Morning Fram, I am stumped and require some assistance.
I have discoloration spots on some of my leaves, across all my tents, and I am not sure what it is.
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My initial thought when I first saw was uh-oh, looks like PM, but then when I actually got up on them, it changed to, you got bugs dude. I pulled off about 40 leaves of varying degrees of discoloration.
I searched about 2 dozen of the damaged leaves, with a 60x scope and cannot find any bugs on either side of leaf, so then I checked leaves and stalk on the plant, still nothing. I do have predator mites in my organic soil mix, but literally have had them for years, so I don’t believe they would be a cause per se, but maybe a vector.
The soil in the veg tent is all first run soil, so I don’t think it is a soil issue, because it is happening to plants in both new and reused soil. Of course I could have been a vector and brought from 1 tent to another, but my routine makes that less than likely. I almost never go from tent to tent. They are on opposite schedules, so one gets visited in morning, the other at night, and there is always a shower and wardrobe change between. The 3rd station is for breeding, so pollen is always flying, and extra precautions are taken entering/exiting, and post visit. I also have 2 dogs, who pay no mind to tents, but cannot rule them out as carriers either.
There are no visible holes or bite/chew marks on leaves. Temps are cool this time of year. 55-75* freedom units for temp, and between 50-60% RH for the veg and flower stations. Breeding, who knows?
It also is only happening on leaves that are showing some form of stress, be it nute burnt tips, yellowing from age, or slight wilt from dry back. Also, there are only a few leaves per plant showing. Some at top, some at bottom, so no discernible progression.
It does not appear to be systemic, as after pulling of tainted leaves, I have not noticed a spread. I did leave a few leaves on to observe, but no changes appear evident. It kinda looks the same as it did a couple weeks ago.
Although it only appears on comprised leaves, I have a GG4 cut that is so sensitive to light, that I cannot run other cuts with, because I have to turn light output down so much that it negatively affect other plants. I am working on a cross to change that. As part of the control, I have a severely light stressed cut of GG4 that has spent its entire life just inches from the LEDs, she looks awful, but is the only plant that does not have the spots.
It is also happening on new sprouts. I have had it happen somewhat regularly on seedlings before, but tends to grow out of it by nodes 4 or 5.
My gut tells me it’s pests, I just haven’t found them yet, and with the temps being cooler, they are not as active, so not spreading as fast as they would, if tents were constantly in the 70-85* freedom units range. I run BTI and BB as IPM. I have mixed up some extra strength solution for their next watering. I also have various other remedies available to me, Dr Jacks, neem, grow safe bio pest/fungicide, as well as sulphur spray/dip.
I also haven’t ruled out pathogens/virus/viroids yet. That’s where I need help. I don’t like doing the shotgun approach and throwing everything but kitchen sink at it. If anybody has had similar encounters, or even seen/read the same, if you could point me in the direction that would be great.
Sorry for the book, but wanted to get as much info as possible.
Doesn’t seem to be affecting growth at all, but would really like to know what’s going on so I can take care of it.
I think I will try to save a few leaves, and put them in a plastic tote with a fly strip to:
A) see if I can catch any bugs (pests)
And
B) see if spots change to something else after leaf dries (fungal)
f****** c**********.
