Rust Fungi..!! First Time Having it. Need Some Help. Pics Included!!

So I've been growing for many years, and have dealt with just about everything, from pest, to mildew/molds, lockouts, root rot.... you name it. But I've never came up against the issue of Rust Fungus.

I just recently got it and its spreading like wild fire. I know that cold, wet conditions are ideal for Rust Fungus, so we plan to raise the temps, and apply some different Fungicides (since our current one obviously isnt working). The RH is already supper low in the room, so moisture isnt the issue, but the cold is. We dont have heaters in the room, only an AC.

Usually in winter we disconnect the vent fans from the lights, and let the lights keep the room at a suitable temperature, but recently its been pretty damn cold and the lights aren't doing the trick.

So besides my temperatures and RH, what else can I do to get rid of and better contain this rust fungus?? I've heard Baking Soda, Sulfur Powders, and Fungicide Sprays work, but I wanted to get some info from someone who has actually dealt with this before.

Any info, comments, or feedback of any kind would be great.

Here's a pic of one leaf. Some of em are worse then this and some aren't as bad.

http://boards.cannabis.com/members/m...-rust-leaf.jpg

looks more like a P deficiency to me.

Night time temps? Does this effect all leaves or just the bottoms?

How do you know it is rust fungus? I need to learn about that I guess before I go spouting off too much.....

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Originally Posted by WashougalWonder

looks more like a P deficiency to me.

Night time temps? Does this effect all leaves or just the bottoms?

How do you know it is rust fungus? I need to learn about that I guess before I go spouting off too much.....

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Haha.... I knew someone was going to say I had a nute deficiency. Its all good, and you cant really tell unless you go through the process of elimination.

So how I was able to tell is by this:

I've been using the exact same nutrients for over 2 years now. Almost everything is identical to what I've been doing for a while. All systems were recently cleaned out and fresh nutes were added.

The only thing that has changed, is the location. We moved into a bigger area (Small warehouse). The temperatures are VERY low in there at times. Cold, wet conditions are ideal for Rust Fungus. Its not wet in there, but it does get cold.

The number one thing that made me realize that this is Rust Fungus is that I brought in about 20 fresh plants from another grow site. These plants were very healthy when I first brought them in. We put them in a separate system, from the plants that already had this Rust Fungus on them. Within a few days, the new plants started showing signs of this Rust. Then a few more days pass by and there covered in it.

So that told me, that this is some how being transferred through the air. The only thing that would do something like this to my plants, that can be transferred through the air, are fungus' and mold's. They produce Spores and get blown around your grow room by the fans. Once these spores land on a plant, then the rust fungus starts to develope.

Right now.... my mind is set on a sulfur burner, but I have heard that if you've sprayed your plants with any kind of oil, like Neem Oil in the past 30 days, that entering Sulfur into your garden can burn your leaves. Still looking into it though.

I just got this product for mites, but they have a fungus stuff too. I only got a free sample, but it came the next day so if it works, you know they can get it to you fast.



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I got this and the mite stuff, but will see what the strip and then bomb will do:cool:


Good luck man:rasta:

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Originally Posted by LetsSeeYa

I just got this product for mites, but they have a fungus stuff too. I only got a free sample, but it came the next day so if it works, you know they can get it to you fast.



SNS-244
PHONE 877-626-5505
Website Sierra Natural Science Inc Home

I got this and the mite stuff, but will see what the strip and then bomb will do:cool:


Good luck man:rasta:

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Thanks a lot. We just emailed them for a sample of their Fungicide. Hopefully it will get here soon and works.

Ok, thanks for elaborating. Only change was to a different place so the spores got picked up there. Is it too late to do a bleach wash of the entire place with a pressure washer or something?

I would also consider one of those propane space heaters......not only will it warm, but increase carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide....a safety issue for peoples if kept closed in. I dont' know about the sulphur burners but I do know the propane heater will not injure plants that have had neem....of course it is not directed right at the plants, just in the intake air space....sorta preheating.

Will follow this, interesting to say the least.

Is it possible to filter the intake air with a high micron filter?

