I have something eating the leaf tips and sides. Have some gnat looking things flying around that look like fungus gnats but I didn't think that they would eat the leaves. I'm spraying once a week with a concoction of water, alcohol, tea tree soap, peppermint soap, and a tiny amount of peroxide (works great on thrips and spider mites). (Let me know if want this formula). I think these are coming in the bag of soil (Vigaro potting soil). The spraying keeps them at bay but doesn't eradicate them. I've looked around but haven't seen anyone else experiencing this pattern of leaf eating.
Who is doing the leaf chewing?
- Thread starter jimiding
- Start date
in my humble opinion those leaves are not chewed up, it looks too uniform. I’d be looking at nute excess or deficiency first.…
I defs could be wrong here but I believe funkus gnats don’t eat the plant, they lay eggs in soil and their larvae feast on roots. Generally speaking most ipm sprays are effective when wet, once it dries - it’s not nearly as effective. (<<< There are exceptions on that previous statement since some of the newer biologicals deter pests even when dry) Anywho the chems most of us use are pretty mild and come from organic sources
Neem Oil (Neem seed meal) come from pressed Neem tree seeds
Spinosad is an isolate from sugar cane production.
SNS uses rosemary oil or clove oil as the base
Safers Soap is made from potassium salts of fatty acids
oil dormant spray contains mineral oil as the active ingredient.
pyretherin is extracted from crushed Chrysanthemum flowers
for fungus gnats mosquito bits or mosquito dunks do the trick, add to your water bucket to soak in overnight and/or sprinkle some as top dress on your soil. critters find our plants, the odor of damp soil is like a magnet... but they come in search of food, mating and housing
don’t know about Vigoro brand other than I’ve seen pallets at the big box store but yep- you betcha many bagged soil products are loaded with critters.
welcome aboard jimiding!
I defs could be wrong here but I believe funkus gnats don’t eat the plant, they lay eggs in soil and their larvae feast on roots. Generally speaking most ipm sprays are effective when wet, once it dries - it’s not nearly as effective. (<<< There are exceptions on that previous statement since some of the newer biologicals deter pests even when dry) Anywho the chems most of us use are pretty mild and come from organic sources
Neem Oil (Neem seed meal) come from pressed Neem tree seeds
Spinosad is an isolate from sugar cane production.
SNS uses rosemary oil or clove oil as the base
Safers Soap is made from potassium salts of fatty acids
oil dormant spray contains mineral oil as the active ingredient.
pyretherin is extracted from crushed Chrysanthemum flowers
for fungus gnats mosquito bits or mosquito dunks do the trick, add to your water bucket to soak in overnight and/or sprinkle some as top dress on your soil. critters find our plants, the odor of damp soil is like a magnet... but they come in search of food, mating and housing
don’t know about Vigoro brand other than I’ve seen pallets at the big box store but yep- you betcha many bagged soil products are loaded with critters.
welcome aboard jimiding!
Sueet
Well-Known Member
I have seen this sort of odd growth when the fan is too close/aggressive sometimes. Possibly also when there were pH issues.
Agree with @013 that it does not look chomped.
eta: Any soil that is stored outside can end up with things living in it. I try to buy soil that has been stored inside.. You can usually tell by how fluffy/soft and lightweight the bag is.
Agree with @013 that it does not look chomped.
eta: Any soil that is stored outside can end up with things living in it. I try to buy soil that has been stored inside.. You can usually tell by how fluffy/soft and lightweight the bag is.
The sprays might kill the adults and that helps if the eggs have not been laid in the top layer of soil. Once the eggs have been placed killing any adults flying around does not do much.
As @013 mentions something has to be done about the larvae from hatched eggs before they become adults and start the next generation.
JDwinell
Well-Known Member
Almost looked like what caterpillars did to my plants recently...I have something eating the leaf tips and sides. Have some gnat looking things flying around that look like fungus gnats but I didn't think that they would eat the leaves. I'm spraying once a week with a concoction of water, alcohol, tea tree soap, peppermint soap, and a tiny amount of peroxide (works great on thrips and spider mites). (Let me know if want this formula). I think these are coming in the bag of soil (Vigaro potting soil). The spraying keeps them at bay but doesn't eradicate them. I've looked around but haven't seen anyone else experiencing this pattern of leaf eating.
cbdhemp808
Well-Known Member
Hey @jimiding and welcome to the forum!
