Burn From Baking Soda

SlamFM · Jun 10, 2023

This is my first time growing. I noticed what I thought could be mold growing on the soil around my seedlings. I looked up what to do and found the baking soda spray but I went a little heavy on the baking soda. Some of the plants got a burned on the first true leaves. The new growth has some white spots that look kinda similar to the early stage of the burn. But I'm not sure if it would even be possible for the burn to go in to completely new growth or if there is a nutrient deficiency (not sure though, the rest of the plants are fine) or pests. Just looking for some kind of confirmation and some advice. You can see the leaves in the pics that are pretty messed up from the burn, should I remove them? The other picture is of the white spots. Might be a little late, happened about a little over a week ago but the pics are from Yesterday afternoon. I don't think they've been stunted, but since I'm new I'm not totally sure but they seem to have been growing like crazy the past couple days. Any help or advice is appreciated.

Being my first time I'm not looking to maximize yields or have the best quality. I'm on a pretty tight budget as well so other than watering, I've just been letting nature do it's thing. I'm growing outdoors, in pots, they're photoperiod. My plants are a month old now from day of germination.

LIAB · Jun 10, 2023

I wouldn't use baking soda on the soil except to raise the pH . Try spraying Neem oil on the soil surface instead . . If you cause a pH problem you'll see the kinds of problems you are experiencing

SlamFM · Jun 10, 2023

LIAB said:
I wouldn't use baking soda on the soil except to raise the pH . Try spraying Neem oil on the soil surface instead . . If you cause a pH problem you'll see the kinds of problems you are experiencing

I haven't sprayed them again, just that one time. After I burned them, I did lightly spray with water and a little bit of hydrogen peroxide mix. But I'm gonna see what I can do about getting something to test the pH and some neem oil. pH is the one thing I've worried more about. Thanks!

Phytoplankton · Jun 10, 2023

If that’s all it’s done, they’ll be fine!. As long as the leaves are green, leave them alone. Chances are the “mold” you saw was not harmful, and could be mycorrhizae fungus. One thing though, if it was growing on top of the soil, your soil is too wet.

SlamFM · Jun 10, 2023

Phytoplankton said:
If that’s all it’s done, they’ll be fine!. As long as the leaves are green, leave them alone. Chances are the “mold” you saw was not harmful, and could be mycorrhizae fungus. One thing though, if it was growing on top of the soil, your soil is too wet.

It was white and on the top soil. I'm not even completely sure if it was mold but I panicked. I had brought them inside for a night because it was gonna get cold. After a few hours is when I noticed it, can mold even grow that fast? I looked up what to do and kept seeing people saying to use baking soda and water. I immediately removed the top layer of the soil, sprayed them with the baking soda and put some new soil back on top. I did have some green algae growing on the top of the soil of a seedling I've got going that I noticed tonight. I removed the top layer and put new soil back in it as well. Thanks for the reply!

Phytoplankton · Jun 10, 2023

Mold can absolutely grow that fast. In any.case, you should be fine, Let the soil get pretty dry between watering.

CaptainLucky · Jun 10, 2023

SlamFM said:
It was white and on the top soil. I'm not even completely sure if it was mold but I panicked. I had brought them inside for a night because it was gonna get cold. After a few hours is when I noticed it, can mold even grow that fast? I looked up what to do and kept seeing people saying to use baking soda and water. I immediately removed the top layer of the soil, sprayed them with the baking soda and put some new soil back on top. I did have some green algae growing on the top of the soil of a seedling I've got going that I noticed tonight. I removed the top layer and put new soil back in it as well. Thanks for the reply!

Your plants look fine just do what Phytoplankton said and you’ll be happy. CL

SlamFM · Jun 11, 2023

Sweet. Thanks for the reassurance. You guys are awesome

SmokingWings · Jun 11, 2023

Nice looking plants and no signs of any damage having been caused by the panic attack.

.

Phytoplankton said:
Chances are the “mold” you saw was not harmful, and could be mycorrhizae

That is the number one reason that causes panic for new soil growers. They see the surface growth and think it is a bad mold when mycorrhizae is probably the most beneficial of the "good" fungus or soil organisms.

SlamFM said:
It was white and on the top soil. I'm not even completely sure if it was mold but I panicked.

Not all molds are white.

. It probably was mycorrhizae which is naturally occurring and is among the number one beneficial fungus for plants growing in natural soils. It helps to stimulate bigger plants, faster growing plants and increases the root mass. It also helps in making the plant be able to absorb the soil nutrients faster and the plant releases some of the carbohydrates and sugars which it produced through photosynthesis in the leaves back into the soil so as to feed the mycorrhizae.

SlamFM said:
I did have some green algae growing on the top of the soil of a seedling I've got going that I noticed tonight. I removed the top layer and put new soil back in it as well.

As Phytoplankton mentions it could be too much water. Too much water or not letting the soil surface dry out properly can cause molds and green algae to show. And, if the soil stays too moist it can encourage Fungus Gnats to lay their eggs there.

SlamFM said:
You can see the leaves in the pics that are pretty messed up from the burn, should I remove them?

No. I see leaves that look like some insect was eating them but that is not necessarily a problem. More often than not these insects will move on to other plants or end up being eaten themselves by other insects. When I had plants outdoors I noticed that most insects stayed for a day or two and then were gone without my having to do anything. There is a balance in the outdoors where it is an "insect eat insect world".

SlamFM said:
The other picture is of the white spots.

Now those do look like the spots where an insect was chewing on the finger of a leaf. The first insect that comes to mind is a thrip which leaves that sort of mark. You can check for insects though there is a chance that the insect is not there during the day and is instead hiding somewhere until it gets closer to sunset.

Eventually it falls into place and those good looking plants will look even better.

