Mold/mildew? problem

[blujammer]

I have several clones growing in coco coir in 2gal grow bags with holes cut into the bottom for drainage/aeration. They are about 3weeks old and otherwise doing fine, but yesterday I found tiny little white spots on top of the otherwise dark brown coir grow medium. Looks like it might be some kind of mold or mildew.

How can I find out what it is?

Best measures to eradicate it?

I had kept the clone's grow medium a bit more damp than their grown up counterparts. Maybe that was not such a good idea. I have an exhaust fan that I assumed would be enough, but I'm guessing that I should have kept a little fan on them all this time.

I am new here and don't feel comfortable posting pics because of legal risks. Is there a safe picture hosting site as well as web browsing?

Thanks

 

[blujammer]

Questionnaire answered.

- How old and tall are your plants now?
3.5mos old. Half are 2', other half 3+'.


- How far from the lights are the tops of your plants? Is this a constant distance or have you changed it recently?
Min about 3-4" from all CFL's
and "at least" 10" from a single centralized 100watt HPS

- What strain are they?
Don't know, started from a real nice bagseed.

- What type of containers are you using and what size are they in gallons?
Plastic grow bags, 2&4gallon.

- What type of Hydroponic system do you use?
I've heard it called potponics. Has holes toward the bottom of the pot for drainage/aeration.

- What type of media do you use?
3/4 Coco coir and 1/4 Hydroton


- What type of lights do you use?
Bloom, 7 (warm color temp) CFL's, and one 100watt HPS.


- What nutrients are you feeding your plants?
I use full strength B.C (Technaflora) product line (hydroponic) including:
boost, grow, bloom, thrive alive red, sugar daddy
I'm missing:
cal.mag (but I add Epsom salt), awesome blossom, thrive alive green.
I feed and water as follows:
Feed, water, water, feed. I'm feeding 2-3 times a day but never when dark.

- Do you use ventilation for your indoor grow?
Yes, exhaust fan as well as plant/room circulation fan.

- Temperature?
F=70night-75day

- Humidity?
51% but will soon reduce the humidity to avoid bud rot/mold.

 

[blujammer]

Opps, that was mostly about the larger plants. For the clones I'm just using some cool/vegging color CFL's about 1' away. They are 3+ weeks old in 1-2 gallon growbags with holes cut toward bottom.

Suggestions for 3% (or other) hydrogen peroxide for topical spray? Also, how about a systemic approach by adding it to the nutrient solution, and if so, how much?

 

[blujammer]

Bump


3 days and no response.

I'm feeding the plants H2O2 today for the first time, but I still don't know how much to use.

 

[JIMMYPOP]

Use Vary Sparingly. And Dilute The Crap Out Of It. Very Strong Stuff

 

[blujammer]

1st Treatment
Topical spray topside (avoided contact w/plants) w/uncut 3% H2O2.

2nd
Turned plants 180 for better inspection, found spotted areas! Sprayed/saturated these areas for full coverage.

I put 4ozs of 3% to one gal of nute solute and the plants took it just fine. That should take care of anything that may have started up inside the plant. I've seen no spots return, and the plants look fine.

Wind
Plus I added direct circulation directed toward the plants. Previously I had a blower fan ******* air away from the plants... Didn't work as well. Plus bugs/flies have a harder time landing/staying on wind blown plant matter. Proper circulation is important.

Anyone else have suggestions for how much H2O2 to use? Thanks.

 

[shadow1075]

seems like just nute build up totally normal just rinse with ph water every 2 weeks or so ( that is if its not on new plants)

 

[blujammer]

Shadow, it was on new clones with nearly no solution used until quite recently, and that was half strength. But, early on those two clones in question had a drainage/aeration problem because I delayed cutting drainage holes for the first 12 days or so. I cut holes and flushed them until it went clear. They bounced back fine soon after that.

I use only water half the time, and let it get plenty of air too, because once they apparently grew faster because of almost no water/solution for several days. Prior to that they looked somewhat wet, so,,, go figure. So now I water more carefully and less often.

I also found a very little bit of these spots in my bud room at the topsoil location, only mine is soilless via coco coir, which is cool stuff. I did the same thing for them as before. I hit that with some uncut 3% H2O2 spray and haven't seen any signs of it returning. But I try to douse the entire topside of the grow media area so as to physically aggravate any possible grow sites for whatever uglies (i.e. mold/mildew/rot). I believe a steady/corrected pH also helps keep mold away.

Also capture and dispose of all leaves promptly. Otherwise they would eventually decay and thus likely and quickly cause mold/rot. So I have improved or included (1)direct air movement, I (2)water (flood topsoil) twice a day improves aeration and topside health, (3)3%H2O2 topical spray on infected areas only, then maybe add 4oz's 3% H2O2 to one gal of water/solution once or several times depending upon how bad your situation is. I had a very light spotting, so I only used one 4oz supplement after one solid spraying.

So unfortunately I believe this time it probably was some form of mold/mildew. But so far the H2O2 worked like a charm.

They also make 30% food grade quality H2O2, but that would be really concentrated stuff (10 times stronger!). I think for now I'll just stick with 3% stuff. Thanks much for the responses!

 

[JIMMYPOP]

Bio-soy M Works Really Good For Mold And It Wont Hurt Your Plant. Spray It Every Couple Of Days And You Shouldnt Have Any Mold Problems. Bio-soy I Is Good For Insect Probs To.

 

[blujammer]

I found one suggestion to use 1tblspn (or tspn?) of H2O2/gal. That seems low as I used much more than that on adult plants. I used 4oz's/gal and saw no noticeable problems. I also heard using too much H2O2 could kill beneficial micro-organisms/enzymes. 3% undiluted topical application gets rid of mold effectively.

Anyone have a better idea how much to use? Thanks.