Rotting Plant

[Alatar]

Hey GC! I have a sick plant.

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The plant has a strong smell of rotting vegetation. That's probably a bad thing.

Here is the story of this plant:

It started outside sometime this summer. I can't say exactly when, because this undertaking began as a bit of a lark. Probably some time in late July. Here is is on August 31st.

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The plant came inside and went under four 54 watt T5s on September 18th.

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You can see that she had some yellowing leaves at the bottom. This plant grew in Miracle-Gro soil and received weekly feeding of MG nutes while outside. You also might notice some bird crap. Seagulls.

The plant started flowering on Sept 21st, but I kept in 18/6 and the flowering subsided. She's a girl.

As time passed, the yellowing got worse. Fox Farm Grow Big made no discernible impact. And we had bugs. Gnats.

On September 27th I sprayed the plant with a neem oil solution.
On September 28th I sprayed the plant with water to rinse off the dish soap in the neem solution.
On October 2nd I flushed with 21 gallons of pH 6.8 water.
On October 4th I put her outside for the day to dry off in the sun.
More gnats.
On October 5th I sprayed her with neem oil solution.
On October 6th I sprayed the plant with water.
The yellowed leaf syndrome worsened.
On October 9th I sprayed with fruit-safe insecticide.

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And on October 10th, today, things had worsened. The yellowed leaves were rotting. See the photos at the top for reference. The plant stank. So I did some judicious pruning. Well, it would have been judiscious a week ago, I guess. Today I did some recalcitrant pruning.

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Perhaps I am dealing with fungus. I don't know. I don't know much. I do know that I am in need of some guidance. Help!

[Alatar]

Looks like it is a fungus. It spreads very quickly.

Today I cut most of the vegetation off of the plant, anything marked, and hit it again with the 3 in 1 garden spray, which claims to "slow fungus." One wonders what unslowed fungus looks like.

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My girl plant is swiftly disappearing. Any assistance would be appreciated.

[Alatar]

Forty three views and no takers. Doesn't anyone want to get in on this horror show?

[dsq1989]

u really shouldnt have cut all them fam leaves off man. thats how the plant makes its food and most of them leaves looked liked there still green. green= still alive so in the future leave them alone. it looks likw you cut like 75% of the fan leaves off which is undoubtebly gona stress the shit out of her which could lead into some problems for your girl. do you have any idea what your ph is?

[Alatar]

I only cut leaves that were showing black. I started off only cutting off leaves that were obviously gone, but the fungus, or whatever it is, was racing through the plant, so then I got more extreme. And it hasn't stopped spreading. Truth is, the plant may be a goner.

I think it was my reluctance to prune that got me to this point. If I hadn't left the vegetation as dense as it was, I might have avoided the problem entirely.

Yeah, I'd say she is pretty stressed. I'm kinda stressed myself. But I smell better.

pH is between 6.6 and 6.8.

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She used to be really bushy. Now she has a bit of a punk look to her. Of course, if things don't start to slow down a bit, we'll be down to bare wood in no time.

dsq, thanks for taking the time to reply.

[dsq1989]

no problem bud. the best thing yoiu can do now is just keep her stress free. maybe she will bounce back but if not at least you got some expirience out of it. gl with everything hope it all works out for ya.

[Alatar]

The experience continues. The fungus has spread to my number two vegging plant and I believe it may have spread to the single plant that I currently have flowering (day 26).

Here is a selection of some the leaves I took off the second vegging plant today:

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I did not take any leaves off of the first vegging plant today. At this point just about all the first plant's remaining leaves show some signs of the disease, but it may be slowing a little in its progress through the scant remaining vegetation. None of the leaves were totally gone today.

Those leaves from the second plant pictured above looked good yesterday. This thing moves fast when it hits a healthy plant. I don't have any photos of the flowering plant. It was buttoned up for the night before I reached for the camera.

I sprayed the two vegging plants with the fruit-safe anti-fungal again. Figured I had nothing to lose, though it seems rather fungus-safe as well. Actually, It doesn't claim to kill fungus, just slow it down.

If it is fungus. What do I know?

Things are looking grim in the garden of Alatar the Blue.

[myles117]

hey bro, I have class in 20 min but at first glanc Id say thats a nutrient ockout due to ph issues. Have you been adjusting the ph of the water/water nutrient mix prior to feeding??? The nutrients tend to build up in the soil and pull the ph down resulting in certain nutrients beeing unavailable to the plaant. Grab a ph kit and adjust about 4 gallons of water to 7 and flush it through the pot. let the water drain into something and dispose of it. at the end as the last bit tof the 4 gallons drains, collect a litle and test the ph. You want it between 6.5-6.9 Best of luck bro

the nutrient deficiency/lockout maarks on leaves can look very similar to mold/fungus. I think in this case its just a nutrient prob not a microscopic pest

[Alatar]

Hey, Myles. Thanks for dropping by.

The runoff pH was a bit high, 7.2, so I flushed it with 21 gallons of pH 6.8 water about 10 days ago (7 gallon pot). I got the runoff down to 6.8. Since then, the water I've been giving it has been in the 6.6 to 6.8 range.

[Alatar]

Here is the plant that we've been flowering for 27 days.

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She's not looking too good. Her fan leaves feel paper dry and they are obviously badly discolored.

[Alatar]

And here is what vegging plant number one looks like today:

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As I said, both vegging plants were flushed 10 days ago. A summary of recent activity is at the top of this thread.

The flowering plant has not been flushed. I do not have a pH reading on its runoff. There normally is no runoff. The Miracle-Gro soil is dense. To get runoff would require overwatering. I assume that the runoff pH would be in the neighborhood of that of the vegging plants before they were flushed, 7.2.

The other vegging plant is in much better shape, but it too is starting to deteriorate along the same lines as the first. I suppose I might try feeding them. What do I have to lose, other than what I am losing anyway?

[nancybotwin]

I would try taking the plants out of the pots and shaking out the soil and replacing it in a looser soil with vermiculite..Rinse the roots out and replant them and then wait a week then fertilize. Good luck.

[Alatar]

Nancy,

Thanks for the suggestion. I think I may take it. I find myself very open to suggestions at this point.

[nancybotwin]

Thats a tough one. I hope you can save them.

[Alatar]

We'll know soon enough. I re-potted the more afflicted of the two vegging plants in no-name potting soil and about 25 percent perlite. I added a full dose of Grow Big and a couple of drops of SuperThrive with a pH of about 6.5.

The roots looked healthy. Everything above the soil line is looking pretty horrendous. The next two or three days may tell the tale.

My much degraded bagseed princess:

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This is proving to be an engaging hobby.