Mystery Hydro Problem

[Wild Bill]

I had this happen to a plant last year and now it has happened to another plant. I thought it was a strain specific problem the first time it happened but this is Lemoncake which I have never had a problem with before.

 

When I checked the plants yesterday everything was doing just fine. When I looked today it was completely wilted.

 

It looks like it's still alive but just barely. The last time it happened the plant was beyond saving. Whatever causes this happens overnight.

 

I'm running bubble buckets, getting good air flow, the roots look good, no browning or mildew, no visible bugs. All the other plants in the room are fine. Drained solution and am running plain water until it shows recovery. (or dies)

 

Has anyone run across this before or have any idea what causes it?

 

I tried to post a picture but the board won't let me post pictures today, it says I'm not allowed to use that image extension. I'll try to post one again later.

 

Edit: posted to gallery, still won't show up in post.

http://michiganmedicalmarijuana.org/gallery/image/17071-img-20140331-135941/

 

 

Edited March 31, 2014 by Wild Bill

[Dlo]

[Highlander]

I had this happen to a plant last year and now it has happened to another plant. I thought it was a strain specific problem the first time it happened but this is Lemoncake which I have never had a problem with before.

 

When I checked the plants yesterday everything was doing just fine. When I looked today it was completely wilted.

 

It looks like it's still alive but just barely. The last time it happened the plant was beyond saving. Whatever causes this happens overnight.

 

I'm running bubble buckets, getting good air flow, the roots look good, no browning or mildew, no visible bugs. All the other plants in the room are fine. Drained solution and am running plain water until it shows recovery. (or dies)

 

Has anyone run across this before or have any idea what causes it?

 

I tried to post a picture but the board won't let me post pictures today, it says I'm not allowed to use that image extension. I'll try to post one again later.

 

Edit: posted to gallery, still won't show up in post.

http://michiganmedicalmarijuana.org/gallery/image/17071-img-20140331-135941/

 

Looks like root rot to me.  I had a devil of a time dialing in my DWC in 2010 due to root rot.  You really do see a perky and healthy plant one night, and by the morning it is all drooped over.  In fact, I have never seen such rapid onset of trouble like this except with root rot.  I learned pretty quickly to monitor temps closely and react quickly.

 

Check the temp of your nute solution.  Keep it under 68 degrees F if you can.  What I like to do is coil up a garden hose outside and pump water from the reservoir, through the hose, and then back into the next reservoir/bucket.   This makes for a cheap chiller until temps outside get too warm.  Even in these cold temps we have, the hose coil never froze as long as the solution was moving along.

 

To help your plant(s) bounce back, use a healthy dose of an enzyme such as hygrozyme or senizyme.  (I prefer hygrozyme....it appears to be more expensive but the dosage is less so it is actually cheaper than senizyme).  It costs about $50 per liter.  I'd drain everything, flush with plain water, then add plain water with the enzymes for a day or two, then add the nutes.

 

Also beware that if you use hydrogen peroxide, it will kill the enzymes, so don't waste your money buying both.  You can speed up the healing by washing roots with diluted H2O2 until the fizzing stops - just be sure to rinse well.  And if you use city water, let the chlorine evaporate before you add the enzymes, as the chlorine will also kill the enzymes.

 

Good luck

[Restorium2]

Just a guess, but it looks like the problem is in the root area. Like the roots can't support the plant. You might have a major root fracture.

[Wild Bill]

Thanks Dio it wouldn't post for me.

 

The roots look good, nice and white, so I don't think it's rot.

 

I never thought to look for fractures, I'll check that out right away.

[Highlander]

Thanks Dio it wouldn't post for me.

 

The roots look good, nice and white, so I don't think it's rot.

 

I never thought to look for fractures, I'll check that out right away.

