Hypochlorous Acid.....Deep Dive

[TheMadFlascher]

Suppose I told you there was one ‘fungicide’ that was completely organic, absolutely safe, could be safely applied to pistils, or ANY stage of growth…right up until the day of harvest…in fact you could use a dilute concentration to replace Hydrogen Peroxide in you post harvest bud wash, preventing mold from forming during the cure…

Now how about I tell you it will kill ON CONTACT… WPM, Alternaria, Septoria Leaf Spot, Rust, and yes even the greatest ravager of all BUD ROT (Botrytis)…In fact it will kill on contact any pathogens. Even viruses.

Well, if you believe all that, let’s push credibility here. It’s 800X more powerful than bleach. You produce it in your stomach, it’s transferred to your white blood cells and your white blood cells have been killing pathogens in your blood with it everyday of your life!!!

We’re talking about Hypochlorous Acid (HCO).but certainly not ALL HCO!
We are looking for the HIGHEST concentrations, so that we can diluted it, to offer a range of strengths, to economically treat all circumstances.
We’re going to be looking at 3 products that fit this criteria. You can do your own searches. We want a MINIMUM of 200ppm (0.020% HCO). This strength will not offer many effective dilution ratios but WOULD BE VERY EFFECTIVE used straight!
BEWARE: Check the label carefully…many brands use a combination of HCO with Sodium Hypochlorite (Bleach)…great for hard surface sterilization and used often in hydroponic systems,
NOT SUITABLE FOR FOLIAR APPLICATION!
Another warning for you! You are going to read about ‘proprietary’ methods. Sorry, it’s all bullshit !
There is only one way to produce HCO, if the concentrations of HCO are the same…they are indeed identical.
So let’s get to it! Here are the 3 products available for our review:

                     FloraFlex Root Drip  0.056%   $53.99/Gal
                                    Agrowlyte   0.046%   $54.99/Gal
                                      Danolyte   0.046%   $39.99/Gal

Here’s another interesting fact for you!!! A great member on another forum was sent an email by the manufacturer of Agrowlye that incidentally revealed a little TOO MUCH information!
Danolyte and Agrowlyte are exactly the same material made by the same manufacturer…two different labels. Why? They wanted to compete in the commercial disinfectant market, and to do so it had to be competitively priced! So why not introduce it to the nursery/cannabis market with a different name and ummmm higher price?
No brainer…buy DANOLYTE ! If you have, or use FloraFlex RD, you can gain some economic benefit by diluting it back to the 0.046% concentration by adding (R/O or Distilled) water only…at time of use.

I will provided the dilution factors to convert 0.056% to 0.046% in a following post.

Before I’m going to come on here with any recommendations, I am going to have to be convinced of PLANT SAFETY (including pistil applications) at FULL STRENGTH. Fortunately for me, Ravenchief had some FloaFlex on hand, and also some powdery mildew!

The test was performed with FloraFlex diluted back to the 0.046% concentration (per my dilution ratios posted later) and applied FULL STRENGTH on some outdoor plants.

IMPORTANT: When treating WPM with your HCO. The HCO kills the fungus on contact. You’re going to get up the next morning and SEE it looks just like it did BEFORE you sprayed! Another insight for you…almost all fungicides are formulated with an oil or ‘solvent’ (surfactant). When you apply to your WPM the fungi mycelium absorb this oil and become mostly transparent to the eye!
Human nature being what it is…If you can’t stand seeing those white smudges still on your leaf, simply take a tissue or soft towel wetted with a little dilute H2O2 and wipe them off!! They won’t be back!
Truth of the matter…the dead fungus will naturally decompose over time on it’s own. LOL, so you can
test your willpower either way and I won’t judge!

I am going to provide a Agrowlyte label with differing dilution ratios for different circumstances. These dilution ratios would apply to all 3 products we are reviewing …again because they are all ending up the same strength 0.046%…

Are you in an isolated area where these strengths aren’t available…bum f*** Australia for instance??? MAKE YOUR OWN with a Hypochlorous Acid generator! If you can afford distilled or R/O
water and table salt. I told you it was a simple molecule!!! I will post a link at the very end of this thread!

