Need help with sick seedlings.

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Seedgrower
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Joined: Mon Oct 14, 2024 3:51 pm
Location: Denmark

Need help with sick seedlings.

Post by Seedgrower »

Hello :) I have this spider mite looking damage on my seedlings, but I can not see any mites, i tried with a microscope 3-100x zoom, but I didn't see any mites. Only Copiapoa and euphorbia are affected.
So my question is, if this looks like damage from Soft-skinned mites or some fungi maybe? Any ideas are much apriciated!
A lot of my plants are dying of this.
Best regards Nick :)
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Seedgrower
Posts: 10
Joined: Mon Oct 14, 2024 3:51 pm
Location: Denmark

Re: Need help with sick seedlings.

Post by Seedgrower »

Any kind of ideas are apriciated. I dont have much experience, with this kinda dammage, but my theori are soft skin mites or straw mites or similar very small mites. But i newer had either so not sure... Regards :)
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jerrytheplater
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Re: Need help with sick seedlings.

Post by jerrytheplater »

I can't give you a direct answer, just need to ask a few questions that may help. You did say you could not see any creatures while using magnification, so that answers one question for me.

These are seedlings. How have you been treating them? Have they been growing enclosed in plastic, sealed off from the outside? Were you growing them indoors or outdoors? What are your growing conditions: heat mat?, sun at all?, temperature?

Have you used any sprays of chemical or botanical?

How have you been watering them and what have you been using? Well water, rain water, RO water, DI water.... What kind of water do you have/use? Have you been using anything in your water like fertilizers, supplements, oils?......
Jerry Smith
Bloomingdale, NJ
45 inches (114 cm) rain equivalent per year, approx. evenly spread per month
2012 USDA Hardiness Zone 6b: -5F to OF (-20C to -18C) min.
Seedgrower
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Joined: Mon Oct 14, 2024 3:51 pm
Location: Denmark

Re: Need help with sick seedlings.

Post by Seedgrower »

Hello Jerry, Thank you! :) they have been growing in incubators in grow tents, 27c daytime for 16 hours a day, 20c in the night. They get LED grow lights, with shade cloth first few months. No heat mats needed in the tents. I did use Chinosol (fungicide) the first 2 months, but stopped after i got this dammage in the start on my copiapoa (i thought it was dammage due to, to low PH becouse Chinosol is acidic) and roots on affected plants was werry small and short. But now seedlings only 14 days old still get this dammage and i have not used chinosol on those. I use Demineralized water at 6 ph. I fertilise once every 8 days with a 1/10 cacti fertilizer. I also use Horsetail extract at half dose, after i stopped with the chinosol, for an organic substitude. when fertilizing i add a bit of tap water to get PH up to 6 ph again, (ferts drags it down) Also i water in the trays, not from the top. On my Copiapoa and Euphorbia all sub species are hit with this sickness. But on my Astrophytum and Ariocarpus there are nothing to see, and they have been sharing boxes. But i know that spider mites can be picky, but the lack of any visible mites in microskope makes me think it could be one of the tiny mite species, but i cant find much info on those.
Also been thinking if it could be some fungi, but it really look like mite dammage to me. English are my third language so please ask if something dosent make sence ^^
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jerrytheplater
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Re: Need help with sick seedlings.

Post by jerrytheplater »

Am I right to understand your plants have been enclosed in incubators which were/are kept in Grow Tents? Have the Copiapoa and Euphorbia in individual incubators or both in the same? If they've been enclosed then how could a critter have gotten in there?

I"m wondering if your plants have been isolated from each other and both have been equally affected.

Are you starting to air out your seedlings where they could have been attacked by being opened?
Jerry Smith
Bloomingdale, NJ
45 inches (114 cm) rain equivalent per year, approx. evenly spread per month
2012 USDA Hardiness Zone 6b: -5F to OF (-20C to -18C) min.
Seedgrower
Posts: 10
Joined: Mon Oct 14, 2024 3:51 pm
Location: Denmark

Re: Need help with sick seedlings.

Post by Seedgrower »

if it is pests, it either came on the seeds, or i brought it in from the garden. Becouse there are no other plants in the house, and tent setup are brand new for this year. I have moved the pots around for optimizing air circulation and light. Also i open daily to air them out, so they were newer isolated like in a baggy, also the air from start makes me water often. I have circulation in the boxes even from day 1.
So they have been in contact at some point each box, with some pots atleast, going from one box to another.
Also i moved all pots with sicknes to its own incubator. Becouse i wasent sure what it was. Then filled the free space with new pots :p
But for a long time i thought it was the Chinosol that gave them this dammage, so i didnt worry about moving pots around.
But now i can see the new seedlings get the same dammage, without any Chinosol.
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jerrytheplater
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Re: Need help with sick seedlings.

