white spots on leafs

Discussion in 'Sick Plants and Problems' started by josh1990, Dec 11, 2009.

  1. there are little white spots on my plant and i think i can see little bugs under the leafs, whats the best way to get rid?
     

  2. Courtesy of the Nutrients/Bugs/Various Problems Guide <---- link

    Spider Mites - Spider mites are not insects but are more closely related to spiders. These arachnids have four pairs of legs, no antennae and a single, oval body region. Most spider mites have the ability to produce a fine silk webbing. Spider mites are very tiny, being less than 1/50 inch (0.4mm) long when adults. Spider mites have tiny mouthparts modified for piercing individual plant cells and removing the contents. This results in tiny yellow or white speckles. When many of these feeding spots occur near each other, the foliage takes on a yellow or bronzed cast. Once the foliage of a plant becomes bronzed, it often drops prematurely. Heavily infested plants may be discolored, stunted or even killed. Web producing spider mites may coat the foliage with the fine silk which collects dust and looks dirty. Spider mite species seem to be warm weather or cool weather active pests. The twospotted, European red, honeylocust, and oak spider mites do best in dry, hot summer weather. The spruce and southern red spider mites do best in cool spring and fall weather. All spider mites go through the same stages of development. Adult females usually lay eggs on their host plants. The eggs hatch in days to weeks into the first stage, called a larva. Larvae are round bodied and have only three pairs of legs. The larvae feed for a few days, seek a sheltered spot to rest and then molt into the first nymphal stage. The first nymph now has four pairs of legs. The first nymphs feed a few days, rest and molt into the second nymph. The second nymphs feed, rest and molt into the adult stage. The males are usually the size of the second nymph and have pointed abdomens. The females have rounded abdomens and are the largest mites present. Most spider mites spend the winter in the egg stage but the twospotted spider mite over winters as adult females resting in protected places.




    Solution - Early detection of spider mites, before damage is noticed, is VERY important. The tiny spider mites can be detected only by a full and thorough leaf inspection (on both sides of the leaf). If you find Spider Mites you must act fast and hit them hard with either a bleach solution (1 tablespoon of bleach to 1 gallon of 95F, pH balanced, water in a spray bottle.) or use a miticide with Abamectin <http://pmep.cce.cornell.edu/profiles...ectin-ext.html> or lindane <http://pmep.cce.cornell.edu/profiles...f-lindane.html> in it. That seems to work best. There are insect predators <Natural Pest Control> that can help in providing some CONTROL but this does not mean 100% eradication and in a consumable crop that is what we are after. The predator mite can help to control them if chemical sprays are not your thing.

    White Flies - White flies behave just like spider mites. The insect hides underneath the leaf, and sucks it's dinner from it. Which results in white spots on the top side of the leaf. White flies are easily spotted with the naked eye. If you shake the plant a little, they'll fly around. They look like little white moths, around 2 millimeters in size.



    Solution - A sizeable infestation can be combated with your favorite insecticide. If you're not so anxious to use such strong methods, you can purchase assassinator wasps the ichneumon fly (Encarsia formosa). This natural enemy doesn't sting people, but works well at eliminating white flies. Since it's only a small wasp (smaller than the white fly itself), it takes a while before all the white flies have disappeared. Additionally, you have to put new assassinator wasps out approximately every two weeks.
     
  3. yikes let us know what happens.
     
  4. cheers mate, ill try the bleach thing, seems easiest. do i just spray it once? or over a period?
     

  5. I'm not sure - I've never had that problem. I just copied that information from the guide (i linked in my first response).... someone else might know though - so, I'll bump this up for you.
     
  6. hey -- another option is lady bugs! I don't know where you live - but you can purchase lady bugs for your grow space. They eat soft bodied insects like aphids which can destroy entire crops -- but the lady bugs don't eat your plants.

    I started adding lady bugs into my grow space when my plants were a week old - and have never had to worry about a bug problem
     
  7. nice bit of info that is i had ladybirds in my grow room an thought u little bastards .....get out .......so the moral of this story is treat lady birds with open arms
     
  8. thanks for the help guys
     
  9. here are some pics,they arnt very good quality bt hope they help... can any1 see a problem? i think its about 4 weeks now, seems to be going quite slow.
     

    Attached Files:

  10. Do you pour water over them? I know for a fact that I have hard water and if I spray my plants they get stuff that looks kinda like that. But usually its more consistant. Maybe you just have kinda hard water?
     
  11. i spray water on it...
     
  12. they look a little bit small for 4 weeks old. What kind of soil are you using? one of your leaves looks like it either has a pH problem or nute burn. it's just on the very tip.
     
  13. i am using compost from a local garden centre and i mixed in some vermicilite. and yh think its nute burn... i looked at my plant today and 2 leafs were dead nearly fell off... still green but really soft :S no idea whats hapend, the only thing i can think of is either spider mites or my light was too close
     

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