HELP! Soil Outdoor Grow - Bud Rot, pest, or something else?

[DutchTreatMaster]

Hi All, I have a white widow fast and a few aurora indicas outside in the northeast, and we've had a very rainy season. I bought these two strains precisely because of the climate. They have all had a some yellowing leaves throughout, which I just assumed were due to them being root bound since I was keeping the plants in smaller pots. Couldn't have them grow bigger for privacy reasons.
The white widow started budding a few weeks ago. I just noticed some of the little leaves near the buds(sugar leaves?) were getting slimy and turning brown.
I also noticed what looked like a little green catepillar, but the symptoms don't seem to match what I'm seeing on the site as I'm not seeing holes in the leaves.

The Auroras look fine for now. Set up for all is roughly 5 gallon soil, FFOF, with FF nutrient trio.

Is the issue with the slimy brown leaves bud rot?

Any ideas? Any other information needed?

I appreciate the help. If I have to toss the widow to save the auroras, I guess I will do it....

[DutchTreatMaster]

Here is one of the Auroras that may be at risk if this is bud rot....

[Ckbrew]

I'm in the northeast also, I feel your pain. Looks like bud rot. It has been bad outdoor conditions here this year and have had many problems with bud rot. You can't cure it. Only thing u can do is cut it off, and try and improve the environment. U can't stop the rain and humidity, but shake off any rain, prune leaves to provide good air circulation. Some people use fans on them to dry off water. Isolate the infected plants from the rest. Dispose of the rot away from the plants and try not to spread the spores, in wind, your hands, tools etc. Wash everything that comes in contact with it. If it is close to harvest, think about cut & run with what u have. Left untreated it will take all of your plants. It sucks to have to trash your hard work, but u are in salvage and defense mode now. The caterpillar is a problem and can cause similar damage. Usually the chewed leaves are evident. Some attack the fan leaves, some the buds. I thought last year was bad for bud rot, but in retrospect, compared to this year last year was almost ideal. Biggest problem I found with outdoor grow in the northeast was that by the time the light was below 12 hours, the nights were getting into the 40s when all the dew settles on everything. Good luck, don't give up, but know what you have to do to cut your losses and preserve what is still good. When I get a plant that gets out of hand from rot or hermie I sterilize it like this:

[DutchTreatMaster]

Thank you! This helps to know I'm not crazy before I absolutely savage the plant.

[crucialbunny]

I'm dealing with bud worms again this year. I feel your pain. I have a OG Kush that began bud very early and it is being hammered. I have a number of plants just beginning flower and I am worried the problem is going to get worse. Other than covering them in mosquito netting there is little we can do to keep the moths off of them. Early in the morning and just before sunset when it is cool is the best time to search out the caterpillars. They are very small when first hatched and exactly the color as the buds they are eating so they can be a bitch to find. All I can do is search for bud that is looking poorly and if I pinch it and part of the bud basically comes off in my fingers I know there will be a caterpillar in there. The moths tend to lay one egg in the tallest buds on different branches and then the caterpillar will eat it's way down the branch from bud to bud. I wish I could offer some solution to you but I'm clueless. I have tried beneficial predatory insects but within a day or two they tend to disappear.

[DutchTreatMaster]

Going to save the Aurora and slay the Widow....thank you for the advice.

[SoOrbudgal]

Good luck and shake those plants several times a day i use a canopy to cover the crop and spray soapy solution during early flowering shake the heck out of the branches. I have seen those skinny little moth worms picked them off. It's a peril we face in outdoor grows.