Plant Problems With Reasons And Solutions.

[HippyInEngland]

Root Rot
What causes root rot?

Low Oxygen levels.

(DO) Dissolved Oxygen.

Temp's are the main reason for root rot, Low temps will lower the DO levels and high temps will cause low DO levels.

Keeping temps between 65 to 72 will allow MAX DO levels or max O2 for roots.

Over watering also causes root rot, Root Rot infects parts of the roots, which then spread infecting the whole root system causing death,

Root Rot can be caused by to high of temps in hydro as well as over watering in soil.

Not enough drainage in your soil can cause Root Rot, even signs of it looking over watered, because the soil holds moisture too long for the roots to dry out.

Once you find out you have root rot, depending on how bad the problem is, you can add H202 (Hydrogen Peroxide) with your water or hydro setup to kill the bacteria caused from root rot.

If the plant is severely taken over by it, there are only a few things you can do, cut off the roots affected by it depending on if its hair roots or tap roots, use H202 mixed with water in a different bucket and use it for a dip to help kill off bacteria before putting it back in the system, also note the system needs to be cleaned out if you have root rot.

Using products like SM90 will kill off the root rot, using H202 in your system does more harm than good, it kills off the bad bacteria and good - thus creating a worse problem after the H202 has been added.

H202 if used in a hydro/aero system must be replaced everyday due to it dissipating from evaporation.

After it dissipates the plants defensive system has been killed off by the H202.

Causing the root rot that was not killed by the H202 to re grow and thus overruns the plants root system.

So again H202 should never be used in the hydro system/be kept in the system, although it is safe to use to rid of algae growth in rockwool and other mediums, but never be used in with the root zones regularly.

SM90 is a good product you can use to kill off root rot.

Hydroguard helps protect and there are many other products that work as well, hydroguard is one of the more popular ones that work.


To prevent Root Rot, adding product's like Thrive Alive B-1, Sea Weed, Super thrive will help protect your plant's from root rot and will help cure root problems.

 

[HippyInEngland]

Bud Rot

During the last week or two of flowering (depending on if you use chemical or organics)

If you use chemical, you may want to flush 1.5 weeks to 2 weeks before harvest to flush out all of the chemical nutrients that your plant was using.

If you are using Organics then you may want to flush about a week before harvest.

Giving them plain water is fine, flushing them also improves the overall quality of your bud.

Once you start to 'flush' you should check extra careful for bud rot.

Bud Rot Happens when the humidity is high, if you have fat dense buds, or if mould spores are in the air.

Bud rot looks like a black/brownish/grey growth that can quickly take over your plant and ruin your harvest.

The mould spores are air-borne.

Prevent and Control :-

Removing any dead or dying material from the plant helps prevent bud rot so does decreasing humidity and increasing ventilation.

There are also safe anti fungal sprays from hydro shops that help.

If you do find grey mould, cut off the infected part of the plant well above and below the effected area and remove it from the grow room.

Decreasing the humidity from 55% to around 40% will make a big difference in preventing bud mould.

Also having very big buds can cause bud rot, and would advise watching the areas on your plant that have the biggest, thickest and the most dense buds.

Try to have medium size buds rather than having big thick buds.

Having a dehumidifier around during high humidity days can help as well.

To protect them against bud rot for outside do not foliar spray at night.

Water the plants in the day instead of night.

Same for foliar spraying.

Make sure your plants are stress free as possible and checking plants often can aid in getting rid of moldy bud before the spores spread onto other areas of the plant.

Have a lot of air going around the plants because bad ventilation often causes sick plants and a breeding ground for spores.

Keep leaves away from soil making sure they do not touch the soil.

Keep cooler temps at night while plants are on there down time.

Fungus.

Fungus is another problem when you are in flowering because plants are susceptible to fungus as well as bud rot.

Growing conditions for fungus are best when temps are between 60 and 80 degrees and the humidity is high.

Fungus is very destructive and spreads quickly.

These kinds of fungus are air borne and can travel to other bud sites.

If you already have a plant infected by them the best thing you can do is cut off and remove the infected area and then discard the infected section out of the grow area, then get a hold of some anti-fungal spray and apply.

Fungi can kill your crop quick, so invest in some SAFE fungicide and spray down the plants as much as you can and as soon as you can.

Try to keep the humidity down to the range fungus do not grow well in.

Keep a good ventilation around your grow.

Most fungicides are very nasty and eating them can be very dangerous so its best to use something on them that is safe on plants that you can eat.

Safer makes a very safe product that can be found in most stores and hydro shops. it contains only sulfur in solution.

To try to prevent fungus from forming there are a few things you should do.

