Thrips, Powdery Mildew, Nute related? Not sure what to think..

I’ve got a problem I am having a hard time identifying. I would assume powder mildew, but the highest humidity has gotten is 48% for approx. 15 minutes. It stays right around 25-30% on average, occasionally jumping to 40-45% at canopy level for no more than 30 minutes at a time.


The white powder sort of looks like sugar dusted in certain areas and can be scraped off.

Another interesting thing I’ve noticed is that it is only visible in the grow room under the MH.. If I cut leaves off and look at them under household light, it is not really visible. Maybe this is because the MH is a much stronger, brighter light?


A weird thing; I have only noticed it on the healthier middle-upper fan leaves that receive plenty of light. As opposed to the Nute-Defficient ones on the lower canopy receiving little to no direct light due to all the fan leaves/dense internodes.


So due to humidity/lighting I wouldn’t think so.. Maybe thrips? I have been preventatively spraying with a neem oil/SM90 Combo once/week (Went two weeks in between sprays once) and keeping the room clean. They have been deficient most of their lives in either N or P b/c I listened to grow store owner and only watered w/o nutes at first.. Changed that up now. I haven’t seen insects yet..


They are about two months old and the PH of infected plants = 6.6 and 6.5. I have two oscillating fans, an intake/exhaust fan bringing in new air constantly, a dehumidifier, and have had the lights on 24/7 their whole lives (600W MH)


Overall they seem healthy except for the nute defficiencys and this white powder which is very minimal ATM. They are very vigorous.



To Sum Up:

Humidity Average:25-30%

Humidity Highest Ever: 48% for no more than 15 minutes

Lights: 600W MH on 24/7

Neem Oil + SM90: Preventatively sprayed weekly, occasionally bi-weekly

Temp: 72-75 degrees F. Highest ever recorded: 80 Lowest: 68

NOTE: Only on the healthier mid-upper leaves as opposed to the nute-defficient lower leaves

NOTE#2-Have seen no pest so far

Overall: They seem healthy except for the nute defficiencys and this white powder which is very minimal ATM. They are very vigorous.

P.m. sucks. From what I had my fair share of powdery mildew. It could be strain related or too crowded in the grow area?

pics pics pics . I think I don't know with out some pics

I found a rogue seed and planted it,rogue plant grew great except the PM did too! It eventually infected a sannie plant but was easily treatable.my humidity is 40% if I'm lucky!! And plenty of air flow and movement.i could only think it was strain related?

I apologize about no pic's, I have been trying to post them, but this site has not been working for me the past couple of days. Same for everyone else, or am I the only one?

Wyterberrywidow, it could def. be too crowded in the grow room, that is where I was thinking I could have potentially got it, if that is what it is.. They are waiting to go outside til I get a fence up and in the mean time are getting pretty cramped. Also, one strain grows with super dense internodes and I haven't lollipopped yet because I was going to do that once I felt they were mature enough to take clones.. Maybe I should just go ahead and do that now? If PM, taking clones probably isnt the best option anyways.

Dux, damn man I am sorry to hear that. So you ended up getting it under control?

Yeah I'd say too crowded. You can take clones and treat them but you will still have a chance of the p.m spreading.

Yeah if it is P.M. then screw the clone idea.. So you think it probably is P.M. based off the pic's?

If it is P.M. do you all think that I should lollipop my bushier plants to allow more airflow through them, or would this just spread more mold spores around and be detrimental as opposed to helping?

Extacie said:

Yeah if it is P.M. then screw the clone idea.. So you think it probably is P.M. based off the pic's?

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Horse shit....you can take clones.....Get some green cure and mix it at half the max and dip your clones into it and be sure to spritz the surface of your media...

As far as the PM goes,,,,,,,wheeeee, here comes the fun! Horse Tail tea. Health food store or on the net. Make it as directed and cool it......Spray entire plant and media surface. Plants seem to like this stuff too.....Now mix a weak Bleach solution and spray down ENTIRE grow...Top to bottom and the floor and ceiling. Any thing there is in there,,,spray it.....Now put your plants back into the area.....CLEAN, CLEAN, clean!!!

