Hi!

I noticed a few plants in my clone/mother room developed this dreaded leaf mould business. I've removed the offending leaves, but I was just wondering what else I could do to treat them? The babies have been vegging for over 5 weeks (not really babies any more!!).

As for prevention, I think I've improved the airflow but it's really only a cupboard so it's difficult. I'll clean it all out properly and see if I can't install some extraction for the next one.

I read OT's post which mentioned BioLife but I think that was more related to prevention than treatment... ? I could be wrong there, heh. I've also seen a few people mention copper fungacide - is this suitable? Will it do any good? Is it ok to use on 5 week veg clones and a couple of mothers? Will it leave any chemical residue in my plants?

Thanks people!

try using biosept it's got a organic stamp ment to be for hydro but works on fungi,grey mould,wilt,stem root & pythuim come's in a sprayer ..........

Comes in a sprayer too? Wow, cool. Have you tried that on a soil grow?

Also, is that good for treatment? It actually attacks the mould?

yes i know people that use in all medium's( hydro , soil and coco) and it does kill mould

This is an article I've written for the latest Newsletter but it has not been published yet so I thought I might post it up here. There have been a few members with the same problem and some great advice. Here is the article in 'bare bones' form without pictures or anything but contains some good info.


Trouble shooter; Leaf Spot Fungus
As everyone may have seen recently, there have been quite a few members whose plants have been suffering from Leaf Spot Fungus. The problem has been becoming more frequent and only looks set to rise even further unfortunately.

What is Leaf Spot Fungus?
Well, as the name states it is a fungal infection which attacks the leaves. Symptoms of leaf spots vary depending upon the causal agent. Although leaf spots can be caused by air pollutants, insects, bacteria et al., most are a result of infection by pathogenic fungi. Once into the leaf, the fungi continue to grow and leaf tissue is destroyed. Resulting spots vary in size from that of a pin head to spots that encompass the entire leaf. It was OT1 that first brought it to my attention, and you can see it at various stages in certain members grows.

What are the Symptoms?
Below I have included three different pictures of members grows at different stages of infection, so that people know what to look out for. The problem is so much easier to treat if spotted (excuse the pun) early. Each of the following members are happy for their problem to be featured in the hope that it helps another member avoid the problem.

Firstly, here is a picture of Church's Medicine Man grow. This is an example of Leaf Spot Fungus in its early stages:
[Pic.6]

Next is a picture of Jaygrow's plants and as you can see the Leaf Spot Fungus is at a more advanced stage:
[Pic.7]

Then this third picture is one of SirBob's plants, a Nirvana Skunk #1, at an even more advanced stage, once the Leaf Spot Fungus has truly set in:
[pic.8]

So is there Anything I Can Do If I Discover my Plants Have it?
It seems as though there are a few measures that one can take to eliminate the problem but there is no quick fix unfortunately. How advanced the problem is also affects how to go about tackling it, and how effective each solution will be. Fortunately, I have never had this problem personally and have therefore called on the knowledge of those with more experience than myself in looking for ways to combat Leaf Spot Fungus.

I asked OT1 the following question, being the walking botanical encyclopaedia that he is:
If spotted, what would be your suggestion for eliminating the leaf spot fungus? I'm assuming it has to do with the environment, to prevent others getting it but should they forego plants with the problem or can they tackle it if they catch it early?

This was his answer:

QUOTE
Firstly its not down to the environment as such, the fungus spores are in the air seasonally. Once its replicating in an enclosed environment, i.e. spores are constantly being released into the grow room. The only way environment plays a part is that it’s a sunny warm day every day in the grow room, plus the ideal environment for cannabis is also an ideal environment for the fungus, there are no seasons, under these circumstances the fungus replicates very fast.
I think Citrofresh does work against leaf spot, but its not instant, also you have to understand that Citrofresh only works on the leaf surface, its not systemic, so spores that have already germinated into the leaf tissue before spraying will appear [depending on temperature] as a new rust spot 10 to 14 days after treatment and produce new spores, so repeat spraying is needed.
I don’t know of a systemic fungicide available to home users that is effective against this fungus at this time. Even if there were I’m not sure I would want to use it.
Copper oxides work as a shield killing spores as they germinate on the leaf surface before the hypha can penetrate the surface. Adding seaweed hardens the leaf surface helping to add resistance to fungi and stimulating the plant. Like Citrofresh it does nothing to hypha already living within the plant tissue.
Fungi are some of the most difficult things to eradicate, especially those that live in living tissue, the environment we create for our plants is also an ideal place for the fungi to replicate and once in, a few spots get ignored, next thing you know its ripping through your crop.