Post by jerrytheplater »

Well, I can't think of anything. Hopefully someone else has some better ideas.
Jerry Smith
Bloomingdale, NJ
45 inches (114 cm) rain equivalent per year, approx. evenly spread per month
2012 USDA Hardiness Zone 6b: -5F to OF (-20C to -18C) min.
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Steve Johnson
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Location: Los Angeles, CA (Zone 10b)

Re: Need help with sick seedlings.

Post by Steve Johnson »

You might have better luck in the Grown From Seed forum. I'm one of the moderators, so I can move it over there for you if you'd like.

One thing I can tell you -- it's not spider mites. They're very aggressive, and if you did have spider mites, they would've eaten your seedlings alive.
If you just want photos without all the blather, please visit my Flickr gallery.
My location: Los Angeles, CA (Zone 10b)
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Nino_G
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Re: Need help with sick seedlings.

Post by Nino_G »

In my opinion, it's almost certainly a fungal disease. Fungal infections are common in closed, poorly ventilated environments.
Seedgrower
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Location: Denmark

Re: Need help with sick seedlings.

Post by Seedgrower »

Hello Nino, i have also been looking at fungi, but i cant find any fungi that fits this pattern, as you can see on the Euphorbia the green colour are slowly turning yellow, until it gets white and pale looking, with all of the shiny farina gone from the leaf.
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madkactus
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Re: Need help with sick seedlings.

Post by madkactus »

Nino_G wrote: Wed Oct 16, 2024 12:54 pm In my opinion, it's almost certainly a fungal disease. Fungal infections are common in closed, poorly ventilated environments.
I'm thinking same here.
Seedgrower
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Re: Need help with sick seedlings.

Post by Seedgrower »

Steve Johnson wrote: Wed Oct 16, 2024 3:31 am You might have better luck in the Grown From Seed forum. I'm one of the moderators, so I can move it over there for you if you'd like.


One thing I can tell you -- it's not spider mites. They're very aggressive, and if you did have spider mites, they would've eaten your seedlings alive.
Sure you can move it, if you think it is bether, thank you!

I am sure it is not normal spider mites, becouse they are not visible in microskope. I am considering Soft-skin mites or straw mites if it is mites.

If it is a fungi i only found this Pseudocercospora sp that looks like it, but i am not sure if it grows on cacti..
Seedgrower
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Location: Denmark

Re: Need help with sick seedlings.

Post by Seedgrower »

I just tryed to take a few pictures in the microskope, of the underside of the leaves,
This is close up of the red part of the underside of Euphorbia leaves, it looks like it start from there.
I think this part looks, like fungi, but this seedling are one week old, so it is some fast acting stuff.
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Steve Johnson
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Re: Need help with sick seedlings.

Post by Steve Johnson »

Seedgrower wrote: Wed Oct 16, 2024 5:51 pmSure you can move it, if you think it is bether, thank you!
I just moved it over there, but I'm also keeping the thread here as a shadow topic. By the way, I think the problem may be white mold. Chinosol is most commonly used by wine grape growers to inhibit the gray mold Botrytis cinerea, although I don't know if it's effective on other types of mold.
If you just want photos without all the blather, please visit my Flickr gallery.
My location: Los Angeles, CA (Zone 10b)
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Steve Johnson
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Re: Need help with sick seedlings.

Post by Steve Johnson »

Let's see if this works with Google Translate...

In English:

Chemical fungicides target some fungi but not others, so it's possible that Chinosol won't target the fungus attacking your seedlings. Organic fungicides cover a wider spectrum of fungal diseases, and you may want to try this:

https://www.amazon.de/-/en/Prevention-I ... =8-21&th=1

In Danish:

Kemiske fungicider er rettet mod nogle svampe, men ikke andre, så det er muligt, at Chinosol ikke målretter mod svampen, der angriber dine frøplanter. Organiske fungicider dækker et bredere spektrum af svampesygdomme, og du vil måske prøve dette:

https://www.amazon.de/-/en/Prevention-I ... =8-21&th=1

Let me know if the translation to Danish makes sense.
If you just want photos without all the blather, please visit my Flickr gallery.
My location: Los Angeles, CA (Zone 10b)
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