How are your plants looking now? I'd like to see a photo of your grow. Those leaves look like a possible mutation.
How are your plants looking now? I'd like to see a photo of your grow. Those leaves look like a possible mutation.
JDwinell
Well-Known Member
Rust??? Leaves getting wet???
- Thread starter
- #8
Leaves are not wet unless I spray them.
- Thread starter
- #9
In the veg tent, the 2 saddest looking plants (and the one in the back right corner) have already been harvested, re-potted and and put back in to re-vegetate. I just sprayed again and put down some diatomaceous earth. Flower tent looks OK, maybe a little spindly.
cbdhemp808
Well-Known Member
nice!
were those weird leaves on just one plant?
were those weird leaves on just one plant?
- Thread starter
- #11
cbdhemp808
Well-Known Member
Amazing. Are you talking about the weird leaf tips? Are you sure those were fungus gnats and not something else? Did you ever actually see bugs on the leaves, top side or bottom side?
- Thread starter
- #13
Yes, I have removed dozens (maybe hundreds of leaves) with this same or similar damage. I have had fungus gnat before, but they were slightly larger and didn't chew on leaves. I'm not sure if these are a different variety variety fungus gnats, or different species altogether. And I'm not sure if they are doing the chewing. I haven't found anything on the leaves when I scan them with the microscope (cheap but pretty nifty USB microscope). These flies, what ever they are, are coming out of the soil, and when I spray, 5 to10 of them come flying out of the foliage of each plant.
cbdhemp808
Well-Known Member
I think there's two things going on... one, the bugs, and the other a mutation or something else that causes the leaves to be deformed.
I think the mostly likely explanation for the deformed leaves is the re-vegging. I've seen spiral-curled leaves during re-veg. It's a well-known phenomenon. Also, leaves can be deformed in other ways... single leaflet, etc. That said, I personally haven't seen what your leaves look like, specifically, associated with re-veg.
Did only your re-vegging plants show this?
- Thread starter
- #15
No, it is all of them, seed grown, cuttings, and re-veg. Some of the other guys thought it might be a nutrient lockout issue. I was using miracle grow all purpose in the veg tent every 2 weeks as recommended, when they all started looking yellow between feedings and greened up nicely after feeding. So then I bumped it up to weekly. Might be over doing it. Still the leaves that are almost cut short, but still have the tip on it makes me think it is chewed.
cbdhemp808
Well-Known Member
Well, without evidence of bugs actually attacking the leaves, I would tend to go with a mutation of some sort... except it affected all of your plants! I'm stumped.
Sueet
Well-Known Member
I've always kind of assumed that the leaf mutations when fungus gnats are present is due to the damage they do to the roots when they are babies. Not sure specifically why but it seems reasonable to me. I have seen similar oddly shaped leaves in houseplants when they had fungus gnats bad. (my hoyas especially did not like them) Yay for discovering mosquito bits!
- Thread starter
- #18
Oh well, I will just keep after the bugs and cut back on the feeding a bit. Once I get the bugs eliminated all together, I can see if the leaf trouble clears up. The bugs are annoying enough that they gotta be eradicated whether or not they are doing the leaf damage. I'm just going to assume that they are some sort of fungus gnat for now and try some of the fixes for that next, while cutting back on the feeding. Thanx for all the insights.
This does not look like a Fungus Gnat.I have something eating the leaf tips and sides. Have some gnat looking things flying around that look like fungus gnats but I didn't think that they would eat the leaves.
The other day it occurred to me that it looks like a Midge. If I read the info correctly on this insect it shows up in the late spring or early summer when the eggs hatch. It shows up on land in areas near lakes, ponds and slow moving rivers. As adults they feed on sap or the nectar in flowers but as juveniles their food is decomposing organic matter. I could not find any references to them eating living leaves, as in the ones still on the plant. They like to lay their eggs in very wet areas with a lot of decomposing organic material like the shallow bottoms of lakes, ponds or the wet areas near the shoreline.