Plants Dying?

[SarahTheGrow]

Hey guys,
i am new to this forum and also relatively new to growing my own weed. I’m hoping somebody can help me to identify what’s happening to my plants.
Just to give a bit of history on them...
they are outdoor plants, kept in separate plastic buckets ranging from 5 to 7 gallons. The soil I use is called Kryptonite, mixed with some regular soil. The average height of all four plants is around 4 feet. I keep them in a fenced in garden area that also has raised vegetable beds. Two are Blueberry CBD and two are CBD Critical Mango. They’re all trying to enter the Flowering phase, but only one(blueberry) has successfully started flowering (surprisingly enough, that plant has a couple of those worms that burrow into the main stalk).
A few weeks ago I noticed that the leaves on the two Mango plants started to change colours. I had seen a few aphids and spider mites, but not enough to matter. I started treating with a spray bottle filled with water and a few drops of dish soap, in addition to Diatomaceous Earth sprinkled all over them.
Since then, whatever this is has evolved into some sort of mega monster. It’s spreading to the other plants (which are at the opposite side of the garden). Each morning I spend about an hour picking damaged and dying leaves off them, and throw it all in the fire pit. The next morning there are even more leaves to be picked. I’m worried they’ll soon be down to stems.
Ive been exhausting all options. The damage looks like several different nutrient deficiencies, but also looks like damage some insects cause.
The soil that I use (Kryptonite) is packed with all the nutrients that a plant needs from germination to harvest time... but I’m thinking the fact that I used some plain soil mixed in with it could be giving room for deficiencies, especially if the roots are bound? I’m certain they are, because the plants are so big now. But is it too late to transplant to something bigger?
please let me know what you think this is!
i can’t think of anything else to mention at this moment, but I’ll add a few pictures to show the damage.
If you need more info, please let me know... what ever it takes to solve this!!

[Cali]

Well looks like you have spider mites and other pests next time when you see them don’t assume it’s just a few cus they spread as you already witnessed. Here is what You need to do ASAP go to whole foods or somewhere they sell dry lavender flowers then grab a 1/4 cup worth and put it in a 1 litter bottle for 48 hrs to soak then just strain the liquid and dilute it at a ratio of 1:50 and spray on top and under each and every leaf specially the vector plant the one with the most infestation probably where you noticed them first. Since it’s bad I would do two bottles that way I can spray after 24 hrs with one and the next one let it go the full 48 for a second treatment. Once every 4 days is what I would do. Also once a week I would spray Neem you can get it at Neemresource.com the best quality and not pricey. Also not sure but you may have Thrips check your plants and google what they look like if you do Captain jacks Spinosad wii take care of them most of the time with one hit. There are other brand of spinosad but that’s the cheapest for the same concentration. Safe to use up to harvest is the claim but I wouldn’t use it in that stage..

[Cali]

Also the Neem has NPK so would help if the plants are deficient but it’s probably the pest killing it. Also Foliar kelp all the npk and micronutrients you need..

[Gingerbeard]

I always want to go quick, less than people poisonous, household products for bugs. Hydrogen peroxide is my favorite. Here's a link to making your own spray.

https://homeguides.sfgate.com/kill-spider-mites-peroxide-82697.html

[Cali]

Gingerbeard looks promising but as i was reading I read it says it won’t kill eggs. So I stopped reading, why? Because if you don’t kill the eggs your just spinning your wheels brother soon the eggs will hatch and spider mites again lol. Lavender kills the eggs look it up. It’s the camphor that does it it’s also in rosemary plants also if you look at bottled chemicals that are made to kill spider mites it’s all made of what you find in herbs specifically rosemary,peppermint, mints in general. Hydroshops don’t like me I can make an herbicide/pesticide for like 10 bucks super concentrated or go to the shop and pay 30 plus for a small bottle that is super diluted just cus it has nice labels on it. I’ve heard support local shop but I don’t like snake oil. Bottles say 2% peppermint and 98% other ingredients guess what those are 98 percent water lol. For like 30 bucks the peppermint oil or leafs are cheaper.. and my water is free well kindda lol

[Gingerbeard]

I'm down with the naturals. And they probably smell good. But just like your naturals, mine can be sprayed on every day. If the spider mites die they can't lay eggs. Once the eggs hatch and a natural is applied, those die and can't lay eggs. I apply my H2O2 almost as fast as it dries, depending on the humidity. My personal go-to is a solution of H2O2, dish detergent, and baking soda, which also makes a great, light duty cleaner around the house. I haven't not been able to wipe out all sorts of things outside.

