After culling a plant with leaf holes suddenly appearing a couple weeks ago, things seemed fine. But this morning, several leaves on 2 plants have the same type of holes! I scoured my 5 plants and 7 clones for any pests, but found only this tiny white spider:
Here are the new leaf holes (not there 6 hours previously):
No, there's nothing at all on the other side (just those holes). It's like somebody's shooting out parts of my leaves with a laser when I turn my back.
A photo of the spider:
Zoomed:
I'm pretty sure that's actually a spider (and not a mite). There are no eggs, or netting, and only 1 or 2 of these little white 8-legged visitors that I could find.
But neither tiny spiders, nor spider mites, are known to create several gaping holes in leaves within minutes. I keep thinking there's a grasshopper, or a caterpillar, or something more capable of doing damage like that, but I can't find anything.
I even took the entire garden apart, today, leaving no stone unturned. Everything got wiped down and/or vacuumed and/or removed. I didn't find any nests or anything noteworthy. All is clean and organized.
I sure hope I don't wake up to several new holes! This is starting to get really annoying! And it's time to "flip", so I'd like to go into flowering stage with a clean bill of health.
Any suggestions or advice gladly welcomed! It can be a challenge doing 200% organic gardening, especially in summers, when local insect populations explode, and it becomes tough to keep indoor gardens completely sterile.
- Am I correct to assume the spider isn't the source of the holes, or any other potential issue?
- Anyone else been hit by something leaving sudden sporadic leaf holes in their garden?
Thank you, and grow (hopefully) in peace.
DRutter
LOL at the GIF of you poking the spider :-D
I agree with @MediKatie.... BURN IT WITH FIRE!!
Definately a "friendly" = spider so make sure to keep him around. Maybe you need some sort of macro video system on your plants to see if you can discover what's munching those beautiful leaves.
Yes, that would be useful. I don't have what I need to make that happen, unfortunately.
I won't remove any of those little white spiders if I see them again - thanks for the advice :)
Ewwwww!!!
Yes, this is why many growers have a "kill anything that moves" policy, and ask questions later.
At best, the plants are indifferent to the insects. They do not require anything from the insects, but without the plants, the insects wouldn't be there.
You really should learn soil food web the plants get everything from bugs and micro Beasty
Whaaa? Plants get nothing nutritionally from insects, don't be silly.
The whole "you should learn" is particularly funny to say right before something so ridiculous.
Plants can get pollinated by insects but that's not cannabis, and has nothing to do with nutrition. Most plants would survive without insects, but no insects would survive without plants. Plants and bacteria make the world go around.
To big for a mite