This lead me to ask the following question:
So once it's caught hold, there's not much one can do. So I suppose taking a cut from and uninfected area if you can, keep spraying it and get rid of the original mum when possible?

To which OT1 replied with:

QUOTE
With repeat treatment protecting new growth, the new growth should remain healthy, cuttings can be taken from this.
Its like all gardening, hygiene helps, totally removing infected tissue from the area, i.e. cutting back infected leaves to sound tissue or removing leaves that are infected all over, this helps reduce the spore count.

Spraying with BioLife to run off every 5 days until no further infection is seen to work, no doubt about it, this can follow Citrofresh as an initial treatment, but if you spray with Citrofresh after BioLife it will kill the BioLife.
You can’t use BioLife after copper.
Biolife works mainly by populating the leaf surface with tricoderma species, these are plant friendly fungi that predate pathogenic fungi when they try and invade. Unfortunately there is no simple answer, understanding the issue, helps understanding how to deal with it.


Input From Arnold Layne
When discussing this problem, Arnold Layne came up with another good idea for an organic way to tackle the leaf spot fungus.
He took the following knowledge of tackling fungus on humans and applied it to plants and it appears to be totally sound in both theory and practice.

QUOTE
Garlic is amazing at killing of some fungal infections in humans - could it have beneficial use in growing weed? Could it deal with this problem through a regular spray of some garlic solution.

Then he found the following information whilst researching this idea further.

QUOTE
Ah! Now then, here, look at this -
Fungal suppression. Regular use of garlic barrier will assist crops to resist or recover from most of the common fungal diseases. Research worldwide has shown garlic's fungistatic and fungicidal activity against Fusarium oxysporum, Phytophthora spp., Phythium spp., Rhizoctonia solani, Botrytis cinerea, Alternaria brassisicola, Sclerotinia sclerotiorum and numerous other pathogenic fungi.

So it seems that a regular spraying of a garlic solution would help as both a preventative and a mild cure for fungus on the leaf surface. Well deduced Sherlock Layne mate.

OT1 Spotting it in Jaygrow’s Room (pic.7) and his Advice:

QUOTE
Its a leaf spot fungus. I've seen this before, its very very infective.

For future grows the following protocol has been used and proved effective.

The way out is fast growth, i.e. a lot of light, good air exchange, protection with probiotic bacteria and fungi i.e. use BioLife.

To make up BioLife ignore the instructions, bubble a litre of warm water [35c] for an hour, bring the temp back up to 35c stir in a level tea spoon of black treacle and add a gram of inoculant, leave to bubble overnight.

At the same time leave 2 or 3 litres of water to stand overnight to allow chlorine to evaporate, if you can bubble it all the better, mix the two in the morning, spray the plants then water the surplus through the compost. Chuck any excess or use on any other plants you want to inoculate.

Final point when spraying only use the sprayer at low pressure, too high a pressure will burst the membrane of larger fungi strains such as tricoderma. Also do not use internal pumps with venturi valve for added aeration, the water being drawn through the impeller again will shred the fungi.


Then another post later in the same thread…


QUOTE
From what I can see its the same fungus, damage to the leaves will be more rapid and greater with high temperatures, but I've see grows with it in Jan and Feb this year as well. Once the spores are in the room and general area it will tend to reoccur.

Its best to protect your young plants before it shows and repeat spray every week or two until the third week into flowering. Also spray your mums every two weeks if you have any..…


Bish Spotting it/ Practical Application of Advice:
[pic.9]
Bish spotted it in one members grow, Steve7876, in a thread I saw and made some good recommendations. A brief overview of the conversation is as follows. Steve noticed that he had a problem with some of his leaves and posted up some pictures in the hope that one of the members would be able to identify the problem and offer some help, hints or tips. Luckily Bish had seen it before and gave him some valuable advice.

From the thread ‘What’s up with my Plants’ in the ‘problem solver’ forum, Here

QUOTE
Cut back infected leaves to healthy growth first, get some Murphy’s Copper & start treatment.

A good wash down of your grow area would help too.

This rust spot fungus is on the increase, but it can be beaten


This was short, sweet and to the point. It says exactly what the problem was and how to deal with it in a no frills, straight to the point manner. Just what was needed in the thread to get it on track.

Steve 7876:

QUOTE
well I just trashed the offending little shit and trimmed the others right back I guess ill continue with this grow and see what happens as I’m already a month in. I plan on moving ‘em to the flowering room in a week or 2 anyway so ill give the veggie room a good clean and hope that everything goes ok with my second grow.
Cheers for the advise bish I reckon you’re SPOT on



Bish:

QUOTE
Why don't you just treat them?



