White chalk like marks on leaves

[Vic413]

Hello everyone! I’m running my first grow using female autoflower seeds dropped straight into the soil using a 5 gallon fabric pot and the soil im using is fox farms ocean forest. These plants are a few days from two week old and I noticed white spots all over some of the leaves almost chalk like and I’m wondering if it’s a pest problem or maybe nutrient deficiency I have noticed a small amount of tiny flys start to pop up here and there but I’ve sprayed neem oil every other day about 30 min before my lights are scheduled to shut off to prevent burns on the leaves. Anyone have any idea what could be causing this problem? I also didn’t PH the water for the first week started to ph it to around 6.5-6.7 the second week no nutrients added only what the plant has got from the soil.

 

[RR1]

Hello everyone! I’m running my first grow using female autoflower seeds dropped straight into the soil using a 5 gallon fabric pot and the soil im using is fox farms ocean forest. These plants are a few days from two week old and I noticed white spots all over some of the leaves almost chalk like and I’m wondering if it’s a pest problem or maybe nutrient deficiency I have noticed a small amount of tiny flys start to pop up here and there but I’ve sprayed neem oil every other day about 30 min before my lights are scheduled to shut off to prevent burns on the leaves. Anyone have any idea what could be causing this problem? I also didn’t PH the water for the first week started to ph it to around 6.5-6.7 the second week no nutrients added only what the plant has got from the soil.

Powdery mildew. Some people will say your humidity is too high. I say your temps are probably too low. Either take a trip to the grow shop, or old hippie trick, 6 parts water, 1 part whole milk. Spray daily and raise your nightime temps into the 70's.
Good luck,
RR1

 

[Vic413]

Powdery mildew. Some people will say your humidity is too high. I say your temps are probably too low. Either take a trip to the grow shop, or old hippie trick, 6 parts water, 1 part whole milk. Spray daily and raise your nightime temps into the 70's.
Good luck,
RR1

maybe it’s from my tent being to hot as I’ve seen people say 70-75 is best temp but mine gets as hot as 82 my humidity is also all over the place. Thanks for the tip I’m heading over to my local shop as we speak! I also moved my grow light a little higher in hopes the hot air it produces gets sucked up by my carbon filter to lower temps.

 

[Beachwalker]

Can you get a picture in natural light

 

[Backyard_Boogie]

Can you get a picture in natural light

Yes please take more pictures under natural light so we can see better. It could be powder mildew but the only thing that throws me off is the uniformity of the white dots. It appears like they are only forming on the exact same spot of each leaf line. Almost like it is a pattern. I have never seen powder mildew grow like that usually it just randomly blotches all over the leaves. It is possible that it could be from high nitrate because I have seen white spots on my leaves when I juiced up the nitrates too high. Usually high nitrogen white spots will be accompanied by dark green leaves and also curling (clawing) at the very end of the leaf tips. Foxfarms is a very nitrogen rich high grade soil so it is possible for smaller plants to show a bit of curling in the beginning before they start to mature. Some strains are more sensitive to the high nitrogen soils when they are little. Every time I have seen the Nitrogen white spots it has been when the plants were still immature and also every time the problem went away as the plant got bigger. Based off of the few pictures given this is my only guess. Anyone else have an idea?

 

[bellumromanum]

Are you using an ionizing/cool mist humidifier with tap water? Some times they evaporate and leave mineral residue. that might explain the symmetrical nature of the placement. Maybe get a jewler's loupe or microsope?

 

[GNick55]

not white powdery mildew..
just leave her be and watch her daily.
wet/dry cycle..
clear light pictures would help immensely..

 

[Vic413]

Can you get a picture in natural light

Yes please take more pictures under natural light so we can see better. It could be powder mildew but the only thing that throws me off is the uniformity of the white dots. It appears like they are only forming on the exact same spot of each leaf line. Almost like it is a pattern. I have never seen powder mildew grow like that usually it just randomly blotches all over the leaves. It is possible that it could be from high nitrate because I have seen white spots on my leaves when I juiced up the nitrates too high. Usually high nitrogen white spots will be accompanied by dark green leaves and also curling (clawing) at the very end of the leaf tips. Foxfarms is a very nitrogen rich high grade soil so it is possible for smaller plants to show a bit of curling in the beginning before they start to mature. Some strains are more sensitive to the high nitrogen soils when they are little. Every time I have seen the Nitrogen white spots it has been when the plants were still immature and also every time the problem went away as the plant got bigger. Based off of the few pictures given this is my only guess. Anyone else have an idea?

not white powdery mildew..
just leave her be and watch her daily.
wet/dry cycle..
clear light pictures would help immensely..

