Help!

14 years ago

So once again, I have a problem in my garden. Imagine that! This time the problem is slightly different. Most of the problem is actually with my plants in soil so this may belong on another topic, but hey, you guys seem to be the best at responding. These pictures are of sage and then margiolds respectively. They have these blackish almost purple spots appearing which only recently have shown up. Also, the plant is losing its color in some of the stems, going from a nice redish color in the marigolds to a white sickly looking color. Not sure if thats normal or not... This problem had not been apparent until after my MH fixture was installed.

On one hand I would think that the problem is burning, but, something about the millions of gnat flies that are flying around may be the problem. Do these pictures show symptoms of gnat fly larvae eating my plants tender roots? Or is there a possibility that this is being caused by another bug? You tell me.

Heres a before and after pic of marigolds. Before MH fixture and after. Before major gnat flies and after.

Here is the sage.

Comments (5)

urbangardenfarmer
14 years ago
I'm not positive ethnobotany, but it looks like it could be light burn? The same thing happened to me when I put my basil and morning glories outside in the sun. Is it just on the top leaves, or all over the plants?
urbangardenfarmer
14 years ago
One more thing, how high is your light above the plant tops?
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ethnobotany
Original Author
14 years ago
They look that way mostly on the top. I thought that maybe this was due to the transition to the HID light as well but even the new leaves are turning that color as well?? I'm confused because my lights are about 20 '' away from the plants currently. I hear it should be anywhere from 18 - 24 '' away considering I am using a 400 watt setup.
urbangardenfarmer
14 years ago
It's probably not the light then. Check out this link. I think the fungus gnats might have laid eggs and the larvae are feeding on your roots. I believe the spots are a fungus called botrytis. You can buy some azamax to get rid of them.

Here is a link that might be useful: fungus gnats
ethnobotany
Original Author
14 years ago
Thank you urban. I own neem. Do you think it would kill the larvae?? I have purchased a sticky trap and set it up. To my amazement it has captured at least 50 of the suckers... if I wasn't feeling lazy I would post a pic on here of how ridiculous the problem is.