Steve 7876:

QUOTE
I just ordered some copper fungicide should be here within a day or 2
the one that I threw has been in bad shape ever since it sprouted I’m gonna keep the other 7 and treat them


So it looks as though Steve is on his way to tackling the problem. By getting rid of he most affected plant and trimming back the others, he is reducing the spore count. Then by ordering the copper fungicide and cleaning down his grow rooms, he will eventually get on top of the problem. But it may take a bit of time depending on how advanced into the leaf the fungus is on the remaining plants.

It appears that there are both ways of preventing Leaf Spot Fungus and ways of curing it once the problem has been identified. If the problem is spotted early then obviously the job of tackling the problem is made easier but it is not too late even when the problem becomes systemic.

Here’s to a happy and problem free grow.

Ok, that's awesome, thanks

Definitely should go up in a FAQ or something when you've finished it!

I'll try and get hold of Citrofresh + BioLife!

There's another product similar to Murpheys that does a good job of stopping these leaf spot infections, & that's Dithane.

n.b. I tried Biosept and it did precisely fuck all. Citrofresh works tho.

2p.

bish have you ever used this its very similar to dithane only in liquid form

Can't see a pic mate.

thats strange i can see it ????? the pic shows a product called fungus fighter google it if you want cheers

nice one GROBAG(look no w )
nice one m8,bout time sumit was up there about fungi,been is big problem in my life at the minute
makes it a bit clearer dude
ps looking forward to next issue(cambodia)
keep up the gud work man

Does anyone have a pic of leaf mould please?

Thanks,

Prof

Leaf spot

Thanks for this thread, it is exactly what I needed.

So, I assume I can't use copper fungicide now as I am at nearly 4 weeks into flower?
So use citrofresh and biolife if I can get it?

i am trying to get rid of said fungi take a look at this beut .
this shit is all over my 30 plants cuttings/6weeks vegy/and 4 weeks flowering .
i am working with dithane 945 in spray form,nasty stuff dont fecking breath to close to it and fingies crossed and rigorous spraying every week,(second spray now) it shopuld work but in my shopping list is citrofresh and biolife and maybee even a large tub of neem,just to make sure.

Can someone give more guidance on the treatment required for veg and flower please? Am I right that copper fungicide should not be used in flower?

You shouldn't be spraying anything onto your plants after the first couple of weeks or so into flower, specially not copper fungicide. You don't wanna be smokin' that.

So how can it be treated?? if it can be treated at all when well in to flower??

whats the best way to harm minimisation of this situation?

RH

you might just have to pick all infected leaves off and try to put maybee bigger fans in to keep air a bit fresher,maybee a bigger or another ocsolating fan can you use citrofresh in flower
might not make a diffrence,but its worth thinking about init

gud luk m8y

the product pictured is fungus fighter which is systemic... but if it's being used early on in the grow stage it should have all worked it's way out of the plant by harvest - I'd think - anyone else's thoughts?

Dithane is another leaf-coating type anti-fungal only effective against new spores that land

I would have thought so - systhane's what the Royal Horticultural Society advise to use on apples and pears. It's also recommended for use on strawberries, and apparently it's biodegradeable.

lads this stuff totally cleared my plants of fungus real quickly and they were in bad shape

Hi
Would anyone here happen to know of a product like Citrofresh? Im stuck in Canada and they dont ship that stuff over? if there is no other product like it, can you put the chemical label, maybe by seeing that i can identify something that would also work!

I am thinking of treating my plants with garlic (spray) to try and treat a leaf spot fungus which keeps returning! My question is do I crush some Garlic cloves into some warm water shake and spray onto the leaves? ...........would this be effective?
Any suggestions!

cheers the noo
Hughie

alright hughie
i have heard aobut garlic beign used to treat fungal infections too ( i read about it in indoor marijuana horticulture) but it doesnt tell you howw to use it, i would presume its the way you said just crush them up into some water and let it sit for a good while then spay the plants with it,
however i would ask yourself why does the fungal infection keep returning?
try to wash down all the surfaces of the grow room with a 5% bleach solution, make sure your fan is pointed on the plants to make it hard for the spores to settle on the leaves,
T1

Hughie,
i agree with your theory of the garlic, ive been using it for the past month and it works fenomenaly, no infections, do not use a whole clove, way too strong, remember if you spray your plants with garlic enough, they will taste and smell like garlic, a clove of garlic has about 10-20 little pieces in it, take one of those to a cheese grater or a zester, and get it into a mush, only use 1 little section, put it in with hot water and mash it around so you get all the juice and stuff out, let the mixture cool down and put it in a water bottle, i had a 500 ml sprayer so i use aout 1 little piece of garlic,(one section in the clove). You have the right idea, its a lt better to treat these diseases with organic solutions rather than dumping on chemicals, everything you spray on the weed will alter it in the end!

