Black Spots Appeared Overnight

marsuzano99

Well-Known Member
Hello. I just took my plants off synthetic nutes over the course of 3 weeks, flushing all the salt out until runoff was at 700ppm/1.4ec.
After flush, I too dressed with “Nature’s organic Living Soil” which is supposed to be a top dress and water only method. They were doing fine for about a week, and started growing new healthy growth after a month of being locked out due to salt. 2 days ago I too dressed with some kelp meal, crab meal, and bone meal each at 1 tsp/gallon.
The day after, almost overnight,(they were fine just 10 hrs earlier) they got black spots appearing, and the leaves went crispy. Also, the tops all almost shrunk/stopped growing and got dry and small. Never had something like this happen so fast, I want to solve this as soon as possible. Thank you.
P.S. the plants were all slightly yellow from lockout, but all black spots and drying happened out of nowhere over the course of 24 hrs.
 

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marsuzano99

Well-Known Member
Your plants look short on Mg, K and perhaps Ca and P...some of the twisted leaves would suggest a pH issue.
Would a ph issue appear overnight like that? On 3 plants out of 5 too. I was just confused at how fast it went to shit. The plant was completely healthy, and after I too dressed with the meals, it started freaking out.
 

CannaCountry

Well-Known Member
Would a ph issue appear overnight like that? On 3 plants out of 5 too. I was just confused at how fast it went to shit. The plant was completely healthy, and after I too dressed with the meals, it started freaking out.
Generally speaking none of a gardener's maladies happen over night...it's generally progressive in nature. If it was nice before you added your top dressing, then you may have over done it...only you can really determine that though.
 

marsuzano99

Well-Known Member
Read up on alternaria.
Would alternaria also affect the newest leaves? They don’t have black spots on the small leaves (except for edges, looks kind of like a potassium def that’s immobile). The fan leafs that are affected are all the top leaves, and the damage is mostly interveinal, so I doubt it’s alternaria, but that’s just my guess. I would think that alternaria would look a little more like random splotches, not necrosis that is interveinal.
 

hotrodharley

Well-Known Member
Would alternaria also affect the newest leaves? They don’t have black spots on the small leaves (except for edges, looks kind of like a potassium def that’s immobile). The fan leafs that are affected are all the top leaves, and the damage is mostly interveinal, so I doubt it’s alternaria, but that’s just my guess. I would think that alternaria would look a little more like random splotches, not necrosis that is interveinal.
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marsuzano99

Well-Known Member
Generally speaking none of a gardener's maladies happen over night...it's generally progressive in nature. If it was nice before you added your top dressing, then you may have over done it...only you can really determine that though.
Yeah I’m guessing it’s the dressing. Have you ever heard of over feeding kelp meal, crab meal, or bone meal? I added them all at the same time. I’m new to amending soil, and I don’t really know what I’m doing I guess.
 

SidV

Well-Known Member
You may have WAY over nuted your plants. ( Possibly way too acidic hmm)

Or

Airborn chemical exposure such as amonia etc.
 

SidV

Well-Known Member
Had plants next to an outhouse a few years back and when it got hot the vapors from the urine in the outhouse burnt every plant to a crisp within a few hours.
 

marsuzano99

Well-Known Member
You may have WAY over nuted your plants. ( Possibly way too acidic hmm)

Or

Airborn chemical exposure such as amonia etc.
I know it should take a while for the microbes to even break down the amendments (crab,kelp,bone), would Organic amendments fry my plants that quick? Or would organic amendments change my ph that much within a day? I’ll take soil ph readings with my probe later and check back in with you about what it’s at atm.
 

marsuzano99

Well-Known Member
Had plants next to an outhouse a few years back and when it got hot the vapors from the urine in the outhouse burnt every plant to a crisp within a few hours.
Holy shit man. I too dressed with living soil, which I think contains manure. Could the humidity have made some poopoo particles airborn and in turn fucked my plants up?
 

hotrodharley

Well-Known Member
Yeah that’s what I mean. These look like random splotches. My dark spots are only seen within the veins, but I’m not ruling it out. Does alternaria show up when it gets excessively humid? I had a little spike of humidity the same night, so is that a possible cause of it if it was alternaria?
 

marsuzano99

Well-Known Member
It says the fungus grows at 27c,=80f, but my ac never lets the temp surpass 75. I might look into fungicides but I really hope it’s not alternaria. The article didn’t tell me how fast an infestation can happen. Could it in theory take over a whole plant in 24 hrs?
 

marsuzano99

Well-Known Member
Also, it said that Alternaria spreads from bottom up, but on my plants the tops got affected first.
 

marsuzano99

Well-Known Member
Is it over? Do I just end these girls’ life right now, or do I try to save the plants? I don’t think it’s alternaria, nobody has really told me their two cents on how to fix it.
 

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marsuzano99

Well-Known Member
You may have WAY over nuted your plants. ( Possibly way too acidic hmm)

Or

Airborn chemical exposure such as amonia etc.
I just checked the ph and they came back at an average of 7. The worst plant is at a soil ph of 7.2. Isn’t below 8 and above 6 okay for living soils? Can I rule out ph for the moment?
 

CannaCountry

Well-Known Member
Firstly; breathe. Take a step back and stop doing things. Secondly, your pH should be closer to 6.5, and if it were me, despite the averages, I'd be sure I was floating in that area (pH 6.5). Thirdly, you took these plants from synthetic feed, to flushing and no feed, to new organic feed (top dressed)...all in the course of a few weeks. Your plants don't know if they're coming or going. Fourth, yes, even though your organic amendments may not be available to your plants right away, the addition of them into your soil will surely alter pH in a much shorter time.

So you've committed to the organic / dry amendment route, so let's stick to it...no, don't consider quitting this run. You won't learn diddly do otherwise. If this were my grow, I'd foliar spray some Epsom salt...it will help your plants with their Mg issues while not muddying up your soil any more than it's been. You should see results in a week or so, depending on your plants. I would manage your pH a bit more closely and I'd refrain from doing anything else...no flush, no new amendments, no fancy this or that. Commit to your cause (growing in soil) and take as many notes as you can so you don't run down this rabbit hole again. Be patient...
 
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