Bizarre mutant or leaf chewer?

[therevverend]

Checking out my buddy's plants the other day, he's got one that's all fucked up. The tips are a mess.

This has been going on for a while now, since early June. It's a Grape Ape hybrid which tend to have variagation but this is something much worse. It looks like slugs or caterpillars have been chewing on the tips but there are none to be found. It's in the middle of a patch and is touching it's neighbor plants which are 100% healthy and vigorous. Not a single damaged leaf. If it is being attacked by something it's because it's already been weakened by whatever caused the leaf weirdness. Doesn't make sense that it wouldn't attack the other plants to at least some degree. He wants to cull it, I'm hoping he doesn't because I want to see what kind of flowers form.

 

[Dog Star]

Broad mites..

 

[therevverend]

Yeah that's a good call, likely to be what it is. He has a microscope so we'll find out for sure in the next couple days. There are other possibilities, I've seen that sort of curled new leaf growth before, on plants not infected by broad mites.

The plant is heavily nutrient deficient, when he fertilizes it the leaves uncurl. When I saw it in mid June it was really fucked up, now it's late July and there's still no sign on the neighboring plants. Broad mites can be attracted to certain plants almost exclusively but it's strange there's none of that curling in the rest of the garden.

The plants are grown from seed, no clones or source for the broad mites to spread from. Of course they hitch rides easily enough, on clothes, produce, veggie starts, fruit trees, I know broad mites have entered the region from California. They're originally a tropical pest I wonder how well they overwinter.

I mentioned mutation because I've seen mutant ganja with that sort of fucked up growth. I've also seen mosiac looking disease in blackberries spread to ganja that causes the new growth to curl like that. I'm not calling it 'mosaic virus' because I don't know enough about it, what the disease really is.

We'll see, if it's broad mites the plant should be culled and destroyed. If it's something else fertilizer may snap it out of it's funk, it's decent sized so worth saving. Not into plants with that sort of distorted growth I can't imagine the flowers turning out great.

 

[Dog Star]

Yeah that's a good call, likely to be what it is. He has a microscope so we'll find out for sure in the next couple days. There are other possibilities, I've seen that sort of curled new leaf growth before, on plants not infected by broad mites.

The plant is heavily nutrient deficient, when he fertilizes it the leaves uncurl. When I saw it in mid June it was really fucked up, now it's late July and there's still no sign on the neighboring plants. Broad mites can be attracted to certain plants almost exclusively but it's strange there's none of that curling in the rest of the garden.

The plants are grown from seed, no clones or source for the broad mites to spread from. Of course they hitch rides easily enough, on clothes, produce, veggie starts, fruit trees, I know broad mites have entered the region from California. They're originally a tropical pest I wonder how well they overwinter.

I mentioned mutation because I've seen mutant ganja with that sort of fucked up growth. I've also seen mosiac looking disease in blackberries spread to ganja that causes the new growth to curl like that. I'm not calling it 'mosaic virus' because I don't know enough about it, what the disease really is.

We'll see, if it's broad mites the plant should be culled and destroyed. If it's something else fertilizer may snap it out of it's funk, it's decent sized so worth saving. Not into plants with that sort of distorted growth I can't imagine the flowers turning out great.

Am never haved Broad Mites... but from looking other people
plant problems am learned that those kind of growth can be done
by BMs..

Hope they are not and could be solved whithouth culling plant..


Kind regards Reverend

 

[therevverend]

I'm pretty sure you're right Dog Star, that's exactly what it looks like. I've never had it before either or seen it in this area so I'm holding out a bit of hope for my friend. Thank God it's not my plants! I'll keep you updated on what we find out.

 

[Dog Star]

I'm pretty sure you're right Dog Star, that's exactly what it looks like. I've never had it before either or seen it in this area so I'm holding out a bit of hope for my friend. Thank God it's not my plants! I'll keep you updated on what we find out.

Yep.. those BM are biggest menace i sees in Cannabis.. very tricky
pest..

dont know is there some organic solution on ridding BMs from garden as i will look to solve problems that way.. but he needs to hurry as soon this plants will go in flower.. then it will be late that he gets great results in bud development..

Wish best anyway to you and your budy and that they dont spread..

Will check for update on what happends..

 

[therevverend]

In the old days when we got mites, they were spider mites. No one had heard of broad or russet mites and they weren't a thing yet. We'd have to use avid or forbid to get rid of them, nasty chemicals. The only good thing is that they break down in the environment quickly, you're probably okay if you spray the stuff early in Veg. Most likely t won't stick around inside the plant and the room through flowering.

Still terrible stuff. I knew a grower, an idiot, who sprayed his plants with avid every week. As a preventative measure. He had a clogged sprayer, he was sucking on it trying to get the clog loose. Then he started pumping it trying to work the clog out but it was pointed at my face. The clog came loose and I got a full dose of Avid in my mouth and eyes and nose. Wasn't happy about that but I'm still alive so..

Now there's lots of organic solutions. I know a legal 502 recreational grower, outdoors in eastern Washington. I was actually quite proud of him, doesn't use any chemicals he uses predatory mites. The only problem is that once they devour the mites they starve.

The predator mites are a good option but probably not practical in this situation. The plant is good sized but replaceable, I think he should cull it. There's a fungus you can spray that will kill broad mites, there's neem oil, there's other stuff that's organic and hopefully safe for the body. You're right he doesn't have much time until flowering, 2 or 3 weeks, to figure it out.

He's the sort of guy who almost never uses sprays. I've seen him get rid of spider mites indoors with just a water sprayer. I wouldn't be surprised if he uses that the rest of the season, sprays the mites off the plants daily. Not so practical during flowering though.

 

[ozza]

Spinosad

 

[therevverend]

I'll bring a conclusion to this little saga, such that it is. Once he gave the plants nutrients, nitrogen and phosphate the leaf curling got better but was still occurring. He examined leaves under a microscope and didn't find broad mites. He was over his limit so the plant was culled, we'll have to chalk it up as inconclusive. I wish I'd examined it under the microscope as well, in case he missed something.

Whether it's virus, fungal, broad mites, or a mutation we'll never know. The strain is prone to various amounts of variagation depending on how it's being fed so that's a strong possibility. No other plants, even the ones it was touching, showed evidence of disease which makes broad mites much less likely. Or any sort of pathogen. There's the idea that the genetic weakness makes the plant a magnet for disease, sparing it's garden mates. I'll check back in if anything else pops up in his garden but I doubt it will.