The Armageddon!!!

I'm new here, but I have watched from afar hoping I would never need the assistance of your knowledgeable collective brain, but ... HELP! I think I know what I have, but I need some help in making sure that's it, and a ton of assistance figuring out what to do--what can I save, what should I get rid of?

So I've included some photos which follow. Here's the basic info:


(The large plants are enclosed in a hydrohut)
The larger plants:
DJ Short Blueberry
Hydroton
Ebb and grow buckets
Flood 2x/day
1200 watts HPS/7 plants
Plants are 30" tall and are still in veg
Noticed spider mites on them 8 days ago
Noticed horrible fungus gnat infestation 8 days ago
House and Garden A/B, Multizen, Drip Clean
[H] 5,6-5,9, ppm starts at 980 and drops about 50 each day until the res is changed

(The babies are in the open)
The smaller ones:
Clones taken about 2 weeks ago
Rooted in rockwool and planted into 3" coir filled pots about 4 days ago
Watered about every other day as needed
Under t5 grow bulbs
Noticed spider mites on them 10 days ago
Using weak mixture of H&G A/B at about 300ppm


Here's what I think I have:

A horribly resistant strain of mites: I've treated with azamax in both spray (1.4%) and drench (0.6%) and these things show NO sign of death.

Verticillium wilt: perhaps a function of the stress from the mites, only the clones and smaller plants that were covered with a humidity dome seem to suffer. Plants have chlorosis in the leaf margins with more yellowing happening first toward the base of the plant. The new leaf tips then begin to curl up, looking at first like a Mg deficiency. Then, as they dry further, they are covered in a gray fuzz. The leaves become more and more crisp as the fuzz spreads. In the end, when you touch the tips they break apart and spread a 'fog' of some sort. It's the new growth that shows the curl and gray fuzz.


Here's what I've done:
Knowing verticillium wilt is a kiss of death, I disposed of each and every plant that showed even the most remote signs of sickness. I disposed of every thing, the plant, medium, pot, etc. and all the plants around it. I do have a few small guys left that still seem stressed. I can't tell if it's the mites or the wilt or both.

The mites still seem just as healthy as ever. I brought in plants from another garden when all this started, is it possible they came with? I had never had problems like this before.

The big ladies are still looking like crap. The top growth is light in color, has raised ridges, and curls so intensely, it doesn't really grow any more. The larger fan leaves below are starting to curl as well, even some twisting can be seen. Their condition only seemed to worsen after the Azamax spray. There are no signs of mites, however, on these plants.

Sorry for the novel, but I need some help!
Thanks in advance.

what kind of soil is that? looks to have to much acid. i wouldn't of threw them out just yet. dry them out dont water them for a little. but dont let them wilt. from not having water. put a fan on them. is that soil or dirt from ur yard looks to have pine needles or something in it. im not sure but im pretty sure its ur soil.

ur flooding in soil?

Like I said above, it's COCO COIR!

iv had similar problems growing in coco noir iv never had pests but the leafs turnd up and twisted an stoppd growing i flushd the coco and didnt feed for 3 days and it seems fine now coco seems to really hold any nutes or anything you add
flushing cant hurt so its gota be worth trying an you should see a difference within 24/36 hours

sorry about that. what did the roots of the ones u threw out look like?

try sum soapy water and mouse glue strips. just put them uner the plants the mite land on it there done. and the soap will screw up there insides.

I doubt it's an issue with the coir as the plants were only in it for three days and fed only once.

So I have sticky traps already for the gnats, I assume these accomplish the same thing. As far as the soap goes, wouldn't azamax nuke them pretty well? If azamax doesn't work, would the soap? I know it's necessary to change methods to avoid a resistance but is soapy water strong enough to make any difference?

Update: I think I have thrips or whiteflies too.

I have had that same problem two grows in a row....

I am no pro but......... Iron ( Fe ) made my problems disappear in less than 3 days.
Actually, Iron and a little extra Phosphorus..

In my case, which was soiless , Im still not sure what caused the deficiency but this took care of it.

As far as the insects...........no other choice but to fumigate the room.. Your gonna have to go hardcore or risk making the insects even more immune to the products available.

I can't address everything, but I have had good luck using mosquito dunks to deal with fungus gnats, they're non toxic (bacteria, actually). The mosquito dunks are sold in Home Depot / Lowes and a lot of other places and cost a few bucks.

I was talking with a shop owner just last week that said he's heard of predatory mites being used to deal successfully with spider mites.

Sorry, I realize this is kind of vague, but figured it might help to steer you in the right direction if nothing else. Good luck.

sir rance alot said:

As far as the insects...........no other choice but to fumigate the room.. Your gonna have to go hardcore or risk making the insects even more immune to the products available.

Click to expand...

Btw, roots were spectacular--had used h&g root excelurator.

Well that was my initial inclination to just look for the strongest food safe insecticide and destroy EVERYTHING! I guess I'll go that route on the few ladies I have left.

I want to sterlize everything around the sick plants. Will a [10] bleach surface spray do the trick for the wilt and pests? Luckily my floors are concrete and the walls are white.

Are the pests then the explaination of the intense downward curl on the older plants?

If anyone needs better pics to help, just let me know.

Thanks.

they wont get immune to the soapy water. try getting some ladybugs or something