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have been looking for a OZONE Generators what would be the cost for a room 1.3x3.3m and r they good thanks

The NEW lighting catalogue at www.hydrocentre.com.au/catalogue has the current ozone unit prices. Also go www.hydrocentre.com.au/ozone  for a brochure on them.

Hope that helps

Scott

hi my friend is watchin my ''stuff'' and we seem to be having a mold problem .Ther is mold growing on the top of the rockwell cubes. I did some adjusting in the room the other day, and i knocked some dust onto my flood table ,i cover it with polly, im guessing the dust got on the cubes and thats what created the mold, any how im wondering what is best way to kill the mold, im thinking im going to take the old dusty poly off and some repolly it and spray the cubes with a antifungacide, your opinion would be appreciated ,THX all the way from canada

Mould often grows on cubes that have been covered with plastic, because the rockwool cube no longer breathes and humidity builds up underneath. Use a fungicide or find something with a beneficial bacteria/microflora that can protect over a long term.

Don't use plastic to cover the cubes if mould is likely.

Scott

Hello Scott, I was wondering if you could help me. It seems that having had root rot, I can now never rid it from my system. I have gone so far as to replace the entire system, I am running 5 gallon buckets and drip lines with a continues recirculating system. Every plant site has an Airstone in it. The plants sit in 3 gal mesh pots with Hydroton. Nutrient temp is set at 69 degrees. Ambient temp never goes below 60 or above 80. Plenty of air movement. Nutrients changed every 4 days. PPM at 1000, ph at 5.5-6.0. Everything is monitored. Everything has been replaced, thoroughly bleached, new clones of a different strain, and it comes back. I had growing bliss for 5 years and the last 3 years I fight root rot every crop. I started using redomyl and it has given me limited success. I even installed a ozone filter which the water passes through upon entering the system as well as the recirculating water passes through before going to the drips. Will I ever get rid of it for good or are my water mains infected with pythium or whatever it is as well? I have some friends who maintain it has never been a problem and they are running nutrients over 70 degrees, are completely sloppy growers, No infection! I have other friends who say that they get root rot every crop and could never rid it until they switched to soil. What can I do?? I know that the city water is ok as I have lots of successful friends growing. Any suggestions you may have would be greatly appreciated, Thank you, Steven

Well, I knew I would have to write this one day. Hydroponics has a flaw, and I am sure that any day now we are going to get one of those light bulb moments go "bing" and it will all make sense. As a whole we treat disease as if it is one problem, and there really are a lot of diseases and they really have to be treated differently. Some people can solve their problem for years then something changes and nothing works.

So lets see 
1. You've replaced the system but it came back. Good elimination of the hoses and containers. 
2. You've put Airstones in under every plant to provide air. Good for aerobic bacteria. 
3. I assume you are not using an underwater type system (water culture) 
4. You say continuous recirculating system. If it is a typical drip/trickle irrigation system, then 15 min of water per 2 hour cycle works in our 40-60% humid air, continuous may be too much unless the plants wilt. This will remove much of the oxygen and create a root susceptible to root infections. I'd say use a timer. 
5. Water Temp is around the right temp (about 20degrees C) 
6. Air temp is between 18 and 27 C approx which is great. 
7. Fresh air is good 
8. nutrients changed more than enough - flush system when possible. 
9. PPM is right, pH is a little low for me, I like 6-7pH but yours should be fine if that's what your nutrient pack recommends. 
10. new plants to avoid infected cuttings being used - that's great. 
11. Ozone is only good enough to sterilize on contact. Great that you have it, but if a lump of dirt or anything else came through, the surface is cleansed, but the inside is not. Use a filter, even a $5 one will make the ozone unit much more effective. If the flow rate is too fast it will not treat it effectively either. 
12. Almost the entire surface of the planet is infected with something. You will have to fight, or be destroyed. As time goes on a growing area can adapt to some nasties, however new ones arrive all the time, and you must evolve a hydroponic system when situations change. 
13. Your friends will eventually encounter a problem. Unfortunately. And you will solve it for them probably. 
14. changing to soil is a real amazing thing to say. Now, if you go to soil the diseases can remain in balance with beneficial rizoflora and bacterium - or not, soil is quite fickle. Hydroponics is not set up to develop these bacteria etc. A fish tank approach to bacteria is good. High oxygen, media for bacterial growth, recirculation are the future of hydroponic bacterial disease control units. None exist at this time.