here you go

Garlic Oil Sprays

Garlic (Allium sativum) has long been known to have uses in pest control for it repellent effects. Garlics primary use is in flavoring foods. Used as a pesticide garlic has a non-toxic mode of action. Garlic is not persistant in the environment since it degrades rapidly, and has had no adverse effects on humans. Formulated as a powder, ditilled extract from garlic cloves, or as an oil spray, garlic may be useful for pest control in some situations, however it should not be used as a general use pesticide, since it may have adverse effects on beneficial insects.

Garlic oil exhibits antibacterial, antifungal, amebicidal and insecticidal qualities. Although garlic oils kill pest insects and some pathogens, it also kills beneficial insects and microbes. Thus, it is not recommend as an all-purpose spray for outdoor use.

Organic gardeners have long been familiar with the repellent or toxic affect of garlic oil on pests. When it is combined with mineral oil and pure castille soap as devised at the Henry Doubleday Research Association in England, it becomes an effective insecticide. Some studies also suggest that a garlic oil spray has fungicidal properties.

Protection Offered: Will control many soft bodied insects, including aphids and whiteflies.
How to Make: Soak 3 ounces of finely minced garlic cloves in 2 teaspoons of mineral oil, canola oil, neem oil, or soybean oil for at least 24 hours. Slowly add 1 pint of water that has 1/4 ounce of pure castille soap mixed into it. Stir thoroughly and strain into a glass jar for storage. Use at a rate of 1 to 2 Tbsp. of mixture to a pint of water. If this is effective, try a more dilute solution in order to use as little as possible.
How to Use: Spray plants carefully to ensure thorough coverage. To check for possible leaf damage to sensitive ornamentals from the oil and soap in the spray, do a test spray on a few leaves or plants first. If no leaf damage occurs in 2 or 3 days, go ahead and spray more.

Garlic Oil Fungicide Spray: For leaf spot and mildews

To make: Combine 3 ounces of minced garlic cloves with 1 ounce of mineral oil, neem oil, or jojoba oil. Let soak for 24 hours or longer. Strain. Add 1 tablespoon of castille soap to this.
Kept in a sealed glass container this mixture will stay viable for several months.
To use: Mix 2 tablespoons of garlic oil with 1 pint of water and spray.

Spraying Basics:
1. It is best to use any type of spray in the early morning or the cool of evening. Do not spray when temps are above 80 degrees Fahrenheit! Your plants may "burn" or have a reaction to what you are using in excessive heat. This is known as "phytotoxicity."
2. Always perform a test on a small portion of the plant material first. Wait 24 hours to observe any negative reaction. Proceed if there is no damage.
3. More is not better. If you are not getting good results don't increase the strength of these remedies without testing first.
4. Target just the area you need to treat. Be careful... try not to harm the good guys! You don't want to run off your allies.
5. When working with sprays or dusts always protect your exposed skin and face. Some of these ingredients can be very irritating to your skin, eyes and mucous membranes, especially any hot pepper sprays.
////////////////////////////////////////////////

Cheers T1Neo, Bubs and Cheechs left armpit. I think i will keep it simple for the moment and just do a warm water/garlic spray and see how it goes!.

Thanks for your replies

Hughie

Fungus Off semmed to do the trick for my mild case...not surprised for the bloody price either

...increase ventilation dewd will help you out

I had the leaf spot fungus on my first grow - it weirdly only affected one plant out of 3 (all the same strain too!) but I found that I had to hack off the affected leaves and increase my air flow... It never really seemed to do any real harm except they plant looked a bit shit - still in the end it gave the most "shitting bricks on the sofa" high I`d ever experienced - powerful stuff

Yesterday I decided to use a garlic spray on my plants. I very finely chopped one clove of garlic and added it to about 250mls of water, brought it to the boil. I strained the water so there was no garlic left in the water. Waited for it to cool and sprayed my plants just before lights out. Don't know how it'll affect the mould spot yet but plants looked well perky today.

There's a shampoo you can buy called 'Nizoral' - it's for cases of dandruff that are caused by a fungal infection, and are resistant to other forms of treatment. The active ingredient is Ketoconazole.

I'm wondering whether this may be any good for combatting leaf fungal infections - the soap element in the shampoo should act as a wetting agent, and I know that it's really concentrated stuff - you only have to put a little dot of it in your palm and it lathers up into a great big mass of lather.

