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sudden problem in Aerogarden grow

S

SpikeA

The first pic was July 1st, second was July 3. I had just completed a water change and moved the bigger plants from the back to the front. I am not sure what happened. They were doing so well. now it seems one by one the are giving up.
the nutes are the same strength as before. The ph is in range. The temp is pretty much the same and has been the whole time. The lights are on the auto timer.

using general hydro duo a and b at the recommended dosage for a gallon of water.
 

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Also... What does "the temp is pretty much the same" mean?  Is there a number?
.
What do the roots look like?
 
can you provide a picture of the roots? And also the strength of the light wattage you use?
 
Generally speaking, my situation is not like yours. But without knowing anything else about the plants, and all parameters being equal, I would suspect two things:  root rot, and/or lack of adequate sunlight.
 
What used to happen to my plants would be they would grow fine up to a point. But once the plants reached a certain size, the plants would start to develop quirks or show symptoms of significant unknown stress. Eventually, I would react with the only idea that came to mind: transfer the plants immediately to soil.
 
This is did, and it.. usually.. saved most of the plants in the long run. I would find a shady spot to start them in outside, if possible. 
 
I also treated with live bacteria in my nutrient solution to combat the root rot. Its not a fool proof answer on a small scale, but once I coupled the above with the timing of the symptoms and acted swiftly, usually I was able to produce good results. Treating with silica seems to also help strengthen the plants in the long run.
 
 Hope your plants do ok!
 
 
 
 
 
keybrdkid said:
I also treated with live bacteria in my nutrient solution to combat the root rot.
Click to expand...
Yep. And this is almost always temperature related. The farther you get away from optimal, the harder you get hit by pH swings. The more the pH wanders, the more impactful the uselessness of your setup becomes. It's a very vicious circle. And at some point, something nasty finds its way in. Bacteria and algae. (fostered by the anaerobic solution)
 
keybrdkid said:
Eventually, I would react with the only idea that came to mind: transfer the plants immediately to soil.
Click to expand...
Exactly what my advice was going to be in this case, no matter what. Get these saved, do better on the next ones.
 
temp seems to stay right around 80 according to my thermometer,The aero graden is on my desk at work and the office is temperature controlled. I also have a small fan to ensure circulation.
Can root rot be a problem with suspended plants and recirculating water? the water/nutes was just recently changed and I rinsed the reservoir at the time.

I can get a root pic tomorrow...
 
80 is too high.  You don't want to be any higher than 76, but somewhere around 68 is optimal.  (I have done extremely well in 72-73)  Yes, root rot can be a problem in that case, because the higher the temp, the lower the ability to maintain dissolved oxygen in water.  It's not too high of a temp for tiny plants, but as they get bigger, and their oxygen needs increase, it's significant. 
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When you reach the saturation point for oxygen at any temperature, the oxygen won't diffuse into the column, and you're literally just blowing bubbles.  And if the saturation point rises with temp, then you get this point where the aeroponic system isn't "aero" anymore.  The air space in the system still relies on the water being absorbed from water particles.  So it has to be there.  You're not really growing in "free air".
 
Since you didn't mention it, is your bubbler working well?
 
Your model looks different than mine, and I know Aerogardens have different styles of bubblers.  So you may be having a different problem than me.  My Aerogarden has a diffusing stone that plugged up.  I just removed the diffusing stone, and let the air bubble directly into the water.  For now, it seems to be working OK.
 
Pythium (root rot) is a possibility. You can control this using hydrogen peroxide in your nutrient solution.
 
Foto of the roots will help in diagnosis.
 
here goes...
 

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cant figure out the picture rotations...but the roots seem fine. However, I dont really know what I am looking for other than slime and algae which does not seem to be a problem.

also, my aerogarden does not have a bubbler on it, only a circulation pump. I have thought about adding a air pump to help with oxygen.
As for hydrogen peroxide, how would I go about treating with it? I just bought a new bottle of 3% for garden use, but not sure how to treat this situation. Any help is appreciated.

