Grow Mediums Autopot res smelling funky

[Fisherboy]

hi guys,

I'm using canna coco as my feed for my autopot system and have noticed that it had starting getting a little funky smelling recently. I have a tube heater in there and a circulation pump. My res temp is 18 and everything was ok until recently.

I have emptied the tank and cleaned with boiling water to kill off any bacteria but the smell has come back. It smells like pond water?

Ps I use drip clean in there at 1ml per 10litres.

Thanks

 

[strakey]

You might have root rot.....try to see if you can see any roots. They should be fuzzy and whiteish.....if not its prob rot and you might need to top feed with sm 90 or some other anti fungal. If your plants are showing deficiencies its prob to late. Post some pics of your plants. With hydro systems things happen fast but can be delt with just as fast. Maybe post this on the infirmary as well. Lots of smarter ppl there than me.

 

[BII]

You might have root rot.....

I doubt it is root rot or anything at all involving your plants. With Autopots, the reservoir is elevated and gravity-feeds the pots through tubing. There is no way feed water is going to defy gravity and travel back up from plant roots into the reservoir.

Are your nutes, including supplements, all hydroponics-friendly, specified as working OK with reservoirs? Most organic (in sense of carbon-based, whether synthetic or natural) plant nutrients are going to be fairly simple/basic and also readily metabolizable by environmental bacteria and fungi.

I had the same problem, fermentation, with my Autopot reservoir. I totally stripped down to minimal nutrients, but the problem kept recurring after every reservoir refill. Besides making sure your nutes are good for hydro, your options, both of which I've done with no problems, include:
a) feeding the fermented nutes. I would expect no problems with this, with the feed going to be subjected to massive diverse doses of bacteria and fungi in whatever medium/soil you are using, with fermentation products just more nutrients for either the plant or beneficial microorganisms;
b) abandoning using a reservoir, which is how I do Autopots with AirDomes now. I just manually feed/fill the trays when the plant need watering, and turn off the AirDome air pump about 12-18 hours later (don't want to dry out the roots). I usually feed ever 1.5-2 days, providing a small amount of wet-dry cycling. I haven't noticed any difference between this intermittent manual feeding vs. using reservoir/tubing/Autovalves.

 

[Hansbricks]

hi guys,

I'm using canna coco as my feed for my autopot system and have noticed that it had starting getting a little funky smelling recently. I have a tube heater in there and a circulation pump. My res temp is 18 and everything was ok until recently.

I have emptied the tank and cleaned with boiling water to kill off any bacteria but the smell has come back. It smells like pond water?

Ps I use drip clean in there at 1ml per 10litres.

Thanks

How long are you going between res changes? (Shouldn't be going much longer than a week on same res). I think it's pretty normal for a res to start to smell after about a week though regardless of what nutes you're using, although some are worse than others... If the smell bothers you then start adding some SM-90 to your res it will smell lemony fresh.

 

[Fisherboy]

I doubt it is root rot or anything at all involving your plants. With Autopots, the reservoir is elevated and gravity-feeds the pots through tubing. There is no way feed water is going to defy gravity and travel back up from plant roots into the reservoir.

Are your nutes, including supplements, all hydroponics-friendly, specified as working OK with reservoirs? Most organic (in sense of carbon-based, whether synthetic or natural) plant nutrients are going to be fairly simple/basic and also readily metabolizable by environmental bacteria and fungi.

I had the same problem, fermentation, with my Autopot reservoir. I totally stripped down to minimal nutrients, but the problem kept recurring after every reservoir refill. Besides making sure your nutes are good for hydro, your options, both of which I've done with no problems, include:
a) feeding the fermented nutes. I would expect no problems with this, with the feed going to be subjected to massive diverse doses of bacteria and fungi in whatever medium/soil you are using, with fermentation products just more nutrients for either the plant or beneficial microorganisms;
b) abandoning using a reservoir, which is how I do Autopots with AirDomes now. I just manually feed/fill the trays when the plant need watering, and turn off the AirDome air pump about 12-18 hours later (don't want to dry out the roots). I usually feed ever 1.5-2 days, providing a small amount of wet-dry cycling. I haven't noticed any difference between this intermittent manual feeding vs. using reservoir/tubing/Autovalves.

Thanks for that, I'm using canna full line up and they said was ok for res systems, I usually refill every 3-4 days. I have to go res fed as can't always get regular feedings in so makes things a lot easier. I haven't noticed any adverse effects on the plants yet. It was recommended by a mate to give the res a good clean out with oxy plus then a good rinse.

 

[Fisherboy]

I doubt it is root rot or anything at all involving your plants. With Autopots, the reservoir is elevated and gravity-feeds the pots through tubing. There is no way feed water is going to defy gravity and travel back up from plant roots into the reservoir.

Are your nutes, including supplements, all hydroponics-friendly, specified as working OK with reservoirs? Most organic (in sense of carbon-based, whether synthetic or natural) plant nutrients are going to be fairly simple/basic and also readily metabolizable by environmental bacteria and fungi.

I had the same problem, fermentation, with my Autopot reservoir. I totally stripped down to minimal nutrients, but the problem kept recurring after every reservoir refill. Besides making sure your nutes are good for hydro, your options, both of which I've done with no problems, include:
a) feeding the fermented nutes. I would expect no problems with this, with the feed going to be subjected to massive diverse doses of bacteria and fungi in whatever medium/soil you are using, with fermentation products just more nutrients for either the plant or beneficial microorganisms;
b) abandoning using a reservoir, which is how I do Autopots with AirDomes now. I just manually feed/fill the trays when the plant need watering, and turn off the AirDome air pump about 12-18 hours later (don't want to dry out the roots). I usually feed ever 1.5-2 days, providing a small amount of wet-dry cycling. I haven't noticed any difference between this intermittent manual feeding vs. using reservoir/tubing/Autovalves.

I'd love to abandon the reservoir but I need the auto feed option, I'd love to go to old school watering but just haven't got the time. Thanks for the reply, very helpful and food for thought

 

[Fisherboy]

You might have root rot.....try to see if you can see any roots. They should be fuzzy and whiteish.....if not its prob rot and you might need to top feed with sm 90 or some other anti fungal. If your plants are showing deficiencies its prob to late. Post some pics of your plants. With hydro systems things happen fast but can be delt with just as fast. Maybe post this on the infirmary as well. Lots of smarter ppl there than me.

Roots all fuzzy and white and busting out past the root mats. Definitely no problems there. Have had to trim them back to keep them away from the aqua valve. The AutoPot's and domes always seem to give me massive roots and this is the first time I've experienced the funk

 

[pop22]

I'm not sure the tank heater is a good idea, may be the source of your trouble. Either that or light is getting into the res. check individual for smell, it may be root rot.

Timing of when to start using the res is important to prevent this. Also look for sticking valves that could be over watering your pots. Flush out all the lines and fittings, valves, etc

 

[pop22]

and even odder as you say, it happening with airdomes running, although, that does not prevent pythium in any form of hydro. I suspect your water was too warm.

 

[pop22]

After some reading its most likely a Pythium infection, ie, root rot. Pythium is commonly found in reservoirs running submerged pumps and/or heaters. You might be able to contain it until your grow is done by adding Hydro Guard to the reservoir and cleaning the lines and plant bases. Leave the pots out of the bases a few days till the medium dries out some, before returning them to their bases. Otherwise your other option is to scrap the grow and start over, clean and disinfect every part of the system.

I use no pumps or heaters, and have never had a problem. Even if the water temp is cool, the 1/4" lines flow water so slowly, it gets to warm up a bit in transit.