white slime or something in the res after day 3-4. Res is 67f no light leaks.
Bought an ORP meter as I noticed my ORP had dropped to 250 or so after a few days - bringing it back to 450 to see if that helps, also added in some AG for good measure. Next res change maybe I'll try AG instead of HOCL?
 
This is fascinating, as it has been mentioned in alot of the DWC threads where root rot is giving people problems.
I used AG in a DWC setup and ended up with this shit after only a day...but I may have fed it as well with molasses... I can't remember, but I'm pretty sure I did.
DWC is a bitch. So far, the one I have left is running it's best life with lots of chlorine, not bacteria.
shit 2.jpg
 
iggy097 said:
Can you mix AG with HOCL or Cleanse? I'm running Athena Blended in my autopots, been having issues with white slime or something in the res after day 3-4. Res is 67f no light leaks.
Bought an ORP meter as I noticed my ORP had dropped to 250 or so after a few days - bringing it back to 450 to see if that helps, also added in some AG for good measure. Next res change maybe I'll try AG instead of HOCL?
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You can't run sterilizing agents like h2o2, bleach, or HOCL along with beneficial bacteria products. It is one route or the other, bennies or sterile? It doesn't make sense to deploy millions of soldiers only to nuke them as soon as they hit the battlefield. If running sterile isn't working for you, you can try the bennies route. I've used SAGFF or AG for short, and it is good, but I found a much better product. It is called Ecofix from the company API. It is a super concentrated blend of beneficial bacteria including the bacteria found in Hydroguard/AG, along with many other strains. It is meant for aquarium owners, but is amazing in hydroponic growing. It is all I use now, the only thing stronger I've tried is Heisenberg's EWC tea - https://www.rollitup.org/t/dwc-root-slime-cure-aka-how-to-breed-beneficial-microbes.361430/
If I were still growing DWC, I would try Ecofix first since it is cheap and easy, but if that wasn't enough, I'd go back to the tea. These products make DWC success fairly simple IME. Best of luck...

Ecofix in aero with 78f rez temps -

1711786908225.jpeg
 
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Tomatoesonly said:
This is fascinating, as it has been mentioned in alot of the DWC threads where root rot is giving people problems.
I used AG in a DWC setup and ended up with this shit after only a day...but I may have fed it as well with molasses... I can't remember, but I'm pretty sure I did.
DWC is a bitch. So far, the one I have left is running it's best life with lots of chlorine, not bacteria.
View attachment 5382111
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One should never added sugars directly to the rez/buckets. You'd be feeding the pathogens along with any beneficial bacteria that might be present, and my money would be on the pathogens to win. DWC is great and can be fairly simple once you find what works in your environment to ward off cyanobacteria/pythium/root rot. Sterile or bennies? That is the question. Seems like running sterile with the chlorine may be best for you. Good luck.
 
Tomatoesonly said:
This is fascinating, as it has been mentioned in alot of the DWC threads where root rot is giving people problems.
I used AG in a DWC setup and ended up with this shit after only a day...but I may have fed it as well with molasses... I can't remember, but I'm pretty sure I did.
DWC is a bitch. So far, the one I have left is running it's best life with lots of chlorine, not bacteria.
View attachment 5382111
Click to expand...
from my experience molases in dwc makes the ph 8 no matter how much ph- you use for days
 
Tomatoesonly said:
Ok, I'll order some up and see how it goes. They also make a product in their lineup called "Algaefix"... I wonder if that is any good??
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I can't see the need for that in hydro, but I'm not even sure what it consists of. Are you using RO water or tap? If tap you may want to use API's Tap Water Conditioner which neutralizes chlorine and chloramines, as well as heavy metals, before adding your bennies. You want to give them the best chance of out competing the pathogens, and not hamper them with sterilizing substances.
 
tyler.durden said:
I can't see the need for that in hydro, but I'm not even sure what it consists of. Are you using RO water or tap? If tap you may want to use API's Tap Water Conditioner which neutralizes chlorine and chloramines, as well as heavy metals, before adding your bennies. You want to give them the best chance of out competing the pathogens, and not hamper them with sterilizing substances.
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Well everything seems to be going well with the Ecofix. I've had it for a couple days and my DWC is running strong. Thanks for the heads up about that stuff. Also, the hard rule has to be zero organic anything but the bennies.
 
Tomatoesonly said:
Well everything seems to be going well with the Ecofix. I've had it for a couple days and my DWC is running strong. Thanks for the heads up about that stuff. Also, the hard rule has to be zero organic anything but the bennies.
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@tyler.durden I can't see if you're still around or not. But I had to let you know that the Ecofix took all my bubblers through a HOT summer and no rot appeared. Rez temps were in the 80's. Grew some pretty damn good bud. Never woulda happened without that little tip you gave above.
 
Tomatoesonly said:
@tyler.durden I can't see if you're still around or not. But I had to let you know that the Ecofix took all my bubblers through a HOT summer and no rot appeared. Rez temps were in the 80's. Grew some pretty damn good bud. Never woulda happened without that little tip you gave above.
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Yeah, that stuff is magic. Glad to pass along any helpful knowledge, this place has taught me SO much. Just trying to give a little back...
 
Hygroben from Hygrozyme is also a great combination of concentrated bacteria.
Priced well below hydroguards water.
 
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