Related guides: water-quality guide · setup checklist
Root rot is a root-zone condition, not a single leaf symptom. The useful first step is to inspect the roots and the conditions around them before adding a treatment.
Inspect before treating
Healthy roots vary by crop, media, and system, but foul smell, slime, rapid browning, and tissue that sheds easily are warning signs. Look at the crown, water line, media, and any dead roots trapped in plumbing. Compare new growth with older leaves so a root problem is not confused with normal leaf turnover.
Check the environment
Warm solution, poor aeration, light leaks, stagnant water, damaged roots, and contaminated tools can all increase risk. In a recirculating system, inspect the pump, air line, return path, and places where debris can collect. A treatment product cannot replace correcting the conditions that keep roots stressed.
Use the water-quality guide for source-water context and the setup checklist to review leaks, light gaps, access, and equipment before a crop is installed.
For the next step, see the DWC setup guide.
Separate recovery from replacement
If the crop is mildly affected, isolate the cause, remove clearly dead material with clean tools, and correct the root-zone conditions. Avoid making several large changes at once; otherwise you will not know which change helped. Follow any product label and food-safety guidance, and do not imply that a supplement guarantees recovery.
If the crop and system are badly affected, remove the plant, clean the system, inspect the plumbing, and re-establish with healthy plants. Do not move contaminated tools or dead roots into a clean reservoir. A restart is often more useful than repeatedly dosing a system that still has a light leak, warm water, or weak aeration.
Prevention checklist
- Keep the reservoir and channels protected from unnecessary light.
- Maintain reliable aeration or flow appropriate to the system.
- Check water temperature, pH, EC, and water level on a repeatable schedule.
- Make the root zone easy to reach so inspection is not postponed.
- Clean hands, tools, containers, and tubing between crops.
Symptoms above the canopy are delayed evidence. Inspect roots and recent changes first, then decide whether the right next step is a correction, a careful observation period, or a clean restart.
Cornell Controlled Environment Agriculture; University of Missouri Extension.