[TheMadFlascher]

[TheMadFlascher]

To tell you the truth…with a tool this powerful, I really don’t see the economic justification in ‘Preventative’ sprays.
You see it, you spray it, it’s dead…there are always extenuating circumstances to consider. If you choose to do so follow the Mfg’s recommendation. When WPM is present in your grows, I feel confident it will be annihilated with a 50% (1:1) dilution ratio of any of the stated products.

[chrisj]

Ok ok I admit, I am an idiot. I was confused going into this topic and wanted to spell the topic title correctly, Hypochlorous is spelt hydrochloric acid @TheMadFlascher , well there we have it, a load of new, unreal information. Thank you for sharing my friend, love learning something new everyday.

[TheMadFlascher]

ravenchiefLeader

1

2d

I was testing this formulation on one of my big clones under @rflasch guidance - In the greenhouse she and a few others had a mild case of powdery mildew - perfect for the test. I mixed all formulations EXACTLY as guided - the Ph was 3.7 after mixing.
Here is the test plant before any treatments

She had PM on several areas - I would gauge it as a mild case



After a FULL Strength spray of HCO with a very heavy application (about 2.5 ounces of solution sprayed on the plant)
Here she is the next morning - still a little droopy but healthy - The PM spots were still there, but the
e leaves with water and the spots disappeared and never reappeared.
Because she was still droopy I decided to wait an extra day before I foliar sprayed anything -
I was particularly interested in what might happen when I sprayed BBP - I no longer foliar spray anything but BBP and IPM

After a heavy dosage of BBP on the test plant the next morning she perked up and all traces of pm were gone -
![image|3It is 3 days later and all pm is gone and the plant is healthy and rebounded.

I purposely oversprayed to give much heavier dosages of both the IPM and BBP - the plant is fine
I decided to test this on an auto that is late in flower that I let grow but she’s a test plant and throwaway so I sprayer her heavy with HCO and then just after with a BBP treatment - Normaly I would not use BBP after 2 weeks in flower but I wanted to see what would happen
This plant had a moderate case of PM as well - here she is the next morning -75x500]
(upload://rChZgkJIyUApi7FFTaYDREb3iXD.jpeg)

NO PM and no Brown Pisltils - @Happilyretired even 2 days later.

the results of the test were successful in identifying an alternative to pm and budrot - it is also most useful in not having oils or other things that could burn delicate pistils in late flower.

[TheMadFlascher]

Can’t buy Hypochlorous acid locally… Well make your own!
I have neither bought nor used this unit. Other than customer reviews, I can’t give you any guidance…
Considering you are not going to be making HCO on a continuous basis, it seems to me this machine would serve a cannabis grower quite well.

The economics of purchasing the machine would appear to offset the cost of purchasing and shipping HCO to remote areas!!! Looks to me like if you can afford R/O or distilled water and salt, you’d pay for this machine with less than 4 gallons of purchased product.

Here’s what it says about concentration…
Up to 200 ppm:

40 ppm in 3 minutes on Setting 1

60 ppm in 5 minutes on Setting 2

100 ppm in 8 minutes on Setting 3

200 ppm in 16 minutes on Setting 3

Looking for more concentration on high contact surfaces?

If you need higher than 200 ppm, just bring the initial concentration up to that level and run on setting 3.

Each additional 8 minutes on setting 3 adds an additional 80 ppm to your hypochlorous acid solution!

The three products we sourced were between 460-560ppm HCO. However, lets face it, with your own machine you could be applying a 200ppm spray every other day if you so desired! This machine indicates you could raise your ppm with additional time…however, even if I could make HCO at only 200ppm concentration, I could easily annihilate any pathogen with a couple of every other day applications…
I don’t know…it’s your decision…if I lived in a remote area and wanted the ability to kill pathogens fast
with 100% confidence organically and without any residue…I may want one of these in my kitchen!!

https://superhealthylife.com/products/eco-one?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI1oG19ZmE-AIVpxOtBh0aogRSEAQYBSABEgIj3PD_BwE

NOTE: I prefer this unit because you note the cathode and anode are made of tungsten! The process is a DC electrolysis and they are subject to erosion…the tungsten composition would extend the useful life of the generator IMHO!
LOL, I thought I better add…I have NO family members employed by, or Securities issued by this company!

It my haste, I neglected to mention you start with Distilled (R/O water), un iodized salt, and white vinegar. The instruction will provide the quantities. A pH meter and ppm meter will come in handy.
HCO is only stable between pH 3.5-5.0. Our full strength application was checked at pH 3.7.
DO NOT BE AFRAID OF THIS pH ! This is NOT a nutrient, and is surface active only!