[Cali]

Gingerbeard cool sounds good i should try that hopefully I won’t have to. I do an IPM spray once a week to repel pests wondering if that peroxide does that maybe I should go back and read your link after all lol. I just post it cus one can always get a levender plant and grow it that way you have free pesticide for life. Also people buy lavender leafs just saying you can sell it or use it for many other things including your health.

[Gingerbeard]

I don't live in a community with too many stores that might sell anything lavender. There might be a head/hippie/tourist store that sells lavender along with dried sage bundles that the damn dirty hippie earth types use instead of any sort of cleaning agent. Or a comb. Since I consider my local tourist area to be nasty, I would have to travel too one of the beach communities up north.

You do have me thinking about putting a bush on my patio...

[Gingerbeard]

Peroxide starts by killing fungus and mold and junk. The dish soap is a surfactant and the baking soda is like spraying them with itty-bitty shards of glass.

Maybe we're looking at this all wrong. Maybe the spider mites aren't trying to kill your whole plant. Maybe they just want to survive. Maybe you can work something out with the little guys where you won't try to kill them if they practice safe sex and keep their population down to the lower leaves. Although, it's hard to trust a spider mite and this might have been a 'New Twilight Zone' episode.

[Dude]

WOW!.........

[Dude]

I feel like I'm in high school again and there's a test on the periodic table... Lol.... But man, go after it Ginger, very very cool bro. I can't see how that won't help. The only thing you missed was a prayer... Lol

[Gingerbeard]

Spider mites don't pray. They are apostates.

[Dude]

My bad, Cali went after it, but I have to give Ginger props for the assist. Excellent job people... Cali, I'm going to need you on speed dial bro.

[Obi-Wan]

What kind of drainage do your buckets have? I’m assuming the white residue on the leaves is soap? You’re going to want to rinse that off. 24-48 hours is enough to be effective, after that you want to rinse them. You can transplant them to 10 gallon pots, fabric pots are great but you can use cheap pillow cases in a pinch.

Your soil looks dark, which leads me to believe the drainage isn’t great. Plants with wet feet generally tend to have issue when they get larger.

[SarahTheGrow]

Thank you so much everyone!! Much appreciated! I’ll start by trying the lavender option because I have a nice big bush of it, and if need be I’ll work my way through the other options mentioned. Hopefully I can get a handle on this before there’s nothing left of the poor things lol
Obi-Wan the only drainage in each bucket is five holes on the bottom and four holes around the sides close to the bottom. If I do re-pot them, would you suggest rocks or something below the soil for drainage?
also the white residue is from the diatomaceous earth. When I use the soap spray I don’t use an overload of soap in the water, probably about half a teaspoon. I guess I should really wash it all off anyway to make sure it’s not mold or something right?

[Gingerbeard]

Hey STG. Try mixing the DE with your soil when you (trans)plant. It doesn't clump up and do that white thing. I'm assuming you went topical with it?

[Rwise]

Be sure to get all the DE off before smoking it, heating DE makes it (crystallize into) a deadly poison to all.

[SarahTheGrow]

Gingerbeard yeah I went topical, I’ll definitely try mixing some in, I never thought of that.... thank you!! Does that help to prevent bugs from making a home in the soil?

[Gingerbeard]

I haven't had a fungus gnat since I started mixing it in. DE is like little glass shards to little insects. It works on all sorts of nasties. Can't tell you how much because I just throw in a few handfuls to the soils and mix it up.

I'll add that folks around here will say to buy food grade. I don't think mine is. No issues. Just try not to eat too much.

[Rwise]

Yes do get food grade DE as crystalline is deadly to all creatures. Food grade works on exoskeletons by cutting them up, it is like glass shards to them, it (food grade DE) is not harmful to your earth worms etc...

[SarahTheGrow]

Gingerbeard Rwise Ok great!! Mine is food grade DE. I’ll have to pick up some bigger buckets and soil today or tomorrow and get going with that. Thanks guys!