It has been stated that any and all diseases you want to avoid are already in your system.
Trying to maintain a perfectly sterile environment will only hurt and hinder growth. Good bacteria is critical to proper plant growth.
It is a question of "how healthy" your plants are so that they can constantly fight off any diseases within their environment. White roots means all is good. Slimey roots means all is bad. Some fertilizers and good bacteria will stain your roots a bit brown. As such, looking for slime is key to knowing your roots are bad.
When you see sick plants and start adding chemicals to rid yourself of bad bacteria or bad spores, chances are the plants are too far gone. Knowing what the difference is between a plant that is "reaching" vs one that is slightly limp...that is when adding chemicals will make a difference. Otherwise, your best alternative is preventative chemical treatments which I will talk about in another thread.
Good oxygenation is key to "controlling" 95% of your existing diseases.
The problem is getting O2 into the water.
In technical terms we are looking for the ppm of O2 in water or "dissolved Oxygen"
There are many ways to get O2 into your system:
1. Good water fall into reservoir
2. Air pump with air stones
3. Venturi method
4. Electrolysis
5. Ozone
6. Chemical reaction
7. Pumping O2 directly into reservoir
8. Micro Bubblers
9. Nano Bubblers
First and foremost...you need to get a "dissolved oxygen meter". Cheapest I found was on Ebay for about $100. Called the YSI Model 57. Measures from 0 to 20 ppm. Unit has a chart on the back for water temp and elevation to offset O2 ppm readings.
This leads into have a chilling reservoir. The colder the water..the MORE O2 is can absorb!!! = less disease. Typical tap water at 18 degrees centigrade is about 9.45 ppm to give you an idea what 100% O2 saturation is. Trick to calibrating meter....shake water in plastic jug for 30 seconds and take reading...adjusting for temperature..that is 100% O2 ppm
Most plant life wants 8+ ppm of dissolved O2 (will say D.O. from now on). My current system is running 16 to 17 ppm with my chiller running 60 degrees farenheit + waterfall + venturi input+Ozone.
Air pumps with air stones are only good for small setups where the water level is under 4 inches deep. Anything deeper, and the O2 bubbling diminishes greatly. For me, I do this setup for my juveniles...when the have their first roots...to about 3 weeks of age (1-8 inches). You want enough bubbling action to make it look like ALL the water is ferociously bubbling. This action does NOT hurt roots.
Venturi systems are when you combine a water pump with a T section of piping to "pull" in air. This system is GREAT because it does NOT matter how deep the water is. So for DWC...getting good bubbles down 2 feet of water is no problem. For my system, I put a 800 gallon per hour pump in my reservoir with the venturi T piping to create tremendous bubbling + circulation.
Items 4, 5, 6, 7 are mostly what is done at the corporate level to treat lakes and ponds...too expensive for the home grower.
Items 8 and 9 are what I am really writing about. Only a few companies make the nano bubblers...and for about $900. That just is for the piece of plastic that makes the bubbles!. Nanobubbling is a combination of centrifugal force and air pressure to yield water bubbles in the 1 to 10 micron size range. At this size, the bubble exists for a few minutes which really helps put the O2 into the solution. This technology is really for chemical laboratories that need good ways to mix gasses within a liquid solution. Why it is so expensive. However, I think it is the next step to increasing D.O. within a hydroponic system.
That leads me to my next question....anyone found a cheap Nanobubbler?
It has to produce bubbles in the 1-10 micron size and exist within solution for a few minutes.
It also has to do with with low pressure...say under 40 psi. Otherwise you start cutting roots.
The Micro bubbler yields 50+ micron size bubbles...not interested in that.
Regards to all,
Matty
Trying to maintain a perfectly sterile environment will only hurt and hinder growth. Good bacteria is critical to proper plant growth.
It is a question of "how healthy" your plants are so that they can constantly fight off any diseases within their environment. White roots means all is good. Slimey roots means all is bad. Some fertilizers and good bacteria will stain your roots a bit brown. As such, looking for slime is key to knowing your roots are bad.
When you see sick plants and start adding chemicals to rid yourself of bad bacteria or bad spores, chances are the plants are too far gone. Knowing what the difference is between a plant that is "reaching" vs one that is slightly limp...that is when adding chemicals will make a difference. Otherwise, your best alternative is preventative chemical treatments which I will talk about in another thread.
Good oxygenation is key to "controlling" 95% of your existing diseases.
The problem is getting O2 into the water.
In technical terms we are looking for the ppm of O2 in water or "dissolved Oxygen"
There are many ways to get O2 into your system:
1. Good water fall into reservoir
2. Air pump with air stones
3. Venturi method
4. Electrolysis
5. Ozone
6. Chemical reaction
7. Pumping O2 directly into reservoir
8. Micro Bubblers
9. Nano Bubblers
First and foremost...you need to get a "dissolved oxygen meter". Cheapest I found was on Ebay for about $100. Called the YSI Model 57. Measures from 0 to 20 ppm. Unit has a chart on the back for water temp and elevation to offset O2 ppm readings.
This leads into have a chilling reservoir. The colder the water..the MORE O2 is can absorb!!! = less disease. Typical tap water at 18 degrees centigrade is about 9.45 ppm to give you an idea what 100% O2 saturation is. Trick to calibrating meter....shake water in plastic jug for 30 seconds and take reading...adjusting for temperature..that is 100% O2 ppm
Most plant life wants 8+ ppm of dissolved O2 (will say D.O. from now on). My current system is running 16 to 17 ppm with my chiller running 60 degrees farenheit + waterfall + venturi input+Ozone.
Air pumps with air stones are only good for small setups where the water level is under 4 inches deep. Anything deeper, and the O2 bubbling diminishes greatly. For me, I do this setup for my juveniles...when the have their first roots...to about 3 weeks of age (1-8 inches). You want enough bubbling action to make it look like ALL the water is ferociously bubbling. This action does NOT hurt roots.
Venturi systems are when you combine a water pump with a T section of piping to "pull" in air. This system is GREAT because it does NOT matter how deep the water is. So for DWC...getting good bubbles down 2 feet of water is no problem. For my system, I put a 800 gallon per hour pump in my reservoir with the venturi T piping to create tremendous bubbling + circulation.
Items 4, 5, 6, 7 are mostly what is done at the corporate level to treat lakes and ponds...too expensive for the home grower.
Items 8 and 9 are what I am really writing about. Only a few companies make the nano bubblers...and for about $900. That just is for the piece of plastic that makes the bubbles!. Nanobubbling is a combination of centrifugal force and air pressure to yield water bubbles in the 1 to 10 micron size range. At this size, the bubble exists for a few minutes which really helps put the O2 into the solution. This technology is really for chemical laboratories that need good ways to mix gasses within a liquid solution. Why it is so expensive. However, I think it is the next step to increasing D.O. within a hydroponic system.
That leads me to my next question....anyone found a cheap Nanobubbler?
It has to produce bubbles in the 1-10 micron size and exist within solution for a few minutes.
It also has to do with with low pressure...say under 40 psi. Otherwise you start cutting roots.
The Micro bubbler yields 50+ micron size bubbles...not interested in that.
Regards to all,
Matty
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