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Hello everyone, well after a case of root rot I attempted to clone everything and hope for the best that the root rot had gone, I had disinfected everything I use to grow with but the problem came back since I took clones I guess the root rot was some how passed onto them....iv binned all plants and seeds.....now I'm planning to clean everything down again before I get anymore plants going.

what's my best approach to cleaning out my clone room, tools etc....will bleach kill root rot for good if I soak everything in that?

 

If bleach will kill root rot what strength does it have to be? I also have hydrogen peroxide %50 here if that would help?

 

Also say if I had opened a bottle of nutrient and a drop of affected root rot water went into the bottle, that has now infected my whole nutrient supply yeah? I'm not %100 sure this is my case but I want to be %100 certain Iv got rid of it completly. So I'm looking at taking every step I can to prevent this in the future. So this may involve tossing all nutrients etc yeah?

 

 

 

Cheers

Edited by medicalgrower
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You need to clean the whole area floor mats tubs etc..and bench where you lay the cuttings down ....did you clean your scissors or budding knife ?

Where is your water coming from? And what are you putting them into soil or ?

Are they on the ground or on concrete ?

Okay mate, I'll get started asap :( dreading it but has to be done. What is the best chemical/solution to clean everything with? Also I have my tent in a carpeted room, that needs to be cleaned I have a carpet cleaning machine, what solution should I run in that to clean the carpet?

Yes I cleaned everything including knifes and scissors.

Currently I'm using rain water, Iv been treating it with h2o2 before using it.

I use the smallest Gordon rock wool cubes available to start seeds and clones then after well rooted I put them into there final pot filled with clay balls.

Also the seeds and clones where on the concrete ground....

Edited by medicalgrower
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Did you aerate the tank water with the H2o2 in it or put some kind of circulation pump in their..

I have had the dreaded Pyth before ( tank water) I cleaned with bleach and always sterilise everything .Metho or Isopropal  for blades and scissors cutting boards and H2o2 in res 

In my storage tank I use Pyth off and a air stone to circulate in the res H2o2 before I start and during at lower doses ..

hth and treat your rainwater tank too.. Its on the safe drinking water government site.. I will find link if you want it.

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Could have held on to the seeds and soaked in a weak h2o2 solution when it was time to sprout. As said weak bleach solution in a spray bottle, spray down equipment and let air dry should do the trick.

Did you aerate the tank water with the H2o2 in it or put some kind of circulation pump in their..

I have had the dreaded Pyth before ( tank water) I cleaned with bleach and always sterilise everything .Metho or Isopropal for blades and scissors cutting boards and H2o2 in res

In my storage tank I use Pyth off and a air stone to circulate in the res H2o2 before I start and during at lower doses ..

hth and treat your rainwater tank too.. Its on the safe drinking water government site.. I will find link if you want it.

I have held onto my seeds I meant my seedlings I was sprouting at the time the ones that I used the same ph pen, same buckets etc that I was using with the root rot affected plants.

I'll spray everything down with bleach clean it and spray again and let air dry to be safe.

 

I think this may be a downfall off mine not using a airstones or water pumps in the water storage tank after I dose with H2O2 also should I be using pythoff in my rain water also? Do I need to use the 2 products or just one? Prefer to use an minimum as possible.

 

Sorry what's on the safe drinking water government site?

Edited by medicalgrower
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If my understanding of root rot is correct then it's airborne and a one off clean won't solve the issue. I don't see any point in cleaning the carpet or the grow tent itself.

While I'd need more information to provide more detail, if I were in your shoes I'd take the following approach to get yourself growing while experimenting with what works best for you.

I'd look at getting some plants going in coco and hand water to start with. You might be able to use some of your nutrients, however, they may need to be tweaked/supplemented to work well with coco. The advantage is that with the wet and dry cycles you shouldn't have to worry about root rot (assuming you don't overwater!). If you get the cheap coco bricks from Bunnings they need a little preparation but it's probably much cheaper than buying bags of coco at a hydro store.

When the plants are large enough you can start taking cuttings for the DWC setup and experimenting with sterile methods to find the best way to get the cuttings to root and grow without losing everything again.

