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Plant is literally dropping whole branches!

SunGrown

Member
Organic buds, yeah always at the bottom...it's not the wind I can almost assure you. Maybe veg n out is right, but I just don't think so...I would see a sign of moisture, mold, etc...

Ive looked at the canadian studies and pics just now and the canker they describe just doesnt seem the same to me.

Hasn't happened this year yet, but I am growing the same bd still so ....

What strains did you notice it on?
 

OrganicBuds

Active member
Veteran
This year I had my Blue Dream x 5g's plant drop a branch as well as my Double Og Sour. The double og sour didn't fall completely off, but the entire branch started to droop. I needed to thin it out anyway (my area has lots of moisture) so I chopped it before it fell off. The plants are both very healthy, and I really don't think I over water. If anything, I may under water on occasion trying not to over water.

Edit: For me if it happens it happens in spring. Come June the plants don't drop branches on me.
 

SunGrown

Member
Hmm, I don't really recall when it happened for me, I think before flower set it. If I have it happen this year I guess I can send in a sample for disease testing and see...it can be expensive if I don't know what all diseases to test for though.

Sum it up to the chem trails or haarp??

Monsanto was responsible for spreading fusarium wilt, so there could be something more to it than regular plant disease
http://www.organicconsumers.org/ge/monsanto121503.cfm
 
wow. I had the EXACT same thing happen right around the same time. also another bottom branch got fractured at the trunk but did not wilt. I made a sling for that branch and it's flowering fine right now.


I could be wrong, but I was guessing I caused that problem by over-watering while I was out of town for two weeks. Essentially I was giving my 45 gallon smart pots 32 gallons of water every 4 days. way way way too much.... I didn't calculate the flow rate and it was a last minute trip, i tapped the plants irrigation into the lawn automated watering system. My assumption could be wrong, but that's my guess of why it happened. It may not have been the watering alone, but I'm sure that didn't help any.
 
HEy MrSmokeyMacPot


I'm pretty new to all this, but something I've recently noticed may be related. I thought I had thrip larve, and posted a video of them from a pinch of soil i took from my smart pot.

Someone in the thread identified them as Springtail.


here is alink to that thread
https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=267364

Now, I'm not positive there is a relation to losing a branch and these spring tails, some of it does seem to relate.

Do you notice if you have springtails in your soil?

again, this could be totally unrelated, but I remembered your post and wanted to comment on the possibility
 
The plants have that had this problem seemed to have stopped doing it, however I did notice on one of my big Diesels that the length and weight of one of my bottom branches was causing the node to begin peeling away from the main stalk. I made a sling for it out of green tape and she seemed just fine after watering yesterday.

I will look into the possibility of springtails in the soil. Thanks StonerBob!
 
that is classic wilt or hemp canker. its very hard to stop, i would just throw away that plant and get a new one.

its normal for maybe only one branch or two to die while rest of the plant lives. but eventually it will take over the whole plant.

you might be over watering or your soil isnt draining good enough.
 

OrganicBuds

Active member
Veteran
What up LetTimmySmoke, long time no see.

I have to disagree with throwing the plant away. Like I said in my above posts, I have this happen usually once a year. I have never had a plant drop a second branch, let along die altogether. I may have a different issue however.
 
My dogs play among the lower branches, looks exactly the same as after they play tag and get overzealous. I vote wind, your plants look well cared for.
If you have a rot issue your soil will prob smell bad. Smell any runoff or smell soil after watering for any sewer like smell. If you have bad smells water with plain water and hydrogen peroxide.
The Ed Rosenthal Garden Saver Book has lots of great natural fixes for plant problems. Buy a copy.
 

longkai47

New member
I've seen this happen several times indoors.

It has something to do with low pH, possibly ammonium toxicity. Ammonium, and urea which breaks down into ammonium, is the form of nitrogen most common in organic fertilizers and other forms of decaying organic matter (ie. root rot). Ammonium is very acidifying (lowers pH), which is why organic growers must use dolomite lime to neutralize the effects.

The poster that had the wild cats might have had a lot of cat piss (very concentrated dose of urea/ammonium) at the base of the plants, which might cause something like this.

The other form of nitrogen, nitrate, is has a slightly basic effect (but not as much as ammonium is acidifying). Ammonium can be converted into nitrates by bacteria, but this releases acid as well. In fact, this is why aquariums need to be kept at a high pH. The fish poo out ammonium, which is toxic, and the bacteria can only convert it into harmless nitrate when the water is basic enough to absorb the released acid.

