Hemp russet mites are tiny bugs that attack cannabis plants. In fact, they are so small you can only see them with a magnifier unless there are thousands of them infesting your marijuana plant. They live the crevices of leaves, stems, or buds, and the initial symptoms are not that serious. Many cannabis growers may not realize they have a bug infestation of hemp russet mites, and it’s common for growers to confuse the symptoms for other problems such as mold, fusarium, pollen, tobacco mosaic virus, overwatering, a nutrient deficiency or heat damage.

Hemp russet mites often cause curling on the edges of cannabis leaves. Another symptom of hemp russet mites is buds start dying. (Hemp russet mite leaf damage picture by thehumboldtlocal)

Hemp russet mites are tiny. You often won’t see them until you have a full infestation. They may appear as a beige or yellow mass (typically towards the tops of the plant). This yellow fuzz is sometimes confused for yellow mold, but it’s not mold. The yellow stuff is actually a result of the hemp russet mites. This cannabis hemp russet mites picture is by grow.nation.

This picture by Whitney Cranshaw shows the distortions you may see on cannabis buds and new leaves as a result of hemp russet mites. Click for closeup!

Here’s another picture of hemp russet mite damage on cannabis plants by Whitney Cranshaw. Note: The black and yellow bug in the picture is a ladybug nymph. It’s likely there trying to eat all the hemp russet mites!

If you see ladybug babies like the nymph in the above picture, don’t kill them! Ladybugs eat cannabis pests like hemp russet mites.

The following two pictures of Hemp Russet Mites (Aculops cannabicola) were taken in Bloomington, Indiana by Karl Hillig. This picture shows hundreds of microscopic hemp russet mites on the petiole of a cannabis leaf.

These microscopic four-legged mites infested cannabis hemp plants in a greenhouse at Indiana University. This picture shows hemp russet mites on a leaf petiole that was about 2 mm wide. By Karl Hillig.

Hemp russet mite damage on left leaf, healthy cannabis leaf on right (picture by Whitney Cranshaw of Colorado State University) – Click for closeup!

Symptoms of hemp russet mites on cannabis include:

• Symptoms often worst towards the tops of the plant
• Bugs are pale, typically either tan or yellow. In big enough numbers they can cause parts of the cannabis plant to look beige or yellow.
• Can spread through the wind
• Sometimes mistaken for fungus, mold, or pollen.
• Tops of plants droop, especially where there is a big infestation
• Curling of the leaf edges (on some plants)
• Dull-colored leaves or stems that may become brittle. These affected areas are where bugs are living inside the plant tissue.
• Brown or yellow spots (from leaf stress, not visible bites)

An intense hemp russet mite infestation on cannabis plants can be difficult to diagnose because it’s hard to see the individual bugs and is often confused for mold, underwatering, root problems, or other environmental cause.

The yellow mass of the tops of this cannabis plant isn’t mold or pollen. It’s actually an infestation of hemp russet mites.

About hemp russet mites

• Can reproduce and attack cannabis plants all year round
• Most harmful in the flowering stage when buds get infested
• Indoors, fans can spread mites

Unfortunately, hemp russet mites are one of the toughest cannabis pests to get rid of. They lay their eggs inside the plant which makes it very difficult to kill their eggs.

Prevention

• Grow from seeds (hemp mites and eggs cannot survive on seeds). If you start from seeds, your plants will not get hemp russet mites unless they get infected by some other source
• Treat and quarantine all new plants (even if they seem healthy) to ensure they don’t have hemp russet mites (or spider mites)

Time to get rid of hemp russet mites for good.

Solution: How to Get Rid of Hemp Russet Mites On Cannabis

Once you’ve actually identified that the bugs you have on your cannabis are hemp russet mites, it’s time to get rid of them! When it comes to hemp russet mites, a lot of the “standard” miticides are not as effective and you’ll notice these particular mites aren’t listed on the labels.

Hemp russet mites can be one of the toughest marijuana pests to get rid of, but it can be done if you stay vigilant!

• Consider tossing your plants – I know it can be a hard pill to swallow, but if you have an intense infestation, sometimes the easiest thing to do is to get rid of the plants, treat the room thoroughly, and start over. However, make sure you know where you got the mites in the first place or you may end up infected again!
• Treat often – You may have to treat several times a week or even daily if you have a terrible infestation that won’t go away. This can be very difficult on your plants.
• Spray Before Lights Go Out – Whenever treating plants with a spray, do it before the lights go off so that your plant is less likely to get burned!
• Read Instructions – Make sure to read the full instructions of each bottle and follow them when treating your plants. You will save yourself a lot of big headaches!
• Repeat treatments weekly for 5 more weeks after mites are gone – After you think hemp russet mites are completely gone, don’t stop! Treat your plant with a different treatment at least once a week for 5 additional weeks. If you don’t completely eradicate them they’ll come back with a vengeance and be even more resistant to whatever you throw at them.

1.) Neem Oil

Neem Oil will leave an unpleasant taste/smell on buds when used to treat flowering plants, so again, don’t let this stuff get near your buds! There’s also some evidence Neem oil may be harmful to humans so use with care! That being said, Neem oil is an all-natural remedy that is very effective against many different types of bugs and mold, including hemp russet mites.

Neem oil can be rough on your plants so you don’t want to use it more often than you have to because your plants will suffer. However, if you get desperate, treating plants daily with Neem oil is very effective at killing hemp russet mites when nothing seems to be working.

You will need a mister (also called a “One-Hand Pressure Sprayer”) to spray all the leaves evenly since neem oil and water can separate easily. A mister helps you get full and even coverage on all parts of the plant.

2.) Insecticidal soaps

Fatty acid salts or insecticidal soaps can be a good choice against hemp russet mites. They weaken the outer shell of hemp russet mites but are safe to use on your plants and they don’t leave much of a residue which could kill beneficial bugs in your garden.

With soaps, just like horticultural oils, coverage is very important as it does not stay on your plant for long, so follow-up applications may be necessary. Although this is considered safe, avoid getting any on your buds!

This will not get rid of hemp russet mites on its own, but it is less harsh on your plants than some of the other options and so it can be a great way to supplement the other treatments you’re doing.

Natria Insecticidal Soap Insect Killer

3.) Mighty Wash 

Mighty Wash may help rid your grow room of hemp russet mites. Spray plants 15 minutes before lights out, making sure to drench the foliage under the leaves as well as the top of your soil. You want to use a spray bottle or mister. Use a fan to blow on your leaves to help things dry. Treat your room more than once, even if you believe the hemp russet mites are gone.

Use Mighty Wash with a One-Handed Power Sprayer for the best results!

4.) Avid

Avid miticide is strong stuff with harsh chemicals, and is incredibly expensive, but it can sometimes do the job when nothing else is working. This is a systemic insecticide, which means it works by infiltrating the inside of plant tissue and killing bugs that way. Because of that it should NOT be using in the flowering stage (you don’t want this stuff inside your buds). However, many growers report that this is the only thing that consistently works for them. Always use Avid as directed and only as a last resort! You will need a mister (also called a “One-Hand Pressure Sprayer”) to spray all the leaves evenly.

Don’t use this product more than once or twice in a row or your mites may become resistant. This should stay in your plant’s system for several weeks. If you’re going to be using systemic insecticides, switch back and forth between this and another one like Forbid. Make sure to follow the instructions!

5.) Forbid

Forbid miticide is sort of like Avid in that it is made of strong stuff with harsh chemicals and is even more expensive. This is a systemic insecticide, which means it works by infiltrating the inside of plant tissue and killing bugs that way. Because of that it should NOT be using in the flowering stage (you don’t want this stuff inside your buds). However, many growers report that this can be the only thing that consistently works for them. Always use Forbid as directed and only as a last resort! You will need a mister (also called a “One-Hand Pressure Sprayer”) to spray all the leaves evenly.

Don’t use this product more than once or twice in a row or your mites may become resistant. This should stay in your plant’s system for several weeks. If you’re going to be using systemic insecticides, switch back and forth between this and another one like Avid. Make sure to follow the instructions!

6.) Diatomaceous Earth 

Diatomaceous Earth is basically fossil dust which you mix in with the top of your soil, and anywhere else in your room (window sills, doorways, etc). This powder-like substance is harmless to mammals and plants, but is incredibly sharp at the microscopic level. Therefore it will tear and dehydrate hemp russet mites on physical contact. This will not get rid of an infestation, but can help prevent, control and slow things down when used effectively! When it comes to hemp russet mites, you want to use every tool you can!

7.) Heat

Hemp russet mites don’t like the heat. Some growers will try to get rid of them by on small plants or clones by dunking the plants in hot water (105°F / 40°C) for 10-20 minutes. I’ve also heard of growers try to reduce their number by overheating the grow space to 115°F (46°F) for an hour. Be careful as this can be dangerous if you don’t take safety precautions, and any heat method strong enough to kill the mites will likely hurt your plants.

8.) Predatory Mites

Some types of predatory mites, like Amblysieus andersoni mites, may target hemp russet mites. Supplementing your garden with extra predators can help bring down hemp russet mite numbers. However, it’s not enough to fix the problem on their own and unfortunately a lot of the other remedies on this page may also kill predatory mites.

If you don’t want to use any pesticides, get predatory mites to help eat all your hemp russet mites!

9.) AgroMagen GrowSafe (Organic)

GrowSafe by AgroMagen is a natural miticide that claims to be effective against hemp russet mites. I am not very familiar with this product, but have heard good things about it. Given how tough this pest can be to get rid of, I wanted to make sure I included every possible option. From what I understand you will need to spray more than once and this is best combined with at least one other treatment. You will need a mister (also called a “One-Hand Pressure Sprayer”) to spray all the leaves evenly.

GrowSafe (plus a mister) kills hemp russet mites and almost any mite (including broad mites and spider mites)

More Cannabis Pests, Bugs & Viruses

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Cannabis Underwatering Symptoms

• drooping (plants often get better after being watered)
• leaves often seem “papery” and thin because they don’t have any water inside them. (This is opposed to overwatering where the leaves often feel bloated and “fat” from all the water contained inside)
• chronic underwatering eventually leads to yellowing leaves and nutrient deficiencies

If your soil or soilless medium looks bone dry every time you water, or if you know that your roots have dried out, than skip right down the the solution section, as you definitely have a case of underwatering.

Under-Watered Cannabis Seedlings – Leaves feel papery and thin, growing medium is dry

If it gets worse….

The marijuana plant in the middle is under-watered, causing it to droop. Because it was taller and directly under the grow light, it became underwatered even though it was getting the same amount of water as its siblings. Sometimes you’ll see signs of under-watering immediately after upgrading your grow lights (if you don’t change your watering habits), because all the plants start drinking more due to the extra light and heat.

Chronic Under-Watering (Under-Watering on a Regular Basis)

Most growers tend to give too much – not too little – water to their plants. However, if you’re spending long periods away from your marijuana plants or the containers are drying up in less than a day or two, it may mean that your plant needs to be watered more often, or be given more water at a time.

