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Water in water tray is ucky...

Anyone have any idea what causes this? In one of my water trays the water will turn a brownish/orange and start reaking really bad. Like rotten eggs. There's also little 2-3cm worms wiggling around in the water.

This happened last month so I took the pot and ran it through some sink water until the water was clear. This seemed to fix all the problems. However it has now come back again and I had to do it again. What is causing my ucky water?

Thanks.
 
Maybe your growing media is contaminated? What do you use in the pots that have ucky water? Is the media old?
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] (joossa @ Dec. 05 2006,5:08)]Maybe your growing media is contaminated? What do you use in the pots that have ucky water? Is the media old?
Media is rinsed coconut fiber and perlite. It's only a few months old. Other pots with the same media don't produce this phenomenon....
 
The color is due to tannins, the smell is hydrogen sulfate/ide (I believe) produced by anaerobic bacteria. If you unpot a plant, you should find that the soil is what smells and that hydrogen sulfate/ide is leaching into the water, making it appear that the water is the source. This is caused by lack of sufficient oxygen in the media and this is bad for the plants aswell as your nose.

Assuming the worms aren't some sort of larvae, they are eating decaying plant matter. It wouldn't hurt to change the water atleast weekly and rinse everything out and sterilize the tray with hot water.
 
Change you're water more often it is just going stagnate... I usually let water get low or dry out completely out of the dish and I put in new fresh water.
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] (JustLikeAPill @ Dec. 05 2006,5:11)]The color is due to tannins, the smell is hydrogen sulfate/ide (I believe) produced by anaerobic bacteria. If you unpot a plant, you should find that the soil is what smells and that hydrogen sulfate/ide is leaching into the water, making it appear that the water is the source. This is caused by lack of sufficient oxygen in the media and this is bad for the plants aswell as your nose.

Assuming the worms aren't some sort of larvae, they are eating decaying plant matter. It wouldn't hurt to change the water atleast weekly and rinse everything out and sterilize the tray with hot water.
I know about Tannins but this is not normal for this pot/tray. I rinsed the media pretty well with the summer rains. Normal watering produces clear water in the tray.

The worm like things could be larvae of some sort, I'm not sure.
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] (nepenthes_ak @ Dec. 05 2006,5:12)]Change you're water more often it is just going stagnate... I usually let water get low or dry out completely out of the dish and I put in new fresh water.
I don't believe this is the reason either. I don't keep the water tray always full. I let it dry out like you described. When I pour in the new water is when I see the ucky water.

Could it be that the media is staying moist for too long of a time? The pot is 12" big so maybe that's the problem???
 
the worms are likely fungus gnats. If rainwater is your rinser, you likely need to wash it for real to get rid of the populations of micro-organisms that build up in the tray
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] (JustLikeAPill @ Dec. 05 2006,2:11)]The color is due to tannins, the smell is hydrogen sulfate/ide (I believe) produced by anaerobic bacteria. If you unpot a plant, you should find that the soil is what smells and that hydrogen sulfate/ide is leaching into the water, making it appear that the water is the source. This is caused by lack of sufficient oxygen in the media and this is bad for the plants aswell as your nose.

Assuming the worms aren't some sort of larvae, they are eating decaying plant matter. It wouldn't hurt to change the water atleast weekly and rinse everything out and sterilize the tray with hot water.
Well shucks! You gone and left nothing more to say.

This about sums it up.
 
  • #10
It's ok, he doesn't believe me
smile.gif



Lower the water table, add perlite if you haven't already. If your plants are overpotted, it would be easier for you if you repotted them.


You have tannins. Those tannins may be released by peat, coconut, dead leaves, almost anything organic and plant based. It's not a big deal. Everyone has tannins.


If you are unwilling or unable to spend extra time with your watering regime, then you can add a pump that circulates the water from top to bottom.


Replace the substrate.
 
  • #11
Anyone else have anything to add?
 
  • #12
I think JLAP's advice is sound in this regard.
 
  • #13
Do de do... Does that mean I'm usually wrong? Just playing finch
smile.gif


You can rig a coke bottle so that as the water level drops it will replentish it. It will be unsightly though.

What plants are you growing?
 
  • #14
[b said:
Quote[/b] ]Could it be that the media is staying moist for too long of a time? The pot is 12" big so maybe that's the problem???

Yes. A media that has no air space or an overabundance of small pores can easily retain too much water. The media becomes depleted of oxygen and that's when you get the anarobic critters that make the media (and the water that pass thought it) stink.]

Is this a reasonable explanation given the type of materials you used to make up the media?


[b said:
Quote[/b] ]Do de do... Does that mean I'm usually wrong?

No. Just that you're ugly.
jestera.gif
 
  • #15
darn... and I just spent all that money on that handsome cream, too.
smile.gif
 
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