Currntly growing 8 plants under 8 CFL Bulbs with heat lamps (each bulb is 100 watts, 6500k with 1600 lumens each). I plan on using the cfl bulbs only during vegetative and then I will be switching to an HID bulb during the flowering stage. Basically all of the plants are doing well except one. The one plant has really splotchy leaves - the colors are between forest green and lime green. It almost looks like the leaves are tie-dyed. I took pictures and sought advice at a local hydroponic shop. They said the plant should he fine, but it has been over a week and there has been no sign of change. I've tried researching but I haven't really found a conclusive answer so i was hoping that someone here would be able to help... any advice would be amazing!
Hey, just wondering how much you water/feed that plant? So you water/feed till you see runoff? What kind of soil? What kind of nutes if any? How far away are the lights?whats the temp in the room with the lights off and on? What's the humidity with lights on and off? Sent from my iPad using Grasscity Forum
Just an FYI...those CFL bulbs are 100w EQUIV..Actual wattage is more like 23w each! Also..to my untrained eye, new growth is looking fine..JMHO! Looking a bit young for nutes. I would wait for about 4-5 nodes before starting ANY nutes.. If you are using a good quality soil (I do see Perlite in there..Good), there is enough nutrients in it for at least 30 days.
Could it be mosaic virus? I've only seen it on zucchinis but the texture of the new growth looks similar. Do the leaves feel bumpy?
Hey guys, thanks for your replies... So I give the plant water about every 3 days. To make sure I don't overwater, I just stick my finger in the soil (with clean hands lol) and if it's dry one - two inches down, then I give it water. I fill up the pot with water until I start to see run off on the bottom. Right now all of the plants are in 75% Roots organic soil with an additional 20% Perlite and 5% coco coir mixed in. I'm not giving it any nutes right now. The plants are in their second week and I think it's too early. I'm going to wait until the end of the 3rd week to the beginning of the 4th before I introduce nutrients. The temp fluctuates in between 70-75 degrees and the humidity is consistent. Like I said earlier, I'm using 8 100 watt CFL bulbs for veg and then plan on switching to an HID bulb. (Buzzer777 thanks for the heads up about the wattage - I plan on getting a few more as soon as possible). The plants are on a 24hr light schedule until they start to flower: they are never without light and I have a small fan that oscillates fresh air throughout the closet. The plant doesn't feel any different compared to the others - it only differs in the way it looks. The new growth started off fine, but it's slowly starting to look like the rest of the plant with a tie-dye streak pattern. I'm leaning towards mosaic virus or some other plant virus or deficiency. Do you guys think I should I keep growing the plant or should I get rid of it? I don't want to give up on it, but I also don't want it to get the other 8 plants sick! Any advice would be amazing
So after a bunch of research it turns out the plant did have the mosaic virus. I copied the post that helped me determine it because exactly what the user said happened to me. "Every time I see someone with these problems experienced growers always reply that it is due to over feeding etc. those are always legit responses, always great things to check. But in reality what I see over and over again is hemp mosaic virus or tobacco mosaic virus. Please please community look into this issue and the characteristics of the virus as it is becoming an incredibly huge epidemic as friends pass it along with cuttings." In veg you can identify it when: 1) the leaf tip turns almost on a 90 degree angle. They are extremely curled, even in new growth and can almost resemble fern leaves 2) leaf variegation - almost like a streaky tie-dyed patter 3) almost looks a little mutated 4) slower than normal growth rates - compared to other plants, the grow about 1/3rd slower than the normal rate. Compared with others that sprouted that were planted and sprouted the same day, this plant looked stunted. It can be transferred from plant to plant by even something as simple as the plant leaves touching another healthy plant, so when you identify it you need to immediately get rid of it and the soil. DO NOT reuse the soil or you can contaminate future plants. I would recommend even throwing the pot away too. Good luck.
Hope that's the last you see in this grow.. I've seen 3 acre fields decimated by the spread of mosaic virus in less than a week.
I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Luckily, I haven't seen any signs in the other plants but i'm still keeping my eye out. Thanks for you help in identifying what was going on! Without you, the virus would have spread and infected all of the plants before I realized what was going on.
Just a final update to end this post: I ended up washing the walls of the grow closet with mild dish soap and warm water. All of the other plants are entering week 5 of veg and all are healthy/strong and show no outward signs of the virus. Caught it in time to stop the spread. ✌