It’s also common to under-water when plants start overgrowing their pots, or if growers get on a schedule of giving a specific amount of water as opposed to paying attention to the soil.

• plant may need to be watered more often
• plant may need more water at a time
• plant may have overgrown its pot and need to be transplanted

It can be difficult to diagnose chronic underwatering because problems may look like nutrient deficiencies. One big clue is that plants perk up every time after you water.

Chronically Under Watered Seedlings – These yellow leaves are actually caused by the plants being slightly under-watered on a regular basis

The curling/clawing and burnt tips on the following two plants may look like it could be caused by another problem, but in this case the symptoms are the result of the plant being regularly under-watered

Notice how the leaves are clawing and tips appear burnt alomost like nutrient burn. It’s happening because the plant isn’t getting enough water on a regular basis.

The leaves near the buds of this male cannabis plant started turning yellow. In this case, the grower determined it was because the plant had overgrown its pot and was drinking more than expected, and as a result the soil was getting too dry between waterings.

More examples of under-watered cannabis plants

Extreme underwatering on a big plant

Not Sure? If you’re not sure whether your plant needs more or less water, how do you figure out exactly why your plant is drooping?

1.) Determine: Is my plant over-watered?

A cannabis plant does not get over-watered because it’s given too much water at once – overwatering is caused by the plant being watered too often, or if the plant does not have proper drainage (which means the growing medium is taking too long to dry out).

2.) If not over-watered, does my plant have root problems?

Growing hydroponically? When you see signs of wilting and overwatering in a plant that is growing hydroponically with the roots in water, usually that’s a sign of a root problem like root rot.

In fact, all cannabis plants can sometimes display wilting/drooping symptoms that are actually the result of root problems.

3.) You may be seeing symptoms of under-watering

So if you read the short description in step 1 about what causes overwatering (and you’re sure you haven’t overwatered your cannabis plants), and you’re certain you’re not seeing signs of root problems, than your cannabis plant might be drooping or wilting because it needs more water.

If you’ve been underwatering your plant, its leaves will look limp and lifeless, like these plants.

Symptoms of underwatering look the same whether your cannabis plant is growing in soil or a soilless growing medium like coco coir or perlite.

How can I tell if my cannabis plant is over or under-watered?

Does my plant actually have root problems?

Solution:

Don’t wait until leaves droop to water your potted cannabis plant! While it is generally a good idea to let your potted cannabis plant dry out a bit after watering (watering too often causes its own problems), you should always water your cannabis plants again before the leaves start drooping.

This is the case for cannabis plants grown in both soilless growing mediums and soil.

First-time growers tend to overwater their plants, but underwatering happens too.

So you’re pretty sure your plant is under-watered. A thirsty cannabis plant will usually perk up quickly after the roots are given water.

Click here to see time-lapse of under-watered marijuana plant coming back to life
1 picture taken every 75 minutes. Strain is Island Sweet Skunk. Used with permission. By micks_trichs.

Watch another time-lapse – middle plant is very under-watered and perks up after getting water
6 plants, 1 photo per minute for 125 minutes. Used with permission. By micks_trichs.

Learn about ones of the best ways to properly water your potted cannabis plant every time…

How to water cannabis properly (for soil and most soilless mediums)

1. Wait Until Plant Needs Water – Wait until the top of the growing medium is dry about a half inch deep (up to your first knuckle). Preventing the topsoil from staying wet for long periods of time can also help prevent bugs like fungus gnats. Some growers prefer the “lift the pot” method to figure out when plants want water, where they actually lift the plant to see if it feels light from lack of water. Some non-soil growers, especially in coco or a very high-drainage growing medium, may water a little earlier when the top is just starting to dry out because it’s more difficult to overwater plants in that type of environment. If you continue running into problems with underwatering, you might consider watering more often than is generally recommended. It may be you need extra watering due to small pot size, rootbound plants, temperature, humidity, etc.

2. Water until you get a little runoff. If using nutrients in the water, add water until you see 10-20% extra runoff water drain out the bottom of your pot. This helps prevent nutrient buildup in the soil and if you have good drainage this type of watering schedule causes plants to grow faster than if you don’t water to runoff (it also makes it much harder to under-water your plants). If not using added nutrients (plants getting all nutrients from the soil, for example in a super soil setup), then only water until you get just a tiny bit of runoff out the bottom, so you’re not washing out your nutrients. However, you still want to make sure you’re saturating your medium – you don’t want dry spots in the soil!

3. Go back to step 1. If water does not come out quickly or pots take more than 5 days to dry out for step 1, you may have a drainage problem or need to give less water at a time until your plant is drinking more. If pots are drying out in just 1-2 days, you may need to give more water at a time, or transplant to a bigger pot.

Learn more about how to water your cannabis plants perfectly every time

A simple way to tell if a potted plant is ready to be watered is to pick it up and tell if it feels heavy or not.

As plants use up all the water in their pot, it will get lighter. If you need something for comparison, you can get an extra pot and fill it with your growing medium. Now you can use this extra container for comparison with your potted plants as it represents the ‘dry weight’ of your growing medium. If you pick up a potted plant and its feels just slightly heavier than your dry pot, then you know it’s time to water your plant. After a while you get a feel for how heavy your plants need to be and you may not even need the extra pot anymore.

Need more help?

If your plant is experiencing “the claw” and not just normal drooping (the ends of leaves are curling like a claw or pointing down like talons), then you may actually have a nitrogen toxicity (too much nitrogen).

These Plants Are NOT Over or Underwaterd, These Leaves Show Signs of
Nitrogen Toxicity
(“The Claw”, tips bent down, curling / clawing, dark green leaves)

The post Under-watering appeared first on Grow Weed Easy.

Table of Contents

Introduction to Root Rot (With Tons of Pictures!)

What Triggers Root Rot?

Solution: Get Rid of Root Rot Forever!

Cannabis Root Rot – Slimy, brown, twisted or unhealthy roots are caused by unwanted pathogens in your hydroponic tank!

The marijuana plant on the left is healthy, and the plant on the right has root rot. The curled, drooping, unhealthy leaves are the result of the plant not being able to get enough oxygen through the roots. Root rot symptoms often look like a soil plant that has been severely over or under-watered.

Go Straight to the Solutions for Root Rot!

An example of what cannabis root rot can look like “under the hood”. Every infection looks a little different, but brown roots are usually the main symptom. It may affect all or just parts of the roots, and the sick sections usually become slimy or mushy and start twisting together.

Healthy Cannabis Roots Are White or Cream Colored!

Check out a quick Youtube video showing what a cannabis seedling with root rot looks like.

Root rot can be caused by several different organisms including types of bacteria, fungi, algae and parasitic oomycotes. Although the symptoms are similar between different types, they don’t always look exactly the same. However, growers generally refer to all types of unhealthy root browning as just “root rot.”

Root Rot causes droopiness and other symptoms similar to over or under-watering

Common Triggers for Root Rot: Light Leaks, Heat, & Lack of Oxygen in the Water

Because cannabis root rot can be caused by different pathogens, a solution that solves the symptoms of root rot for one grower may not necessarily work for another grower. What’s attacking your roots in California might be completely different from what’s attacking the roots of a grower in Australia. That being said, there are tools to fight against root rot no matter what kind you have!

The first sign of root root is usually a brown tinge on the roots.

Some varieties of root rot mostly affect the roots below the surface of the water while the roots located above the waterline stay white and healthy. This phenomenon is part of why it’s often recommended that hydro growers maintain at least a small amount of air gap under the net pots. Oxygen-rich moist environments (including that misty air gap) make it very difficult for root pathogens to grow.

Sometimes even the roots above the waterline appear brown. The white strands you see in this picture are actually new roots coming out of the old unhealthy stuff. When new white roots are growing, it’s a sign the plant may be getting better! Even after roots have recovered, you may see the brown for a while until it’s completely covered by new white roots again.

Brown, infected cannabis roots often appear twisted. In fact, sometimes them getting twisted up after being moved around by the grower is what triggers root rot in the first place.

If cannabis roots get twisted due to handling, it can trigger the roots below the “twist” to die.

Sometimes the twisting/bunching together is actually the result of the infection. Healthy roots have individual “strands” that tend to stay separated even when they’re all floating together in a reservoir.

Sometimes the infection hits first, and roots start twisting as a result of the root rot.

A mass of root rot. The grower believes the main cause was that the water level in the reservoir was too high.

Depending on what pathogen in particular is attacking your marijuana roots, the symptoms may look different.

Cannabis roots with root rot sometimes look mushy or slimy and can almost look like they’re covered in snot 🙁

This case of root rot was caused by a brown algae bloom. Brown or green algae is especially common in hot temperatures or when there are light leaks!

Algae started growing from light getting into the reservoir.

Important: The Following Roots Are Stained from Nutrients – They Are NOT Brown from Root Rot

Nutrient-stained roots are not slimy or smelly and all the roots are evenly dyed the same color. You’ll be able to see each individual “strand” on healthy cannabis roots, as they won’t be twisted together. You also won’t see leaf symptoms or wilting on the plant itself.

The first sign of root rot is usually wilting or drooping, though sometimes you won’t have any symptoms at first. Root rot often strikes immediately after disturbing the roots or completing a reservoir change, especially with young plants. It’s a good idea to avoid disturbing young seedling roots when possible! This gives roots time to build up a biofilm that protects them against root rot.

Learn how to care for hydroponic cannabis seedlings!

This cannabis plant was completely healthy the day before, but started looking weak after being transferred from one hydroponic reservoir to a different one. The thin, light colored plastic of the reservoir may have been letting light through, making the reservoir a haven for root rot. Additionally, the temperature was about 85°F (30°C) in the grow space!

Cannabis root rot can cause leaf symptoms that can look like almost anything: cannabis leaves get burnt edges or tips; yellow / bronze / brown spots or stripes; nutrient deficiencies; clawing and curled edges; and other unusual leaf symptoms.

Typical signs of root problems, like unhealthy leaves, yellowing, or nutrient deficiencies, are often present.

Root rot can cause curling leaves and brown or burnt patches.

Sometimes you’ll have a plant with root rot that looks completely healthy other than the roots. Don’t ignore this problem as you will likely start getting symptoms!

What Causes Root Rot in the First Place?

The plant ailment we think of as ‘Root Rot’ is actually a bunch of similar symptoms caused by many different types of organisms. Since these organisms all cause the same problem – gross, brown roots – we group them together. In addition to these harmful organisms all causing similar symptoms, they also show up for the same reasons.

So what causes root rot? If you’re growing in soil or coco coir, there’s one main cause: stagnant water at the roots. If your plants are sitting in old water that’s getting light (from the sun or otherwise), their roots are connected to a breeding ground for unwelcome organisms.

