Spreading and worsening

[landi]

Hi all

I originally posted about a problem I was having (Diagnosis please) with our babies. Things seem to be worsening and have spread significantly to the other two plants. I don't want to get the plant pix confused so have put these in a new thread. One of each of the other two plants.

Does anyone know what it is that appears to be burrowing? I assume that is what's killing the leaves so what do I need to get rid of it? I've had a look through my book but it doesn't seem to say anything about nasties that dig.

TIA

Cheers

[Garden Knowm]

have you seen anything moving ? have you seen bugs..

looks like deficiency..

[landi]

No, I haven't seen anything. But what sort of deficiency is likely to cause tracks like those? They're almost like skid marks!

[Garden Knowm]

I wish I knew.. I definitley think that you can get away with raising your nut levels (ppm)... Make sure you PH your water to 6.8 -7.2... Your leaves look great exept for that meandering brown...

Are you using store bought soil? What kind?

[HARDDON]

Looks like overnuting to me, but I am just a boner :)

[Garden Knowm]

I think that if it were over nuted the leaves would have more deformation.. curling at the edges and such... And when the plants get nut burnt the burning starts at the tips...

landi, what is your nut regiment like ?

[Zandor]

is it only on the lower parts of the tree?

If it is you may be watering and splashing water on the leaves and the sun is burning them. That is one thing it looks like to me.

[HARDDON]

Maybe its the dreaded MG soil :eek:

[landi]

I don't think it's water splashes. They only got a couple of hours of direct sunlight a day as we had them around the side of the patio. They only had sunlight first thing - and far too early for me to be out there washing the patio. :)

It's gradually spreading up, and out. I think there's definitely got to be some sort of nasty as well, as there are holes starting to appear in the leaves. Something is having a feed. But I can't *see* anything.

But whether that's causing the brown spots, is another matter. Too much Mg is a possibility. We nearly got caught out by not enough, last year. I've been giving them about a teaspoon of epsom salts once a week. Maybe they didn't need that much and I've overdone it. I haven't fed anything except water for the last week but the problem doesn't seem to be slowing down any.

[HARDDON]

What soil are you feeding them?
And, why are you giving epsom salts each week?
And what did you nute with and how often?

[Marc Benson]

Those 'squiggly lines' sure look like the tracks of some type of critter eating away at the leaves to me. You can buy different colored sticky traps and possibly see if you catch anything. Supposedly the brighter colors work best like yellow, pink, bright blue. Just a thought.

I can't see how it can be water splashing on the leaves. I've soaked mine before and had them laying in the dirt and they look fine.

As for fertilizer problems. The yellow 'tracks' I see aren't caused by any nutritional problem. The brown spots I have on mine right now and it turned out to be a pH problem more than anything. Water was to high. Lowered it down to around 6.7 and we'll see what happens. Just some thoughts. I for sure am not an expert. Just read a lot.

[Garden Knowm]

Marc has a great idea with those yellow sticky traps... but I still doubt its bugs

JMO - I am not a fan of epson salts unless your baby is asking for it..

Any red on the stems?

[landi]

Hi all

Let's try and kill several birds with one post.

> What soil are you feeding them?

They're potted up in a generic potting compost. Probably about a John Innes number three (or, Juan Innes numero tres, as we live in Spain :)) and which they've been thriving on very nicely until a couple of weeks ago.

> And, why are you giving epsom salts each week?

We had a hell of a problem with an Mg deficiency last year and nearly killed them off, so this year we've been trickling some in to prevent the problem reoccurring, as we're using the same type of compost.

> And what did you nute with and how often?

Half a capful of Bachumus ecohemp-c (which we bought from a local headshop, which has since closed, last year) in a gallon of water, once a week.

> Those 'squiggly lines' sure look like the tracks of some type of critter eating away at the leaves to me. You can buy different colored sticky traps and possibly see if you catch anything. Supposedly the brighter colors work best like yellow, pink, bright blue. Just a thought.

A good thought, at that. I'll see what we can beat out of our local garden centre.

> I can't see how it can be water splashing on the leaves. I've soaked mine before and had them laying in the dirt and they look fine.

I can understand why that was suggested. We live in Spain and the sun is a bit fierce from June-August.

> As for fertilizer problems. The yellow 'tracks' I see aren't caused by any nutritional problem.

Especially as the leaves are slowly looking like well-worn lettuce! They *seem* to be mainly eating the newer leaves, even though the tracks are in the older leaves. But I can't find anything crawling around, so the bloody things are keeping a *very* low profile. I was going to try and get some sort of generic spray but I'm afraid of causing more harm than good.

> The brown spots I have on mine right now and it turned out to be a pH problem more than anything. Water was to high. Lowered it down to around 6.7 and we'll see what happens. Just some thoughts. I for sure am not an expert. Just read a lot.

I've read a fair bit. But it doesn't always cover every angle, unfortunately. But, we're learning.

> Any red on the stems?

No, they're lovely and green.

Thanks for all your help. It's much appreciated.

Cheers