Small yellow spots...lots and lots. Bugs or def? Help please guys!!

I've looked high and low around my plants for signs of infestation. I can see signs of thrips on a few leaves, but there aren't too many of them, and they have been there for a little while without getting worse quicker, so it seems under control.

If it isn't bugs or disease, then it could be K deficiency perhaps? My soil has quite a bit of worm castings in it, and I use kelp extract once a week, so I'd be surprised if it's a micronute def. (unless it's being cause by soil compaction or pH?). I water with epsom salt once a week too. I'm a bit stumped!! Can anyone help?

Some pics...with more grow details below them...



I'm late in flower. Maybe 12 days until harvest on my main plant, but a good 3 weeks left on the small one that is suffering the most. I'm going to ignore that one for now, as it's totally root-bound, so I really only have myself to blame for not transplanting that when I should have...

The weird thing is that it appears to have moved from the small plant to the big plant (which is in 20 odd litres of potting soil and wormcast with bonemeal, fish and blood additives, plus rock dust mixed in). That's what made me think maybe bugs or disease?

Of course if could be over fert leading to lock up too I guess. Though I didn't think that should be a problem in all organic...I haven't checked runoff in a while (because it hasn't been a problem in this mix before when I've tested) but I'll do that tomorrow when the lights are back on.

I'm using filtered water. Its in an airpot, and I generally only need to water well once a week. Light is 400W HPS.

Temps are high..touching 29C..but the plant have been suffering that for a while without showing too much sign of stress. The buds look amazing, and are super dense, so things have gone weird very very quickly.

looks like spider mite damage to me....

mites......................

neem the shit outta them..........dunk'em even

Me too. My spider might damage looked like that

Hmmm. That's a bitch if I have. I might just chop it ahead of time.

Thing is though, I really can't see any bugs or eggs...and I've got really good eyesight. I can spot amber trichs without a magnifyer if the light is good....

Where do the little fuckers like to hang out on the plant?...the buds are already sticky icky...so hopefully they should be protected a little?!? (or maybe not, since I know these things are a major pest for any grow that gets them)

So far I've looked on the leaves, under the leaves, and in the buds....all with naked eye and with a magnifier and haven't seen squat yet. I'll definitely have another good look tomorrow morning when the light's back on though.....I checked out a load of other mite damage pics, and it does look a lot like that. So I must have just missed them...can I nuke them with neem this late in flower? I don't wanna smoke that too...

Oh...forgot to say cheers for the help...in all my horror at what you guys were telling me!!

CHEERS!!

amber? forget the neem...........chop.

scroglodyte said:

amber? forget the neem...........chop.

Click to expand...

Ha sorry mate...I didn't actually mean I can see them on the buds on this plant with the mites...just saying that I got pretty good eyes for bug-hunting I was just surprised I couldn't see anything, cos I spend a good 15 mins looking for the one or two fucking thrips that I know are in there somewhere....

Anyway...the trichs on this plant here...they're only clear and cloudy, about 50/50.

So is neem ok to use now...?

neem smells bad, shouldn't use it past 4 weeks flowering (free weed #29 on hightimes.com) . I 'd say just go as normal or harvest in a week or 2, looks like minor damage no webs on buds. could be thrips or whiteflies something really small on the underside of leaves . could be eggs in the medium

Hey everyone. I though I'd better update this, as the spider mite diagnosis turned out to be wrong. The yellowing has now progressed, and looks to be either severe K deficiency, Mg deficiency, pH lockout, or just good old multi-nute deficiency (looks like P is a deficient too, though hard for me to tell whether it's mainly P or K missing).

Anyone else want to have a punt now I've got new photos up?

I know for sure that it isn't mites now, because I've looked over every square inch of the leaves and haven't found a single bug, bug turd or egg. So unless it's something hidden in the roots (which I also haven't found after a quick look) it has to be a nutrient or heat/humidity issue!

Here are some of the latest photos.

The yellow between the veins is mainly on the top fan leaves...but is progressing DOWN the plant! The yellow parts are very thickened and brittle. The yellowing on the bottom leaves looks like normal N deficiency that I'd expect this late in flowering, as does the reddish tinge from a mild P shortage...

But those top leaves are fooked. Perhaps it's Mg...since it's working from the top down?



I put plenty of bone, fish and bloodmeal and wormcasts in my soil, and I'm in a 27 litre container, so it's a bit fucking annoying that I'm getting this deficiency. My water is always pH6.5, and the soil is based on a commercial potting soil which contains limestone so I've never yet had major pH issues with it. Unless my pH meter is off of course...or maybe I don't get enough runoff through the soil to accurately measure it?

I've given her a light feed of chemical fert (14-10-27....I don't have any better nutes, as the plan was to stay organic, which obviously wasn't working out!), as I was really worried how quickly this was progressing. Hopefully that'll see her through to harvest in a week and a bit...(I don't really believe in pre-harvest "flushing", but I obviously don't plan to feed her again no matter what)