Root rot is a major problem to look out for in DWC many factors can cause it to show up. The most common are:

• Heat – A warm reservoir makes it easier for bacteria to reproduce. In fact, keeping a cool reservoir makes for an environment in which harmful bacteria/fungi/etc. just can’t survive.
• Light leaks – Light in your reservoir equates to a population boom for some of the smaller, unwanted populations living.
• No air space – There should be a space with air between the bottom of the net pots and the top of the water reservoir, about the width of a few fingers. If the water is touching the net pot, that can increase the chance of root rot.
• Lack of oxygen in the water – When you remove the air and agitation from your reservoir water, it’s party time! A gross, smelly, sad party. Hydroponic roots need lots of bubbles full of oxygen-filled air.
• Moving young roots – Young roots need time to build up their defenses. Moving them around not only weakens them, but it potentially exposes them to new pathogens or getting twisted when put back in the water.
• Decaying matter in the reservoir – Old bits of dead leaves can be the start of something bad. Make sure you fish any plant matter out of your reservoir when you see it. Except for your roots…leave those in there.

Your cannabis plant has started drooping, leaves are getting sick, and roots are brown, twisted, smelly and/or slimy. These are all signs you have cannabis root rot 🙁

When a cannabis plant is wilting or drooping, whether it is in soil, coco or hydro, it is almost always a sign that’s something is going on at the roots.

The wilting is often soon followed by other symptoms to the leaves, especially burning, brown spots, nutrient deficiencies, spotting, and other unusual leaf symptoms.

Root rot can cause a wide range of symptoms, because without the roots the plant is shutting down!

Plants with root rot often start drinking less water. If you notice symptoms in your cannabis plant, make sure to take precautions to stop root rot from getting worse.

Some brown roots may eventually turn white again after the root rot is gone, but it’s important to note that damage is permanent on the leaves. Brown leaves will never turn green again. You need to watch the roots and the new leaf growth for signs of root rot recovery.

Root rot mostly affects marijuana plants in hydroponic systems, but roots can also get pathogens as a result of over watering your plants in soil or other medium. Basically, anytime the roots are sitting in wet conditions for too long without any oxygen, they are at risk of developing root rot.

Symptoms of Root Rot

• Droopy – Cannabis plants with root rot almost always appear overwatered or droopy (sometimes plants wilt overnight!)
• Roots seem unhealthy – Brown, slimy, or smelly roots.
• Leaf symptoms (deficiencies) – Plant leaves often start turning yellow/white or get brown patches. You may see what appears to be a random mix of nutrient deficiencies on the leaves. This is due to the fact that the plant can’t absorb nutrients properly at the roots even if they’re there
• Dying leaves – Leaves may start dying and falling off rapidly.
• Drink less – Plants may drink much less water than usual.

Now that you know what root rot looks like and how to get it, it’s time for cannabis root rot solutions!

Solution: What to Do About Marijuana Root Rot, Algae Growth & Slime in the Reservoir

It can be tough to get rid of root rot and many growers feel it’s easier to just scrap the plant and start over. However, if you’re growing in the same spot you’re likely to get it again unless you find a true solution, and there are proven techniques that will cure your plant of root rot problems!

In order to get rid of root rot successfully, you need to take a two-pronged approach. You will need to…

1. Treat the plant’s root directly with something that will help protect them against root rot
2. Change the plant’s environment so that root rot no longer has a good place to grow.

Go through the below list and make sure you’re covering all your bases to get rid of root rot permanently and prevent a re-occurrence. It’s also important to note that affected roots will likely never recover, just like how discolored leaves on the plant will never recover. What you’re looking for is new, healthy white root growth coming out of the old sick roots.

Learn how to prevent and treat cannabis root rot…

1.) Add Beneficial Root Bacteria – Crucial!

Some people (like me) add beneficial bacteria to their water to help prevent and treat root-related plant diseases and help make nutrients available to the plant. Some of the formulas available are Hydroguard, VooDoo Juice, or Great White. Most of these can be used with both hydro and soil grows.

Hydroguard (Recommended)

I personally recommend Hydroguard because I’ve used it successfully to treat root rot in hydro, and I’ve also seen it work for many other hydroponic cannabis growers, too! It’s pretty inexpensive, and concentrated enough that a single small bottle can last throughout your grow.

The “secret sauce” in Hydroguard is a specific type of bacteria called Bacillus amyloliquefaciens. It survives in hydroponic reservoirs better than other types of Bacillus bacteria and fights many root ailments including different types of fungi, bacteria, and oomycotes. It not only gets rid of and prevents root rot, but there’s some evidence Bacillus a. may actually help lower salt concentration in the plant tissue itself.

For my hydro plants, Hydroguard has proven to be the most effective root rot prevention supplement.

Great White Root Powder (If Hydroguard Doesn’t Work)

Great White is another root supplement that works by giving your plant roots lots of good stuff to help it be more resistant to root rot. Some growers (myself included) have tried Great White without seeing any root rot recovery. However, other growers have had great results with this supplement! For example, in our growing forum, just like Hydroguard, some hydroponic growers have been able to cure their root rot simply by adding Great White to their reservoir.

It all depends on exactly which organism is growing in your tank! What was growing in mine might not be the same as what’s growing in yours, so when it comes to “good bacteria” supplements it can’t hurt to try more than one if the first one doesn’t work.

A small sample of Great White doesn’t cost much, so if you’re still struggling with root rot after trying everything else, it’s worth giving it a try to see if it works for you!

Some hydro growers also swear by VooDoo Juice but we haven’t tried it ourselves for preventing root rot.

SM-90

Note: SM-90 has been temporarily discontinued. See this article for more info.

2.) Lots of Bubbles

As I mentioned, it is incredibly beneficial to try to get as much oxygen as possible dissolved in your water. Therefore, it’s a good idea to buy a medium sized air pump and big air stones for your hydroponic system.

Up to a point, the more bubbles and surface agitation, the better, as this dissolves more oxygen into the water. As long as the roots are not being very disturbed, you can’t really go wrong with adding more oxygen.

Root rot cannot thrive in an oxygen-rich environment and your plants will grow faster with lots of oxygen. I use one EcoPlus 2 Air Pump w/ 2 Outlets for each 10-gallon container (which each holds 5 gallons of water), which I have connected to 2 large air stones per air pump since this one has 2 outlets; this helps make sure there’s plenty of oxygen in the water healthy roots and faster growth.

You need 3/16-inch standard aquarium tubing to hook everything together. Try to get tubing in black if possible, to ensure light can’t get through.

Air stones disperse the bubbles into the water.

3/16″ Flexible Airline Tubing for Aquariums is the standard size to connect an air stone to your air pump.

An air pump pumps air into your reservoir through the tubing where it gets turned into bubbles.

This has worked great for me. I haven’t had root rot since I started using this air pump/air stone combination with Hydroguard. But lots of different pumps and types of air stones will work great. The important thing is to make sure that you’re seeing lots of bubbles!

3.) No Light Leaks in the Reservoir!

Your roots don’t like light, which is reason enough, but the bad organisms that attack cannabis roots love the heat and light they receive from your grow lights!

Therefore, hydro growers want it to be completely pitch black in their DWC reservoirs. You should not be able to see even a tiny bit of light where your roots are!

You don’t need to worry as much about repairing light leaks when using a dark, thick and sturdy tub as your water reservoir

I love this idea from Farmerjim420. Help block light and heat from the reservoir with a simple towel!

In order to accomplish a totally dark reservoir for your marijuana plants, here are some things to keep in mind!

1. Consider the Material & Thickness of the Reservoir Tub – Darker and thicker material will let less light through to the reservoir.
2. Consider Reflectivity – Pale colors tend to reflect back more light and heat, but you can always increase the reflectivity later by covering the lid with a reflective material!
3. Check Thoroughly for Light Leaks! You may need to get down low and look up to see them!
4. Use Opaque Tape to Cover Any Light Leaks – Electrical tape and reflective tape are great options for covering up places where light is getting through.
5. Use Dark (Light-Proof) Tubing – Another way to protect the water from light exposure
6. Light-Proof Your Net Pots. Neoprene net pot inserts are great to fill in the net pot instead of using clay pebbles, and won’t let any light get through.

All the Hydroguard, Great White, H2O2, or other root supplements in the world often won’t solve a root rot problem if there’s a light leak!

Read the Complete Tutorial on Preventing Light Leaks in a DWC Reservoir!

4.) Keep Grow Room Cool

Lower the temperature of the grow space under 80°F, and even better under 75°F.  This also lowers the temperature of the water in your reservoir. Water can’t hold much dissolved oxygen at higher temperatures and your plants need oxygen to “breathe.”

Getting more oxygen to the roots not only helps fight root rot, it makes your plants grow much faster. If it’s too hot in the grow space, you’re much more likely to run into root rot as well as overall droopiness.

In an ideal world, the maximum recommended temperature for the water in your reservoir is around 72°F (22°C) and some growers will go to great lengths to keep their reservoirs very cool. However, when using a great supplement like Hydroguard that fights root pathogens directly, you can often keep the temperature quite a few degrees higher without as a problem.

Learn how to control the temperature in the grow room

Cannabis plants like about the same temperature as humans do!

5.) Avoid Disturbing Roots, Especially Young Plants

When it comes to nutrients and plant growth in a hydroponic setup, it’s important to watch over your roots and change your reservoir water regularly. This is especially important in the flowering stage when the plant is very sensitive to nutrients and pH. Regularly changing your water every 7-10 days will help your plants get better access to nutrients, and help prevent deficiencies and toxicities.

However, when your young seedling or clone is first getting established in your hydroponic system, it doesn’t have an established a colony of good bacteria around the roots, and has not yet grown a biofilm that protects the roots against pathogens.

During this initial period, a full reservoir change can throw everything off balance, and your roots have to sort of “start over” from the beginning.

That’s why if you historically struggle with root rot, it’s recommended for the first 3-4 weeks of your cannabis plant’s life to only top off the reservoir with additional nutrient water, and hold off on a full reservoir change until your plants have grown lots of roots with a healthy layer of biofilm over all the roots and sides/bottoms of the tank.

6.) Keep Everything Extremely Clean & Sterile

In a hydroponic system, make sure that any dead roots, dead leaves or other types of plant debris doesn’t get into the reservoir because they will provide a breeding ground for bad bacteria as they start rotting. If you do notice organic matter in the reservoir, fish it out as soon as possible.

You also want to keep your grow area as clean as possible at all times to stop bacteria before it starts. Before you begin your grow, it’s a great idea to clean all grow-related items to kill any bacteria or fungus.

Hydrogen Peroxide (H2O2) Is Only a Temporary Solution: Use alongside something else for more long-lasting prevention!

Some people recommend treating cannabis root rot with H2O2, also known as hydrogen peroxide. While adding hydrogen peroxide to your water will kill most bacteria and pathogens, including the ones that cause root rot, it is only effective in your system for a day or so or since the H2O2 is quickly converted to oxygen and water.

