Getting a tad bit worried.

[Noobstar]

Quick introduction these are my plants:

1 autoflower 5 gal
4 photos 15 gal
Bag seeds random strains
All 5 in coast of Maine growers mix with lobsters compost mixed in.

2 of the photoperiods have me worried, I am currently dealing with some bugs and I’m wondering if the signs I’m seeing are directly related to the bugs or if someone thinks I also have some deficiencies. Here are some pics:

This is the first plant and the only one with these light green/whiteish blotches. It’s really only on the new lower growth.
And my second main concern:

Appears to be a little rust showing up on 2 different leaves. This is the only plant showing this.

Now I know I have some bugs because first thing in the morning I come out and lightly blow on the plants and I see 5-10 little flying gnats take off!
I do have sticky traps being delivered soon and today I bought some food grade diatomaceous earth that I will be spreading on top of the soil.

that all being said, do you think the signs I’m seeing are mostly likely just the bugs or a possible deficiency or both?
I haven’t really been able to dry the soil out too much because of bad timing with rain after recent watering/recharge/light feeding
The feedings are top dresses with roots organic foundation+grow. I’ve only done the feedings twice,
Cutting in half the recommended dose for a light feeding, so super light.
One last pic of a top just in case it’s something non-mobile.

All tops of the plants basically look the exact same.

 

[Rawkn]

I don't know what some of those splotches are, it could be bugs, or a deficiency. I do know know this plants are too light in color and are very hungry. They'll soon have a lot of yellow and/or brown. They may be underfed and need a fast acting fertilizer/nutes. Maybe your soil ph is off and they can't get the food they need. Maybe bugs are sucking them dry and starving them of food. I can't tell you from seeing them, all I can tell you is they need to be fed, or be able to uptake more food because they be starving girls.

 

[tobh]

overall plants look happy.

second pic looks like thrips damage to me. you already mentioned you have bugs

third looks normal, the first trileaf falls off once you get into veg

fourth looks like root damage due to gnat larvae

fourth looks like nute burn, or starting symptoms of root damage

last looks healthy overall.

do a mosquito dunk and get those sticky traps in place.

you could put some diatemaceous earth as a top layer on the soil, but it becomes ineffective once it's wet. mosquito dunk will kill all the larvae. neem oil will be a next good preventative that's systemic and will treat against thrips as well.

 

[Noobstar]

overall plants look happy.

second pic looks like thrips damage to me. you already mentioned you have bugs

third looks normal, the first trileaf falls off once you get into veg

fourth looks like root damage due to gnat larvae

fourth looks like nute burn, or starting symptoms of root damage

last looks healthy overall.

do a mosquito dunk and get those sticky traps in place.

you could put some diatemaceous earth as a top layer on the soil, but it becomes ineffective once it's wet. mosquito dunk will kill all the larvae. neem oil will be a next good preventative that's systemic and will treat against thrips as well.

Thanks for the reply. I have tried treating the topsoil with DE, and I have used neem oil for the leaves but I have yet to treat the roots for anything.
I will try the mosquito dunks.

 

[Noobstar]

I don't know what some of those splotches are, it could be bugs, or a deficiency. I do know know this plants are too light in color and are very hungry. They'll soon have a lot of yellow and/or brown. They may be underfed and need a fast acting fertilizer/nutes. Maybe your soil ph is off and they can't get the food they need. Maybe bugs are sucking them dry and starving them of food. I can't tell you from seeing them, all I can tell you is they need to be fed, or be able to uptake more food because they be starving girls.

I think you are right on them being hungry and after reading tobh’s reply
I’m thinking It’s most likely some bugs interrupting the roots ability to bring in nutrients?
I feel my soil should still be able to feed them quite well without nutes yet(even though I have done some top dressing)
I will try treating the roots for bugs and move from there.

 

[Habosabin]

White blotches are thrips.

 

[Noobstar]

White blotches are thrips.

I feel I have quite the battle ahead of me.
Ill try to go a little heavier on the neem for the thrips.

 

[GrowHobo]

I prefer azamax to neem.

 

[Noobstar]

My girlfriend purchased some mosquito dunks while I was working yesterday.

this morning I broke one of the dunks in half and crumbled it up in some water stirred it around a bit and let it sit for an hour.
poured that into my 4 photoperiods and now I’m just awaiting my sticky traps to be delivered.
Im not too sure how many times I should do this, but I can’t really gauge it on when my plants need water because the weather has been total crap, rainy day after rainy day and there seems to be no change of that for at least a week.

 

[Habosabin]

What do the mosquito dunks do?

 

[GrowHobo]

They are a bt product. Kills mosquito and fungus gnat larvae. Same thing as Bmc microbe lift

 

[Frankster]

Once you get them under control, I would consider something like the purecrop 1 to carry them into harvest. Good to have back up plans in motion for something like this...


Azamax and neem are great during early periods (and cheaper) but if it persist into flowering, I would have some concerns with those remedy. Purecrop is effective, and far cleaner.

My guess is that the infestation is probably likely causing the stress response to some degree or another also. There likely being bred in the containers that have symptoms. So strive to keep them isolated or contained, if possible.

 

[KDB42]

They are a bt product. Kills mosquito and fungus gnat larvae. Same thing as Bmc microbe lift

Quick question does this harm the microbes in soil?

 

[GrowHobo]

to best of my knowledge no. It is a biological itself and the SDS says no adverse effects

 

[KDB42]

yeah I saw it had minrobe lift in its name but just wanted to make sure. Thinking about using this myself but I've been working kinda hard to get my microbe population where it needs to be. Thanks!

 

[Noobstar]

Once you get them under control, I would consider something like the purecrop 1 to carry them into harvest. Good to have back up plans in motion for something like this...


Azamax and neem are great during early periods (and cheaper) but if it persist into flowering, I would have some concerns with those remedy. Purecrop is effective, and far cleaner.

My guess is that the infestation is probably likely causing the stress response to some degree or another also. There likely being bred in the containers that have symptoms. So strive to keep them isolated or contained, if possible.

Thanks for the info! yea I’m very nervous about flowering time with bugs and rain, especially being my first grow. I’ll check out that purecrop 1.

 

[mancorn]

The thrips can mess up your leaves, but I’ve never seen them really get out of hand and cause too much of an issue. if you’re outside they’ll be around. They’re not like mites. You can spray them down with a $3 bottle of hydrogen peroxide (1 cup/ gallon) and keep em in check.