 

This is what caused me so much trouble.  Roots looked good - white, no slime.  So I spent a few days chasing other ideas and watching a slow progression of droop and death descend upon the garden.   It would be a good idea to check your temps in the nute solution just to be safe.  Resto has a good idea with the root fracture.  I had that happen once too...the main "tap" root was too long, and when I set it in the bucket, it bent and cracked.   

[Wild Bill]

Didn't see anything that appeared broken, unless it's inside the hydroton. It looks like it's perked up a little with the fresh water.

 

I may prune some of the larger leaves later on so the roots will only have to feed the smaller leaves.

 

Might even top it half way down.

[Restorium2]

Sometimes they will pop right back up in a couple days and go strong the rest of the grow.

[Restorium2]

This is what caused me so much trouble.  Roots looked good - white, no slime.  So I spent a few days chasing other ideas and watching a slow progression of droop and death descend upon the garden.   It would be a good idea to check your temps in the nute solution just to be safe.  Resto has a good idea with the root fracture.  I had that happen once too...the main "tap" root was too long, and when I set it in the bucket, it bent and cracked. 

I had it happen when I was bending one over to widen a SCROG out. Just below the hydroton it had a major fracture.

[Wild Bill]

This is what caused me so much trouble.  Roots looked good - white, no slime.

 

Maybe I'll take it out of the water, flush it good with running water and let the air get to it for awhile. I've had good luck with that when it was obvious rot.

[pic book]

i had this w lemon cake in hydro, and only with lemon cake. the roots looked perfect, but overnight a plant would die.  hasn't happened for a year.   what has stopped it for the last year is my dosing the res with hydrogen peroxdide every 11 days.

[trichcycler]

how often do you guys change your buckets of bubbly ?  I grew in bubblers in the past, and temps were an issue for about 3 minutes. I used a heat sink under the buckets and that was solved. I never used hydrogen peroxide in the grow room, except to clean the dirty buckets when I retired them to the attic.

Edited April 1, 2014 by grassmatch

[semicaregiver]

..... I used a heat sink under the buckets and that was solved.....

What did you use as a heat sink?

[Wild Bill]

i had this w lemon cake in hydro, and only with lemon cake. the roots looked perfect, but overnight a plant would die.  hasn't happened for a year.   what has stopped it for the last year is my dosing the res with hydrogen peroxdide every 11 days.

 

The other time this happened to me was with Nepali Rukum. Temperature is not an issue. There are four identical buckets in the same room and I only had the problem with the one.

 

The Nepali was in flower with two other plants in the room and it was the only one with a problem.

 

She looks a little perkier this morning. I trimmed off some of the large fan leaves to give it a better leaf to root ratio.

[trichcycler]

concrete patio squares

What did you use as a heat sink?

[LongHairBri]

I just had this issue, the plant was not seated in the media well and as a result it tore loose some of the roots. I just wires up some lower support and it took back off after a couple days

[Wild Bill]

I just had this issue, the plant was not seated in the media well and as a result it tore loose some of the roots. I just wires up some lower support and it took back off after a couple days

I think that may be what happened. It wasn't looking too good this afternoon so I took cuttings from the tips that still looked alive and trashed the rest. No sense taking up space with questionable stock.

 

This plant grew unusually fast as did the Nepali. Maybe that contributed to the problem.

[Spartyon]

Been having exact same issue going on for the last six to eight months can't figure it out. Think I might of figured it out my reverse osmosis maker I only changed two of the three filters. Third filter was over a yr old. Changed all three a few weeks ago time will tell if that was the problem.

[Wild Bill]

Give these gents a cigar (or blunt). I pulled off the rockwool and sure enough this is what I found.

 

(well, I was going to show you the broken roots but I'm still getting this message;

You are not allowed to use that image extension on this community.

 

Just a guess, but it looks like the problem is in the root area. Like the roots can't support the plant. You might have a major root fracture.

 

 

 Resto has a good idea with the root fracture.

 

I just had this issue, the plant was not seated in the media well and as a result it tore loose some of the roots.

[Wild Bill]

Try, try again.