Therefore, if you use hydrogen peroxide as a treatment for root rot, you will need to treat your water daily to prevent re-occurrences until you actually fix the problem that is causing your root rot in the first place. I have used commercial grade H2O2 against root rot more than once, and I never saw any noticeable difference, so I would NOT RECOMMEND H202 as any type of long term cure!

Why Not Use Hydrogen Peroxide? H2O2 is only temporarily effective at best when it comes to getting rid of root rot. It makes me so sad when people tell growers to use H2O2 (hydrogen peroxide) to kill root rot because I know they will continue to struggle with it. Even the commercial grade stuff just doesn’t work most of the time (and I’ve tried)!

All H2O2 does is cause bubbling near the dead brown roots (or any organic matter), which is why I think people believe it’s helping. In my experience, it doesn’t help the plants themselves (they don’t look any better), and what’s worse, all the H2O2 will be completely gone from the water within 24 hours.

H2O2 kills most of the bacteria in the reservoir, including any good bacteria you’ve added, and does nothing to address the underlying problem. You can’t sterilize away root rot, it attacks people everywhere! Although H2O2 does kill bad organisms, it leaves enough of it there to repopulate your reservoir.

I personally recommend Botanicare Hydroguard (the newer, improved version of Botanicare’s popular “Aquashield” root supplement) for marijuana root problems because I’ve used it successfully to get rid of more than once case of Root Rot (and by ‘successful’ I mean new white roots exploded out of the old mushy brown ones and I was able to eventually harvest the buds – look at the pics below).

Hydroguard (and their old supplement Aquashield) are also much cheaper than most other similar root treatments, and in my experience more effective.

Take a look at what happens with the roots from using a supplement like Hydroguard.

What you are looking for is new healthy white roots growing out of the old brown roots. Eventually, as the root ball gets bigger, you will no longer be able to see the old brown roots. After you start noticing a recovery, some growers will snip off old dead roots, but I often don’t.

Before – Roots Just Got Root Rot

Roots are beginning to recover…

Notice the new white roots growing out of the old brown dead ones within just a day or two of receiving Hydroguard in the reservoir. By this point, the plant has stopped showing any new symptoms and appears to be growing normally.

Roots are now mostly recovered below…

Notice that you can barely see any signs of the old brown, and all the new roots generally appear white and healthy. The plants on top are lush, healthy, and fast-growing, though the old burnt leaves never recovered.

In addition to treating root rot, I like to use Hydroguard or as a preventative. It is surprisingly effective even in warm reservoirs. Hydroguard have definitely gotten me through a hot summer before.

Since I first started using Hydroguard in DWC, bubbleponics, and other hydroponics, it has successfully prevented me from getting root rot as long as I keep using it. I also use it when growing in soil if I suspect root problems.

Read a case study about how another grower was able to get rid of cannabis root rot

Jump to…

Case Study: Root Rot Recovery

Other Cannabis Root Problems

Over-watering Cannabis

How to Grow Hydroponic Cannabis

Yuck! Follow This Tutorial and Never Get Root Rot Again!

The post Root Rot appeared first on Grow Weed Easy.

When cannabis plants are recovering from heat shock, some growers recommend using seaweed kelp extract (available as a liquid plant fertilizer) to help cannabis plants recover from the stress and possible protect plants against heat stress in the future.

General Temperature Range for Cannabis – 65-85° (18-30°C). Cannabis plants tend to like it a bit warmer when young, and cooler once buds start forming.

Problem: Your cannabis plant can only withstand a certain amount of heat and light. After a certain point, your cannabis will start exhibiting signs of stress on the leaves near the sources of light and/or heat. Your leaves will get yellow or brown brown spotting and may appear generally burnt in places when there’s too much light. It’s also common for leaves to curl up or down, fold inward like canoes or tacos, and for the serrated edges of leaves to start flipping up. What else can cause dry, crispy marijuana leaves?

This cannabis plant suffered from the grow light being too close along with major heat stress during a heatwave in Southern California.

Important for Hydroponic Growers! High temps can trigger root rot, a serious problem that can kill cannabis plants (especially young plants). It’s especially important you do not disturb roots of hydro plants in the heat.

Cannabis may display heat stress when grown outdoors in hot weather, especially if plants are not given enough water or roots cook in the sun. Plants in big pots with lots of soil (or planted in the ground) are much more resistant to heat stress because roots stay cool.

When the heat gets too high, the edges of the serrated leaves begin to curl up even if there are no burns or other signs of light stress.

Too much heat causes the edges of cannabis leaves to curl up . Heat-stressed leaves may begin to “cup.”

Heat Stress

Very low or high humidity can make plants more likely to get stressed by the heat. Sometimes you’ll get symptoms that look like heat stress even if it’s barely hot, especial if the humidity is off or the grow light is too close.

Tipped-up edges of leaves is often a sign of heat or light stress (though it can also be root or watering problems).

Heat stress is even more damaging in the flowering stage since buds are forming and the plant is no longer growing many new leaves.

Indica-leaning strains are most prone to heat damage in the flowering stage. Heat damage during budding can reduce yields by demolishing many of your most important leaves, while also causing buds to grow airy with ugly foxtails.

Even though the grow lights were turned down, this is what happened to an indica-leaning plant overnight after being exposed to 105°F (40°C) temperatures during a heat wave.

If flowering cannabis plants are grown under too-hot conditions for a long time, sometimes they respond by growing new buds on top of the old ones.

When you see extensive growth on top of the buds closest to the grow lights, that’s a sign that the grow light is too close or the temperature is too high. Some people call the new growth (which often grows in spires) fox tails.

If it seems like your cannabis plants are completely ready for harvest, but they keep putting out new white pistils at the top of the plant, it might just be heat. If that’s the case, pay attention to the lower growth to decide when to harvest.

Heat during the flowering stage also causes fox-tails, which are airy and don’t have much substance to them. It’s basically the same response as growing new buds on top, it just looks a little different on some plants. The plant is basically “abandoning” the original heat-damaged bud to try to make a sad new one.

Example of unwanted cannabis “fox-tailing” caused by too much heat.

Solution: Get a thermometer to monitor temperature. Control heat by whatever means necessary using the steps outlined below.

Learn 5 secrets to controlling heat in the grow room.

Indoors, find a way to lower the temperature and/or increase the circulation in the grow room or grow area if heat is the problem. Having a small fan blowing over the tops of your plants will help prevent hot spots from forming directly under your grow lights. How far away should you keep your grow lights from your plants?

You may consider removing grow lights further away from the tops of the plants if heat is a problem.

If you’ve got a dimmable grow light, dimming your grow light both reduces light intensity and makes the light give off less heat. Just remember that less light = less food for plant leaves.

Reduce power – Dim LED grow lights to reduce heat in the grow space.

When growing cannabis, it’s best to try to keep things at a comfortable room temperature at all times for optimal growth. If it’s too hot for you, it’s probably too hot for your plants.

• Don’t let roots dry out – The worst thing you can do for heat-stressed plants is let them get underwatered. Make sure to water them regularly, but don’t drown the roots either.
• Lights on at night – Change your timer so your grow lights turn on at night instead of during the hottest hours.
• Use an exhaust fan to vent heat directly outside instead of directly back into the grow space.
• Add airflow with a small fan – This small oscillating fan clips right on the bars of a grow tent and offers great air circulation in a grow tent.
• Make sure intake air is cool – Your grow tent will always be warmer than the intake air due to the grow light, so if your intake air is hot your grow space will be even hotter.
• Dim and/or raise grow lights – Dimming reduces both heat and light intensity. But even if your lights aren’t dimmable, just raising the light helps plants be more resistant to heat stress.
• Keep roots cool – A cannabis plant with cool roots can withstand much higher temperatures than a plant with hot roots. A plant with lots of leaves offers extra shade to the roots. A bigger pot with lots of soil also tends to make plants more resistant to heat.

If you can keep your roots cool, it will help your plant deal with heat affecting the top of the plant. If there’s some way to protect the roots from heat, do it.

Many indoor setups will require that you vent out hot air using a fan and/or an exhaust system. By creating good suction with an efficient exhaust system and adding a carbon scrubber, you can also pretty much scrub all smells from the grow room. Learn more about controlling odors in the grow room.

An oscillating fan will circulate air in the room as well as provide a gentle breeze for your plants.

A tiny fan that adds a little air for a small 2’x2′ space costs about $20.

If your space is bigger than 2’x2′, get a grow tent and invest in one of these grow tent oscillating fans. They provide gentle steady airflow. I’ve not gotten bud rot even on fat colas since I starting using these for extra airflow in the grow tent.

These small oscillating fans clip to the bars of your grow tent.

Learn everything you need to know about controlling temperature in the grow room.

Outdoors, you have less options to reduce heat during a heat wave, but you are able to monitor your local weather via weather forecasts.

Read the full tutorial on how to help outdoor cannabis plants in the heat.

It is possible to partially shield your plants when you know the temperature is going to get hot. You can also adjust your watering schedule to make sure plants at least have plenty of water.

Outdoors – some things to try when you know the weather outside is going to be hot or dry:

• Don’t let soil dry out – The worst thing you can do for a cannabis plant that’s heat-stressed is also let it get underwatered.
• Keep roots cool – A plant with comfortable roots can withstand far higher temperatures than a plant with roots that are cooking. This is part of why plants in the ground tend to be much more resistant to heat than potted plants. Put your potted plant in a bigger pot to help insulate the roots from the sun. I’ve also heard of growers digging a hole in the ground to place their potted plant inside, because the ground is almost always cooler than the air when the temperature gets high.
• Increase shade outdoors to reduce the heat experienced by plants. You can use an old sheet or other cloth as a short term solution, or get a professional Sun Shade Cloth which is made particularly to create shade outdoors for plants. Note: After a few days of shade, plants start to become less “hardened” to the sun, even after it gets cooler. You may need to reintroduce full sunlight back slowly to prevent them from getting shocked from the light intensity.
• Add mulch to help prevent water evaporation and keep roots cooler.
• Water plants in the early morning or evening so the water doesn’t immediately evaporate during the hottest hours.
• Kelp extract for roots – Provide a small amount of liquid fertilizer that contains seaweed kelp extract, which some growers claim help protect against heat stress.
• Move potted plants – Luckily with potted plants, it’s usually easier to move them out of direct sunlight during a heat wave

Put a your pot inside a bigger pot to protect roots from the heat.

Take extra good care of heat-stressed plants – When cannabis plants appear heat-stressed, try to baby them as best you can. Most important: Try not to let them dry out, keep roots from getting hot, and offer some shade if it’s really hot.

When growing cannabis outdoors, it can often take a few weeks for plant to recover after a hot or dry spell, so prevention is the best medicine for outdoor plants.

Jump to…

Picking the right grow light

Light-Stress & Light-Burn

Air Circulation & Exhaust Tutorial

7 Tips to Growing Top-Shelf Buds

The post Heat Stress appeared first on Grow Weed Easy.