Do not foliar feed at night, this tends to make humidity higher than when you water in the day, during the day the water has time to evaporate where at night the foliar feed/water will stay on the plant and high humidity will linger in the air.

Same goes for watering plants at night, wait till the morning or afternoon to water.

Checking plants often can aid in getting rid of any fungus that may attack other leaves and or bud.

 

[HippyInEngland]

Pests

Whiteflies.

They look just like tiny months, and lay eggs on leaves and or top of the soil.

They are a pest in big numbers and are not very hard to get rid of, they can cause damage by sucking sap from the plants.

Do not over water your potted plants.

Allow the soil to dry between watering's and provide good drainage.

Put sticky traps up when you think you may have them, that way when they get stuck you can identify them.

If you already have whiteflies you can use insecticide soap, this will help stop them from flying so it wont infect other plants.

It also stops them from laying new eggs.

If you use the soap reapply weekly.

If insecticide soap does not work too well, there is some other options that are stronger called PERMETHRIN dust, Which can be used during flowering and is safe on edible plants.

PERMETHRIN and biffen (both are safe to use on edible plants),

Chemicals.

Hot Pepper Wax,Safer Yard & Garden Insecticide (which can be used right to the day of harvest), GNATROL(used in hydro in the water as well as soil), Doc's Neem Pest Soap, Safer Sticky Stakes, TR-11000 Pyrethrum.

 

[HippyInEngland]

Symphilids.

Small pests that are tan to white coloured and look like centipedes.

Deadly to the plants, because they burrow down into the roots and damage them by feeding on them.

Your plants leaves will begin to die off.

They are found mostly in soil composites that have not been cleaned, like soil that has additives in them such as animal manure.

Sterilizing the soil in the oven for 30 min can kill any pests in the soil, heat to 350 for 30 min.

They are easy to tell if you have them, because they come to the top soil when your plant is being watered, if you find you do have them, use Fungus Gnat Killer.

One application should kill them, repeat every 7 days to kill off the larvae.

 

[HippyInEngland]

Fungus Gnats.

Fungus gnats like to feed on roots of the plants and organic matter.

Adults and larvae live in moist, shady areas.

The adults lay there eggs on top of the soil, near the base of the stem and takes about 4 days to hatch.

The larvae will start by eating the root hairs of the plant then working their way up the plant, Fungus gnats like to eat organic matter so they will be removing nutrients from your plants, so its best to get rid of them completely.

Prevent indoor entry of gnats by making sure there is no open windows open without screens on.

Put sticky traps on the soil surface to trap the gnats

Put potato slices on the surface of the soil.

The larvae like it and will be drawn to it.

After about 4 to 5 days, remove the potato slices with the larvae.

To get rid of them you can do a lot of things such as use a NO pest strip, neem oil or putting sand on the surface of the soil, this will suffocate the eggs and get rid of them as well.

Tobacco juice kills them, and works well for re-occurrences.

They can be in or on the soil and can fly.

 

[HippyInEngland]

Leaf miners.

These Little creatures are a pain to get rid of, the miners eat and dig squiggly lines into your leaves all the while planting there larvae in them making it hard to get rid of them.

They plant there eggs inside the leaves.

When they hatch they feed on your leaves until they get big enough to pupate.

Pupation occurs within the leaf or in the soil beneath the plant.

After they emerge the entire cycle will start over and you will have a bigger infestation.

Controls.

Natural control for these insects is difficult.

You can remove affected leaves and discard them.

Chemical control is hard and is aimed towards the emerging adults.

Larvae are well protected within the leaf, so by the time the adults emerge, the damage is already done.

Neem oil will work well.

 

[HippyInEngland]

Thrips.

Thrips are small, but can be seen by the naked eye.

Some may have wings and some may not.

Thrips reproduce rapidly, especially in tight places.

That is what makes them hard to get rid of when using pesticides.

They suck the sap out of your plant with piercing mouths, which makes the leaves look like they turned white.

You can tell when you have thrips by taking a look at your leaves, the leaves will look as if the chlorophyll has been removed from the plant.

Plants that are damaged can't repair itself thus making it harder for the plant to absorb light.

So if left untreated the thrips will kill the plants.

Damage also can be seen by the greenish black specks of there droppings they leave on the leaf.

Also the plants will show silver patches from scar tissue.

Depending on the severity at first, thrip damage might look like spider mite damage until it increases in damage and you see the greenness replace with big parts of white.

One good way to repel thrips for those growing outside is to use garlic, this is a good way to keep them away before you get them.

The colour yellow attracts the thrips and should be advised not to have this colour around your grow.

If you already have them using neem oil, and or lady bugs can get rid of them.

