Spotty leaf problem

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xrekcor

Active Member
Hey Fellas,

I was hoping I might get an idea what going on with a couple of my
plants. I've had a bit of a search in the forums but cant find anything
that looks too similar. I have a feeling it's a fungial type thing, but cant
be too sure.

I'm in the sub tropics, the plants are in outdoor beds. Using mostly
sea weed type ferts, along with cow poo juice. The plants are about
two months old and this started about a week ago.

I was thinking of trying some copper oxychloride fungicide on it. But
would prefer to try and find out what it is first.

Thanks in advance for any thoughts/advice/ideas.

Cheers

xrekcor
 

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X

xrekcor

Active Member
Yes White Boy Smurf only on the lower branches, but seems to be
heading north.

btw, my soil samples are registering a Ph around 6.8-6.9 taken over
multiple sites within the beds

Cheers

xrekcor
 
smokeybandit22

smokeybandit22

Well-Known Member
Potassium plays a big role as well. Having good amounts of potassium in your plants helps in having sturdy and thick stems, disease-resistance, water respiration, as well aids in photosynthesis. Potassium is also found in the whole plant. It is necessary for all activities having to do with water transportation. Potassium is necessary for all stages of growth, especially important in the development of Buds.

Having to little of Potassium: Dead patches (Necrosis) can happen on the margins of larger fan leaves thus, the leaves will eventually die off and turn brown. The Older leaves will show different patches of color (mottle) and turn yellow between the veins, following by whole leaves that turn dark yellow and die. The plants overall growth slows down, mostly when they are in vegetative stage. To little amount of potassium also slows the growth of buds during flowering stages. Dark edges will appear around the edges of the leaf when the deficiency is starting to happen.
 
smokeybandit22

smokeybandit22

Well-Known Member
nice suggestion Seamaiden. havent seen that one before. sometimes well and ground water contains high levels of Ma. But I have to say, I have seen where potassium deficiency was coupled with another deficiency like Ca or P and seen the exact spotting he is seeing. given some more time, those leaves should yellow and die get the classic dead leaf edges common to diagnosing K deficiency. thing I find, is that diff strains will show diff symptoms of the same problem.
the way those wosre affected leaves are starting to twist looks like start of P deficiency as well.looks like being grown outdoors and less heat stress probability so less curled leaf tips and burnt/dead edges. actually that spotting looks like a Ca deficiency as well. that soil looks like regular ground soil and is probably very acidic and locking out nutes. I would even guess the grower is not feeding too much if any at all.
all just MHO, as I have seen this first hand, although you prob have much more experience than I do.
+rep for the informative link
 
Seamaiden

Seamaiden

Well-Known Member
smokeybandit22 said:
nice suggestion Seamaiden. havent seen that one before. sometimes well and ground water contains high levels of Ma. But I have to say, I have seen where potassium deficiency was coupled with another deficiency like Ca or P and seen the exact spotting he is seeing. given some more time, those leaves should yellow and die get the classic dead leaf edges common to diagnosing K deficiency. thing I find, is that diff strains will show diff symptoms of the same problem.
the way those wosre affected leaves are starting to twist looks like start of P deficiency as well.looks like being grown outdoors and less heat stress probability so less curled leaf tips and burnt/dead edges. actually that spotting looks like a Ca deficiency as well. that soil looks like regular ground soil and is probably very acidic and locking out nutes. I would even guess the grower is not feeding too much if any at all.
all just MHO, as I have seen this first hand, although you prob have much more experience than I do.
+rep for the informative link
Click to expand...
I think you may be correct. The OP said his soil tests out between 6.8 and 6.9, though. If that's really accurate, then it's likely it's not the Ma toxicity. But, I thought it might be something worth considering before immediately suspecting a fungus. It also kind of kludges up the idea of other deficiencies or toxicities that are usually pH-related. So, again, if you're not sure of how accurate the readings are, then it screws up making a diagnosis.

I've been looking at soil testing kits, and there are a few that a fantastic company called LaMotte puts out that are used by professionals. They are SPENDY, but accurate, and for those who are spending a lot of money on seeds, ferts, etc., something like that could take almost all the guesswork out. You see a problem, start running an assay, BAMMO! I hate guessing at problems and trying to throw different solutions at them.