Problem: After watering, your plants start drooping. Usually the droopy leaves will feel firm and appear curled down (the whole leaf will be curled, not just the tips, which is often a sign of nitrogen toxicity). With overwatered cannabis plants, you may also notice Chlorosis (leaf yellowing that is similar to a nitrogen deficiency).

Overwatered cannabis plants are droopy with leaves that curl down. As a result of overwatering, leaves often turn yellow or show other signs of nutrient deficiencies (especially when it comes to younger plants and seedlings!)

Overwatering does not always mean you’ve been giving the plant too much water. It can also mean that you’ve been giving the plant water too often, or growing plants in a growing medium that holds onto water without enough air, or doesn’t have good drainage out the bottom.

How Often Do I Water My Cannabis Plants?

Cannabis plants use their roots to get oxygen, almost like they’re breathing. Oxygen is dissolved in water, and there’s also air pockets in their grow medium to provide a source of oxygen. When you water your plants too often, the roots end up sitting in stagnant water. The reason your plants droop is because basically their roots are starving for oxygen.

This sick marijuana seedling has several symptoms including droopiness and leaves with brown spots that appear to be a nutrient deficiency. Surprisingly, the true cause of both problems actually is the thick, wet, muddy soil.

The main sign of a cannabis plant being overwatered are the droopy leaves, though other symptoms often appear around the same time!

Overwatered Marijuana Plants

• Drooping / Curling is the first sign of overwaterd marijuana plants
• Plants start drooping soon after watering
• Leaves are firm and curled down all the way from the stem to the leaf
• Will eventually lead to leaf yellowing and other signs of nutrient problems if not corrected

The drooping cannabis plant below did not have drainage holes (water could not drain out the bottom of the pot). After watering the plant which appeared healthy the night before, the grower came back to this drooping plant the next day – this case of overwatering was caused by too much water being held near the roots due to lack of drainage:

Solution: The best thing you can do for overwatered plants is give them time between waterings, and then start off watering slowly until things seem back to normal. Make sure that water is able to drain easily out the bottom of potted cannabis plants. Be extra careful with small plants in big containers.

How to Water Cannabis Properly

1. Wait until the top of the growing medium is dry about an inch deep (up to your first knuckle).

2. Add water until you see some at least 20% extra runoff water drain out the bottom of your pot. Go back to step 1.

3. If top of growing medium stays wet for a long time, you may need to give your plants less water at a time, or improve your drainage.

4. The goal is to be watering your plants every 2-3 days. If it needs longer to dry out, you should be giving less water at a time. If it’s drying out too quickly it should get more water at a time (or may need to move to a bigger pot).

Learn how to water your marijuana plants perfectly every time

Some growers also use the “lift the pot” method to decide when to water your plants (basically wait until your pot feels “light” since the plants have used up all the water). It’s up to you to decide what’s easier for you.

If your plant medium seems to stay wet for a long time (more than 4-5 days or so), you may need better drainage. This also can happen when growers put tiny plants in a pot that’s way too big.

How to Water Cannabis Seedlings in a Too-Big Container

This cannabis plant has green healthy leaves, but as a result of overwatering it’s stunted and small even though its more than a month old.

Make sure that water drains freely from the bottom of your container (it’s recommended that you provide enough water to get at least 20% extra runoff every time you water your plants as long as your plants are drinking well).

You should see water coming out the bottom within a minute or two after watering. Then don’t water your plants again until the soil is dry up to your first knuckle.

If your plants are already overwatered, you can try to increase the temperature and airflow to help the water evaporate more quickly. You can also use a pencil to gently poke some air holes into the growing medium to provide extra aeration and oxygen to the roots.

Whenever a seedling has droopy leaves, it means that the roots are either not getting enough water (underwatered) or not getting enough oxygen (overwatered). This seedling has been chronically watered too often, preventing the roots from getting enough oxygen. As a result, the seedling has stayed small and mostly stopped growing.

For your individual growing medium and environment, your watering method will vary, but if your plants are drooping and you’ve been feeding them a lot of water, it’s a good idea to cut back and see if that helps.

Sometimes plants will be droopy no matter what you do, and the true cause is the plant is rootbound and needs a bigger container!

If you’re growing hydroponically with your marijuana roots directly in water and you see the signs of overwatering, that means you have a problem at your roots. Either your plants have root rot which is preventing them from getting oxygen at their roots, or you are not dissolving enough oxygen into the water (you can easily increase the dissolved oxygen in your water with a quality air pump and a few air stones).

How to Get Rid of Root Rot in Hydro

Need more help?

If your plant is experiencing “the claw” and not just normal drooping (the ends of leaves are curling like a claw or pointing down like talons), then you may actually have a nitrogen toxicity (too much nitrogen).

These Plants Are NOT Overwaterd, These Leaves Show Signs of “The Claw” which usually indicates a Nitrogen Toxicity
(“The Claw”, tips bent down, curling / clawing, dark green leaves)

The post Over-Watering appeared first on Grow Weed Easy.

Table of Contents

Root Problem Symptoms (many different symptoms)

Triggers for Root Problems

How to Treat Root Problems

Cannabis Plants With Root Problems Show Many Symptoms

• Cannabis may appear overwatered or droopy
• Curling or cupping of leaves
• Wilting – either individual stems wilt or the whole plant may wilt
• Slow growth, or staying very small for weeks
• Leaf yellowing, or sometimes even other colors like purple or red
• Brown spots / Burnt spots
• Other strange nutrient problems
• Brown or slimy roots – this is often a sign of root rot
• Smelly runoff water (smells rotting or musty)
• Leaves may start dying and falling off rapidly
• Plants drink much less water than usual

Example of extreme overwatering on an adult cannabis plant

This seedling was being grown in pure perlite, which is not a suitable growing medium for cannabis, and as a result the roots were not getting the proper levels of air and water. This seedling needs to be transplanted to soil or coco (or even into hydro) in order to get better.

This clone was give the same amount of water from when it first sprouted. As the plant started getting bigger and drinking more, this wasn’t enough and became chronically underwatered (a different type of root problem, with similar symptoms). What this particular plant needed was to be given more water at a time. One warning flag was that the plant was drying out every day (you should only have to water your plant every few days, if it’s drying out in just one it likely needs more water at a time). It’s always a good idea to listen to your plants when deciding when to water, as opposed to following a set schedule. Each plant and environment is different, and what works for some plants may not work as well for others!

The cannabis plant below did not have any drainage holes (water could not drain out the bottom of the pot). Notice the strange twisting of some of the leaves. When roots are left in stagnant water for too long, they cannt get enough oxygen and tend to develop root problems.

More overwatered marijuana seedlings – these were overwatered since theyf first germinated. If leaves are drooping down in normal heat, but still seem kind of “fat” it’s often something with watering or roots!

Example of a cannabis seedling with what appears to be a nutrient deficiency, but the symptoms are actually caused by overwatering / root problems

This particular type of cupping of the leaves below is common among cannabis plants with root problems. In this case, the plant had no drainage from the bottom of the solo cup, so water was just pooling at the bottom for the roots to sit in. Once the grower poked holes in the bottom of the cup, this problems went away (the cupped leaves didn’t recover, but new leaves started growing in happy and healthy).

Sometimes leaves will tend to cup or curl down due to root problems, like the plant above, but sometimes the curl upwards too, like the poor plant below (this was caused by poor drainage and plant was overwatered, leading to a pretty severe case of root problems):

This next plant was also overwatered and had no drainage. Notice how dark the soil is and the green algae growing all along the top of the soil – these are more signs the plant has been overwatered for quite a while. You should never water your plant when the soil is still wet at the top, and if you notice lots of algae growing on top of your soil, it may be a sign that you’re overwatering on a regular basis.

The grower went away for a few days, so they chose to overwater their plant in hopes it would be enough water until they got back. While they were gone, they had a huge heat wave. So this plant was subjected to overwatering plus heat. A few days later, when the grower came back, they saw that the leaves were cuppping upwards and had turned lime green. The stems and veins of the leaves were turning red. You can see the soil is still dark and wet because the plant stopped drinking after developing root problems.

Another plant from that same batch which reacted differently

Chronic overwatering in thick soil led to these symptoms. The main thing that alerts you to the fact that the yellowing is caused by overwatering is the fact that it’s droopy. It’s very easy to overwater young plants when you have a small seedling in a big container. When that’s the case, don’t soak the whole growing medium. Water in just a circle around the plant until its leaves are up and growing fast. At that point you can start watering more thoroughly 🙂

The following seedling is almost a month old, but it’s been overwatered its whole life. As a result, it’s stunted and small. The biggest hint that the roots are at fault is the fat, droopy leaves. The fact that it’s a small plant in a big container also makes it more likely for plants to develop root problems.

The strange yellow and red growth in this picture has been caused by giving the plant too much water, too often. Overwatering can often causes what appears to be nutrient deficencies in young plants! Older plants tend to just droop, but especially seedlings can have really odd reactions to overwatering.

The plants below developed root rot in a hydroponic setup. This is usually triggered when the roots can’t get enough oxygen, usually due to high temps or poor oxidation of the water. Notice the strange burnt appears on some of the bottom leaves. They turned almost white. The whole plant was drooping, especially towards the bottom. The roots turned brown (pictures below).

The plant on the right is healthy, and the plant on the left has root rot. It’s interesting how the symptoms from root problems are often similar, whether the problem is in soil or hydro!

More side effects of root rot

Root rot! No wonder the leaves were having so much trouble on top.

Learn How to Get Rid of Root Rot (common in hydroponic setups)

See even more pictures of cannabis root problem symptoms caused by over-watering, too much heat, and small containers

Possible Triggers For Root Problems

• Heat – cannabis is more likely to have root problems at higher temperatures
• Cold – cold roots are unhappy roots – cold shock can cause wilting and other problems
• Over-watering potted plants – too much watering tends to cause root problems
• No drainage hole at the bottom of the container – if water can’t get out and water is sitting at the bottom of the pot, the roots can “drown”
• Muddy or thick soil – if your soil is muddy and thick instead of rich and fluffy, it may mean the soil doesn’t hold enough oxygen to support your roots.
• Small plant in a big container – When a seedling (or small plant) is in a big container, it often has trouble getting enough oxygen at the roots. Until the plant has grown bigger and started to fill up the container, it’s important to avoid overwatering. It can help to water just a little bit at a time, in a circle around the seedling, until it starts growing faster.
• Plant has “overgrown” it’s container (become rootbound) – The roots of a rootbound plant have started circling the outside of the container, causing watering and nutrient problems even if you’re doing everything right. When this happens, you may need to transplant to a bigger container to stop the plant from being “choked” by the roots.
• Big plant in a small container – any time you have a big plant in a small container, even if the plant isn’t root bound, you increase the chance of underwatering since the plant quickly drinks up all the water in the soil!
• Hydroponics – Root problems are caused when there’s not enough oxygen in the water, usually caused because it’s either too hot or there isn’t enough bubbles/aeration

Certain strains are more prone to root problems than others, but good root practices will allow every plant to thrive!