The 3 approaches cannot be used together. 
1. Sterilisation - Bleach, chlorine, Monochlormine, Hydrogen peroxide, colloidal silver. Kill everything like a hospital approach. 
2. Bacteriological - Beneficial microflora added to the nutrients, and oxygenated to over populate the nasties. Management of the microflora is important. 
3. Fungicidal - fongarid/ benlate sprayed on the plants, low doses in the nutrients to provide a pharmaceutical approach.

I am going to develop the ultimate system for recirculation control. I will use number 2 but it isn't a quick fix. It takes time to build up enough good microflora. I think irrigation timing will be your primary focus, and choosing a good method of avoiding a problem in the future.

Let me know what you think

Scott

Pest Problem Damaging Plants 16 Dec 2003

Hi Scott. Just came across your site. Sensational stuff. Keep up the great work. I have used a lot of advice that you have provided in your great section on PESTS but I thought I would run this past you anyway. Please bear with me while I describe the problem because I really need your help. I am very much a beginner at hydroponics. I have opted for a very simple setup. I use those self-watering pots obtained from Bunnings. I fill the pots with 2 parts perlite and 1 part vermiculite. I then place in the pots a selection of various houseplants. I germinate them in rockwool cubes, start them in a small pot, and then migrate them to a larger pot when they reach a few weeks of age. I water them with a nutrient solution every 1 or 2 days. However I have a very bad pest problem at the moment and the plants are suffering. I have never noticed any flying insects or any bugs on the stems or leaves. But I have noticed little white bugs that crawl all over the rock wool and the plant roots. The rockwool and perlite around the rockwool eventually become covered in a black substance. The plants themselves look very sick. The leaves start to become desicated, with yellow/brown/black sections, and eventually fall off. Clearly the plant is not well. I have attempted to use a Pyrethrum spray to get rid of the bugs. But they always seem to come back. And perhaps I am harming the plants more than curing them? I have taken on board some of your advice. I am assuming I have some kind of root rot problem. But I still am not having much luck. After reading your column, I purchased some Hydrogen Peroxide solution from Coles. The bottle says "Solution 3% w/w" and is a multi-purpose solution used for wounds and bleaching. Is this what I am supposed to use? Or am I using the wrong type of solution? I placed 2ml of this solution in a 2 litre jug of water and flushed the plants with it. I try not to let the growing medium dry out but maybe I am watering them too much? Also after reading your column, I will go back to 100% perlite and toss the vermiculite. Is there any other advice you can give? I heard that this Guardian product is no longer available. So I dont know what to do to get rid of those nasty white bugs or to improve the plant health. Any advice would be gratefully received! Thanks, Raven.

Hello Lets see if I can answer you clearly. 

1. Self watering pots are great. Keep an eye on the Perlite moisture by lifting the pot and testing for weight. If its heavy, and the base is empty of water, you can assume that the Perlite is still holding a lot of water, so allow the bases to be empty for a while before refilling. If it is light when the water is gone, then the Perlite is not staying wet and you can keep the base full most of the time. Root rot is a challenge if roots stay too wet for too long. 

2.Rockwool cubes tend to attract Scarid fly and similar insects that lay their larvae in the Rockwool. There is no registered treatment. So here's what "I heard" some growers do... 

Pour a small amount of diazamin at 1ml/100litres into the media to kill the larvae, then 30mins to and hour later flush the cube with lots of fresh water to remove the diazamin. The pests rarely come back to that media until the next crop. 

Then add fongarid (treats all root rots like an antibiotic - from inside the plant) at 1-2grams/100litres if possible (it is optional) as the bugs might carry fungal diseases into the damaged roots. You can leave the fongarid in, it is systemic, so it will treat the whole plant. You can spray it at 2ml/2litres onto leaves if the roots have shut down. 

