Slow Growth, white Stuff on the leaves plus little insects walking on my leaves.

[Mannitu78]

Hello gentleman.

I have an account here, but it was so long i forgot not only the passwort but also my last nickname and email. Sorry for that.

I have a tent with 2 plants that is giving me, for the first time ever, signs of somewhat problems and a little infestation. It started with me making some watering mistakes, i switched from 3 gallon to 5 gallon pots for these 2 plants and somehow it seems im not as good in judging the weight of that pot with this new size. Im pretty sure the pot hasnt really dried out like its supposed to, not for the last few weeks. Im in the process of letting it finally getting really dry and light this time.

Growth was reduced, to the point where now this time im gonna harvest this tent and 3 weeks later im gonna harvest the other small tent where theres another single plant inside. It was planned to have a 2 months interval between. Thats how slow they were. They also didnt shoot up much in flower, they are 3 weeks in flower now and didnt even shoot half as high as they usually do. And yes its always the same strain, i know this one very well. the other tent with the single plant runs excellent as always and seeing these 2 tens side by side makes it even more obvious that one tent is clearly suffering.

Next thing is the white stuff on the leaves, not so much on the upper leaves, but quite a lot in the lower department. Im pretty sure i have seen this white pattern regularly, but only on very few, singular leaves, never on as many leaves at once as this time. I assumed it was some kind of fungus, so i introduced a UVC-Light, a small 8 Watt Tube first for 15min, then for 25 min a day. I watched closely for any signs of leaf stress or adaptation and also for changes on that white stuff, so far nothing seems to have reacted. But after my latest discovery im gonna stop this treatment anyway, i dont think anymore its a fungus. We can clearly see some small leaf inhabitants. Judge for yourself, to me they look like miniature caterpillars or something. You might have zoom in the pictures.

What do you think i shall do now? I guess there will still be a harvest, just smaller, right? Can i get rid of them, or, at least, reduce them or keep them i check somehow? Do you think that the poor state of the plant and the overwatering has anything to do with the infestation? I really hate it i always had happy plants :(

 

[Mannitu78]

im not 100% sure, but these white patches maybe just some areas where these bugs got to work and ate it away.

 

[Grownsince95]

That looks like thrips damage to me. The speckles of white with the little black poop dots. Get a good magnifying instrument and some neem or Capt jacks dead bug.

Probably also want to blast the shit out of them first with some water pressure to knock off as many as you can before applying any other sprays.

 

[HerbalEdu]

mark on the leaves are most prolly thrips .... i deal with them with pure spinosad diluted

 

[HerbalEdu]

 

[Mannitu78]

and how is that supposed to look like "blow the shit out of them with water"? spraying every single leaf?

Im also not sure if i wann use something as harsh as pestizids inside the tent, that would be a last resort, only when theres really no other way.
Are there no more "natural" ways or compounds?


edit: well, i just read that thrips strive in water-stressed cannabis plants. I would say that fits. Damn it.

 

[HerbalEdu]

predatory mites, you need to check wich species eat thrips with google ... and what's available for you nearby

 

[Mannitu78]

what about hanging a whole bucnh of small sticky traps in the plants? Those classic fly-catching strips/spirals, guess they will also work for other things?

 

[HerbalEdu]

that's not gonna help with thrips

 

[HerbalEdu]

"Due to their small sizes and high rates of reproduction, thrips are difficult to control using classical biological control. Suitable predators must be small and slender enough to penetrate the crevices where thrips hide while feeding, and they must also prey extensively on eggs and larvae to be effective. Only two families of parasitoid Hymenoptera parasitize eggs and larvae, the Eulophidae and the Trichogrammatidae. Other biocontrol agents of adults and larvae include anthocorid bugs of genus Orius, and phytoseiid mites. Biological insecticides such as the fungi Beauveria bassiana and Verticillium lecanii can kill thrips at all life-cycle stages.[91] Insecticidal soap spray is effective against thrips."

Thrips - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Mannitu78]

i think ill get the plants out , put them in the shower and then carefully shower of the complete plants and all leaves. Gonna be a pain in the ass but ill probably get many of them. As first measure. I hope i wont damage anything. Indoor plants are always not very sturdy and pretty weak in posture.

 

[Grownsince95]

and how is that supposed to look like "blow the shit out of them with water"? spraying every single leaf?

Im also not sure if i wann use something as harsh as pestizids inside the tent, that would be a last resort, only when theres really no other way.
Are there no more "natural" ways or compounds?


edit: well, i just read that thrips strive in water-stressed cannabis plants. I would say that fits. Damn it.

Yes, bring the plant to a sink or tub with a hand held sprayer, use a paper plate with a slice down the middle over the soil so it doesn't spill out and lean it on it's side spraying the underside and tops of all the leaves.

 

[Mannitu78]

yeah ill do that, i also bought me yellow sticky traps from the drugstore over the street. Couldnt believe they had that. Dont know how true it is, but at least 1 source said they react to yellow or blue sticky traps. No idea why it has to be that colour. But i will make life difficult for them. And then maybe ill see if i can get predators someway, if can get them here in a reasonable time, makes no sense if i have to wait 2 or 3 weeks.

 

[Grownsince95]

This won't get rid of all of them but it will make whatever else you treat them with more effective.

 

[Oldchucky]

Arbico organics, carries a lot of of that stuff! A lot of information on that site also! I stick with Water! Especially in flower! I’ve even flipped plants upside down, and submerge them in a garbage can full of water! Just to see what would happen! Didn’t bother the plant! But I was just playing around there weren’t any thrips on it! It was about a 3 foot plant in flower!

 

[Mannitu78]

well the relation between waterstress/not letting the pots dry out is pretty obvious to me. Ive had many, many grows with this strain, no problems, first time i really mess up the watering-here the thrip army comes.

what about the top of the soil, should i scrap that off and fill new soil in? maybe the top inch?

 

[Oldchucky]

Who knows? They were brought in or got in somehow! They’re not picky about chewing on a healthy plant or a weak plant! Just another hurdle you have to get over! I don’t mind, thrips outdoors! They’re pretty easy to keep under control with a hose! And some of the best weed I’ve ever grown was stressed to the max by thrips! Really brought out the plants defenses! Or it was one hell of a coincidence!

 

[Oldchucky]

As far as I know, thrips spend their entire life cycle on the vegetation! I don’t think they like soil!

 

[Mannitu78]

i think ive had them often, because the white patches from feeding are very familiar. I had them every here and there on a single leaf, so it never bothered me. That overwatering seems to make it explode.

dont they lay their eggs in the soil?

 

[HerbalEdu]

As far as I know, thrips spend their entire life cycle on the vegetation! I don’t think they like soil!