No more PM.

Dr. Who said:

Horse shit....you can take clones.....Get some green cure and mix it at half the max and dip your clones into it and be sure to spritz the surface of your media...

As far as the PM goes,,,,,,,wheeeee, here comes the fun! Horse Tail tea. Health food store or on the net. Make it as directed and cool it......Spray entire plant and media surface. Plants seem to like this stuff too.....Now mix a weak Bleach solution and spray down ENTIRE grow...Top to bottom and the floor and ceiling. Any thing there is in there,,,spray it.....Now put your plants back into the area.....CLEAN, CLEAN, clean!!!

No more PM.

Click to expand...

Lol, thank you Dr. Who. I just don't know that I want to risk clones w/ mold present (I don't have experience taking them) As far as lollypopping the bushy ones, think that would help out?

I sprayed serenade yesterday on the top half of leaves (ran out of serenade) Horse Tail Tea a better option compared to serenade or activonate?

One thing I really need help deciding: I'm moving soon and putting up a fence.. I am trying to decide if I should bring these to the new place or just eliminate them now and not risk bringing P.M. to new place? Originally they were going to be mother's, but now I am thinking of just putting them outside once I have the fence up and sterilizing everything inside, then starting from seed (Indoors) So I can keep them outside separate from my good ones w/o P.M..

Thoughts?


I just want to say thank you all so much for your help! I can't even begin to describe how grateful I am for you all taking the time to help me out. Wish there was still +Rep or some way I could return the favor

No prob on the Rep.....I'm here to help,,,not inflate my ego!

Serenade....not bad,, works for a cpl of weeks at preventing too.....But unless you spray down the room and everything in it....It will come back....(I have not had PM for years...CLEAN WORKS) I try to keep my area at 40% RH,,,that helps too. (swings up to 45% after watering).

If you use the Horse Tail,(and YES it is better then Serenade/Activonate,,,in a week spray the plant with serenade on it with straight water and see if that old gym sock smell doesn't come back,,lol),,,,,,,,, I see NO reason you cannot continue the plants on into motherhood! (Just be sure to spray the whole plant, soil surface and the complete area of the exposed pot). Green Cure works,, but not as well as the tea,,,,,So ,, Yeah bring them back in after the treatment and you'll be fine...

Horse tail is SAFE for use during harvest!

If you have PM it's most likely because of THE FLOW OF AIR in your grow room..buy an extra fan or a better one

Forgot that one,,,,,nice catch.....

Dr. Who said:

No prob on the Rep.....I'm here to help,,,not inflate my ego!

Serenade....not bad,, works for a cpl of weeks at preventing too.....But unless you spray down the room and everything in it....It will come back....(I have not had PM for years...CLEAN WORKS) I try to keep my area at 40% RH,,,that helps too. (swings up to 45% after watering).

If you use the Horse Tail,(and YES it is better then Serenade/Activonate,,,in a week spray the plant with serenade on it with straight water and see if that old gym sock smell doesn't come back,,lol),,,,,,,,, I see NO reason you cannot continue the plants on into motherhood! (Just be sure to spray the whole plant, soil surface and the complete area of the exposed pot). Green Cure works,, but not as well as the tea,,,,,So ,, Yeah bring them back in after the treatment and you'll be fine...

Horse tail is SAFE for use during harvest!

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I truly appreciate that man. I really do!

Horse Tail Grass Tea? This stuff? http://www.amazon.com/Alvita-Bags-Horsetail-Grass-Caffeine/dp/B001GCTTF8/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1400607611&sr=8-2&keywords=horse+tail+tea

Caffeine or caffeine free?

"in a week spray the plant with serenade on it with straight water and see if that old gym sock smell doesn't come back,,lol"
-Lol I am assuming this comment was just because serenade REAKS? Want to make sure i'm not missing anything.

So to make sure I understand, take plants out, spray with horse tail from top to bottom, sterilize the room by spraying a bleach solution on everything then put plants back in and problem should be solved/slowed down?