How to Treat Root Problems:

Step 1: Identify what may have caused the root problem (refer to list of possible triggers above)

Step 2: Address this underlying issue

• Happy temps – Make sure your grow area maintains a comfortable room temperature during the day, and is a few degrees cooler at night. Learn more about how temperature affects your cannabis plants.
• Only water your plants when they need it. How often should I water my potted cannabis plants?
• Make sure potted plants have plenty of drainage, and there must be drainage holes at the bottom. If soil or growing medium holds a lot of water, consider mixing in 1/3 to 1/2 extra perlite to “loosen things up” and improve drainage at the roots.
• Put plants in the right sized container to give the roots the best environment to spread out and grow. You may need to transplant to a bigger container if your plant has gotten too big or its roots are rootbound.
• Brown, smelly roots? Learn how to get rid of root rot

Step 3: (Optional) Provide your plant with a beneficial bacteria like Hydroguard to help roots recover quickly (more info about root supplements below). Hydroguard will help fight root rot by creating a colony of good organisms to outcompete the root rot.

You May Not Want to Use Hydrogen Peroxide (H2O2) for Root Problems! H2O2 is temporarily effective at best when it comes to root problems. By it’s nature, even commercial grade H2O2 will be completely gone from a water reservoir after about 24 hours as it reacts with the water to form oxygen (decomposes) until the H2O2 is completely gone.

If H2O2 is added to a water source, it kills most of the bacteria in the water, including any good bacteria, but will not usually be able to kill all bacteria, so some bad bacteria will still be left to repopulate. Because of it’s nature, hydrogen peroxide does absolutely nothing to fix the underlying issue that causes root problems, and it kills any postive bacteria in your soil or water so sometimes it can actually make things worse. I think of H2O2 as a temporary bandaid.

I personally recommend using a supplement called Botanicare Hydroguard for root problems because I’ve used it successfully to get rid of a terrible case of Root Rot

Note: Botanicare used to have an awesome root innoculant called Aquashield, but in our tests Hydroguard works even better to create healthier roots and get rid of root rot!

Hydroguard is also much cheaper than most other similar root treatments and is proven to work well at supporting root health in cannabis. Take a look at our root rot page to see pictures of how Hydroguard was able to completely cure a terrible case of root rot.

Other examples of beneficial root supplements include Piranha, VooDoo Juice, Great White (Great White has great reviews, yet is obscenely expensive), and Rooters. Most of these can be used with both hydro and soil grows. I personally recommend Hydroguard because I’ve used it successfully to treat Root Rot (and it’s also very affordably priced, you can use it throughout your grow without breaking the bank).

One important thing to note is that after you treat the cause of root problems, the old damaged leaves may never recover! With recovery, you should be looking for the problem to stop spreading, and for new leaves to be growing in green and healthy.

Jump to…

Diagnose my sick plants!

7 Tips to Growing Top Shelf Buds

What supplies do I need to start growing indoors (or upgrade)?

Pests, Bugs, and Cannabis Viruses

Enough of all the pics with sad or unhappy roots – before you go, here’s a picture of healthy roots growing from a new clone!

Taken by awesome grower Merrie Jayne

The post Root Problems appeared first on Grow Weed Easy.

Cannabis Fungus Gnat Cheat Sheet

Fungus gnats look like tiny flies buzzing around cannabis plants, especially around the soil. Their larva grows in wet soil, and they often appear when the topsoil stays wet for too long between waterings.

How to Get Rid of Fungus Gnats:

A fungus gnat is so small it’s thinner than the width of a quarter. They commonly appear when cannabis plants are watered too often. If you let the top inch of your soil dry out before watering your plants each time, fungus gnats often naturally go away on their own. However, if you have a really bad infestation, it can take weeks of good watering practices before you get rid of all of them unless you also do something to directly kill the bugs and bring down their numbers. Read on to learn how to get rid of fungus gnats on your cannabis plants for good.

• Important! Let the topsoil dry out between waterings. Fungus gnats usually result from over-watering.
• Yellow Sticky Cards – cut down on their numbers
• A Fungus gnat-killing product – Either a wide spectrum insect killer or watering plants with something that has BT like crushed-up mosquito bits.
• Diatomaceous earth – this white powder is harmless to people and animals but is sharp at a microscopic level and will kill gnats. Sprinkle it around the grow room and on your topsoil.

Keep reading below for more options to get rid of cannabis fungus gnats!

Table of Contents

Introduction

What Causes Fungus Gnats To Attack Your Cannabis Plants? Wet topsoil!

How Do You Know You Have Fungus Gnats?

• Pictures of Fungus Gnat Damage to Cannabis Leaves

How To Get Rid of Fungus Gnats in Your Soil

Prevention: Safeguard Your Next Grow

For Composters: Get Rid of Fungus Gnats In Your Compost Pile

Get the Stuff to Fight off a Fungus Gnat Invasion

by Nebula Haze

Introduction

Fungus gnats – how do you get rid of these tiny flying pests that lay eggs in your soil? This article will teach cannabis growers (like you) exactly that: how to completely eradicate fungus gnats and ensure they never come back!

Fungus gnats are a common problem for soil cannabis growers (especially those who overwater their plants!), but they’re actually easy to get rid of once you know what to do!

Fungus gnats (also known as “sciarid flies”) are black or dark brown flies which look like tiny mosquitoes with dark wings.

How Big Is a Fungus Gnat?

Fungus gnats are small, only about 2 mm long. To give you an idea of how big that is, 2mm is about the thickness of a quarter.

Despite their small size, fungus gnats can be a big nuisance in your soil cannabis grow, mostly because their tiny maggot/larvae offspring will hurt your plant’s roots (which will cause problems for your plants).

What Causes Fungus Gnats to Attack Cannabis Plants?

Fungus gnat larvae eat fungus or decaying matter and need wet conditions to thrive. It is common for soil growers to overwater their cannabis plants, and wet soil is the perfect home for fungus and decaying organic matter. After fungus has grown (often invisible to the naked eye) or overwatered matter has begun to decay in the topsoil, fungus gnat lays their eggs in the top layer of wet soil.

Warm + wet topsoil = fungus gnats (and other problems or pests in soil)

These eggs hatch into larvae that look like tiny maggots which only live in the top 2-3 inches (5-8 cm) of soil. The fungus gnat larvae are the culprits which cause damage to cannabis roots.

Cannabis roots are not the main source of food for fungus gnat larvae, but roots get caught in the crossfire. Although the main diet of fungus gnats is fungus and decaying matter, the larvae happily gnaw on root hairs and young tender roots of cannabis plants.

The damage to the roots from these little suckers causes problems in the leaves and slowed growth. A bad fungus gnat infestation can even kill cannabis plants, especially young seedlings.

While the main problem is that fungus gnat larvae attack the roots of your cannabis plants, the adult fungus gnats can also spread diseases (such as pythium – a common cause of root rot) via their feet.

Because of these problems, it is important to get rid of a fungus gnat infestation right away.

If fungus gnats need fungus and decaying matter to survive, where is the fungus coming from? Fungus grows in wet conditions and is an essential part of the environment (where it breaks down organic matter like dead leaves). Fungus spores are around us everywhere pretty much all the time, but these spores will never start growing without moisture. Warm and wet conditions in the soil of a cannabis grow are what cause fungus to grow and matter to decay. Sometimes you won’t even be able to see the fungus or decaying matter with the naked eye. But once the conditions are right, fungus gnats thrive in the top layer of your soil whether you can see fungus or not.

Check To Make Sure You Have Fungus Gnats

1.) Tiny flying black bugs around your plants & crawling on your soil

Even if your plant or leaves aren’t showing symptoms or distress yet, if you see fungus gnats it means that you have a problem with fungus and moisture in your soil. Don’t let the infestation get out of hand. It’s always recommended to get rid of any pests in the grow room as soon as you know they’re there!

This video shows you what fungus gnats look like, and also go over how to get rid of them (or just read the rest of the article!)

The adult fungus gnat flies are just annoying (and gross); they don’t bite you and don’t do much to hurt your plants directly besides spreading disease. But even though the mature fungus gnats aren’t a huge threat to your plants, the presence of adult gnats lets you know that your cannabis soil has been infested with their maggot offspring which causes the real problems.

2.) Tiny white or translucent larvae with black heads in the soil

Note: this picture is really big so you can see what you’re looking for, but the actual larvae/maggots are TINY. If you spot them, you’ll just see tiny white spots wriggling around in the topsoil.

It’s the fungus gnat larvae in the soil that damage your plant roots and cause growing problems, especially to seedlings or young plants.

How Fungus Gnat Larvae Cause Damage to Cannabis Plants

Larvae attack tender new plant roots and root hairs, which cause these problems:

• “Damping off” – seeds or seedlings are weak for no apparent reason; sometimes stems weaken and seedlings can even just fall over and die
• If the fungus gnat infestation gets out of hand, even adult cannabis plants start looking unhealthy, showing many symptoms such as wilting, yellowing, drooping, spots
• Cannabis leaves may show signs of nutrient deficiency (or deficiencies) which seem to be unrelated to pH, nutrients, or any other identifiable nutrient problem
• Plants will start growing slowly and may even stop growing altogether
• If the infestation hits in the flowering stage, yields can be reduced

Fungus Gnats vs Fruit Flies

Quick Check! Make sure you have fungus gnats and not fruit flies.

Fruit flies are brown/yellow/orange while fungus gnats are dark brown or black. Fruit flies tend to be bigger/fatter and easier to see than tiny fungus gnats. You need to take a slightly different approach with fruit flies.

Thanks to Ilona L. and Richard Leung for the closeup Fungus Gnat pics!

Fruit flies will keep coming back if there’s ripe or rotting fruit to eat. If you’ve ever left a banana or other fruit on your counter too long, you’ve probably noticed how fruit flies seem to be able to appear out of thin air if there’s ripe fruit around.

Fruit flies can start buzzing around poorly composted soil which contains kitchen scraps, but otherwise, fruit flies are uncommon in the grow room unless there’s ripe/rotting fruit or other tasty bits for them to eat.

So once you get rid of their food, the fruit flies will disappear.

Pics of Damage to Cannabis Plants From Fungus Gnats

A fungus gnat infestation on your cannabis plants can cause all sorts of strange problems – often they look like overwatering, pH problems or nutrient deficiencies. The more fungus gnats you have, the more likely you’ll see damaged leaves and reduced growth rates.

Since fungus gnats are almost always caused by overwatering and too-wet topsoil conditions, some of these symptoms may actually be caused by too-wet soil. In any case, when you see fungus gnats, it means there’s a problem in your setup that needs to be addressed.

Here’s some pictures of cannabis plants affected by a gnat infestation. Notice how the leaves don’t look healthy (there’s yellowing, spots, curling, etc). It’s almost impossible to tell that you have fungus gnats just by looking at the leaves of the plant because it can cause all sorts of different symptoms.