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Originally Posted by WashougalWonder

Ok, thanks for elaborating. Only change was to a different place so the spores got picked up there. Is it too late to do a bleach wash of the entire place with a pressure washer or something?

I would also consider one of those propane space heaters......not only will it warm, but increase carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide....a safety issue for peoples if kept closed in. I dont' know about the sulphur burners but I do know the propane heater will not injure plants that have had neem....of course it is not directed right at the plants, just in the intake air space....sorta preheating.

Will follow this, interesting to say the least.

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Cant pressure wash, there's no drain. The room is clean. Fresh paint on the walls, ceiling and floor.

We just put up another 1,000 watt light and now the room temp is perfect. It wasnt off too much to begin with. Only about 5 degrees. Here in southern California, we just have a couple weeks that were really cold, but its starting to heat up now.

As for the carbon monoxide.... I think I'll pass on that one. I dont feel like dying any time soon. Haha... Plus I dont think its very useful to plants either. Carbon Dioxide, we do use. Our room is enriched to about 1,600 ppm of CO2.

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Originally Posted by WashougalWonder

Is it possible to filter the intake air with a high micron filter?

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Yup. There's a filter on it. We have a closed system though. So the intake only opens up 3 times per day, for 15 minutes each time.

This Rust fungus didnt come from outside though. Its just a fungus that develops when the conditions are just right. I guess the combination of me spraying the plants, mixed with the 2 weeks of really cold weather, was all it took to get this fungus growing.

I was using a 3 in 1 spray. Fungicide, Pesticide, and Miticide. The main ingredient was just Neem Oil. Neem kills fungus by smothering it until it dies, but I guess Rust Fungus doesnt neem very much oxygen to live. So Neem should work, but just didnt do the trick here. So I just bought GreenCure Fungicide. Sprayed the plants a couple days ago. So we'll see what happens. Im going to spray them again in a few more days, then we're going to throw a sulfur burner in there overnight. Then hopefully we can move forward. This Rust crap stuns the growth of the plants. So we havent gotten any new growth for a few weeks now. We let it get out of hand, because we didnt know what the hell it was at first. Had to go through the process of elimination. Then with each thing you check, you usually have to give it a couple days to see what reaction you get from the plants. So now, almost 3 weeks later, we think we're going to have it under control. Hopefully.

We'll post some pictures soon. Just at this point, taking pictures of them like this, is not something we like to do.

I was still hoping that someone could give me some tips. Got Rust Fungus. I just read that I cant run a Sulfur Burner in there for more weeks, because I sprayed them with Neem about 2 weeks ago.

Any input would help, but this isnt a nute problem. Here's some more pics.

http://boards.cannabis.com/members/m...lipboard02.jpg

http://boards.cannabis.com/members/m...lipboard01.jpg

What a bummer. I do not understand the sulfur burner? Why not just use the propane type heater and raise the temps up? I just don't understand, but I sure feel for ya. I have always related what those pictures look like to cold stunting, but I will believe you as far as it being that rust fungus. I did not know neem will smother fungus, but isn't that also going to clog the stomata?

I'm pretty much a beginner, but my plants looked almost the same with rusty spots on them, and it turned out being a mag def. Your leaves are curling in also it looks.

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Originally Posted by WashougalWonder

What a bummer. I do not understand the sulfur burner? Why not just use the propane type heater and raise the temps up? I just don't understand, but I sure feel for ya. I have always related what those pictures look like to cold stunting, but I will believe you as far as it being that rust fungus. I did not know neem will smother fungus, but isn't that also going to clog the stomata?

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Well the temperature is starting to raise here in So Cal. So between that and the extra light we put up, that fixed the low temps. So if low temps were the problem, the plants should start to correct themselves now. The only thing is we have the exact same strains outside and there not doing this. And there exposed to even colder temps and rain. You would think that they would do the same thing.