I must try it on an isolated affected plant leaf, and see if it works without harming the plant. I would imagine that it would be a good idea to mist the sprayed leaves down with just water the day afterwards, or so, to get rid of the soap left behind, but it'd be an absolute revelation if it worked as well as it does for dandruff.

wouldnt it just Scribble let us know how it goes m8



are you a chemist or science teacher or summit
take care dude

it seems this fungi problem just keeps coming back, i had it on my nl plants only i couldnt source copper fungicide so i used fungus fighter and it did stop it but the clones i have taken have developed the same problem its strange because the 2 other strains i have in my veg room dont get affected ....l NiN i feel for ya man

Has anyone got any updated info on garlic sprays? Do they work?

Whats the preparation technique?

Thanks!

hey thanks rookie man,my problem is unbelivable everthing been cleaned & cleaned again ,i mean 3 growrooms man with 10%bleech & then citrofresh and not forgetting jeys outdoor gardencleaner

seemed the citrofresh made it worse sum people would say i talk shite but i took all infected leaf off sprayed with citrofresh 10 days later it was everywere man .........

just took all leaf off again & saturated with citrofresh,will update in me thread MY FUNGI& HERE!

hope sum 1 crackes this fungi b4 it cracks me

take care m8

just gunna echo altitude's Q's

The fungus seems to be in the air, so it's difficult to get rid off permanently - I'm having ongoing battles with it, but seem to have it in remission now Watch the fecker come back with a vengeance tho!!!

yes church its everywere init m8,
so ya fighting it yaself m8 eh!
will we all end up with it

hope not dude
take care m8

i must say that citrofresh seemed to make my already infected plants worse,wether its better as a preventive measure or not i dont know.
two treatments of murphys copper fungicide and removing all infected parts has really done the trick on my baddly infected plants

i have never used citro fresh as i cant source it over here but i use fungus fighter, and man it worked for me, my plants developed fungi while at seedling stage and for at least 3 weeks i thought they were going to die but those plants are now about 12-14 days from harvest and the only problem they have is a slight N def which is a real fecker to sort out but all im tryin to say is that it is possible to stop this shit or a least slow it down enough to finish your job good luck

THESE SEESLINGS WERE SPRAYED WITH CITROFRESH 5 DAYS AGO,protected fuck all,prob made it worse,this must be a fungi resistent to citro
L NIN
JUST MY 2p WORTH
thanks for ya kind words rookie m8,citro's not working m8
nice 1 dude,gunna try fungas fughter now man
take care my freind

give it a try mate it sure helped mine but who knows when it may return and totally unsettle my life again,hope ya get it sorted mate

I can find Fungus gnat fighter but no product called 'fungus fighter'

this is a pic conky mate i got mine in good old homebase

hey nice 1 dude,gunna try 1 more spray with citro,then go buty sum ov that man

HAPPY CHRISTMAS

misted with citrofresh 2 days ago as a preventive mesure,got fungi today
citrofresh dosnt have no effect on these,infact i think it makes it worse
this is the second time iv sprayed with citro and its made it worse
next time this happens im gunna post the pics as proof;)
gunna have to go n try wot ROOKIE used from gud ol' homebase
i have got a bit ov copper sulphate but i dont like using it, heavy chemicals for seedlings

c ya all

Ive been reading all your posts for a while now, but I just HAD to jump in here. My first crop developed a fungal infection early during the veg state. Here I am almost 5 weeks in flower and the infection is coming back in a nasty way. Ive sprayed using Serenade Disease Control, and everytime I spray it seems to hit my crops back harder. Now I am thinking about chopping early because I dont want to risk losing my crops!

hi there rydeon m8
5 weeks into flower dude,i wouldnt spray with anything dude deffo no no!!!!!!
sum people still use citrofresh in flower m8 but at 5 weeks m8,DONT be spraying with chemicals dude,youll want to be smokeing her soon man
plus ya risking more problems m8 like budrot etc dude,
how bad is it,carnt ya just get away with taking leaves off for the last 3 weeks etc??????

OK, I've just bought some of this. The choice was Fungus Fighter, Dithane or a Copper solution. I went for Fungus Fighter because it came in a spray form and it was cheap.

After getting it home I read on the back:



Now this worries me a little. I'm not worried about being 100% organic but this does not look very human-friendly. I'm not going to eat my green but it will end up in my blood stream sooner or later.

Copper doesn't worry me so much - I don't think it is classed as a 'heavy metal' - but I didn't have enough cash on me for this. I should have gone for this in hindsight.

What about this Dithane stuff? Is it toxic? Can it be used on food stuffs?