Wind burn - Outdoor grow : Will any sort of foliar feed help ?

TaoRich

Well-Known Member
Greets,

So I live at the bottom tip of Africa - where the Atlantic Ocean meets the Indian Ocean - and the clash of those two mighty ocean weather climates gives us the name of The Cape of Storms.

The wind has been howling for a week now - gusty blustery non-stop - shaking my 6 week old plants around like a rag doll.

Although I've got no breakages, or snaps ... my leaves are showing definite signs of wind burn.
  • Top newest sets of leaves are folding upwards from the centre like an open book
  • A little bit of downward clawing at the leaf tips
  • A little bit of yellowing at the leaf tips
Now bear with me ... the skeptics amongst y'all.

It's not nute burn, or a nutrient deficiency.
  • I have 20 plants in 1 gallon planter bags
    • they are in a straight potting soil + aged nursery compost mix
  • I have 4 confirmed females transplanted a week ago into 6 gallon pots
    • they are in a potting soil + nursery compost + rich organic living soil
All the plants have been getting regular tea feeds, and I'm not overdoing the watering of feeding
  • fermented fresh kelp tea
  • worm bin vermicompost tea
  • compost tea with very mild rabbit poo and horse manure soaking supplements
Up until this godforsaken wind howling episode, every plant was looking healthy and happy
  • some plants have deep emerald green leaves throughout
  • other plants have lime green leaves
  • and a range of green between those ends of the spectrum
    • most of the indicas are more emerald
    • most of the sativas are more lime
- - -

From what I can see and what I've researched and comparisons I've made:

The perpetual wind is stripping water out of the leaf cells faster than the plant can replenish.

This is what is causing the leaf damage.

I'm going to give half of them a little extra water today ... with some of the fermented kelp tea to give them access to helpful trace elements ...
... that's going to be my control group ... and I'll observe closely for changes in the next few days.

So here's my actual question:

Are there any foliar teas I can spray the leaf surfaces with to help with rehydration of the leaves themselves ?

- - -

For those diligent folks who may read my recent post history, you'll no doubt see that I did a chilli & garlic & tabasco foliar spray to nuke spider mites a few days back.

That has worked. Spider mites well on the retreat towards extinction ( for now at least ).

Once again, I have taken this into account - it's not leaf damage or dehydration from the spray - it's not leaf damage from the bastard mites
  • I applied the spray to a section of my plants ... not all
  • I had spider mites on a few of the plants - not all
This wind burn is hitting every plant ...
... from the tallest first ... most rapdly
... down to the smallest ... more slowly

It's the same symptoms across the chilli sprayed ...
... and non chilli sprayed

It's the same across the spider girls ...
... and non infested

Thanks for listening.
:p

Now please shower me with your collective wisdom.
 

TaoRich

Well-Known Member
Oh ... let me add:

It's a combo of wind & dry heat and summer sun & long daylight hours
  • 25-30⁰C / 77-86F
  • sunrise: 05:30
  • sunset : 20:00
Wind speed:
  • 20-45 km/h
  • 13-27 miles/hour
  • 10-24 knots
That double whammy is basically scorching the earth ...and any fragile greens.

:leaf::leaf::leaf:
:fire:
 
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TaoRich

Well-Known Member
I would put up a barrier of some sort, either fine mesh net or wood, just something to stop the direct blast of the wind.
Thanks @Star Dog ...
:peace:
... sound advice.

That does make a whole lot of practical sense but unfortunately it's not viable where I am and my garden grow position.

edit:

They are against a wall, and are shielded from any non-stop one-directional continuous wind force.
That's why I am not getting snaps or breaks.
It's the whirly whirly wind across the leaf surfaces that is drying them out, rather than a mechanical force damage.

And perhaps another point I should add, is that neither myself nor my plants are in a crisis mode.

They are taking a little strain, but by no means getting totally hammered or substantial damage.

Overall each plant is healthy and happy, so I'd say:
- 'lasting damage' is below < 5%
- overall health across each plant is a solid 9 out of 10

They have a long vegetative grow season in front of them still ... 12/12 only hits around March 2021.

I am not too concerned if they slow down a little, and perhaps lose a little growth in height at this early stage.

I am planning to top of few of them anyways, so if they look poorly by the time the wind lets up around New Year, any slightly straggly leaf or branch tips may very well get nipped off.