If you see any adult flies around, kill them with any basic spray, like Mortein house and garden, pyrethrum, etc, as long as its safe on plants. 

3. black stuff is algae. Kill with Hydroshield or another hydrogen peroxide based product. Beware these products will kill bad bacteria, algae, viruses, fungi, etc, as well as any beneficial bacteria like Biobugs, Poweractive, etc. 

4. Hydrogen peroxide at 6% we use at 2ml per litre. At 3% I would use 4-5ml per litre. 

5. Guardian is in stock, the Scarid fly drench product is banned so that is no longer available. 

I think you have had a lot of minor issues which have become major. To avoid problems in future, look at trying to keep the pests out of the growing area. Diazamin when needed only, but that little bottle will last forever. 

I just got back from 10 days holiday, and think I have some understanding to eliminate some of these problems forever, so I'll get to it and hopefully solve them once tested. Unfortunately, it may not be compatible with anything I have used for the last few years. Oh well. 

Let me know if the plants don't respond 

Scott

Scott, I have the same question as most, re mould , have read all question and answers and would like to know how much peroxide can be added to a 25,000litre tank , also how much would you mix to wash the seed in, everyone tells you what you use but not how much. Thanks Glenda

Well, the simple answer is to get a test kit and add until the desired ppm is reached. How much is desired? A residual of a small level is good. Growth Technology make a test strip and I am getting them in stock soon. 50% Peroxide can be added at around 20ml/100litres every 2-3 days, or 10ml/100litres daily

I have a saying that no-one gets a simple answer from me. The long answer is that Peroxide products release oxygen and water as a chemical reaction when they come in contact with the nasties in the liquid to be sterilized. In the process the H2O2 becomes H2O and O2, leaving no peroxide. If you have 1000 units of nasties, you will use 1000 units of peroxide to kill them. If you add 1000 units of peroxide and there is only 500 units of nasties then there will residual peroxide, and if there are 2000 units, then you have no peroxide and a residual of nasties. Using an approximate level means everyone has the same level of nasties, and that is just silly. You have to dose enough to get the problem fixed, and not waste the product by using so much that you end up bleaching the roots

So if you have test strips and there is a residual, then you have protection against nasties floating in you tank and you add small amounts to keep it there. (under 10ppm would be fine for me) Peroxide won't last for long in a moving tank of water, so don't panic if it disappears, you are looking that after adding a small amount it gives a residual reading on the test strip. If you use a lot to get a test strip reading, then there are still lots of nasties so dose regularly. The speed of peroxide reaction is what gives you an idea of what levels are in the tank.

To make the peroxide last longer out 6% peroxide has a silver ion added which elongates the effectiveness in the solution and protects the plants for longer. This product is for home use and is called Hydroshield.

(Nasties: my highly technical term meaning bad things such as single celled organisms like fungus, mould, bacteria, and nots so bad things like algae)

Scott

07 Nov 2003

would like a substance to get rid of white ants

All Termite treatments must be supplied by licensed pest control supplier (in all states of Australia). The chemicals used to treat for termites are not available for the general public. Maybe one of the ant treatments will have an effect, but better to talk to an actual termite specialist.

Scott

We live in Darwin where it is hot and humid for 4 months of the year. Can we still grow vegetables in this climate. Do you know of any web sites that specifically discuss hydroponics in the tropics? I appreciate your assistance. Jill

I know what you mean. One commercial grower grows commercial lettuce up there under shade cloth. That's not really done down here except by hobbyists. So I believe that like Asian and other tropical growers you need to consider your situation. If above 25 degrees, choose a system that keeps water readily available. If above 30 degrees, then use some light shade to cool it down. If there is still heat you can put more shade cloth layers to protect during hottest times, e.g. maybe the north side during summer, and also ensure venting of heat, and catching any breezes. The humidity may provoke mould and fungus if above 60% in a warm climate, so use some microkill or other beneficial bacterial spray (prefer microkill) or a fungicide like fongarid to protect the plants. If you want to go technical and use fans to vent and circulate air, this can be lots more fun and very productive.

