Do you accidently grow mushrooms in your system?

Did you unexpectedly grow mushrooms in your system? A good balance of bacteria and fungi in your plant root system will impart to your plants increased disease resistance and more efficient regulation of plant processes.

But these benefits come with a price...as microorganisms multiply, more oxygen is taken from plant roots so if allowed to multiply indefinitely, bacteria and fungi will eventually smother your plants.

Therefore a good system flushing with plain water every 2 weeks is essential for a healthy hydroponics growing system.

What are some signs that it is time to flush the system?

If growing medium is not loose enough and aerated, plants may become oxygen starved and wilt or they may be showing toxic effects to a build-up of too much mineral salts in your growing medium. The best indication that you need to flush the system is the presence of mushrooms at the base of your plants.

One of the beneficial fungi mentioned are mycorrhizal fungi that attach to plant roots in a symbiotic relationship and mushrooms are merely huge colonies of this fungi.

This means that if mushrooms all of a sudden begin to grow, your system has a very large presence of fungi requiring a lot of oxygen so it is time to pluck the mushroom and flush the system. It is just an indication, not a time to panic...

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