420monster
Well-Known Member
The Experiment
Damping off what is it?
For the first time in all my years of growing i have been affected by damping off i had a tainted bag of soil that i did not sterilize most people would just scrap the seedlings and start over since there survival is slim to none or at least from all the information you can gather will tell you unless your plants are into adulthood they are gone forever but i have not been able to find any information on people that have actually tested this theory for this theory i will not be using any chemical fungicides or fancy chemicals i will simply be treating them with neem oil cut with water in a spray bottle i have no idea if they will make it or die off or if the stems will even be able to support the plants into adulthood in order for it to be able to be called successfully treatable one of two things will need to happen the plants will have to recover to the point that they can continue to grow and the stalks recover to be able to support the rest of the adult plant with or without support or they will need to be able to support life long enough to be able to successfully take and root cuttings from the plant
Damping off what is it?
Damping off is a sort of reaction that your marijuana plant has to a disease. It most commonly occurs when roots, seeds, or seedlings undergo an attack from fungi that formed in soil.
This attack stops the upward movement of nutrients, making your marijuana plant is not receiving a proper distribution of nutrients. Because of this unequal distribution, the stem develops portions that are soft and mushy, making the plant eventually topple over and die.
Fungi (such as Rhizoctonia and Pythium) grow best in moist, warm soil that has a high concentration of nitrogen. Pythium creates spores, but Rhizoctonia do not – instead, they are parasitic pathogens that are asexual and cause disease in plants.
Damping off typically starts right under the soil line. As a grower, you probably won’t even notice a problem until you see atrophy in the stalk and lower leaves of your marijuana plant. You will also notice discoloration of the section of the stalk that is closest to the base. This discoloration usually takes the form of a yellow or brownish color.
You will also start to see lesions between the nodes, which will darken into red-brown cankers. After a while, the entire stem will become soft and brown, and the plant will collapse. This can kill off the marijuana plant since it needs nutrition to stay standing up sturdily.
Like many problems, damping off will affect young, tender seedlings before it gets to your mature plants. It will first resemble an overwatering problem because of wilting, but you will know it’s a reaction to fungi once you start seeing lesions on the upper section of the plant.
How to fix the problem
As with most conditions that can affect your marijuana plants. proactive prevention is the best way to go. Keeping close control of moisture levels is the best way to avoid damping off from ever becoming a problem. If your soil is wet, your plant will have “wet feet,” which can eventually ruin your marijuana garden. Don’t water your plants unless the top layer of soil is dry.
If you live in a place with frequent rains (or it happens to be a particularly rainy year), you can prevent the soil from becoming saturated with water by ensuring that the soil drains well. This will keep water from pooling where the roots are located. When preparing your soil, you can begin by putting in perlite or vermiculite with your soil mix. This will allow for more airflow.
If you are growing your crop all the way from seed, you should be extra careful about where those seeds come from. They need to be completely free of disease. Don’t plant them too low – about one-fourth of an inch deep should be good. This helps with damping out because moisture is present in higher amounts the lower underground you go.
It’s a good idea to also start growing your seedlings indoors, or in containers of some sort. Then, at least one week before you transplant the plants to an outdoor grow site, combine cured compost (which has beneficial bacteria) with the soil. Don’t transplant the seedlings until they have grown at least a few sets of leaves. This will ensure they will be strong enough to handle the transplant.
If you want to be extra careful about avoiding damping off, spray the soil with an anti-fungal treatment made from copper, chamomile tea, or garlic oil. Let it dry. Additionally, ensure that all your tools are disease-free by sterilizing them after each use. This will help prevent the spreading of any fungi or diseases that have found their way to one of your plants.
If you do have seedlings that are exhibiting signs of damping off, you probably won’t be able to save them. More mature plants do have a chance of being saved, however. Try removing the parts of the plant that have been affected, and then use diluted hydrogen peroxide to apply to the wounds. If the cankers that appeared on the stems are particularly severe, try spraying them with copper fungicide, clove oil, coriander oil, or sesame oil.
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Marijuana plant symptoms
Plant symptoms:
– Atrophy in stalk
– Stem discoloration (yellow-brown) near base
– Stem lesions (between nodes)
– Red-brown cankers between nodes
– Stem browning and softening
– Plant falling over
– Plant death
– Lesions on upper portion of plant
– Wilting
Leaf symptoms:
– Atrophy in lower leaves
– Wilting
Credit for article above:
Robert Bergman ILGM
What this is not :
This attack stops the upward movement of nutrients, making your marijuana plant is not receiving a proper distribution of nutrients. Because of this unequal distribution, the stem develops portions that are soft and mushy, making the plant eventually topple over and die.