If the infestation is bad then you need to use biological solution like, pyrethrin-like insecticides.

 

[HippyInEngland]

Spider mites.

Spider mites are by far the worst pest to have, because they are the hardest to kill and can literally kill any plant.

They are by far more active in warmer climates than cold ones, they also suck sap from the leaves leaving tiny white spots on the leaves from where they suck on.

The damage they do is just like thrips, but with spider mites they pierce the surface of the leaves and can show tiny holes or white speckling damage.

You can tell when you have infestation of spider mites, because you will have distorted growth, shortened internodes and petioles.

When you have bad infestation you will see webbing with larva in them.

Spider mites live on the plant itself and are under the leaves most of the time and are usually are so tiny you can't see them with the naked eye.

In order to fight spider mites, one way is to use NO-Pest strips.

NO-Pest strips work well and should always be used with other methods.

Neem oil helps fight them as well.

Also by raising the humidity in your grow room a lot will kill the spider mites off by them absorbing to much humidity and will burst.

You can use soap solution like Safer Insecticide Soap.

Use some tobacco juice and chili pepper powder added to this. (see below how to make tobacco juice)

Pyrethrum should only be used in extreme circumstances directly on plants, it starts to breaks down around a week and is easily washed away with clear water.

If your plants are in flowering and you have spider mites, using safer chemicals is your best choice.

The tobacco and pepper soap solution works well and should be used daily, spraying on the underside and top leaves and later the whole plant.

Since spider mites are very residual to common products, you have to find or try any number of ones until you get rid of them.

Make absolutely sure you retreat as stated, other wise you will get resistant spider mites and then you have a bigger battle on your hands.

Also do not allow pets that go outside a lot to be around indoor plants, mites have been known to be carried in from pets to plants.

Below are ways to get rid of spider mites, but no 2 mite infestations are identical, you almost always have to use different products to get rid of them, also make a habit to check for at least a month after thinking you got rid of them, that way your chances of the spider mites that became resistant, breeding, and then having a bigger problem.

Make sure you spray your plant down very well.

Tobacco Juice recipe.

Take 3 strong cigarettes soak them over night in water.

Boil it for 2 to 3 minutes, let it cool off and spray the plants 3 to 4 times a week.

You can add safer soap if you like to the mixture.

Neem oil works very well too.

There are lots of posts about Spider Mites already on the forum, all you need to do is search

 

[HippyInEngland]

Slugs and snails (Outdoor Growers)

Both slugs and snails travel by secreting a mucus or slime on which they glide.

When you see the slime trail on your plants and have damage, then it was most likely caused by slugs or snails.

When your garden is very moist slugs and snails can live for a long time as this is the key to them living a long time.

If you keep your garden not as moist the dark slugs and snails cannot live as long.

They stay away from the sunlight along with hiding around moist dark areas in the garden.

They also hide in Mulches, short stubby plants, boards, and in the soil.

They come out mostly at night and on cloudy days.

They feed by chewing holes into your leaves and can clip the edges of leaves and flowers.

Slugs and Snails are mostly pests of seedlings and herbaceous plants that are close to the ground.

In order to confirm the damage was caused by slugs or snails, look for a silvery trail of mucous.

Controls.

Snails can cause massive damage to gardens if given a chance.

It is very unlikely you will be able to completely rid your garden of them, but try to keep the numbers down as much as possible to keep healthy and undamaged plants.

Reduce slug and snail damage dramatically by watering in the morning instead of the evening.

Oak leaf mulch will deter slugs and snails.

Handpick slugs and snails at night.

Use a bucket and put them into soapy water.

Lay boards down in the garden to trap slugs and snails.

Diatomaceous earth sprinkled around you're your plants base of the stems will help keep out slugs and snails, but it can also stop other beneficial insects.

Soak the soil with wormwood tea.

Put copper wire around your garden or at the base of your pots.

Slugs get a shock when they touch copper.

Beer is good to use, because slugs love beer.

Take a container of beer and bury it in your garden with it just barely above the ground so they can drink it and drown.

 

[HippyInEngland]

Ph Problem.

http://www.marijuanapassion.com/forum/showthread.php?t=28984

A good PH link (Even if I do say so myself )

 

[HippyInEngland]

I take full responsibility for the contents here, so if I have trod on any toes by using borrowed pictures, then PM me and I will remove your picture.

EVERY place I visited and gained accurate info is easily found in many places, I have gained knowledge and a surprising insight.

I have not heavily borrowed from any particular site, I have collected info from many different places.

This has taken me a long time to collect and cross reference/check/alter/re check this info.

I have done this for one reason, to help MP growers become self sufficient.

I do not post on any other forums, this is just for you.

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