Spreading and worsening

[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