Fungi (such as Rhizoctonia and Pythium) grow best in moist, warm soil that has a high concentration of nitrogen. Pythium creates spores, but Rhizoctonia do not – instead, they are parasitic pathogens that are asexual and cause disease in plants.
Damping off typically starts right under the soil line. As a grower, you probably won’t even notice a problem until you see atrophy in the stalk and lower leaves of your marijuana plant. You will also notice discoloration of the section of the stalk that is closest to the base. This discoloration usually takes the form of a yellow or brownish color.
You will also start to see lesions between the nodes, which will darken into red-brown cankers. After a while, the entire stem will become soft and brown, and the plant will collapse. This can kill off the marijuana plant since it needs nutrition to stay standing up sturdily.
Like many problems, damping off will affect young, tender seedlings before it gets to your mature plants. It will first resemble an overwatering problem because of wilting, but you will know it’s a reaction to fungi once you start seeing lesions on the upper section of the plant.
How to fix the problem
As with most conditions that can affect your marijuana plants. proactive prevention is the best way to go. Keeping close control of moisture levels is the best way to avoid damping off from ever becoming a problem. If your soil is wet, your plant will have “wet feet,” which can eventually ruin your marijuana garden. Don’t water your plants unless the top layer of soil is dry.
If you live in a place with frequent rains (or it happens to be a particularly rainy year), you can prevent the soil from becoming saturated with water by ensuring that the soil drains well. This will keep water from pooling where the roots are located. When preparing your soil, you can begin by putting in perlite or vermiculite with your soil mix. This will allow for more airflow.
If you are growing your crop all the way from seed, you should be extra careful about where those seeds come from. They need to be completely free of disease. Don’t plant them too low – about one-fourth of an inch deep should be good. This helps with damping out because moisture is present in higher amounts the lower underground you go.
It’s a good idea to also start growing your seedlings indoors, or in containers of some sort. Then, at least one week before you transplant the plants to an outdoor grow site, combine cured compost (which has beneficial bacteria) with the soil. Don’t transplant the seedlings until they have grown at least a few sets of leaves. This will ensure they will be strong enough to handle the transplant.
If you want to be extra careful about avoiding damping off, spray the soil with an anti-fungal treatment made from copper, chamomile tea, or garlic oil. Let it dry. Additionally, ensure that all your tools are disease-free by sterilizing them after each use. This will help prevent the spreading of any fungi or diseases that have found their way to one of your plants.
If you do have seedlings that are exhibiting signs of damping off, you probably won’t be able to save them. More mature plants do have a chance of being saved, however. Try removing the parts of the plant that have been affected, and then use diluted hydrogen peroxide to apply to the wounds. If the cankers that appeared on the stems are particularly severe, try spraying them with copper fungicide, clove oil, coriander oil, or sesame oil.
Back to top
Marijuana plant symptoms
Plant symptoms:
– Atrophy in stalk
– Stem discoloration (yellow-brown) near base
– Stem lesions (between nodes)
– Red-brown cankers between nodes
– Stem browning and softening
– Plant falling over
– Plant death
– Lesions on upper portion of plant
– Wilting
Leaf symptoms:
– Atrophy in lower leaves
– Wilting
Credit for article above:
Robert Bergman ILGM
What this is not :
This is not intended to be advice on your own grow or situation; nor are my experiments intended to be interoperated as whether or not its better to keep them or start over. This is simply a experiment of my own; for my own studies of the cannabis plant and the effects of the disease known as "damping off". This is in no way meant to be advice or argumentative on the effects of this disease.
And so it begins: So shortly after my seedlings have sprouted I took notice that 2/5 have fallen over on themselves. The stem looked pinched; in this moment I did not immediately recognize it as damping off since I have been fortunate enough to never of had to deal with it before. So, I propped them up and went on with my day; by the next day it was very clear, as 2 more went down and one was covered half way up with a white fuzz. All the stems were brown and thinned to the point they were flat; almost like a chewed straw and lifeless. It was at this point I knew beyond a reasonable doubt what had happened. A quick search verified my suspicions; so as I got ready to scrap the effected plants and sterilized the entire room with bleach I remembered that the Neem in the cabinet was not just a organic pesticide but also a fungicide. At the rate of losing them either way I decided to experiment to further my own knowledge into the cannabis plants; not expecting very much other then dead seedlings but it seems like it has started to take a interesting turn. I have decided to not only continue the experiment but document it and share it for any one else who might have wondered for themselves for it seems like they may or may not be starting to make a recovery from basically the dead.
12/15/17
12/15/17
This date marks me publicly documenting the effects. At this moment the recovering process of the seedlings I have noticed some recovery; that's why I decided to start documenting the recovery. I can point out in the pictures what I have taken notice to but I have no pictures prior to this for comparison. So the only progress you will be able to see in the form of photo evidence will be from this point on.
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