As for websites, I wish there was. Let me know if you find them, as I am way too busy on this website and could do with the help answering questions. ~smile~

Scott

please tell me more about the life cycle of the scaridfly. Do bug zapper or electric pulse emitter work? Would ozone in the resevoir kill them?

The DPI said there are a thousand local flies that would be unclassified, but they class them as root eaters, and non-root eaters. If plants are effected, spray for adults, and give the root zone a treatment of guardian (24 hour insecticide) or a drench (fairly likely to kill plants if not dumped AND AND AND!!!! flushed from the root zone after 2-4 hours. Diazamin has been used by a few growers at about 1ml per 100litres and although its not registered for that, it seemed to satisfy those growers.

Ozone has been shown to be effective on mites. Could kill the bugs, but I am thinking that would only really work if they are submerged in ozonated water. Bug zappers have 2 different wavelength lights, one for mozzies, and one for midges. Moths tend to be attracted to either. One might work on the adults, not sure which would apply to scarid fly.

Electric pulse emitters - you may mean the sonic wavelengths and also the magnetic field pulse systems... but generally these are not capable of producing effective results in a laboratory, so may have limited effect.

Good Luck

Scott

06 Jul 2003

black spot on leaves

Black spots on leaves would likely be a mould/fungal problem, as long as it isn't moving/insect variety. Spray with a systemic fungicide to clear it up. I would use fongarid. If that doesn't do it, then let me know.

Scott

little ^%&$* things
27 Jun 2003

I am growing in coco husk an have found tiny white bugs & caterpillars crawling around, also small black flies everywhere

I understand your problem, and too a great degree, coconut coir attracts bugs. Perlite might be better. Bugs don’t like Perlite, unless its very wet. Even ants find Perlite difficult to crawl over.

If you wish to make a difference, use guardian ($20AUD) in your nutrients. It only has a 24 hour insecticide in it, so after 24 hours, no residue, no more effect. Reapply every 3-4 days until bugs have gone, 1-2 days if really bad.

Strong drenches are required for very tough insects and I can tell you that many growers use diazamin in the nutrient at 1-2 ml per 100litre. I can’t recommend it because it is not registered here for use in the nutrients. Sounds weak, but you can’t go too strong. I also recommend flushing the system afterwards.

Use some Dipel if you have a lot of grubs. It’s a friendly bacteria that gives the grubs and caterpillars a bad stomach ache, stops them feeding and they starve to death. Great idea some may say. No effect on other insects, birds, humans, dogs, etc..

Or change to Perlite to keep them away.

Scott

Hi I am emailing on behalf of my father, who has retired and taken up hydroponic gardening as a hobby. He recently bought a custard apple tree. It's a grafted Hillary White. He washed all the soil from the roots and set in vermiculite. He gives a daily nutrient mixture, Optimum Grow [40mL each of A and B to 40L water]. But , unfortunately its lower leaves are turning yellow and dropping off. The whole tree is looking very poorly. He wants to know is he doing something wrong? Is it possible to grow custard apple trees Hydroponically? What about edible figs [as this is his next project]? Can he save his custard apple tree? If you have any questions please email me at the following address. Thank you, any help will be gratefully received.

Cheers

Every plant can be grown Hydroponically. Methods vary, but there is always a way.

Simply put he is killing it. The brown coloured Vermiculite is too wet for growing plants and should not be used in Hydroponic Systems without expert advice as it usually is so wet it kills plants. Transfer the plant into Perlite immediately.

If the media you meant is Perlite (White granules) that's ideal, and I will now tell you how to get better results.

Don't feed it daily, feed it when it is dry and needs water. Hydroponics is actually growing in AIR not growing in WATER. The Perlite is too wet, the roots are soaking and drowning. The condition he has is root rot, and its easy to avoid.

However, since he has root rot, using some Hydrogen peroxide in each watering will help kill off the root rot fungus.

The plant will recover if you give it a chance to become dry, and air around the roots encourage new roots to grow to replace the old rotted ones.