As for the DWC there's plenty of pages describing how to make "Clear Rez" I think it is. The MSDS for the previously mentioned Pythoff states "Chlorine compounds - Equivalent to 1.0%". You can get the chlorine from Bunnings in larger quantities (better value) and possibly at supermarkets in smaller quantities (lower cost) if it's more convenient. Just make sure you get calcium hypochlorite and not the sodium dichlorisocyanurate if you consider this. You may also be able to use regular (fragrance-free) household bleach, however, bleach contains sodium hypochlorite as well as sodium hydroxide to stabilise the chlorine. Another option might be liquid chlorine from Bunnings which is 12.5% sodium hypochlorite (I think), however, it doesn't appear to contain sodium hydroxide to stabilise the chlorine. Personally, I think calcium hypochlorite is the better option as it's more stable, sodium hydroxide may have a greater effect on your pH, and I think calcium will be better for the plants.

I would start by sterilising equipment and work surfaces with a 10:1 dilution bleach and then rinse where appropriate (pots, resevoir, air stones, etc.), I would look at treating the rain water with a high chlorine concentration (I'm not sure exactly how high, there are plenty of sites regarding camping and prepping that I think discuss how to treat drinking water, that might be a good place to start) and leave the chlorine to evaporate. When your water is sterile then you can use it for the nutrient solution for coco directly and with enough chlorine to keep it sterile for use in DWC.

You could also make up your own bleach using calcium hypochlorite. By my calculations 62g of calcium hypochlorite from Bunnings (the cheaper 650 g/kg calcium hypochlorite chlorine, not the more expensive 700 g/kg one) is equivalent to 1 litre of Woolworths regular bleach (42 g/l sodium hypochlorite). So to make up 1 litre of 10:1 dilution bleach you'd be looking at about 90 ml of Woolworths bleach in 910 ml of water or about 6.2 g of 650 g/kg calcium hypochlorite in 1000 ml of water.

The "Clear Rez" formula at other sites should be around 0.1-0.3 ppm free chlorine after being added to the nutrient solution. However, I think you can safely go higher with cuttings, up to about 1-2 ppm available chlorine. You may also be able to go this high in a resevoir but I've never tried DWC so I have no idea what the best compromise is (more chlorine and you don't need to top up as often, less chlorine and it'll be safer for the plants). Keep in mind that chlorine will be lost as it oxidises as well as from heat and UV light. You need to keep adding chlorine every so often (possibly 3-5 days depending on concentration) to maintin enough chlorine to be effective. I think the pages that provide recipes for "Clear Rez" would be a good place to start and go from there. Of course, if you change your nutrients often enough you may only need to add chlorine when you change the nutrients.

You can also search for "bleach ppm" and "bleach dilution" there should be some results related to how to calculate free chlorine concentrations and cleaning times as well as dilution rates for using bleach (they're generally US based and refer to bleach with 5.25% sodium hypochlorite). This may have more information regarding proper sterilisation. The effectivneess of chlorine is a combination of concentration and time.

For cuttings I'd use methylated spirits to sterlise equipment such as scissors/scalpels/etc. If you keep sterilising the equipment between plants it should help prevent spreading diseases.

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If my understanding of root rot is correct then it's airborne and a one off clean won't solve the issue. I don't see any point in cleaning the carpet or the grow tent itself.

While I'd need more information to provide more detail, if I were in your shoes I'd take the following approach to get yourself growing while experimenting with what works best for you.

I'd look at getting some plants going in coco and hand water to start with. You might be able to use some of your nutrients, however, they may need to be tweaked/supplemented to work well with coco. The advantage is that with the wet and dry cycles you shouldn't have to worry about root rot (assuming you don't overwater!). If you get the cheap coco bricks from Bunnings they need a little preparation but it's probably much cheaper than buying bags of coco at a hydro store.

When the plants are large enough you can start taking cuttings for the DWC setup and experimenting with sterile methods to find the best way to get the cuttings to root and grow without losing everything again.

As for the DWC there's plenty of pages describing how to make "Clear Rez" I think it is. The MSDS for the previously mentioned Pythoff states "Chlorine compounds - Equivalent to 1.0%". You can get the chlorine from Bunnings in larger quantities (better value) and possibly at supermarkets in smaller quantities (lower cost) if it's more convenient. Just make sure you get calcium hypochlorite and not the sodium dichlorisocyanurate if you consider this. You may also be able to use regular (fragrance-free) household bleach, however, bleach contains sodium hypochlorite as well as sodium hydroxide to stabilise the chlorine. Another option might be liquid chlorine from Bunnings which is 12.5% sodium hypochlorite (I think), however, it doesn't appear to contain sodium hydroxide to stabilise the chlorine. Personally, I think calcium hypochlorite is the better option as it's more stable, sodium hydroxide may have a greater effect on your pH, and I think calcium will be better for the plants.