As for the Neem, I've read that it works by suffocating the fungus. The thin layer of oil that Neem leaves, is supposed to do that. I could be wrong on exactly how it works, but thats what I've read and what the Hydro store guys say. And I dont think Neem Clogs stomata's. If you spray a plant with Neem, they usually dont look to happy about it at first, then by the next day, there standing tall with nice glossy leaves.

So how can it suffocate fungus, but still let the leaves breath..??? I have no idea. Maybe as the Stomata's release moisture into the air, they break breathing holes through the thin layer of Neem that allow them to continue to breath. Maybe.

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Originally Posted by Treez81

I'm pretty much a beginner, but my plants looked almost the same with rusty spots on them, and it turned out being a mag def. Your leaves are curling in also it looks.

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See.... Im with you on this one, but I've been using the same exact Nutrient mixture for over a year now. The only thing I changed was that I added Dutch Master's Zone, to get rid of unwanted bacteria in the growing medium. But I've also added it to my hydro system thats in a different location and that plants are doing great.

So in all, I'm left to believe that its something airborne. It could be the temperature, but thats the only other possibility. But even with that, the temps weren't that far off to begin with.

Also keep in mind that these plants have been vegging for about 3 months now and have been transferred between 3 different locations. We cant flip the lights to flower or even bring anymore plants into the grow area until we have this issue under control. Sucks.

Well, doesn't matter exactly what it is, you have identified positively the problem exists in the grow room.

If plants staying outside get colder....including the roots.....as in they are in pots above ground, then it positively is something airborne. In that case I would empty the grow room and fumigate and spray fungicide big time all over.

Conversely, if the roots outdoors are in the ground and have ground temp to keep the feet warm, then it could be the cold issue, and I have never seen a plant really recover from it if in flower.

So....You are there, just which one is it? Just how cold did that room get? Below 50 degrees? That is the magic number...in S,Cal it got that cold?

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Originally Posted by WashougalWonder

Well, doesn't matter exactly what it is, you have identified positively the problem exists in the grow room.

If plants staying outside get colder....including the roots.....as in they are in pots above ground, then it positively is something airborne. In that case I would empty the grow room and fumigate and spray fungicide big time all over.

Conversely, if the roots outdoors are in the ground and have ground temp to keep the feet warm, then it could be the cold issue, and I have never seen a plant really recover from it if in flower.

So....You are there, just which one is it? Just how cold did that room get? Below 50 degrees? That is the magic number...in S,Cal it got that cold?

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The outdoor plants are in pots, above ground.

The temps may have dropped below 50. We had one week that just passed not too long ago where it was beyond cold. I love the cold weather, and usually cruise around with shorts and flip flops on, when everyone else is all bundled up.... but this week, even I couldnt take. It was very cold. So I wouldnt doubt that it dropped below 50 for 2-3 days.

We'd hate to toss out all of our plants and start over, but we may have to. We see that the worst plants are still trying to form new growth at the tops, so we're hoping that we roll out our little plan, that they'll all recover.

We're still in Veg. We have some 3-4 foot tall plants, that are still in Veg. We cant flip the lights to flowering until this has been fixed and we get some good new growth.

The plan as of right now is to install heaters to bring the room up to a constant 85 degrees. Then treat the plants with a Potassium Bicarbonate Fungicide, until we are confident that all of the Neem Oil has been rinsed off the leaves. Then We're going to bring in a Sulfur Burner, and let that burn for 2 nights in a row. Then start spraying the plants down with a 3-in-1 spray that has sulfur in it. We're also going to crank up the CO2 a little.

So we'll see what happens.

sulfer burn is fine with neem oil not same day but you dont need to wait weeks just tell it dries you should still spray off the neem 12 hours later with plain ph ed water the sulferburn changes the ph of the plant skin so fungi dont like to grow safer soap is also a good alternative also 10ml 35% hydrogen peroxide to 1gal water will do the job lite spray:thumbsup:

nute deficiancy caseued buy improper PH or improper nute usage. a flush and light nutes is needed. signs are heavey greening with heavey dead material on it. means its not a pest fungus is usualy somewhat differant but could be the same as well. fungus will turn black usualy

I would keep root temps under 80 if I could.