The plant can also recover faster if you use 1ml of A and 1ml of B Optimum nutrients per litre and spray over the leaves each afternoon just before the sunsets to get some of the nutrients into the plant through the leaves until the plants roots start working again.

Nutrient strength should be 1/2 strength for now, 60ml of A and B each per 40 Litres, and raise that to 120ml per litre when the plant recovers. Water only if its dry.

I would recommend using a powder like ozimagic next time he buys nutrient as a $50 pack (5kg) will give him over 3000 litres of nutrient. Much more inexpensive. (I find that 3ml/litre works best with that nutrient, so don't follow the 5ml on the label)

Scott

Aphids are annoying and need to be sprayed with a weak spray like Mortein house and garden or pyrethrum based sprays every 12 hours for 3-4 days to get rid of them. If you use a heavy duty chemical, spraying once should kill them and any in the future, but it works of a residual of the pesticide remaining in the plant. Not very healthy. Aphids are attracted to light, and good healthy plants. Generally I like a bit of shade cloth to protect the plants and have plants off the ground. If inside, use a fly screen on the intake fan and clean regularly.

For lots of info on the actual pest try www.google.com and look for aphids and pictures or sprays or information

Hope that helps

Scott 

Hi Scott 

Kim here from Grass Valley,CA. Retired chemical engineer now environmental activist interested in getting into supplying environmentally friendly agricultural products here locally in Northern CA.. 

Very familiar w/hydrogen peroxide and colloidal silver for human health....been using both for years w/great success for ourselves, family, and friends. Your Hydroshield product sounds awesome for plant health. What sort of levels of h2o2 and ppm silver does your concentrate contain? Also, what dilution ratio would you suggest as a general purpose foliar feeding spray? BTW, the combo of h2o2 & CS used in a nebullizer is dynamite for impored health. 

My first visit to your site...when time permits, will thoroughly peruse. Actually have a green house on our farm which is currently not in use....maybe I can get something going Hydroponically. I really like your site and your helpful attitude. Hope you can answer my question about the h2o2/cs use levels. Thanks so much . All the best, Kim Ireland PS Got a brother who lives in Mooloolaba...is that anywhere nearby? He wants me to come visit!!

Hello Nice to hear from you. Good on you for the fight to clean up these humans messing up this planet. We use 5.75% hydrogen peroxide and silver ions below 50 micron. Colloidal silver doesn't seem to help plants as much as the silver ions. We dilute that at 2ml per litre in the tank for a preventative, and dose every second day if there is a fungal infection. Foliar sprays at 2mls per litre shouldn't harm the plants if there is nothing to react with. The problem is if you have x amount of problem, you need x amount of Hydroshield. What is x? Excess h2o2 can damage tissue as there is nothing to react with, and too little has no effect. So 2ml per litre would be fine even if there was nothing to kill. If you had some bacteria, fungus, algae etc, more would be used and effective. So use as much as you feel might help. 

I used to use a lot of silver and h2o2 for health, but found something better in glyconutrition see http://www.glycoscience.com/glycoscience/section_viewer.wm?SECTION=NUTRITIONALS&MAIN=glyconutritionals  

Been amazing - cures cancer, AIDS, Downs Syndrome, any disease whatsoever will have a positive effect. I don't need silver and h2o2 anymore Let me know what you wish to achieve with the greenhouse. Maybe we can design a system that runs by itself. Mooloolaba is about an hour to and hour 20mins away. My parents live about 15 mins away in the hills at Malaney Hope to see you one day. Got to see this awesome country! Scott

Hi...i just added a problem at your site...its entitled...extreme case of pythium in areoponics...then i saw where it said if this was urgent, to write you personally. need sum help with this problem...prevention is waaaaay too late lolol... 

im finding that even tho im sterilizing with food grade peroxide, i still have a problem, up to 30% loss of cuttings...i wish to know the absolute safe amount of peroxide i can run in the system WITH the cuttings, to hopefully protect them for the first week...which seems to be the dangerous time...somewhere i read that there is a percentage that is safe for 1-3 days, then another that would be safer for the remaining time...im so discouraged...all articles speak of prevention, but so few address what to do when that you have an infestation that you just cry over...thanks for your prompt reply *smiles*

Hello. Hydrogen peroxide will treat the water, and the outside of plants roots, with very little impact inside if the infection is inside the plant. Hydrogen peroxide with silver ions will penetrate further, still not completely looking at the infection. Fongarid or similar systemic fungicide will treat the infection inside a plant, but not kill the spores and have limited effect in the nutrient solution. It needs to be reapplied regularly.