SlamFM · Jun 11, 2023

SmokingWings said:
Nice looking plants and no signs of any damage having been caused by the panic attack..

No. I see leaves that look like some insect was eating them but that is not necessarily a problem. More often than not these insects will move on to other plants or end up being eaten themselves by other insects. When I had plants outdoors I noticed that most insects stayed for a day or two and then were gone without my having to do anything. There is a balance in the outdoors where it is an "insect eat insect world".

Now those do look like the spots where an insect was chewing on the finger of a leaf. The first insect that comes to mind is a thrip which leaves that sort of mark. You can check for insects though there is a chance that the insect is not there during the day and is instead hiding somewhere until it gets closer to sunset.

Eventually it falls into place and those good looking plants will look even better.

Thanks! And well all the leaves that look like they've been chewed on are where the baking soda burn was and that part of the leaf died and fell off. Unless a bug will eat the dead part and the only the dead part. The only missing part of the leaves I've seen is where the burns were localized to. Around the very beginning of spring, we spray our yard with some stuff that's supposed to kill and repel a huge variety of insects because we have pets. I'll keep and eye out though, I've been like a hovering helicopter parent xD

bluter · Jun 11, 2023

SlamFM said:
It was white and on the top soil. I'm not even completely sure if it was mold but I panicked. !

it was myco. smoking beat me to it but you really want to have that.

SlamFM said:
I've been like a hovering helicopter parent xD

it's the number one reason first grows fail. first bit of advice i ever got from an experienced grower was "you can love them too much" lol

SlamFM · Jun 11, 2023

bluter said:
it was myco. smoking beat me to it but you really want to have that.

it's the number one reason first grows fail. first bit of advice i ever got from an experienced grower was "you can love them too much" lol

Yeah, it's been more like I sit on my back porch and just look at them lol. I'm nervous to do anything to them now that I'm not sure about so I won't mess with them other than if I need to move them or water them. The weather in my area has been acting weird for this time of year. But it seems to be getting back to normal, so I won't be moving them much anymore. I'd only move inside if the temp at night got too cool, low 50's (F) or below (coldest night so far was like 48), to a room inside that's 70 degrees and with a fan. The only time I'll really be interacting with them is when it comes time for pruning and stuff, unless I see something that needs attention.

bluter · Jun 11, 2023

SlamFM said:
Yeah, it's been more like I sit on my back porch and just look at them lol. I'm nervous to do anything to them now that I'm not sure about so I won't mess with them other than if I need to move them or water them. The weather in my area has been acting weird for this time of year. But it seems to be getting back to normal, so I won't be moving them much anymore. I'd only move inside if the temp at night got too cool, low 50's (F) or below (coldest night so far was like 48), to a room inside that's 70 degrees and with a fan. The only time I'll really be interacting with them is when it comes time for pruning and stuff, unless I see something that needs attention.

go check out @InTheShed's grow. he does inside / outside with a shed that has supplemental light. sounds similar to your situation. he's a super OG, you can trust his approach.

SmokingWings · Jun 11, 2023

SlamFM said:
I'd only move inside if the temp at night got too cool, low 50's (F) or below (coldest night so far was like 48), ...

Those plants can handle night time temperatures into the low 30s. They can handle into the upper 20s as long as it does not stay that cold for more than a couple of hours.

I have photographs of one of my plants that was out overnight and covered with snow the next morning.

I guess you could bring them inside if you want but in the fall that could mean a lot of moving a pot of soil around as more and more nights drop below 50F.

SlamFM · Jun 11, 2023

SmokingWings said:
Those plants can handle night time temperatures into the low 30s. They can handle into the upper 20s as long as it does not stay that cold for more than a couple of hours.

I have photographs of one of my plants that was out overnight and covered with snow the next morning.

I guess you could bring them inside if you want but in the fall that could mean a lot of moving a pot of soil around as more and more nights drop below 50F.

Well that's good to know, one less worry for me lol.

bluter said:
go check out @InTheShed's grow. he does inside / outside with a shed that has supplemental light. sounds similar to your situation. he's a super OG, you can trust his approach.

Sweet, I'll check it out

You guy's have been really helpful, I never expected this much. The first person I talked to, before coming here, just said I was probably wasting my time. I'm learning things though and whether I succeed or fail it's still worth it to me. I always try to research as much as I can before I do anything new and a lot of people have made it seem like it's much harder than it has been. So far at least.

cbdhemp808 · Jun 12, 2023

Hey @SlamFM and welcome to the forum! You've come to the right place.

Your little plants are lookin' good, and I'll be curious to see how they develop. What strain(s) are you growing, and what soil do you have them in?

happy growing!

SlamFM · Jun 12, 2023

cbdhemp808 said:
Hey @SlamFM and welcome to the forum! You've come to the right place.

Your little plants are lookin' good, and I'll be curious to see how they develop. What strain(s) are you growing, and what soil do you have them in?

happy growing!

I don't even know, they're bag seeds. The only strain I know of that one or two may have come from is Grape Ape. And just some miracle gro I had left over from some other stuff I planted.

Here's the plant in the first picture, just took that not long ago. I think it's looking even better

I also put a little bit of Dr Earth 2-2-2 fertilizer in when I moved them to 3 gal. pots.

CaptainLucky · Jun 12, 2023

bluter said:
it was myco. smoking beat me to it but you really want to have that.

it's the number one reason first grows fail. first bit of advice i ever got from an experienced grower was "you can love them too much" lol

Truer words were never spoken! lol CL

cbdhemp808 · Jun 12, 2023

I'm growing Grape Ape for the first time. This one is a clone in a 7 gal pot. Canopy is tied down and spread out, since she was too tall for the greenhouse. Big colas and subtle sweet grape fragrance.