Thanks all!
 
SpikeA said:
also, my aerogarden does not have a bubbler on it, only a circulation pump. I have thought about adding a air pump to help with oxygen.
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OK, then your Aerogarden is a different model than mine.  Mine has a bubbler, but no circulation pump.
 
Have you tried adding another bubbler with a stronger pump? I built my own, and I actually bought the most powerful pump they had, short of going to a piston model. Mine was a 25 gallon tote. Never had a single problem.
 
SpikeA said:
cant figure out the picture rotations...but the roots seem fine. However, I dont really know what I am looking for other than slime and algae which does not seem to be a problem.
 
 
Click to expand...
 
the browning is a giveaway to me. imo the roots need some TLC. 
 
I stand by my prior opinion that you may need to at least attempt to treat for root rot. Bacillus Hydroguard by Bontanicare is a good one. Small bottle will last you a while. Just add when you hand mix your custom nutrient solution. Make sure you add it last though, after the mix is ph balanced. That way you don't kill the bacteria. Also add ph balanced silica and your usual nutrients.
 
And 3% I don't recommend.
 
Also, consider replacing the Aerogarden with a timed flooding system of some time. I think between my DWC and flooding I would prefer flooding. 
 
keybrdkid said:
 
the browning is a giveaway to me. imo the roots need some TLC. 
 
I stand by my prior opinion that you may need to at least attempt to treat for root rot. Bacillus Hydroguard by Bontanicare is a good one.Just add when you hand mix your custom nutrient solution. Also add ph balanced silica and your usual nutrients. And...3% I don't recommend.
 
Also, consider replacing the Aerogarden with a timed flooding system of some time. I think between my DWC and flooding I would prefer flooding. 
Click to expand...
 
I was hesitant to mention what seems to be off color roots to me, because it's been too long since I've seen roots.  In my mind, white is the only color, but I just can't remember. (I seem to remember old roots going off color)  But here's the thing...  80 degrees in the reservoir is too warm for me. A general rule for hydroponics, is that the temperature is just right when, if it were an ambient air temp, 85% or more of your coworkers would be putting their jackets on.  Stupid analogy, but easy to remember.
 
solid7 said:
 
I was hesitant to mention what seems to be off color roots to me, because it's been too long since I've seen roots.  In my mind, white is the only color, but I just can't remember. (I seem to remember old roots going off color)  But here's the thing...  80 degrees in the reservoir is too warm for me. A general rule for hydroponics, is that the temperature is just right when, if it were an ambient air temp, 85% or more of your coworkers would be putting their jackets on.  Stupid analogy, but easy to remember.
Click to expand...
 
you know more about temps than me. Although as I recall, the frozen water bottle trick seems to work. But I imagine would be annoying to have to keep changing. 
 
I imagine on bigger systems the water temp is cooled anyway.
 
Any recommendations on an Aerogarden compatible water chiller? lol
 
maybe something like this but smaller?
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YRy9z-1vss
 
I was going to post the one that uses fans but it seems that build was used to grow some umm...unorthodox plants.
 
 
 
By looking at the pics it could be root rot or fertilizer burn. Generally the suggested amount if 1/2 to 1/4 the recommended dosage on the bottle.
 
seems to be coming back for the most part. I changed a few things, got rid of rock wool and fabbed up some foam inserts to hold them, temp seems to be a problem since I cannot get water temp below 80*. But they are still kicking. I did add a air pump with 3 small stones. Also added fresh water/nutes. Will see how it looks on Monday.
 
Peter Stanley is a huge dwc grower and has tons of vids and grow logs that would help the OP of this thread.


I have not been following or seen this thread before but those brown roots are a major problem (just going off pics)

I see you have some great advice from Solid and others.

Love this place and how so many are willing to share knowledge and growing experience.


Good luck and happy growing

:cheers:
 
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