Initially not so happy with spinosad
Initially not so happy with spinosad
I've been having an ongoing thrip problem since the last round and decided to try spinosad on the current babies after reading all the raves about it here. Well, my initial reaction is that I'm not too happy with it!
So I got thrip from some bs cuttings I picked up at Harborside and ended up battling them throughout my last round. I never fully got rid of them, but kept them minimized and at bay with neem.
So flash forward to this round.. Before starting I thoroughly cleaned my room & bug bombed. I got some cuttings from a friend who is growing outdoors (I'm indoors). I quarantined them for a few days and dipped them in neem before transplanting and putting the babies in my room. After a few days I notice some thrip damage starting to appear. So I give them a good soaking with neem. At the same time as all this is happening I start reading all the raves and experiences with spinosad here on ICmag. So I'm thinking I want to try it and start looking for it. I found it no problem (Orchard Rose & Flower Insect Spray).
So this morning I spray all my little girls who are in day 9 of veg. It didn't smell, have any residue, etc.. So I'm thinking "hey, this stuff might not be too bad". Then I go back into my room 2 hours later to see how they're reacting. I don't want it to fry my girls after all.. Anyway, as I'm looking over each one individually, I notice that one of the girls has white powder or residue on it in about 5 spots (it wasn't there before spraying). It kind of looks like baking soda, a powder, or maybe where the spinosad dried. After further inspection I notice that a small white spot is on a second plant. All 48 of the rest of the girls are fine. So I removed the one infected leaf off the second pant and entirely removed the first plant from my room..
When I came out and checked this stuff under a scope I clearly see that it is some sort of mold or mildew. It's not PM though, it's way whiter and chalky-er than PM. Plus the fact that it appeared in 2 hours (never seem PM do that)! Unfortunately my POS camera can't do good macros and the regular shots I took don't show anything but something white on the leaf.. so hopefully someone might have an idea of what the hell this is from my description.
Anyone have any ideas???