Here’s a flowering cannabis plant affected by fungus gnats

What To Do If You Have Fungus Gnats in Your Soil

Most importantly, don’t overwater your plants! Never water cannabis plants grown in soil until the top inch of soil feels dry (up to your first knuckle). Fungus gnats need wet topsoil conditions to grow and thrive. The most common reason growers get fungus gnats is overwatering their plants.

Without Wet Topsoil, Fungus Gnats Naturally Disappear!

While the steps below will help you get rid of your fungus gnats quickly and effectively, the gnats will almost always go away on their own if you simply stop overwatering your cannabis plants. When there’s no fungus, there’s no fungus gnats, and both need wet conditions to grow. But if you already have them, here’s how to kick them out of your grow area…

Get Rid Of Fungus Gnats Quickly: What You Need

• Yellow Sticky Cards
• A Fungus gnat-killing product – Either a wide spectrum insect killer or something with BT like crushed-up mosquito bits mixed with water in a mister.
• Diatomaceous earth
• A fan to blow air over the top of your soil

1.) Place yellow sticky cards in the grow area – fungus gnats love the color yellow and will fly toward it. These yellow sticky cards (found at most gardening stores) are covered with glue that will trap adult fungus gnats, bringing down their numbers.

But the most important reason to use yellow sticky cards is to help you keep track of how bad the current fungus gnat infestation is. As the infestation is reduced, there will be fewer adults caught in the yellow sticky traps. That’s how you know that your approach is working.

Get Yellow Sticky Cards on Amazon

2.) Get a fan blowing air over the top of the growing medium. This helps dry out the top layer of your soil, and also helps prevent the fungus gnats from being able to fly around and lay more eggs.

Get a Tabletop Fan on Amazon

3.) Don’t water your plants for a few days. You want to begin drying out the soil to kill as many larvae as you can before you apply a treatment (which will involve watering). Fungus gnat larvae need a warm, wet environment near the surface of your soil to grow. Even after you’ve gone through all these steps and believe fungus gnats are gone, make sure to avoid overwatering plants, as this is the most common reason growers get fungus gnats in the first place. Don’t do the next step until the top few inches of soil has dried out

4.) Kill the Larvae in The Soil

• Treat top layer of soil with wide-spectrum insect killer (follow the directions).

• Use a powder duster to spread food-grade diatomaceous earth overexposed parts of soil. This will help kill the fungus gnat larvae and will also help prevent infestations in the future. While not completely necessary, adding diatomaceous earth is a great step to take to help get rid of the fungus gnats and their larvae as fast as possibleDiatomaceous earth is an organic insect killer made of fossilized shells. It is sharp on the microscopic level and works by puncturing the exoskeleton of insects (draining them of their body fluids), but poses no harm to humans or pets and can even be eaten.

Get Diatomaceous Earth On Amazon (this particular bag comes with a powder duster which makes it easier to apply)

If you still have fungus gnats after doing that for a few days, try to mix it up because they will start getting resistant to your chosen treatment. Try one of these alternative cures:

• Essentria IC3 Insecticide is a mix of various horticultural oils that is organic and safe for humans. It is often marketed as a “bed bug killer” but is also very effective against fungus gnats when the plants are treated regularly. You want to apply this every other days or possibly combine with other options. You will need a mister (also called a “One-Hand Pressure Sprayer”) to spray the soil evenly, and make sure to follow the directions! Like all the options, it’s safe to use until a few days before harvest.

• Mosquito Bits (BT Bacteria) – Another thing you can water your plants with is something that contains “BT” bacteria (specifically, Bacillus thuringiensis var israelensis – there is another type of BT that’s meant for caterpillars), for example Mosquito Bits. However, they need to be crushed up into a powder so it will mix in the water for the best results when watering your plants. Just like any other time, always pH your water right before giving it to your plants!

• Hydrogen Peroxide (food grade if possible) – If you don’t have access to any of the products, you can start getting creative at home. Usually, these types of remedies aren’t as effective as the “real” stuff, but they will definitely still kill a lot of bugs! Use 1 part hydrogen peroxide to 4 parts water (for 3% pure H2O2) – another type of brute force attack to kill larvae directly.

Learn about “good bugs” that kill Fungus Gnat larvae below

5.) Avoid overwatering your cannabis plants from now on. Never water your cannabis plants in soil until the top inch or two of soil has dried out. From now on, you don’t want to ever let the top part of soil stay wet to create a breeding ground for fungus and fungus gnats. How often do I water my cannabis plants? Until the fungus gnats are gone, let your plant dry out a lot more than normal between waterings, and then you can go back to a normal watering schedule.

6.) Keep your sticky yellow cards up until Fungus Gnats are completely gone. These yellow sticky cards will continue killing adult gnats. They’re also helpful because they will alert you to whether fungus gnat numbers are rising or falling. Even after killing all the larvae, it may take a few days to a few weeks before the adult fungus gnats are completely gone and you stop seeing new gnats caught on your sticky cards.

What is bacillus thuringiensis var israelensis?

This type of bacteria produces a toxin that hurts the larvae of fungus gnats and prevents them from being able to eat (it also kills mosquito larvae), but doesn’t affect your plants or roots. Products that contain this bacteria are sometimes listed as “BT” or “BTi” (to indicate the subspecies israelensis – which is particularly effective against fungus gnats). It is also safe for fish, pets, humans and pretty much everything besides larvae. It is safe for organic grows, even in the middle of the flowering/budding stage, and won’t hurt other microbes living in the soil.

When using pellet-type formulations of bacillus thuringiensis, you will get better results if you crush it up before sprinkling on soil, or mix it with water. Always make sure to get Bacillus thuringiensis var israelensis (other types of BT are better at caterpillars). Powder and dry formulations of bacillus thuringiensis seem to work better than liquid ones.

Other Ways to Kill Fungus Gnat Larvae

While bacillus thuringiensis is probably the best way to naturally kill fungus gnat larvae, you can use other biological control methods to kill these maggots. The following options will help control fungus gnat infestations but will likely not completely get rid of them unless you stop overwatering your plants.

• pathogenic nematodes (Steinernema feltiae)
• predatory mites (Hypoaspis miles) (Hypoaspis aculeifer)

Growing Organic? The “brute force” methods above like Hydrogen Peroxide will kill the fungus gnat larvae, but will also kill many beneficial microbes in the soil. You can add beneficial microbes back, but it will take a while for them to repopulate your soil. This problem only really affects organic soil growers. If you’re providing nutrients to your plants with bottled nutrients, you’re already providing nutrients in a way that your plants will be able to use even if the microbe populations are down. In any case, if growing organically, an organic version of bacillus thuringiensis (subspecies israelensis) is the best option for getting rid of fungus gnats.

Prepare For Your Next Grow: Prevention

Before your next grow, make sure you thoroughly clean your growing area if you’ve been attacked by fungus gnats or other pests. Get rid of any houseplants that have any bugs flying around them. Never buy soil that has already been infested with fungus gnats or show any signs of flying bugs or larvae/maggots.

Some growers will even cook new soil to make sure any fungus gnat larvae are dead before letting their cannabis plants or clones near it.

If you’re getting cannabis clones, make sure you get them from a trusted source and inspect closely for fungus gnats (as well as spider mites or other pests). You may want to start with seeds if you’re growing in soil and worried about bugs, as clones are the most common way to introduce pests to the grow room.

Speaking of cannabis clones… I know this article is about fungus gnats, but I want to mention something else that’s very important about cannabis clones. While fungus gnats are a big nuisance, they are not the worst pests a grower can get from cannabis clones. Fungus gnat problems pale in comparison to the horrible affliction of getting cannabis-specific spidermites (aka “the borg”).

Once a grow room gets infected by the borg, it is incredibly difficult to get rid of these resilient pests which kill your plants, eat your leaves, and cover your plants (and buds) with horrible webbing. Always check new cannabis clones thoroughly (including under leaves for bugs or eggs) before letting new clones anywhere near your grow area! You may want to dip new clones in spider mite killer to make sure they are free of spider mites. Learn more about spider mites.

Some growers will start with cannabis seeds (as opposed to clones) to reduce the chance they ever have to deal with spider mites or fungus gnats!

What To Do with Fungus Gnats in Your Compost Pile

What do you do if fungus gnats attack your compost pile, where you are trying to build up beneficial microbe populations in the soil?

Here’s a list of ways to control a fungus gnat infestation in your compost pile:

1.) Make Sure Compost Pile Isn’t Too Wet

If you’ve got a fungus gnat problem, you should probably allow the compost to dry out somewhat. The most common reason for fungus gnats in a compost pile is wet conditions. Too-wet conditions also prevent proper composting, so this is something you need to address before you do anything else. Compost piles should be about as dry as a wrung-out sponge, and should not seem wet.

2.) Kill Larvae

Sprinkle food-grade Diatomaceous Earth over exposed parts of compost pile – this kills some of the gnats and larvae, but is completely harmless to humans. Diatomaceous Earth is very sharp on a micro level, and will pierce the outside of tiny bugs or larvae, killing them. Yet to macro creatures like dogs, cats and humans, Diatomaceous Earth is completely harmless and can even be eaten

If you have an extreme fungus gnat problem, use a Pest treatment with “bacillus thuringiensis” (subspecies “israelensis” is best), for example Mosquito Bits, Mosquito Dunks, etc. Sometimes known as “BT.” Dry or powder formulations work best for fungus gnats. Break it up and sprinkle over top of compost, add water to “activate” the bacteria so it starts killing fungus gnat larvae.

After you’ve made sure the compost pile isn’t too wet, cover pile with tarp or plastic sheeting. This helps disrupt the life cycle of fungus gnats.

You also might want to consider keeping your compost in a bin with a lid so bugs can’t get in or out. In some places, this is actually a requirement due to local regulations.

3.) Compost Pile Maintenance

Generally, it’s not recommended to add kitchen scraps to a compost pile for cannabis, since cannabis requires specific ratios of nutrients to provide the best growth which can’t be achieved easily with kitchen scraps. However, if you are adding new kitchen waste to your compost pile, bury it in the middle of the pile so it’s not on top for the fungus gnats (or fruit flies) to feed on. Learn about how to compost your own organic super soil (using this method, it’s very unlikely you will be hit by fungus gnats or fruit flies).

Some growers will cover their compost pile with items that have a lot of carbon, such as cardboard, shredded paper, or brown leaves. This also disrupts the fungus gnat life cycle, but tarp or plastic sheeting is easier. If you’ve mixed your compost pile properly using a proven cannabis composting recipe, it is unlikely that you will need to add extra carbon to prevent fungus gnats.

Turn over the compost heap regularly if fungus gnats are a constant problem because compost pile is too wet – this helps mix everything well so compost dries out quickly, and also prevents pockets of fungus gnat larvae from taking hold

Well-maintained compost piles typically become very hot during the composting process, so with all the steps above, and with no way for the larvae to escape through the plastic sheeting, the composting process should cook any remaining larvae and kill them.