All this reminds me of my week making candy. You have to use a thermometer with candy-making and baking, they're both 'science' cooking. Temperature, ratios, total volumes, and other variables can really fuck your shit up. And what can make it even worse is not having an accurate thermometer. I took that toffee to what was supposed to be hard crack stage, but my eyes and observations told me differently. So, I continued to cook it and simply use observation as was done back in the day. After ruining a whole batch using a faulty thermometer.
 
smokeybandit22

smokeybandit22

Well-Known Member
I dont know-u may be on to something with the Mn-I know def of Mn leads to this type of spotting but how likely is that? Who knows, this could be an indoor strain being grown outdoors and complicating the issue. I doubt fungus though.

Also, notice it is only affect the lower oldest leaves-u can clearly see that in the pic. And the youngest are unaffected as of now, so Im thinkng it has to be a macro nute. Looks like he can use a bit more N as well judging by the color and yellowing. Dont know much about those ferts he is using, but from what I gather, they are probably not a healthy balanced diet.
I would suggest adding some fine dolomite lime to the top layer of the soil and to pick up some balanced veg and flower nutes that are so popular.
 
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xrekcor

Active Member
Thanks guy's for the thoughts and suggestions.

A little more info. The strain is an outdoor strain. Our local dirt is pretty much glay.
So the plants are in holes 3-5' across and 2-3' deep. The bottom has about 4" of
tea tree mulch that been through a still, and been sitting on the deck for a couple
of years. Mixed in that is a handful or two of lucerne chaff. Then a layer of hay,
a layer of cow poo (from a pile I have that been sitting there for 6 months) another
layer of hay and cow poo. The holes a filled with soil prep made elsewhere with a
Ph of 6.9. I use a fert called Seasol liquid seaweed mixture, used it for years and
the plants love it. The cow poo jiuce is a home made biodynamics mixture, it's
pretty simple to make 20kgs in a 200lt drum of water and stir it every day for 6
weeks. It's another fert that we have been used for years with no known side
effects.

Generally I try to grow organic, apart from the odd spray that maybe employed.
Out of 20 plants in the same patch using the same setup and the same ferts only
three have shown this problem. I have a couple of other patches, one is clean
the other has one with the same problem.

Oh yeah, once the holes are dug, I break the bottom up and water in a few hand
fulls of Ag-lime.

Cheers
 
smokeybandit22

smokeybandit22

Well-Known Member
have u been able to take a ph sample of the dirt directly underneath the root zone? I know that wood mulch can lead to acidic soil conditions.
how bout watering them with some molasses? it contains p, k and other micro nutes that plants love. I mean if the spreading stops, than not oo much to worry about. those affected leaves will eventually yellow and drop if not already. post some new pics in a day or 2 to see if it is progressing and showing more 'classic' symptons of something else.
 
X

xrekcor

Active Member
smokeybandit22 said:
have u been able to take a ph sample of the dirt directly underneath the root zone? I know that wood mulch can lead to acidic soil conditions.
how bout watering them with some molasses? it contains p, k and other micro nutes that plants love. I mean if the spreading stops, than not oo much to worry about. those affected leaves will eventually yellow and drop if not already. post some new pics in a day or 2 to see if it is progressing and showing more 'classic' symptons of something else.
Click to expand...
No I haven't test for PH down there, but will give it a shot. This morning
I sprayed one plant with the copper oxychrolride spray I mentioned early
to see if that helps.

Haven't thought about watering with molasses, wont that burn the roots?
what mixture ratio should I try?

Will do, post a few pics in a couple of days.

cheers
 
X

xrekcor

Active Member
Btw, the effected leaves as mentioned earlier, are the large shade leaves off the
main stem of the plant and only the lower ones.

Also all water is rain water from a tank... no ground water here, the local council
hasn't got that far lol

cheers
 
smokeybandit22

smokeybandit22

Well-Known Member
molasses shouldnt burn your roots. many many soil growers use during flowering and mainly during the final flush. but it is such a rich source of the micro nutes the plants need. have you thought about adding some organic micro nutes on top of what you are currently feeding? I know the cow poo is rich in N P and K but not too sure on the essentials. I will post a link that I always use as a reference, or starting off point.
for the molasses-needs to be black strap unsulfered which they sell at the supermarkets. 1 tablespoon per gallon is the norm but I always like to be conservative so maybe half that. To be honest, probably the best and most organic thing to use is fine dolomite lime spread into your top layer of soil.
are you using the same nutes for flower as you do veg?
as for the leaves, yeah I noticed that and pointed that out to seamaiden. I think she is just hungry for more nutes containing higher levels of p and k. which the molasses will solve.
 
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