As far as I can tell, the low pH causes the plant cells to be unable to form strong cell walls, either by causing an improper absorption of calcium or boron. If you look up boron deficiencies, the same symptom of branches breaking off the main stem at the base is mentioned.

The vascular tissue breaks down, so the branches tend to be softer and bend over more easily. Additionally, the point of highest hydrological stress (at the Y split where the main stem meets a branch) will have the most micro ruptures. The fluid leaks out and causes the surrounding tissue to knuckle, and the veins themselves become weaker and weaker, progressively pinched off by the surrounding "donut" of swollen tissue. Eventually, one of several things might happen:

1. the growing branch requires more fluid than the weakened veins can support and it wilts
2. the "donut" thickens longitudinally in the same direction as the branch, causing the vein to separate completely (think of an inflating inner tube lifting something up).
3. the leaking fluid attracts bacteria or fungi which causes rot

Plants that display this condition are usually very evenly green (low pH helps with the absorption of most elements), have soft branches, and displays poor apical dominance - which means that the plant is highly bushy, branching with many smaller branches growing at nodes that normally would be suppressed by hormones from the growing tips. The main stalk and branches tend to be overly thick and very crispy due to the leaky fluid. In a serious case, you can snap or twist apart a main stalk 1" thick easily by the strength of your own hands. Growth is definitely slowed, although the color of the plant may not tell you so.

I have seen mildly affected plants recover when the pH issue is corrected, but I've never seen an already seriously knuckled branch recover. Just tear it off as a loss.

There may be other factors such as disease involved. I've noticed that some strains are more susceptible than others. I've never seen anything like this in my first 5 years of growing, but it became a common issue the last year after a location switch. But it may be due to a change in the growing system as well.

I need to find a place that will do elemental analysis of plant tissue and nutrient solution for further research, as this is still a recurring issue.
 

longkai47

New member
After further research:

Here is another thread which describes the beginning stages of what we've been experiencing.

https://www.*********.com/community...-weak-vs-strong-pinched-vs-a-nice-knot.52591/

In trees, it's called a weak branch union. Below is a picture of what cone shaped pinched branch base that you have looks like on a large tree branch.

http://hort.ufl.edu/woody/branch-collars-dissected.shtml

It's caused by the vascular tissue of the branch failing to connect with the main vascular tissue of the plant.

Repeated cloning is mentioned as a possible factor. It's possible that there are hormonal signaling issues that build up over time due to continuous cloning. For the first 5 years of growing, I went from seed and took my own clones. I never kept a strain longer than 3 years. This past year I've been getting clones from collectives which may have been cloned for who knows how long.
 

SoilWatch

New member
I've seen this happen several times indoors.

It has something to do with low pH, possibly ammonium toxicity. Ammonium, and urea which breaks down into ammonium,...

I need to find a place that will do elemental analysis of plant tissue and nutrient solution for further research, as this is still a recurring issue.

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BarbE

New member
Very helpful response. My otherwise healthy plants started to have this issue after two doses of Bat Guano Tea. I'm hoping for recovery and will stop the bat poo for now. Only the Kush was affected, all others liked the tea. weird.
 

GreyHairedDevil

New member
I am wondering if the op is still having issues with limb loss or if he figured something out. I am having the same issues outdoor in NorCal. Plants are big and healthy but limbs keep wilting and cracking at the base. The end of the stem is a little brown and the inner tissue seems real hard and woody. A couple people in the area are having the same problem. This is a established garden not using anything new. Any update on your plants or new info would be greatly appreciated.
 

Cindy annotto

New member
Rock-n-rose

Rock-n-rose

My absolutely healthy plants are dropping there branches too, same as u, no pests, all caged, no disease either and I'm tied up, could it be a nutrient deficiency as they have grown so rapidly?:thankyou
 

Douglas.Curtis

Autistic Diplomat in Training
You should be dosing calmag and silica regularly to keep your stems growing along with the rest of the plant.
Just for the record, regular dosing with calcium and silica products is great during veg and stretch. You'll really want to cut back after flowers begin forming, both calcium and silicon add heat to the end smoke and weight to the ash.

We want things cool and fluffy, Yes? :)

Douglas
 

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