Persistent pythium (hydroponics)

[RivetGrrl]

Need help from anyone that knows how to get rid of this for good, it’s been “gone” and just yesterday I scrubbed out my reservoirs because there were some brown roots and refilled and today the problem looks 100x worse.

Temp is 67 F right now and usually well below 70. If it warms up I put in frozen bottles.
Upgraded to 4” air stones on individual pumps so lots of O2.
I am using Sensizyme currently and it doesn’t seem to be helping. Tried H2O2 didn’t seem to help,either (before using enzyme).

I assumed changing the res and cleaning everything would help but it seems the problem has exploded.
Please help before I give up on Hydroponics
Also, I’m in Canada and we can’t get most of the good stuff. No Hydroguard, not much really period.

Cut off the roots, treat with H2O2 again and then move to another enzyme product? I can't even make that tea in the hydro section because I can't find mycorrhiza for use in hydro. Anything similar I can use that will help?

I am currently using MegaCrop with CalMag and fulvic acid, pH is 5.8 ec is around 1.6

 

[woody]

To be honest i couldnt run hydro without hydroguard or sm-90.
@Mañ'O'Green @Boradan
Any alternatives here

 

[davisgirl]

Yeah hydroguard is where it’s at. I had that one brush, knock on wood. H202 kills the beneficial bacteria, bleach too, so I’m careful to rinse really well when I clean the buckets. Upgraded my air pump. Running 70F right now.

Also, white roots don’t last long in Megacrop, GH flora for that matter. If they’re not slimy it’s all good.

 

[Boradan]

As @davisgirl said, if they aren't slimy, then it probably isn't an issue as Megacrop definitely stains the roots.
I also got a lot of 'staining' from my Hydroton clay pebbles which I thought I had thoroughly rinsed, but turned out to not be the case - it was more a case of a lot of tiny brown granules than staining though.

How does the plant itself look? Any issues that would point to root rot?

I use Great White in my Hydro - it has both beneficial bacteria and Myco's.
SM-90 is a wetting agent which helps the uptake of nutrients and encourages root growth. It is expensive, but can be replaced with a liquid hand soap with zero additives like THIS

 

[woody]

As @davisgirl said, if they aren't slimy, then it probably isn't an issue as Megacrop definitely stains the roots.
I also got a lot of 'staining' from my Hydroton clay pebbles which I thought I had thoroughly rinsed, but turned out to not be the case - it was more a case of a lot of tiny brown granules than staining though.

How does the plant itself look? Any issues that would point to root rot?

I use Great White in my Hydro - it has both beneficial bacteria and Myco's.
SM-90 is a wetting agent which helps the uptake of nutrients and encourages root growth. It is expensive, but can be replaced with a liquid hand soap with zero additives like THIS

Does great white keep the roots healthy dude?
Sm90 is branded as a wetting agent but it does a hell of a lot more than that... i dont even know anyone who uses it for that purpose :smoking:

 

[Boradan]

Does great white keep the roots healthy dude?
Sm90 is branded as a wetting agent but it does a hell of a lot more than that... i dont even know anyone who uses it for that purpose :smoking:

Yes, Great White keeps them healthy. I have had zero issues even though I do not have good water temperature control (2 Litre bottles of ICE).

It is the fact that SM-90 is a wetting agent that makes it work how people want.
Look at it's ingredients - it has Oil of Coriander, Canola oil and TRIETHANOLAMINE - it is a soap.
What purposes DO people use it for?

 

[RivetGrrl]

To be honest i couldnt run hydro without hydroguard or sm-90.
@Mañ'O'Green @Boradan
Any alternatives here

I read your thread Woody and it is awesome, but once again I couldn't find any of the products here, and there were so many good ones you listed!! I could order online but not in the winter. It is so aggravating We do have GH Florashield tho that might work?

Yeah hydroguard is where it’s at. I had that one brush, knock on wood. H202 kills the beneficial bacteria, bleach too, so I’m careful to rinse really well when I clean the buckets. Upgraded my air pump. Running 70F right now.

Also, white roots don’t last long in Megacrop, GH flora for that matter. If they’re not slimy it’s all good.

As @davisgirl said, if they aren't slimy, then it probably isn't an issue as Megacrop definitely stains the roots.
I also got a lot of 'staining' from my Hydroton clay pebbles which I thought I had thoroughly rinsed, but turned out to not be the case - it was more a case of a lot of tiny brown granules than staining though.

How does the plant itself look? Any issues that would point to root rot?

I use Great White in my Hydro - it has both beneficial bacteria and Myco's.
SM-90 is a wetting agent which helps the uptake of nutrients and encourages root growth. It is expensive, but can be replaced with a liquid hand soap with zero additives like THIS

Oh yeah its definitely rot, I barely nursed what I have to flower now, plants are not good and I'm fighting it in my veg res while I wait to harvest and clean & sterilize those systems. I wish it was just stained roots, when I use humic acid they are almost black. I wish I could get Hydroguard so many people rave about it. SM-90 I can't find, but Great White I can, I'll research that. I just figured the Sensizym would work.

Thank you all so much for chiming in to help!! I can go by the hydro store Wednesday or Thursday so any more input I can see what products I have access to

 

[Boradan]

I read your thread Woody and it is awesome, but once again I couldn't find any of the products here, and there were so many good ones you listed!! I could order online but not in the winter. It is so aggravating We do have GH Florashield tho that might work?





Oh yeah its definitely rot, I barely nursed what I have to flower now, plants are not good and I'm fighting it in my veg res while I wait to harvest and clean & sterilize those systems. I wish it was just stained roots, when I use humic acid they are almost black. I wish I could get Hydroguard so many people rave about it. SM-90 I can't find, but Great White I can, I'll research that. I just figured the Sensizym would work.

Thank you all so much for chiming in to help!! I can go by the hydro store Wednesday or Thursday so any more input I can see what products I have access to

Get an organic liquid soap (Castile Soap is the technical name) instead of the SM-90.
Sounds like you will need to go down the sterilization route again with H2O2, but be careful as too much can cause more issues than it solves.
SM-90 has been removed from sale at the minute due to the fact that it has an 'undeclared pesticide ingredient (Salicylic Acid).' SOURCE
This 'undeclared ingredient' is a bactericide and an antiseptic. It will actually KILL any beneficial bacteria you add to your system - it is commonly used in acne treatments to kill bacteria in your pores. It is also used in anti-fungal treatments, so bang goes the Myco too.

 

[Mañ'O'Green]

Botinicare HydroGuard! Hurry!

 

[Boradan]

Botinicare HydroGuard! Hurry!

She said in the first post that she can't get Hydroguard, so I recommended Great White instead (Similar but different). Voodoo Juice is also an alternative.
These are all more preventative than reactive though - they basically load the system with beneficials so that the Pythium cannot get a foothold.

To be honest i couldnt run hydro without hydroguard or sm-90.
@Mañ'O'Green @Boradan
Any alternatives here

Do you use Both Hydroguard and SM-90 at the same time?