Here are some pictures taken with flash not the best pictures my bad

 

[Vic413]

Yes please take more pictures under natural light so we can see better. It could be powder mildew but the only thing that throws me off is the uniformity of the white dots. It appears like they are only forming on the exact same spot of each leaf line. Almost like it is a pattern. I have never seen powder mildew grow like that usually it just randomly blotches all over the leaves. It is possible that it could be from high nitrate because I have seen white spots on my leaves when I juiced up the nitrates too high. Usually high nitrogen white spots will be accompanied by dark green leaves and also curling (clawing) at the very end of the leaf tips. Foxfarms is a very nitrogen rich high grade soil so it is possible for smaller plants to show a bit of curling in the beginning before they start to mature. Some strains are more sensitive to the high nitrogen soils when they are little. Every time I have seen the Nitrogen white spots it has been when the plants were still immature and also every time the problem went away as the plant got bigger. Based off of the few pictures given this is my only guess. Anyone else have an idea?

This makes the most sense as I’ve done research on the soil and people said it’s to “hot “ for seedlings I still don’t know what that really means but I assume it means very nutrient dense and one of the smaller plants leaves have been curling! so high nitrogen is definitely the case here. So I should just keep doing everything the same and hope the plants will outgrow the issue?

 

[Backyard_Boogie]

actually doesn't look too bad in those pictures. I think you will be fine just let it go and keep watching. Im willing to bet it will go away on its own.

 

[Vic413]

actually doesn't look too bad in those pictures. I think you will be fine just let it go and keep watching. Im willing to bet it will go away on its own.

Awesome! Thank you all for the help. While I’m here might as well ask of you guys use powder or liquid nutrients if any I want to stick to a more organic grow and have been looking at powder ones but have no idea which type of nutrients I need.

 

[Backyard_Boogie]

Awesome! Thank you all for the help. While I’m here might as well ask of you guys use powder or liquid nutrients if any I want to stick to a more organic grow and have been looking at powder ones but have no idea which type of nutrients I need.

I think all organic liquid fertilizers are the best but they are soooo expensive. If your only doing a few plants its cool but if you are doing a bunch of plants it ends up being hundreds of dollars. I have used powder nutrients in the past with good results. Honestly if used correctly you can get absolute fire from both. Recently I stopped using fertilizer additives all together I am going the 100% natural route. I make my own organic compost in my back yard and I use it as a dressing to put as a top layer. Then when I water the natural bacteria and sugars seep down into the pot and it gives the soil a booster of nutrients. By only using natural composts it also allows me to recycle my soil after each grow. Powder nutients are mainly salt based so once used in adds unwanted mineral buil up which makes the used soil unsalvageable. After each grow I break up the root balls and put them in trash cans then I add live worms. I can only do this during the cooler months. The worms help recycle and break everything and then by next season I freshen it up with more compost and the cycle continues. I add CaMag as needed. So far it is working good but I am always learning everyday. Its all about LIVING SOIL!!!!! In nature the soil is alive with fungi and bacteria which help maximize root health.

 

[wordbird]

I think all organic liquid fertilizers are the best but they are soooo expensive. If your only doing a few plants its cool but if you are doing a bunch of plants it ends up being hundreds of dollars. I have used powder nutrients in the past with good results. Honestly if used correctly you can get absolute fire from both. Recently I stopped using fertilizer additives all together I am going the 100% natural route. I make my own organic compost in my back yard and I use it as a dressing to put as a top layer. Then when I water the natural bacteria and sugars seep down into the pot and it gives the soil a booster of nutrients. By only using natural composts it also allows me to recycle my soil after each grow. Powder nutients are mainly salt based so once used in adds unwanted mineral buil up which makes the used soil unsalvageable. After each grow I break up the root balls and put them in trash cans then I add live worms. I can only do this during the cooler months. The worms help recycle and break everything and then by next season I freshen it up with more compost and the cycle continues. I add CaMag as needed. So far it is working good but I am always learning everyday. Its all about LIVING SOIL!!!!! In nature the soil is alive with fungi and bacteria which help maximize root health.

Very cool. Do you remove the worms before dressing your ladies?

 

[MICHGANDER9]

Very cool. Do you remove the worms before dressing your ladies?

Don't mean to interrupt your thread I have bunches of worms in my 4x8 Grass Roots bed and I use nothing but organics (kisorganics.com) they got a GREAT all around amendment mix mixed with some good quality compost or worm castings and I'm going on over a year with 4 harvests in the same soil Great flavor ,Pretty good yeilds! Happy Growing