A 30% loss of cuttings needs to be fixed.

Cuttings die for the following reasons. 

1. Too wet; stem rot - sterilize the cutting stem to avoid infection and growth of nasties (rooting compound will accelerate fungal and bacterial infection if stem has nasties on it) and keep media/cubes almost dry, If Aeroponic, sterlisise nutrient, use a rooting compound in the liquid and feed continuously or 15min on/15min off 

2. Plants wilt and die - plants are not rooting, too dry, no rooting compound, or bad cloning stock from weak donor plant. Avoid leaving uncovered where evaporation drys out plants. Avoid too many leaves, one large, or one or two small leaves max. Use mini-greenhouse, and/or FX nutrient with gelatin coating and spray daily. 

3. Plants rot at stem, plants roots rot - Mother plant infected with root rot spores. Get new plant or use fongarid regularly.

Peroxide at 0.5% to 1% is about maximum, and you need to look at the label to see what you have. So if you have 30% H2O2, add 1 part to 30 to get absolute maximum strength. If 6% you need to dilute 1:6 50% would be 1:50

A curative for cuttings infected is a very difficult one to answer. Imagine you had something that turned your internal organs into slime and liquid. The human infection equivalent is called Ebola, like in the movies like "Outbreak" Some humans survive but not many. The root rot is similar, turning plant tissue into neurcrotic black slime. The plant that survive have to grow entirely new roots, they don't fix the ones that are damaged. This is an important point. New roots are the key to survival. They must be encouraged, and the roots must not get reinfected.

So, your answer is to STOP ANY ADDITIVES LIKE VITAMINS in the nutrients that will make the infection stronger. Use plain water with Hydroshield or hydrogen peroxide around the roots, and spray the plants leaves with nutrient at 25% strength with vitamins like Nutriboost and so on. The plants roots are not working so feed the plants through the leaves. Change the water if recirculating and flush root system with Hydroshield regularly, try to gently remove any dead roots with your hands, they should just fall away. Don't cut the roots, as this will be an open wound for them to be reinfected. Look for clean new roots. Old roots may recover if not gone to rot.

Finally, know that a cutting that fights off an infection will be slow and yield poorly. Restarting by taking a stronger cutting and euthanasing the sick one, will give you a higher yield and will the new one will finish before the other cutting because of the sick one's longer recovery time and slowness. Cuttings taken off a plant that has been sick will often get root rot despite good gardening practices as the infection is passed on.

Please let me know if any of this is unclear, and if it is helpful

Scott

There are lots of pictures because there are lots of types of moulds and Fungi. 
If I tried to post them we could be here all day but I have a suggestion
Try a www.google.com.au search like the one below I did. 
Use different key words. Mould and Fungi are different. click below to see a search

http://www.google.com.au/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=picture+of+mould+on+leaf+of+plant&btnG=Google+Search&meta=

Not that this was a bad question but I got sent this email after asking my IT Guru a bad question the other day. 
(It amuses me. It might be subject to copyright - if so, I will delete it)

Scott

Hi Scott

How are you going? I was hoping you could help me with a problem I am having with my plants. My plants wilt severely in my dark cycle, but in my daylight cycle look very healthy. I am in my flowering period. I had bugs that Guardian would not kill and had to use the scarid fly drench. The bugs are dead but the problem with the wilting still persists. I think I've tried every watering cycle imaginable. I have a flood and drain table with rocks. They like being fed for 15 minutes every 3 hours during the day. If I change the fed time to every 2 hours they wilt slightly. At night I have tried more, less and even no feeds. Do you have any suggestions about what I should do? If they only wilted a bit I won't bother but its bad and I don't think there going to perform as well with this problem.

