Can nutrients cause Pythium?

[Odissey]

Hi everyone,

I have recently lost a seedling to what I believe was pythium. I always use pure coco but this time I decided to add perlite. I noticed some little white balls on the surface of the coco which I thought was perlite, but eventually it multiplied and the seedling dampened off. This is the first time this has ever happened to me. Now I suspect the reason this happened might be because I have been using the same nutrients for a while. Particularly, I feed Advanced Nutrients Vodoo Juice which is basically bacteria and bud candy and from using the same pipette all the time I suspect I might have introduced sugars in the VJ bottle and therefore spoiled it (assuming some spore could have germinated in such medium). Is this a reasonable explanation ? I have a new seedling which is also showing a grey/white mold on the bottom of the pot. Now I do not know whether I should renovate my whole nutrient line (the basis is ph perfect coco bloom A and B which I have for a while) or if there is something else I should fix instead. Any suggestions?

Thanks!

 

[Mañ'O'Green]

Hi everyone,

I have recently lost a seedling to what I believe was pythium. I always use pure coco but this time I decided to add perlite. I noticed some little white balls on the surface of the coco which I thought was perlite, but eventually it multiplied and the seedling dampened off. This is the first time this has ever happened to me. Now I suspect the reason this happened might be because I have been using the same nutrients for a while. Particularly, I feed Advanced Nutrients Vodoo Juice which is basically bacteria and bud candy and from using the same pipette all the time I suspect I might have introduced sugars in the VJ bottle and therefore spoiled it (assuming some spore could have germinated in such medium). Is this a reasonable explanation ? I have a new seedling which is also showing a grey/white mold on the bottom of the pot. Now I do not know whether I should renovate my whole nutrient line (the basis is ph perfect coco bloom A and B which I have for a while) or if there is something else I should fix instead. Any suggestions?

Thanks!

Yes, cross contamination can be the culprit here. You still must have had too wet a surface for that stuff to grow and for the seedling to dampen off. You can test your nutrients by making Petri dish of auger (gelatin) and take a clean q-tip and inoculate the plate. Leave at room temperature in a closed space. The molds will grow rapidly if infected.

The mold spore population in your space has probably exploded with the bloom. Use Botanicare HydroGuard in any active pots. It will out-compete most molds. Remove the plants when you can and wash down well with chlorine bleach the entire grow space. You can never get rid of the spores entirely as they are all around us all of the time but you want to get the levels down to normal.

 

[Odissey]

Yes, cross contamination can be the culprit here. You still must have had too wet a surface for that stuff to grow and for the seedling to dampen off. You can test your nutrients by making Petri dish of auger (gelatin) and take a clean q-tip and inoculate the plate. Leave at room temperature in a closed space. The molds will grow rapidly if infected.

The mold spore population in your space has probably exploded with the bloom. Use Botanicare HydroGuard in any active pots. It will out-compete most molds. Remove the plants when you can and wash down well with chlorine bleach the entire grow space. You can never get rid of the spores entirely as they are all around us all of the time but you want to get the levels down to normal.

Thanks Man'O'Green!
Yes the medium is wet because it is coco and is supposed to be wet at all times, so not sure what to do there. Unfortunately, I cannot find Hydroguard where I live. I was thinking of starting over nutrient wise because they are already a bit old. I wanted to get some A&B, voodoo and some enzyme or root stimulator but voodoo juice is out where I live as well... Do you know if tarantula would work as well for the purpose of keeping pythium at bay? I mean colonize the medium with something that competes with the pythium

 

[Mañ'O'Green]

Southern Ag Garden Friendly Fungicide is a similar strain to the HydroGuard but much more concentrated and not listed on the label for this use but several peeps here on AFN have used it and reported satisfactory results in preventing root rot.

I have not used Tarantula and so cannot testify one way or another.

There is a big difference between moist and wet. You do not want the coco to be soggy only moist.

If you are not going to use a complete nutrient line do something else. The idea is to keep your nutrients in complete balance at all times. If you are not using Canna product X you may be totally missing nutrient Y? Without nutrient Y other nutrients can be locked out. The theory was first put forward by Liebig in his theory "Law of the Minimum."

If you are short on Se like in this picture All of the nutrients that are ample in the barrel cannot be used beyond the amount allowed by the Se. If this were a perfect balanced nutrient mix all of the barrel slats would be at the top and every nutrient would be totally available to the plant. This is the goal.

 

[Odissey]

Southern Ag Garden Friendly Fungicide is a similar strain to the HydroGuard but much more concentrated and not listed on the label for this use but several peeps here on AFN have used it and reported satisfactory results in preventing root rot.

I have not used Tarantula and so cannot testify one way or another.

There is a big difference between moist and wet. You do not want the coco to be soggy only moist.

If you are not going to use a complete nutrient line do something else. The idea is to keep your nutrients in complete balance at all times. If you are not using Canna product X you may be totally missing nutrient Y? Without nutrient Y other nutrients can be locked out. The theory was first put forward by Liebig in his theory "Law of the Minimum."

If you are short on Se like in this picture All of the nutrients that are ample in the barrel cannot be used beyond the amount allowed by the Se. If this were a perfect balanced nutrient mix all of the barrel slats would be at the top and every nutrient would be totally available to the plant. This is the goal.

View attachment 1233532

Hi Man'o'Green,

Thanks for the reply and sorry for being so late. I decided to start over. Dumped the affected plants, cleaned the grow room with bleach and started new plants. So far, there is no signs of pythium.

Regarding the complete set of nutrients, I hear you. I already have all the macro and micronutrients the plants need, but I do not think when using a root booster the brand matters that much that is why I wanted to choose something that would give me the best results without buying three super expensive bottles like the piranha, tarantula, vodoo.

I will be using autopots for the first time this grow, and now that this is happening I am a bit afraid to add any bacteria or carbs to the reservoir. Do you happen to know how you mantain the reservoir? Do you always dump the remaining water and fill it up completely with fresh nutrients or do you just premix nutrients with the amount of water you want to top up the reservoir with?

Btw, are you a fan of the band Manowar or is your name unrelated?

Thanks!

 

[Mañ'O'Green]

That is the rub though because you do not know what is in their secret sauce - piranha, tarantula, vodoo versus the one you use? This is why I use GreenLeaf Nutrients, They hide nothing. It is the least expensive to use of all of the brands I have tried.

I have not used AutoPots so really I cannot answer with authority on their use. I think you should always start with the manufactures suggestions. Until you have experience. Lots of grower here use them so I would look around for peeps with grows that cause bud envy and look at how they use them.

I remember that old band, no I am not a Metal fan. I was just really stoned when I signed up here and that is what came out .

 

[Odissey]

That is the rub though because you do not know what is in their secret sauce - piranha, tarantula, vodoo versus the one you use? This is why I use GreenLeaf Nutrients, They hide nothing. It is the least expensive to use of all of the brands I have tried.

I have not used AutoPots so really I cannot answer with authority on their use. I think you should always start with the manufactures suggestions. Until you have experience. Lots of grower here use them so I would look around for peeps with grows that cause bud envy and look at how they use them.

I remember that old band, no I am not a Metal fan. I was just really stoned when I signed up here and that is what came out .

Right. I also do not like all the marketing and the thousands of different additives AN has, but I do like the convenience of not having to ph in coco. If that was the case with MC I would use that as well, just mix one part nutrients and thats it. What a dream

Ok thanks! I will ask around

Haha it is a great name