Hey,
So i am 8-9 days after germination, i would say day 6 is when i transplanted to hydroton net pots because roots were showing. all was well, and Plant 1’s roots were clearly growing faster than the other 2’s.
so about 1 day after transferring, Plant 1’s roots were beginning to get close to water level.
That same day i read that you should try to keep water temps down and that poeple normally take frozen water bottles and add them to the buckets to cool them off.
My water temps were ranging from about 72-78 throughout the day so i did so.
I took the stickers off, wiped them afterwards with R/O water and added 1 frozen water bottle to each 5 Gal bucket.
When i come back 2 hours later, i notice that my roots had things that looked like strings hanging down lower than they originally were, and it seems that the actual roots have shrunk back torwards the net in only Plant 1.
The rest of the plant’s roots dont have this and seem healthy with no strings coming from roots.
here are some pictures to show.
Plant 1:(TODAY)
Plant 1 Roots before adding frozen water bottles (YESTERDAY):
Plant 1 Roots after adding frozen water(TODAY):
Plant 2 (TODAY)
Plant 2 Roots:(Today)
Water temps are 72-78
PH is 6.0-61
PPM is 500
EC 5.0
Each Bucket has its own airstone
Using GH Flora series With Hydrogaurd and Rapid Start
Plants are White Widow Autoflowers if it matters.
Does this look like root rot or normal thing for young small plants?
if it is root rot, or some bacteria, is it save-able?
Thank you in advance for any responses/feedback!
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Also would Just like to add that just before the pictures i checked the Temps/PH/PPM of all the Buckets and they all read the same
I suppose roots touching a frozen water bottle could get burned…be sure water level is 1 1/2 to 2" below your net pot.
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There is a 1-1/2 gap between. and that makes alot of sense, as i didnt really tie the bottle to anything and let it float like a dummy.
Do you think i should clip the hurt roots? or is it something they will recover from?
Thanks again!
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Just let it go and hopefully they will recover: they’re small still.
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Update: Plant 2 has done the same thing, and now looks similar to plant 1’s roots except this time no frozen water bottle to blame.
So before assuming the worst, im gonna blame the light i was allowing into the buckets.
My buckets are black and so are the lids, I thought this would be enough to keep light out until the plants got tall enough to cover the holes in the net pot with Hydroton.
But as you can see in the pictures of the actual plants, there are open spaces in the net pots- Letting in light directly to the buckets.
I’m hoping the light leak shocked the roots once they hung low enough & is what is causing this.
To fix this i took and lined the inside of the net pots with foil to stop light/heat from coming through.
P.S. - I do have my Rockwool at the bottom of the net pot to avoid the Roots from pathing through the Hydroton which will probably be stirred around throughout the grow as i pop the lid and do all the flushing (ect)
As long as i keep the water about 2 inched below the pot, only being wet by air bubbles popping that shouldn’t be a problem right?
Any more Feedback/Tips would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks in advance!
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One thing you can try is raising the lights so she will stretch above the netpot so you can backfill with hydroton.
Correct!
Good luck! 
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Update:
It Looks like the light coming in was causing the shock to the roots,
After making sure no light was coming in I noticed fast growth from the roots and they seem to have fully recovered!
Pictures are from today:
Thanks for the help!
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