Thank you for your help Scott

Hello Its a bit weird, wilting in the night not the day. If the fungus gnats gave the plants a disease you can kill it with fongarid. That's what it probably is. Remember to keep the plants ventilation up during the lights off cycle.

Scott

I recently decided to try a different brand of nutrient from my usual. It's a standard 2 part mix, but also uses a third part as an optional extra. The third part is apparently an amino acid based solution called Bio Earth Sea Acid. The problem is, that when Bio Earth Sea Acid is added to my nutrient tank it becomes plagued by pythium. Within 10-12 hours, enough mycelium has formed to sink a small ship (not to mention my hopes). Is there any known 100% proof method of eliminating this pathogen ? Growing system is flood and drain. (outdated I know, but I like it :-)

Scott> I like Flood and Drain, it isn't really outdated, its just out of fashion. It will come back and you'll be a trendsetter!

Bio Earth Sea Acids would not be the source of the bug, but would be feeding it. The problem with making a 100% fix is knowing how much pythium is in the tank. So to kill 10 units you need 10 units of problem solver, and to kill 100 units, you need 100 units of solving stuff.

My 2 favourite ways are to add Hydroshield at normal strength (6-12% Hydrogen Peroxide and silver ions<50microns) until a problem is seen (units added are not enough for the units of pythium)

Then use double doses re-dosing every 2-3 days. The units added are now higher than the problem, and when the problem goes away, then you can return to standard dose.

If you have a bad infection it should be fairly safe to use a 4x dosage once to start. I brush my teeth with it and there's very little wrong with me, so they say....

The second idea is more radical. A small aquarium Ozone unit bubbles Ozone (O3) gas through the nutrients continuously. It is a very low level of Ozone, but as a gas it will kill nasties and then escape as a gas. It rarely build up in the water so as long as it contacts the pathogen/pythium it will kill it.

Remember to clean out pumps and tanks regularly, replace media and hose lines every crop to ensure no nasties in the system

Scott

Hi Scott, A recurring nightmare in the form of spider mites are a concern. Predators, Sprays, Fumigation???? I would appreciate your help with this one mate!

Scott Responds

Holy Spider-mites Batman!!!!

Little Buggers are immune to a lot of things since Dicofol and other chemicals mutated them years back. They are NOT a natural bug. We created these super bugs. The eggs are impervious to most sprays, so spraying twice a day for weeks might be required to beat their breeding program. I have found only one thing you can use, that kills them with one spray and kills their eggs as well, with only a 3 day withholding period.

The product is Vertimec, and costs about $200 per litre. (1litre makes 1000litres) It is NOT available from Garden Centres, and is a Commercial Spray, for farmers only. You can get it from Agricultural suppliers.

If you want some I have it in stock and can be encouraged to lend you some as a sample if you are in store. I cannot send out samples.

Predators are a long term solution that will cost a lot, because the numbers of mites to predators have to have a balance to keep the predators alive. As a result often they wipe themselves out by eating all the mites, and then the mites come back. Some people have good results with them, but its harder than a spray. 

In between crops try bombing the room with a cockroach and flea bomb. Clean any Hydroponic system and remove before bombing.

Good Luck,

Scott

Open to suggestions to combat white fly, using pyrethrum at present with limited success. I'm a newbie and think your site will be a great help.

Scott Responds: 

Yes White fly is a problem, and to defeat them you need to understand their life cycle. They live lay eggs and die in a short period, say around 24 hours.

So if I gave you a spray to kill them, and you sprayed the white fly would die, then tomorrow, the 10-20 eggs laid will have hatched, and you would say, "Scott is an idiot, these White fly didn't die."

In fact the ones you sprayed would be dead, and their babies are now doing an impersonation of their dead parents. To kill them, you need to kill them before they lay more eggs.

So using something fairly simple, I use Mortein House and Garden Aerosol or most White fly sprays will do. Pyrethrum is a little harsh because of its oiliness, it can burn the leaves a little.

Use the spray morning and night for about 2-3 days then spray daily for a few more. You will quickly see a reduction because they can't breed faster than you are spraying.

