ARE THOSE EGGS? What do I do, I’m losing two to three terminal buds a day!

A customer has a question or concerns and I hope we can get some opinions on it, thanks. We already had a few exchange messages that I’ll include here as reference.

"Can you help me identify my problem here. I’m losing one to three terminal buds every day to this. Terminal bud turns sage dull green, goes soft, turns brown, dries, dies. I have cut all off in an effort to stave off the problem. Are those eggs I found under a dead flower? See picture in the middle, it shows limp terminal bud. The first picture is the dead bud. And the last picture is the inside after removing the dead head. ARE THOSE EGGS? What do I do, I’m losing two to three terminal buds a day! Should I use one of the sprays provided? Mold? Bugs? Root Protector? Bug Blaster or Mold Control?? Or none…. "

“Attached show the 2nd picture as limp cola that then looks like the first picture when gone. All dead flowers became limp and sage color before going brown and dying. None showed a caterpillar till dead flower removed, then showed up on two cut colas days after trimming. Root protector used during seedling stage, bug blaster sprayed on leaves once a few days ago, (second caterpillar showed up AFTER blaster spray!) I use a water/ph/light meter, only watering when first three to four inches top soil dry and bottom of planter not ever drier than “moist” (two days average between watering depending on temp, sun, and meter readings). Plants are tended to an average of 3 times a day. They flowered early, never re-veged, just paused. Then when pistils started turning brown I thought this was just a regular pistol replacement action I had read would occur naturally. Yet, it is on those with the most brown pistils that “rot”.”

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"If you do not know, or do not use something; Just say so = NA

  • Strain (type, bag seed): White Widow fem
  • Soil in pots, hydroponic, or coco?: 20 gallon pots, “ocean forest” soil
  • PH of runoff or solution in reservoir?: no reservoir, feed water adjusted ph at between 5 to 6, soil has a low ph that is seemingly unaffected by edging the feed water more acidic but ocean forest was the best soil recommended by several experts on line.
  • What is strength of nutrient mix? EC, or TDS: ILGM supplied nutrients at half dose ph’d as above.
  • Indoor or outdoor: Outdoor!
  • Light system, size?: Sun, direct about 8.5 hrs. at equinox (morning sun blocked till 9 or 10AM, then direct till sunset)
  • Temps day, night: So. Cal. = 55 low to 92 high, average in the 80’s most days.
  • Humidity day, night: So. Cal. Outdoor here runs 40 to 60 here.
  • Ventilation system (yes/no, size): Lots of breeze, with gusts that damaged a few branches, wife thinks wind damage is the problem. Yet some flowers had the same symptoms: flowers sugar leaves go sage green and them limp, then brown as in pic. And dies. Without signs of wind damage. All dead matter quickly removed as well as daily trimming of yellowing leaves. Found two caterpillars on wounded flowers (green matching the sage leaves) Remove white “eggs”? planted one at a time on leaves with a three mm “stalk” that holds them on the leaves is done daily.
  • AC, humidifier, de-humidifier?: no, outdoor
  • Co2 (yes/no): No supplementation"

“Will Bug Blaster be OK to use on flowering plants? I put some diatomaceous soil down yesterday, shouldn’t that help? What about the Root Protector, is that useful at this time?”

ILGM > we informed him, looking at the pictures, that it’s already in a far stage and he can’t do a lot to save these plants at this point. We informed him that our protector set is helpful for a problem like this, but even if he ordered, will be too late for these plants.

Saw this today when reviewing your site: If you want to be particularly thorough, you can apply some food-grade diatomaceous earth over the areas of the soil that are exposed. This will kill the fungus gnat larvae, keep future infestations from occurring again, and will speed up the eradication process. Diatomaceous earth is organic – it’s simply made of fossilized shells! It kills insects effectively by cutting into their exoskeletons and draining out their bodily fluids. Luckily for you, it is not dangerous for people or pets – you could even consume it and be perfectly fine. So I did so and will use Bug Blaster as well. Do you advocate washing buds off with water after harvest to wash off any residues or if I stick with ILGM products will I be OK?”

ILGM > You should try as much as you can! Using the Bug Blaster along with other techniques should be fine.

“Shall I harvest the affected plants now? With other problems ILGM covered, it was stated that some is better than none. Is it OK to ingest plant matter from affected plants either by vaping or cooking? I know potency it affected but I could simply use more in the recipe?? Do I need to wash off your supplied “bug blaster” or “mold control” before consumption? If so, how do you suggest?”

ILGM > The plants itself are fine to smoke if you harvest in time! The thing is with gnats, they kill the root system and the plant just dies of top to bottom. You can also try a technique called water curing.

“Can the soil be used again? Is there some way to sterilize it or do I have to dump the soil too (fungus gnats)?”

ILGM > I’d advise to dump it and use fresh soil the next time.

“They did come back. Got a good harvest but have no idea how good it is as to THC content. I’m drying and curing now in my wine cellar 64 degrees F. and 62% RH I would like it warmer but that is as warm as the cellar will go. It takes time to dry in here but the alternative was 80 degrees F and wild humidity changes indoors in Southern CA from 60 to 85 RH. I wish I knew how to get it tested.”

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Dear @ILGM.Becky,

I read all of the intervention you made and you did a good job :+1:

It’s most probably too late now for an intervention since the customer has already harvest…

I also notice that he live in So.Cal. ; a bunch of our fellow grower’s that living in this part of the U.S. have/had a very similar problem… It end out to be cabbage looper caterpillars… It’s a plague in this region…

Here’s a picture of both the moth and the caterpillar cabbage looper :

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The moths will lay eggs, either on leaves or/buds during late evening or in the night. The only way to prevent the moth to lay is by using a horticulture net…

If you already have caterpillars and/or could not prevent the moths to lay their eggs, the best treatement, to my knowledge, is Bt-k, bacillus thuringiensis var. Kurstaki…

Here’s a link to my post on the subject… It explain what it is, how it’s working and how to use it… And you can use it until harvest… It has a link to Amazon too, to buy a brand of it…

You will also find in this topic that I respond to a question about what if I found caterpillars after harvest and the possible solutions…

Hoping that’s gone a help you in the futur, Becky and dear customer…

~Al :v: :innocent:

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Wonderful answer @Niala
I see a lot of problems with worms and caterpillars here lately, I live way up in elevation with very cold nights already no bugs problems , but fighting powdery mildew to the teeth…
Wishing everybody Godspeed to the harvest :wink::wink::wink:

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Thanks @Ragnar, it’s kind of you and I really appreciate the kind word…:innocent::grinning:

Powder mildew can be a plague and disaster is right at the corner if you cannot control it…

I hope you gone a stay ahead in your fight, let me know if ever you need my help :wink: :grinning: :innocent:

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@Ragnar, powdery mildew is here too. I harvested one of my plants a bit early and adopted a peroxide wash because of it.

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Are you washing the buds in peroxide solution before drying ?
Whats the amount of peroxide per gallon you using ?

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You must do it before drying @Ragnar

Here’s Jorge Cervantes video that explain how to

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Thanks a bunch :wink::wink::wink:

You’re welcome :innocent:

Thanks @Niala! @Ragnar that’s the way I did it. There’s also a baking soda and lemon juice wash but I haven’t got the details on that.

What I did notice was that first, the terpenes exploded when they came out of the bath and the water was nasty nasty when I was done. Gonna wash my buds from now on.

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Thanks for the head up, will do …

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To me it looks like you may even have a caterpillar problem have you opened the buds and looked inside looks to me like you might find some especially if you are near any trees like oak trees

this is one of the buds from out door harvest