For sure they will weather this patch ...
... and the additional wind stimulation will prompt them grow much stronger stems

I'm just a protective Daddy who wants the best for his girls ...
:hug:
... taking a little extra care and additional loves and nurturing is part of my job description.
 

TaoRich

Well-Known Member
UPDATE
  1. Gave them all a good foliar spray with the Kelp tea ...
  2. Gave the plants in the planter bags a pint of diluted Kelp tea ...
They are looking a little less shabby now.

And I took some photos:
  • Plant Lee
    • L01-plant-overall-overview.jpg
      • overview of her looking pretty happy and healthy
    • L02-plant-overall-top-leaves-folding.jpg
      • overview with some folding clawing leaves more visible
    • L03-plant-closer-top-leaves-folding.jpg
      • closer views of the folding clawing leaves
L03-plant-closer-top-leaves-folding.jpg
  • Plant Mystery
    • M01-plant-overall-overview.jpg
      • overview of her looking pretty happy and healthy
  • Plant Justin
    • J01-plant-overall-overview.jpg
      • overview of her looking pretty happy and healthy
  • Plant 2020
    • 201-plant-overall-overview.jpg
      • overview of her looking pretty happy and healthy
 

Attachments

TaoRich

Well-Known Member
  • Shelf of Planter Bags
    • SHELF-01-plants-overall-overview.jpg
    • SHELF-02-plants-tops-closer-up.jpg
    • SHELF-03-plants-tops-closer-up.jpg
      • overall happy and a range of colours
      • you can see some similar folding clawing symptoms
      • ... but less pronounced
These are not showing sex yet ... so they are still in their planter bags.
 

Attachments

Star Dog

Well-Known Member
@TaoRich I'm curious about you growing regular seeds, is there a reason you didn't use feminised seeds?

I know some people don't like them, for whatever reason idk maybe you could shed some light on the reasons why?
 

TaoRich

Well-Known Member
is there a reason you didn't use feminised seeds?
My seeds are bummed from local grow mates ...
... fertilised from their 2019 grows

Most of our local grow 'business' is outdoor ... I reckon 75% or more.

I generally prefer outdoor to indoor ...

Not so much into Named Varieties and Official Strains
Not so much into blowing my brains out of the back of my skull

I smoke mellow bud daily after my work is done purely to take the edge off ...
... it's my way of slowing my brain down so I can chill from the stresses of 21st century life
... and quieten the buzzing thoughts down enough to fall asleep

I'm not the kind of person to pay for imports from the US or Europe ... packaging and shipping costs are crippling to Africa ... more than 50% of the purchase price in most cases.

Then we have customs ... and all the associated delays and paperwork hassles ... and a drive out to far flung airport industrial areas where they insist you collect and pay taxes.

My philosophy is to find a seed from a local plant I enjoyed smoking ...
... and one that I know survived outside within a 25 km radius of where I grow at home.

And then I give the offspring a better and more caring upbringing than the parent had.

I figure if I start with known proven genetics ... and then feed organic to boost the bud sizes and turpenes and flavonoids ... I'll end up with some pretty sweet weed.

That. and I am an ornery old bastard in my mid 50's.

If people say or recommend left ... fukkem ... I hit a sharp right.

It's fun and challenging swimming against the flow ... and adversity breeds opportunity and learning. Most of my life has been about proving people wrong and overcoming setbacks. I see little reason to change now

;-)

Maybe not the answer you were lookin' for ...
... but hey ... it is an answer of sorts
... and it's mine

:D
 
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TaoRich

Well-Known Member
Caveat

There is method to my madness, however.

I germinated 50+ seeds ... 40 made it to polystyrene coffee cups ...

25 of those got transplanted to 1 gallon planter bags ...
... the other15 were gifted to 2 different newbie grower families with an offer to teach and assist ...

Bottom line is that I have 9 final pots of living organic soil prepared ... that's my legal and manageable grow limit out back in the yard of our house.

So all the plants compete for my attention::
  • health and resilience
  • bug resistance
  • node density
  • vigour and vitality
And finally:
  • variation and spread
I've got sativas and Indica and a merry hybrid interbred mix of everything inbetween.

Best performing female plants win a place in A Pot For Life !!!

I enjoy rolling the dice.
 
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