White Spots... look like spilled nutes but they seem to spread

[MedicinalHerb]

Hi,

I am a 4 days from harvest running in coco, hand watering, using 600watt hps for light. I am now flushing. I found some white, in most cases circular, spots. I think it may be PM? I first found these spots on about 4 leaves week 6. I cut off a sample and had a friend look at it. She thought it was nothing serious.

Now it is week 8.5 and while clearing out some leaf in prep for harvest I found some more spots over a wider number of leaves. (Probably about 20). The spots all were located in one section of the garden bellow the canopy. I cut out all the "infected leaf" and any buds that had spots near by. The spots rub right off leaving a normal looking leaf behind. I have had a large number of fungus gnats in the grow area, and a spider or two. I don't know if this is relevant.

The photos are high res and should allow a closer look if you want to zoom in.

Thanks for your advice! I hope this does not spell doom!

 

[MedicinalHerb]

Damn, so it is probably pm. I have 3 days from harvest. What should I do? Unfortunately I can't tell which buds may be infected. I guess I should definitely not hang dry in the same area that my girls got the PM in?

 

[Guest]

Dry air. I don't see much pm on a bud because the humidity is lower in flower room. That is pm. Cut off what you can see and ventilate well when drying. This is not going to be a jar cure. If you had more time lowering the humidity would help more than anything. Clean the room real well or this will continue. It looks as if the calyx's are swollen and this is ready.

 

[MedicinalHerb]

If I air dry and don't jar cure what will happen to the bud? Loose smell and taste? Also, how ill I know when it is ready to smoke? I thought the burping was a necessary step. During the jar cure aren't most of the unwanted compounds burned off? I have lots of plants with no sign of PM. Should I not jar cure those as well?

As far as the room goes, I plan to change rooms soon. My next one will have more fans, less undergrowth and a deep cleaning.

 

[HeadyPete]

Damn, doesn't look like powdery mildew that I have seen before. Is it getting worse? It does look like minerals left over from evaporated water.

Are you sure that some water didn't drip and dry on your plant? Condensation above your garden? Maybe you missed the other spots before, and now it seems as if they are new.

In 2.5 weeks if it was PM it should be all over. Also, PM likes cold and damp. What are your temps lights on and off, and your humidity?

This is PM:

The link: http://www.cals.ncsu.edu/course/pp318/profiles/pm/signs.html

 

[HeadyPete]

The big spot lower right looks like one big drop that hit both leaves and left the near perfect circle print.

 

[MedicinalHerb]

Hi,

Humidity is around 40-55. Recently it has been a bit higher. Temps are around 77 with the lights on and 65 with the lights off.

I hope it isn't mildew... I haven't seen the spots grow at all I just found other leaves with spots on them. My friend watered a while ago. This may be his doing.

 

[inflorescence]

The big spot lower right looks like one big drop that hit both leaves and left the near perfect circle print.

fert (mineral like you said) residue you mean? That's what I'm thinkin.
rH is too low for PM.

 

[HeadyPete]

It's water spots, case closed

 

[Haps]

Wishful thinking chaps, PM for sure, but not too bad yet, no worries. A careful harvest will end the majority of the problem for this crop. As you harvest, separate all the leaf out, and toss it. A careful examination of the flowers will show which is infected, and I am betting that it will be a very small portion, a few buds at most, toss those also. You can then proceed as you normally do with your drying and cure, but check the first few days to make sure it is going well. I have done exactly what I just described in a similar circumstance.

Now for the real problem, you will have PM spores all over that room, and it will return, it is insidious like the borg. You need a complete room clean out, top to bottom, all equipment and surfaces, before you continue to use the room. And you need to add more air in and out to prevent this happening again. Same as above, I have done this and it worked for me. But I still get a sick feeling when I see those dots in pictures.
H

Don't forget the fan blades and ceiling

 

[HeadyPete]

So is it PM or water spots here?

Updates?

 

[Guest]

They looked like water spots to me too...

One bad thing about many of the threads they are not updated by thread starter.....

 

[HeadyPete]

Yes I know and I am getting a little fed up pouring all this time and effort into helping people's gardens and then not getting the common courtesy of an update or two....

Maybe the newbs don't know how to subscribe to their own threads.......

Well I sure know how to UNsubscribe a few......

 

[MedicinalHerb]

I apologize for the lack of updates. I really appreciated all the advice from the community it has been a great help. I only infrequently have access to a computer I feel comfortable posting from.

Anyway, I sided with the conclusion that this was indeed just some spilled nutes. My friend had watered umm unconventionally when I was gone. I cut down the harvest about a week ago and all the buds seem vibrant. None of the circles expanded.

I will post pics when I can get my friends camera again. I have not seen any signs of mold. Because I harvested over a period of days about 1/2 of the buds are now in paper bags and the rest are still hanging/laying on a screen. I will say that S15, a strain I hadn't heard of before, looks great. The yield was fantastic, well fantastic for me (about 4oz off of 4 plants in a total of 4 gallons of coco). No popcorn nugs, everything dense, and it seemed to really take to purple max and gravity (frosty dense nugs). I will definately grow that out again if I can find it. Some nice macros soon and a smoke report in a month when it is cured. God give me patience.

 

[MedicinalHerb]

Thanks for the help, it all turned out well!