[TheMadFlascher]

Chris, this would have been great for you when you had that Alternaria infection…
Yup, it’s tricky…but we definitely don’t want to mess with any Hydrochloric Acid!!!

[TheMadFlascher]

As a final note, I want to express my gratitude to @ravenchief for his enthusiastic, and generous participation as the ‘Guinea Pig’ …giving it all for the benefit of GN!!!

[happilyretired]

@nacho151 @LoCoRocK @cww03 @PreyBird1 @OlyBoy @oldguy @Skinnyhb @cloudkandy @Dforce @Dog_Fart1

The information above contains the best most efficient organic treatment for mold and rot. I believe this stuff is really going to make a huge difference for outdoor growers in humid climates. Please share this information for anybody else who may need it.

[Dog_Fart1]

So, in my Curious George, question everything to death way, this leads me to ask about using this in lieu of Hydrogen Peroxide for doing a bud wash just prior to hang and dry. Having read the above, my intuition says this is probably an even better solution, especially, should you have any hidden pm/fungi. Any thoughts or warnings.

[LoCoRocK]

You are such a frikken salesman Flasch… you stole that intro straight from the greatest TV pitchman ever … Anthony Sullivan , aka oxyclean dude, aka Kings of Kush owner
I sware if your not already a millionaire you got serious potential.
I won’t lie though… I came because I saw acid!! I thought we was tripping man!!

[MrMonkey420]

@LoCoRocK

I won’t lie though… I came because I saw acid!! I thought we was tripping man!!

My thoughts … “Acid…Deep Dive” Hell yeaaa, I’m on board!

[TheMadFlascher]

Dog,
Absolutely correct…has a lot of the same attributes of hydrogen peroxide…
Both natural chemicals, both excellent disinfectants. You’ll see I mentioned that very usage in the first paragraph of the intro!!!

The advantage of HCO is the concentration available gives us a lot more umphhhh!

Plus, you can make your own!!!
Plug in the coffee pot and the acid generator…you’ll be able to shake n bake and spray and kill !

[Dog_Fart1]

@TheMadFlascher

You’ll see I mentioned that very usage in the first paragraph of the intro!!!

Damn, reading comprehension… Right there, plain as day…

[LoCoRocK]

I just dosed my new lemon tree with Chlorothalonil. I’ve seen this several times refered to as peach curl. Ofcourse it started pouring an hour after applying but it supposedly still works after rain. The other thing I use it for is this frikken black mold that hits my bushes. Shit ALWAYS comes back man. I’m about ready to tear out these damn things. But ya I’ve Always had success with it, it’s just that it comes back… is that successful then really??

And yes that is a variegated lemon tree!!

[LoCoRocK]

Dude fart it’s okay. I will preface my remarks sometimes with thats a lot of reading I had to skim through. LoL

[Dog_Fart1]

That’s good stuff, I keep some handy for my Veg garden. The local Ag Extension recommended it.

[TheMadFlascher]

Yup, chlorothalonil has long been a go to fungicide in commercial ag. It was sold with the brand name 'Bravo". The only problem in the Home Garden market is that some of it is highly diluted…try to buy the highest percent of Chlorothalonil that you can!!

Loco, for your best control of Peach Leaf curl you need to resort to a liquid copper…Leaf curl is a BACTERIAL disease and most 'Fungicides" won’t effectively control it!!!

I advise you use your liquid copper product according to directions and try and apply it when it cools off in the fall and perhaps once again mid winter and finally in the early spring…I know you’re in Florida…I would try to avoid it during high temperatures FWIW… Go LoCo!

[happilyretired]

@TheMadFlascher

FWIW

Would someone please tell me what the fuc# this means?…
Not picking on you in particular Bob. All I see anymore is acronyms. I don’t have a clue what they are. I think they oughta make a new law that states you have to spell out an acronym at least once every other day!

[TheMadFlascher]

Point well taken Hap…

FWIW = for what it’s worth
IMHO = in my humble opinion
JMHO= Just my humble opinion
GOMA= Get off my ass!
HSHDIK= Holy shi* how do I know
SNAFU= situation normal all fuc*** up
FUBAR…I’ve heard a couple interpretations…Fu**** up but army regulation