Get the Stuff to Fight off a Fungus Gnat Invasion!

Yellow Sticky Cards – Kills adult fungus gnats and gives you a good idea of their current population.

Table Fan – They can’t lay eggs if they can’t fly or land!

Diatomaceous Earth – Kills larvae faster than I can correctly spell ‘diatomaceous’!

Mosquito Bits – Once crushed and watered, they release a bacteria that doesn’t like larvae. Totally safe for plants, though!

Jump to…

7-Step Remedy to 99% of Cannabis Growing Problems

Pictures of Marijuana Problems

How to Water Plants Perfectly Every Time

Overwatering Explained

The post Fungus Gnats appeared first on Grow Weed Easy.

Broad mites (Polyphagotarsonemus latus) on your cannabis plants are so tiny they are practically impossible to spot with the naked eye. They are about 1/3 the size of a spider mite, and therefore broad mites are even difficult to see under a microscope. Most growers notice the symptoms of broad mites on their cannabis plants long before they ever see a broad mite or broad mite eggs.

With broad mites, the new growth may be twisted, blistered and “wet” looking. If your marijuana plant is flowering, the buds may turn brown and die.

These cannabis broad mite damage pics were taken by Hosttrevor (thank you!)

Dark-colored broad mite under 100x magnification by David B. Langston (University of Georgia)

Broad Mite Symptoms:

• Bugs are so small they are difficult to see without magnification
• Under a microscope, you can see that they have 6 legs when young (as larvae), and 8 legs as adults
• Symptoms are often confused for heat stress, overwatering, a pH imbalance, or root problems
• New growth may be twisted or drooping
• Leaves may be, blistered or “wet” looking
• Leaves may be turned up at the edges
• Broad mites don’t attack all parts of the plant evenly; symptoms are worse in certain spots where the infestation is concentrated
• In the flowering stage, buds may become sickly and die

One of the main symptoms of broad mites on cannabis is that the newest growth is coming in twisted.

Edges may turn up as if the plant is suffering from heat stress, but with broad the leaves take on a glossy, almost plastic-like appearance. Eventually affected leaves turn yellow or bronze and die.

The main way to spot an infestation is the damage they leave behind because usually the mites themselves are too small to see. They like to hang out inside inside your plants, where they can live and lay eggs without you seeing them.

Some broad mites appear white or yellow colored. Picture by Bruce Watt from the University of Maine.

Sometimes the symptoms can be confused for tobacco mosaic virus. Leaf symptoms from broad mites are also commonly misdiagnosed as overwatering, a nutrient deficiency or heat damage.

One of the biggest reasons broad mites can be so difficult to diagnose is you rarely see any signs of bugs, and you don’t see bites on the leaves. For many people, they don’t even realize a bug infestation is happening.

Sometimes top leaves droop. In this pic you can see that part of the droopy leaves are getting that blistered, wet appearance from broad mites.

The following marijuana plant has been treated for broad mites and is starting to recover. You can see the newest growth looks matte and healthy, while the damaged leaves from before still look glossy and blistered.

It’s great if your plant is starting to look healthy again, but even if your plant appears to be recovering, don’t stop on weekly treatments for at least a few weeks. The broad mites could still be there waiting to take over the plant again! They are the masters of hiding and waiting.

Unfortunately, broad mites are probably one of the hardest marijuana pests to get rid of. They lay their eggs inside the plant which makes it very difficult to kill their eggs!

Broad mite under 100x magnification, by Chazz Hesselein

Solution: How to Get Rid of Broad Mites On Cannabis

Once you’ve actually identified that you have broad mites, it’s time to get rid of them! When it comes to broad mites, a lot of the “standard” miticides are not as effective and you’ll notice these particular mites aren’t listed on the labels.

Broad mites can be one of the toughest marijuana pests to get rid of, but it can be done if you stay vigilant.

• Immediately and carefully remove infected parts of the plant – if there’s already an infestation in the tissue, you likely won’t be able to save those particular leaves/buds. Your main goal is to stop the infestation from spreading.
• Treat often – You may have to treat several times a week or even daily if you have a terrible infestation that won’t go away. This can be very difficult on your plants.
• Spray Before Lights Go Out – Whenever treating plants with a spray, do it before the lights go off so that your plant is less likely to get burned.
• Read Instructions – Make sure to read the full instructions of each bottle and follow them when treating your plants. You will save yourself a lot of big headaches.
• Repeat treatments weekly for 5 more weeks after mites are gone – After you think broad mites are completely gone, don’t stop. Treat your plant with a different treatment at least once a week for 5 additional weeks. If you don’t completely eradicate them they’ll come back with a vengeance and can be even more resistant to whatever you throw at them.

Here’s a Detailed Step-by-Step:

1.) Dispose of known infected plant matter

The parts of the plant that are already infested should be carefully removed and discarded of if possible. This will dramatically reduce the bug numbers, and help save the rest of your plant.

2.) Neem Oil

Neem Oil will leave an unpleasant taste/smell on buds when used to treat flowering plants, so don’t let this stuff get near your buds. There’s also some evidence Neem oil may be harmful to humans so use it with care. That being said, Neem oil is an all-natural remedy (it’s actually the most popular natural pesticide in the world) that is very effective against many different types of bugs and mold, including broad mites.

Neem oil can be rough on your plants so you don’t want to use it more often than you have to because your plants may suffer. However, if you get desperate treating plants daily with Neem oil can be effective at killing broad mites when nothing seems to be working.

You will need a mister (also called a “One-Hand Pressure Sprayer”) to spray all the leaves evenly since neem oil and water can separate easily. A mister helps you get full and even coverage on all parts of the plant.

3.) Mite-B-Gone

Insecticidal soap-like products that contain fatty acid salts or sulfate esters weaken the outer shell of mites but are safe for humans and don’t leave much of a residue. Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS) is a sulfate ester that’s particularly good against mites.

With soaps and similar products, coverage is very important as it does not stay on your plant for long, so follow-up applications may be necessary. Although this is considered safe, avoid getting any on your buds so it doesn’t affect the taste/smell!

Recommended: Mite Killer Spray by Mite-B-Gone – In addition to Sodium Lauryl Sulfate, this one also contains Citric Acid, and Sodium Chloride. These are all non-toxic and friendly to the environment, while being a menace to broad mites on your cannabis plants.

Mite Killer Spray by Mite-B-Gone

4.) Standard insecticidal soap

Fatty acid salts or insecticidal soaps can help against broad mites. They weaken the outer shell of broad mites but are safe to use on your plants and they don’t leave much of a residue which could kill beneficial bugs in your garden.

Follow the directions and avoid getting any on your buds because it can affect the taste or smell.

This probably won’t get rid of broad mites on its own, but it is less harsh on your plants than some of the other options and so it can be a great way to supplement the other treatments you’re doing by bringing down their numbers.

Natria Insecticidal Soap Insect Killer

5.) Earth’s Ally 3-in-1 Plant Spray (organic)

Earth’s Ally 3-in-1 Plant Spray is a mix of various horticultural oils which are organic and safe for humans. It is effective against many soft-bodied bugs, including broad mites to some extent, when the cannabis plants are treated regularly. Unfortunately, it only stays effective on the plant for about 24 hours so you will want to either apply this daily or (better idea) combine with other options and rotate between them. You will need a mister (also called a “One-Hand Pressure Sprayer”) to spray all the leaves evenly.

Earth’s Ally 3-in-1 Plant Spray + Mister

6.) Diatomaceous Earth 

Diatomaceous Earth is basically fossil dust that can be sprinkled on the top of your soil, and anywhere else in your room (window sills, doorways, etc). This powder-like substance is harmless to mammals and plants but is incredibly sharp at the microscopic level. Therefore it will tear and dehydrate broad mites on physical contact. This will not get rid of an infestation but can help prevent, control, and slow things down when used effectively. When it comes to broad mites, you want to use every tool you can.

7.) Heat

Broad mites don’t like the heat above 90°F (32°C). Some growers will try to get rid of them by on small plants or clones by dunking the plants in hot water (105°F / 40°C) for 10-20 minutes. I’ve also heard of growers try to reduce their number by overheating the grow space to 115°F (46°C) for an hour. Be careful as this can be dangerous if you don’t take safety precautions, and any heat method strong enough to kill the mites will likely hurt your plants.

8.) Predatory Mites

Some types of predatory mites, like Neoseiulus type mites, love to eat broad mites. Supplementing your garden with extra predators can help bring down broad mite numbers. However, it’s not enough to fix the problem on their own and unfortunately, a lot of the other remedies on this page will also kill predatory mites.

If you don’t want to use pesticides, or want some extra help, get predatory mites to help eat all your broad mites.

9.) AgroMagen GrowSafe (Organic)

GrowSafe by AgroMagen is a natural miticide that claims to be effective against broad mites. I am not very familiar with this product, but have heard good things about it. Given how tough this pest can be to get rid of, I wanted to make sure I included every possible option. From what I understand you will need to spray more than once and this is best combined with at least one other treatment. You will need a mister (also called a “One-Hand Pressure Sprayer”) to spray all the leaves evenly.

GrowSafe (plus a mister) kills broad mites and almost any mite (including hemp russet mites and spider mites)

More Cannabis Pests, Bugs & Viruses

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Most indoor cannabis growers use fans to blow air around within the grow area. This creates a nice breezy environment that cannabis plants love. But sometimes there can be too much breeze!

Be Careful! Too Much Wind Causes Clawed Leaves and Sometimes Spots

When there’s too much breeze, the affected marijuana leaves will start getting “wind-burned.”

Wind-burned leaves are often curved under and form “claws.” They can look like they’re droopy from overwatering, underwatering, or possible a nitrogen toxicity, but you know you’ve got wind-burn when the leaves in front of the fan are clawing, and leaves further away from the fan look fine.

Just for reference, here’s what too much wind/fan looks like!

Too Much Fan!

Sometimes too high levels of wind can cause other unusual problems on the affected leaves, such as brown or bronze spots that almost look like burn marks. These are the result of the leaf not being able to fulfill all its normal processes.

A closeup of those wind burn leaf spots – not bugs, not a nutrient deficiency!

Placing Fans

• Ideally you’d like a nice breeze surrounding the main canopy, which means you want air blowing above and under the plants.

• All the leaves should be gently rustling in the best-case scenario, but should never be waving around.

• Don’t point a strong fan directly at a plant, because too much wind can start to damage the leaves and stems. Sometimes if you have a small space it’s better to point the fan at the wall than directly at the plants.

• After placing fans, check around the grow area to make sure that all parts get a slight breeze. If you feel stagnant air or a lack or breeze, you may want to adjust your fans.

• Small oscillating fans are great for the grow space since they’re cheap and can be used to provide a nice gentle breeze to a relatively wide area without blowing on any one part too long.

If you cannot get rid of the clawing symptoms from marijuana wind burn, please consult our 7-Step Remedy to 99% of Cannabis Growing Problems for more help!

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