I've had problems with Botrytris before and it was hell to battle. I ended up getting it from my flowering plants to my plants vegging and it was an uphill battle that I ended up loosing. (Got some bud off the flowering plants that wasn't effected, so that worked out I suppose) Afterwards I completley sterilized as much of the house as possible with a bleach solution. Just don't want to go through that again :/

Cali.Grown>408 said:

If you have PM it's most likely because of THE FLOW OF AIR in your grow room..buy an extra fan or a better one

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Please don't get offended, as I try to keep an open mind as possible to learn as much as I can from you all, but I don't think the flow of the air was the cause, if it is P.M. which based off your all's post/what i've read i'm assuming that's the case. Although I could very well be wrong so please correct me if I am. I have two fans blowing on opposite sides of the room in a 5x5 tent, one of which is a very strong fan. My leaves are constantly blowing. When I turned on my "high powered fan" it broke one of the branches of the taller plants from how strong the wind is. I'm trying to have strong winds to prepare some of them for what they will experience outdoors.

Currently I have one at the base/stalk level of the plants, & one mounted by the top of the plants blowing down on them.

Only reason I can think of inadequate airflow is due to all of the under-branching I have on some of the strains. How many good oscillating fans should I have per room/amount of plants? I have seen dispensaries with only one per 30(ish) large lollypopped plants which i thought was no where near enough air flow.

Thanks for dropping in!

One thing I have been considering I would like your alls opinion on: Since it's too crowded in the grow room, should I put one of the bigger ones out on the deck?
My concerns;
-We are currently getting 14hrs. 19mins of sun per day, and idk how much direct/indirect light the deck gets. Could this cause it to go into bloom then try to revert back once its getting more light?

-It on average at night here is getting 43-50 degrees F. I've read they can survive this, but just will grow slower.

I think this would be best as long as temp. doesn't drop so low it kills it if I take out the most effected plant. Would provide much more room in the grow room & hopefully I can fix the issues with this one outdoors.

Thoughts/opinions please?

Yes, Horse tail grass tea.....Caffeine may inhibit bugs....I used that.

Yeah, serenade stinks,,and when it gets wet, it stinks again.
Don't need a strong fan,,just keep the air moving down there.
I don't think you'll need to put one out side if you clean them up below....14 1/3 hrs of light might start a little bloom and it will go back when lighting gets longer....The temps should be alright,,,,,just watch the news for frost warnings/night temps.

Yes PM is caused from bad flow of air. When you have great airflow it will help dry out your soil and if your soil is to moist it will make your RH% raise. So fans will help with all of that. Good air flow = lower humidity. Good air flow = soil drying out faster. Good air flow = No powdery mildew

Extacie said:

Please don't get offended, as I try to keep an open mind as possible to learn as much as I can from you all, but I don't think the flow of the air was the cause, if it is P.M. which based off your all's post/what i've read i'm assuming that's the case. Although I could very well be wrong so please correct me if I am. I have two fans blowing on opposite sides of the room in a 5x5 tent, one of which is a very strong fan. My leaves are constantly blowing. When I turned on my "high powered fan" it broke one of the branches of the taller plants from how strong the wind is. I'm trying to have strong winds to prepare some of them for what they will experience outdoors.

Currently I have one at the base/stalk level of the plants, & one mounted by the top of the plants blowing down on them.

Only reason I can think of inadequate airflow is due to all of the under-branching I have on some of the strains. How many good oscillating fans should I have per room/amount of plants? I have seen dispensaries with only one per 30(ish) large lollypopped plants which i thought was no where near enough air flow.

Thanks for dropping in!

Click to expand...

So you don't have a OSCILLATING fan?? Could be your cause of PM right there. No oscillation = stagnant air = PM

Cali, no, I have two oscillating fans. I would consider what I have in my grow room great air flow.. Since I have had a mold issue before I am very conscious of my air flow. Which is why I am surprised I got it at all, i've tried to take most of the preventive measures possible in my current situation. But apparently I didn't do something right because here it is. Do you think I should add another oscillating fan on top of those two?