Use the White fly Yellow Sticky Trap ($3 each or 4 for $10) to catch any new white fly and alert you before they get enough numbers to breed.

If you see on the yellow traps that there are new white fly, then you start to spray 2x per day for 2-3 days and they are all gone again.

Hope that answer wasn't too long.

Hope you enjoy the site and ask me anything you like

Scott 

I have found these insects congregating around the water inlets and grow wool and are not sure what they are or how to get rid of them. Any help would be appreciated thanks.

Response #1 October 28 2002

i forgot the name of the nutirent or chemcal but u can get rid of them no worries.ask ya hydro shop there called scarab flies

Response by Scott  October 29 2002

Yep, 3 products, 1 is guardian, it is a 24 hour insecticide, so mix it up and apply it. There will be no trace in 24 hours. 2nd product is a Drench that is really Sheep dip. Its the most toxic stuff in the world, as it even kills ticks! You put it in your root zone and then flush it after an hour or two. And you pray your plants don't suck much up. The root bugs roughly amount to thousands of species of local insect most of which haven't even got a name. The main thing is not all eat your roots. Kill them anyway with Guardian. Those bugs that do eat your roots are killed by guardian, except a few super bugs that seem to be half bug half kryptonite proof! Use the dip, or toss the plants when they die. Either way, use guardian, then if they are still moving get something stronger.

If Guardian doesn't work, Customers have told me that Diazamin at 1ml/10litres (3 drops per litre) watered into the root system for 24 hours then flushed (24 hours only) kills the bugs. If you leave it longer it makes many plants sick, however, some customers report 2ml/10litres works. might be different types of plants.

How can you tell if you have mite problems? Someone told me I should look for them everyday and stop them before they become a problem. Is this right?

yes check for mites January 30 2002 at 3:53 PM scott scott

Response to mites

Yes, Mites are everywhere. You should look for a bug around the size of a pin head. Very small. The damage is a small dot of green being drawn out of the leaf, then thousands of little dots as they graze around and multiply. Then you should expect to see small webs, especially if any moisture is sprayed onto leaves. The leaves will eventually fail, go brown, and crumble. Once enough of the plant is affected, the plants will die. New strains are too small to see, its only by the damage that you will be able to detect them. The treatment I recommend is a spray called Vertimec, which kills their eggs. Since their eggs are not killed by any other spray, you have to spray toxic poisons several times to eradicate them. mites come in on cuttings, clothing, transferred from your hands from plant to plant. Commonly found on lawns and bushes, you should wash your hands between any outdoor gardening and your hydroponics indoors as their are no predators indoors to keep numbers down. They can multiply and kill a crop in 7 days. If unsure, describe any damage to us for more advice.

I have two questions about clones. 1, What is the best hormone rooting material,gel powder, paste etc.(or INDOLE-3-BUTYRIC acid + vit B)

2,With clones in plastic pots of perlite,should they sit in 1/2 inch of weak liquid solution or in a dry tray?

Your help appreciated. Al.

clones December 2 2000 at 10:12 AM jack

Response to Clones ?

Cloning powders work as good as anything most times. Clone gels are good if plants are hard to root. So I use gels when I want the best strike

I can't seem to get rid of mites. What is the best spray for them and is their an organic spray? Could you tell me soon because they are bad already!!

mite sprays October 20 2000 at 5:13 PM Scott Scott

Response to Mites

there are very few domestic sprays that still work on mites.

most mites are very resistant to kelethane, rogor, omite and others. You can see me for a special treatment I have.

If you are within 2 weeks of harvest, the sprays that will keep them from getting out of control, Beat a bug (garlic, chilli, pyrethrum), terminator organic spray, or natrasoap.

Mites come into a growing area because we carry them or ants carry them. Spray your growroom entrances and fan inlets with surface spray before growing. wash up and change clothes before going into the plants. Mites are small cannot travel far on their own. always treat other peoples cuttings or plants they give/sell you. They may have mites on the plants.

And summer mites are worse than winter mites. Check for mites with a magnifying glass 2x per week minimum in summer.

catch ya later Scott