My poor girls are dying. Anything I can do or is it over?

[skunkpunknz]

Hey RIU.

I am pretty sad right now. I had some lovely looking plants that I have grown from seed and they have been growing VERY slowly over the last 5-6 months outside in pots. Everything was ticking along nicely until about 4 days ago I noticed some yellowing and brown spotting on lower leaves. Nothing too major I thought. WRONG! Next morning I got up and had a look and I had lost heaps of leaves and it seemed to be spreading. The tops still look fine but it appears they are dying from the roots up. Can they be saved or I am I destined to watch my girls die a slow painful death? These are still in veg and due to flower any day now. I have two other girls that are 2 weeks into flower and are starting to show the same symptoms. What can I do guys?

 

[Dr.Pecker]

Could be humidity. looks like leaf spot. try some green cure or actinovate. copper fungicide might help but its not solving the underlying problem (excessive moisture).

 

[skunkpunknz]

Also have had this show up. Powdery mildew? This was my first indication that something wasn't right. Yeah the pots are quite heavy. I wanted them to dry out a bit and see if it helped but its been heavy rain for the last couple of days. Am I wasting my time with these? should I persist and try and save them or just rip them out and chalk it up to experience? thoughts?

 

[GroErr]

Sure looks like PM which is very likely your underlying issue causing all your problems. Once it takes hold, without treatment they start dying from the bottom up. It looks terribly wet/damp where you have them but also enclosed so likely not a lot of wind/airflow.

This works for me, I have PM around me and use it indoor and outdoor through veg and last time before flowering, typically don't see it through flowering if I do this. I have used it outdoor through flowering and it doesn't harm them, as long as you spray in the evening so they don't get direct sun until they dry off.

For every US gallon of water:
1 tspn baking soda
1/8 tspn olive oil (don't know why but it works better than regular veg oil)
A few drops of dish soap (not anti-bacterial)

It dissolves/mixes better after 36-48 hours so after your initial spray make some up and keep it around, shake it up once in a while.

 

[Dr.Pecker]

Also have had this show up. Powdery mildew? This was my first indication that something wasn't right. Yeah the pots are quite heavy. I wanted them to dry out a bit and see if it helped but its been heavy rain for the last couple of days. Am I wasting my time with these? should I persist and try and save them or just rip them out and chalk it up to experience? thoughts?

You can save them. Peroxide will kill the pm one part h2o2 three parts water. Spray it with that and then neem oil in the evening. There are a lot of products that kill pm. I suggest moving them someplace dry.

 

[getdown76]

uncles braggs apple organic cider vinegar for the pm, and your other problem is calcium and magnesium. so just get some cal mag along with your organic apple cider vinegar and you should be fine.

 

[getdown76]

neem oil is too messy and is a good preventative not a cure. however if you do decide to use neem oil, use warm almost hot water when mixing and spraying.

 

[skunkpunknz]

Thanks for your answers guys. I have made up a solution with baking soda, grapeseed oil, dishwashing liquid and water and given the affected areas a good spray. I will sit back and wait for any change with my fingers crossed. I would really like to dry the pots out as they are drenched all the way through and this is a problem. There is fine settled weather forecast for the next week and I have put the pots up onto bits of wood to keep them off the ground and help with airflow. Is there anything else I should be doing? I had an idea of burying a tropical fish tank heater in the soil and leaving it on its lowest setting. Is this silly or a good idea? They are in 50l (13.5g) pots. I had such high hopes for these plants and last week they looked fantastic. Such is life I guess. I should at least harvest something for my troubles off my other plants so not all doom and gloom. Cheers for the help!