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Originally Posted by BUSHMANNINJA

sulfer burn is fine with neem oil not same day but you dont need to wait weeks just tell it dries you should still spray off the neem 12 hours later with plain ph ed water the sulferburn changes the ph of the plant skin so fungi dont like to grow safer soap is also a good alternative also 10ml 35% hydrogen peroxide to 1gal water will do the job lite spray:thumbsup:

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Thanks a lot man. I hope your right. We're gonna get that sulfur burner in there in a day or two. So we'll see what happens.

I just bought the Safer 3-in-1 spray. A buddy of mine told me its pretty good.

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Originally Posted by MadSativa

nute deficiancy caseued buy improper PH or improper nute usage. a flush and light nutes is needed. signs are heavey greening with heavey dead material on it. means its not a pest fungus is usualy somewhat differant but could be the same as well. fungus will turn black usualy

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Thanks man, but its not a PH problem. We have 3 different PH meter's that are all calibrated at least once per week. Our PH is dead on.

Not all fungus turns black. There are hundreds of different kinds of fungi.

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Originally Posted by WashougalWonder

I would keep root temps under 80 if I could.

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Right now there between 65-70. During that cold peak, they dropped down to about 58-60.

Any update?

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Originally Posted by WashougalWonder

Any update?

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Yes sir!!



So last night we threw in a sulfur burner and set the ventilation and fans to turn off while the sulfur burned for 4 hours during the night cycle. We're going to repeat this step one more time tonight, just to make sure that we covered every centimeter of our room.

Then tomorrow we're going to flush all of our reservoirs and start with fresh nutes.

Once we get everything flushed, we'll be adding a batch of 10 healthy teens into our third system.

We bought Safer Brand 3-in-1 spray, that has sulfur inside of it, to keep the PH of the leaves at unlivable levels for fungus. We'll be maintain things with that spray. Then maybe about once per week, we'll be doing a sulfur burn.

We'll also be installing a new filter on our intake, one that will better filter out fungi and other bacteria.

After that... all we can really do is sit with our fingers crossed.

eagle 20 works on rust if you can get it. I wouldn't spray it after week 1 of flower. Bayer disease control is basically the same thing but a different brand. 2ml a gallon on the eagle 20, 10 ml a gallon on the bayer. These 2 are really the only things that work well everything else is just a bandaid.

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Originally Posted by u.g.u

eagle 20 works on rust if you can get it. I wouldn't spray it after week 1 of flower. Bayer disease control is basically the same thing but a different brand. 2ml a gallon on the eagle 20, 10 ml a gallon on the bayer. These 2 are really the only things that work well everything else is just a bandaid.

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Thanks man... The sulfur burner we've been using seems to be working great. We brought new plants into the grow room the other day and put them on the same system as the infected ones and they havent caught it. Still growing strong. So the sulfur burner seems to be doing the trick.

We also bought Safer 3-in-1 spray, which also has sulfur in it and things look to be going in a much more positive direction.

Congrates!

Thanks a lot. We're not all the way out of the woods yet though. The plants are still a little weird. We're getting new growth like crazy, but its all a little deformed.

Well... that looked to be the problem. Rust Fungus... if you want to get rid of it... buy or make your own sulfur burner. We tried about 4-5 different Fungicide sprays and all they did was seem to make it worse because it added moisture to something that thrives on moisture. Sulfur burners surround your plants with a dry smokey vapor of sulfur that kills and prevent fungus, while also eliminating most bugs. Get rid of all of those sprays and get a sulfur burner.

So off to our other project. We'll post pictures of our plants recovery as they get further along. But our new project is that we're going to be doing some breeding. We have 50 seeds below of 5-8 different strains. All regular seeds, so well doing a male selection and then finding the perfect females to breed them with. Its gonna be some fun.

http://boards.cannabis.com/members/m...ng-program.jpg

Old thread but just curious if you have anymore to add 2 yrs later. Did it stop it totally as long as you burned once a wk? I am learning as i go and just did my first 4hr burn in a 20x30x10ft greenhouse. I need to make a mother decision and if you can help thank you.