I would start by sterilising equipment and work surfaces with a 10:1 dilution bleach and then rinse where appropriate (pots, resevoir, air stones, etc.), I would look at treating the rain water with a high chlorine concentration (I'm not sure exactly how high, there are plenty of sites regarding camping and prepping that I think discuss how to treat drinking water, that might be a good place to start) and leave the chlorine to evaporate. When your water is sterile then you can use it for the nutrient solution for coco directly and with enough chlorine to keep it sterile for use in DWC.

You could also make up your own bleach using calcium hypochlorite. By my calculations 62g of calcium hypochlorite from Bunnings (the cheaper 650 g/kg calcium hypochlorite chlorine, not the more expensive 700 g/kg one) is equivalent to 1 litre of Woolworths regular bleach (42 g/l sodium hypochlorite). So to make up 1 litre of 10:1 dilution bleach you'd be looking at about 90 ml of Woolworths bleach in 910 ml of water or about 6.2 g of 650 g/kg calcium hypochlorite in 1000 ml of water.

The "Clear Rez" formula at other sites should be around 0.1-0.3 ppm free chlorine after being added to the nutrient solution. However, I think you can safely go higher with cuttings, up to about 1-2 ppm available chlorine. You may also be able to go this high in a resevoir but I've never tried DWC so I have no idea what the best compromise is (more chlorine and you don't need to top up as often, less chlorine and it'll be safer for the plants). Keep in mind that chlorine will be lost as it oxidises as well as from heat and UV light. You need to keep adding chlorine every so often (possibly 3-5 days depending on concentration) to maintin enough chlorine to be effective. I think the pages that provide recipes for "Clear Rez" would be a good place to start and go from there. Of course, if you change your nutrients often enough you may only need to add chlorine when you change the nutrients.

You can also search for "bleach ppm" and "bleach dilution" there should be some results related to how to calculate free chlorine concentrations and cleaning times as well as dilution rates for using bleach (they're generally US based and refer to bleach with 5.25% sodium hypochlorite). This may have more information regarding proper sterilisation. The effectivneess of chlorine is a combination of concentration and time.

For cuttings I'd use methylated spirits to sterlise equipment such as scissors/scalpels/etc. If you keep sterilising the equipment between plants it should help prevent spreading diseases.

 

Cheers thanks for the great reply....lots of help there thanks......

 

Also what kind of details do u need provided to provide more detail?

 

I have just setup my new dwc system so I'll be going down that path my partner hates coco....

 

After cleaning everything I'm planning on starting some seeds and buying some clones.

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I have held onto my seeds I meant my seedlings I was sprouting at the time the ones that I used the same ph pen, same buckets etc that I was using with the root rot affected plants.

I'll spray everything down with bleach clean it and spray again and let air dry to be safe.

 

I think this may be a downfall off mine not using a airstones or water pumps in the water storage tank after I dose with H2O2 also should I be using pythoff in my rain water also? Do I need to use the 2 products or just one? Prefer to use an minimum as possible.

 

Sorry what's on the safe drinking water government site?

Ok..first H2o2 and chlorine, ( pythoff ) both dissolve out of the water in a short period. You can use pool chlorine in drinking water tanks .

H2o2 dissolves out as oxygen so great in the root zone.

This is my routine on tank water..

I use whole house filters from the tank including charcoal, then it goes into a 70lt  aerated storage tank in my room  .I use pythoff at 2ml / 10lt and let sit for a day or 2. 

In a clean system before plants I fill and run H2o2 for 24 hours through all the plumbing, no plants. I then add nutrients and plants the next day.

I can see my roots so only use it if required during grow and I dose often in hot condition in summer for the oxygen and protection

Pyth is everywhere like mold give it the right conditions and it will take hold and ruin your crop. its mostly in soil and and dirty water supplies but can be airborne in humid condition.

HTH's

For every kilolitre (1,000 litres) of water in your tank, add either: • 40 mL of liquid pool chlorine (sodium hypochlorite - 12.5% available chlorine), or • 8 grams of granular pool chlorine (calcium hypochlorite – 65% available chlorine).

http://www.depi.vic.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/188707/your_private_drinking_water_supply.pdf

Edited by Traviss
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