problem suddenly

[raquibird]

I have attached photos of the problem - any feedback is greatly appreciated.

Thanks so much.

Raquibird.


We grow outside; plants flowering beautifully - have attached photo of bud.

raquibird Reviewed by raquibird on 08-29-2010. problem suddenly I have attached photos of the problem - any feedback is greatly appreciated. Thanks so much. Raquibird. We grow outside; plants flowering beautifully - have attached photo of bud. Rating: 5

[Weezard]

I have attached photos of the problem - any feedback is greatly appreciated.

Thanks so much.

Raquibird.


We grow outside; plants flowering beautifully - have attached photo of bud.

I'm no expert, but that one leaf looks thrip bit

Aloha,
Weezard.

[headshake]

definitely some type of insect attack happening do you see little white bugs that are grain of rice shaped, but smaller? they move very fast.

-shake

[bluesteve]

Where are you growing your crop? What state, and how far north? I've had a terrible problem in Central California with the six spotted leafhopper, also known as the Aster Leafhopper. Look for tiny white spots on your leaves. If you see them, then be looking for either a very small, all green, insect, or a slightly larger one that is tan. The green one is the nymph & the tan one is the adult. If you view one of these under a magnifier, you will see six spots on the insect's head/face. It isn't the insects bites that directly cause the problem, though.

It's a disease called, "Aster Yellows", that is spread by the pest. There is a definite pattern to the damage. It starts, usually, at the point where a branch is leaving the main stem. The fan leaf there will turn yellow. Then this will begin to progress up the main stem, out onto the branches and, finally, onto the secondary branches. This insect over winters in Mexico and ranges as far north as Canada in the summer. I've seen a series of photos of a grow in Spain in '03 that had this disease. His plants basically had no foliage from about their middles down, and were missing their fan leaves all the way to the top, yet they did form nice colas-so nice that the grower didn't even seem to be aware that it was abnormal for his plants to be denuded from the middle down!

Mine are doing the same thing. I get nice colas, but all the buds are lost. A real drag. There is no cure, though some phytoplasmas can be suppressed with injections of Oxytetracycline. I haven't yet tried it, though, as I don't know the possible ramifications of smoking tetracycline. If the plants are at least near flowering when the disease strikes, you'll still do OK, but if they have it early in the season, you're toast! Mine got it early this year, so I got desperate and erected a 2x4 frame against my 10' fence, covered it with 6 mil black plastic, & moved the plants inside every night at 8 PM and back out into the light every AM at 8, starting in late July. This minimized my loss, and they're almost ready for harvest already, and it's just the end of August! Good luck!