Seranade failing for me

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zinc

Member
I am growing in SF, lots of fog and wet off and on (including now!!). It's an outdoor scrog in pots on my west facing deck. Lack of proper care has led to multiple rash areas on plant stems, leading to botrytis gray mold. I started by wiping off aggressively (daily) with vinegar. I switched to Seranade four days ago, with daily cleaning and spraying on branches/affected areas (only branches damaged, so far). And now for two days straight, THE MOLD IS BACK THE NEXT MORNING. I'm giving up on Serandade. If it would work after a week or two, great, but meanwhile, my plants are under attack and every little bit of mold on them for a minute or an hour or a day is more damage. No time to wait. SOOOOO....I've switched back to cleaning with apple cider vinegar, and will spray every afternoon (once everything is dry again, as it usually is by late afternoon here, the fog clears out usually) as well. I'll see if the mold is just as vicious in returning with vinegar vs. the seranade. If it comes back just as strong, my next try will be GreenCure. I'm fighting the good fight to save perhaps 30% of my crop from early death due to lower branches dying from the mold damage, arrrggghhh!!! And there's always risk of a lot more damage of course, particularly if the mold manages to get into buds (none of that so far). A pic of the crop, a bud or two and a mold damage area included. "I hate mold...." Next time, I believe one key is to NOT ALLOW ANY DAMAGE of any sort to the branches. Apparently, gray mold needs some dead plant material to get a foothold, and spreads of them there, eating as more plant dies.

Last comment: Seranade may work for you!!!! Just because it hasn't for me doesn't prove it ineffectual. Every situation is different.
 

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zinc

Member
chemphlegm said:
goshdammit! sorry this happened to you:cry:
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I appreciate that. My own newbie fault, really. Too many plants in too constrained a space, lots of overlapped branches, also branches overall "laced" agains the nylon twine. All of which leads in the constant SF wind to abrasion of the outer green skin, enabling the mold. SF is famous for it's mold of course, due to the foggy/wet conditions often.
 
thumper60

thumper60

Well-Known Member
zinc said:
I appreciate that. My own newbie fault, really. Too many plants in too constrained a space, lots of overlapped branches, also branches overall "laced" agains the nylon twine. All of which leads in the constant SF wind to abrasion of the outer green skin, enabling the mold. SF is famous for it's mold of course, due to the foggy/wet conditions often.
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I tried it last fall all it did was spread the mold around, that's on outdoor plants hate that shit it stinks also I have good luck spraying ho2o on mold before touching to cut out
 
W

waterproof808

Well-Known Member
Serenade is crap. It is sold as a preventative not something to use to cure an existing problem. You can try hydrogen peroxide or if you can get some wettable sulfur powder, you can mix it into a paste and paint it on the affected stems being careful not to get any on your flowers.
 
topcat

topcat

Well-Known Member
zinc said:
I am growing in SF, lots of fog and wet off and on (including now!!). It's an outdoor scrog in pots on my west facing deck. Lack of proper care has led to multiple rash areas on plant stems, leading to botrytis gray mold. I started by wiping off aggressively (daily) with vinegar. I switched to Seranade four days ago, with daily cleaning and spraying on branches/affected areas (only branches damaged, so far). And now for two days straight, THE MOLD IS BACK THE NEXT MORNING. I'm giving up on Serandade. If it would work after a week or two, great, but meanwhile, my plants are under attack and every little bit of mold on them for a minute or an hour or a day is more damage. No time to wait. SOOOOO....I've switched back to cleaning with apple cider vinegar, and will spray every afternoon (once everything is dry again, as it usually is by late afternoon here, the fog clears out usually) as well. I'll see if the mold is just as vicious in returning with vinegar vs. the seranade. If it comes back just as strong, my next try will be GreenCure. I'm fighting the good fight to save perhaps 30% of my crop from early death due to lower branches dying from the mold damage, arrrggghhh!!! And there's always risk of a lot more damage of course, particularly if the mold manages to get into buds (none of that so far). A pic of the crop, a bud or two and a mold damage area included. "I hate mold...." Next time, I believe one key is to NOT ALLOW ANY DAMAGE of any sort to the branches. Apparently, gray mold needs some dead plant material to get a foothold, and spreads of them there, eating as more plant dies.

Last comment: Seranade may work for you!!!! Just because it hasn't for me doesn't prove it ineffectual. Every situation is different.
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I'm in Sonoma County with similar conditions, likely not as wet. Serenade has worked for me in the past and the last 5-6 years, I've tried potassium bicarbonate and H2O2/water mixes. The problem with them is, they're short lived and must be reapplied frequently. As the season wears on and the buds get denser, spraying often like that just seems to exacerbate the problem by soaking them with water. Serenade does have a shelf life, I'm not sure if that is the reason you are not seeing results. I'll try it again this year and see if I can reduce the number of sprayings. Botrytis/powdery mildew can fuck up a wet dream. Spray anything else you have growing nearby. I have melons that I need to spray, as well. Squash is notorious for powdery mildew.
 
SouthCross

SouthCross

Well-Known Member
Well Damn. Serinade' is the Bacillus amyloliquefaciens stuff.

Finding an effective safe fungicide you can smoke is becoming a chore....I recently applied Hydroguard to some plants. Better not have the same results. That'd bend my day.
 
Z

zinc

Member
Thanks waterproof for the suggestions, I'll investigate those. I certainly have some hydrogen peroxide.

RIght now I've done a later afternoon cleaning/rinsing, and ALREADY some areas cleaned last night mechanically have fresh mold. We'll see, but I think it's able to overcome the vinegar, AND I'm really concerned about vinegar mist and spray getting down onto my soil. I use it to pH adjust my very basic water down, and know how tiny an amount drastically changes pH!! I don't want to kill my ladies with my cleaning solution!!!

NEXT IDEA: what about:

- an extensive cleaning
- waiting til generally dry
- COVERING ALL DAMAGED AREAS THAT ARE SUBJECT TO REINFESTATION WITH CARNUBA WAX

What do you all think? I just might try this on a stem or two and see what happens over 48 hours.

Related to that, what do folks think about the idea promoted somewhere in these forums long ago on using a quick zap with a lighter torch to first totally kill all mold in the area, THEN waxing? Caranuba or a beeswax product, like SnoSeal, which is creamy and would be easy to apply.

Alternatively, I could clean with hydrogen peroxide, dry, and wax.

Seems to me nothing stops the mold after drying out...so why not stop the mold with a mechanical barrier??
 
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waterproof808

Well-Known Member
I've mixed wettable sulfur powder with some non-toxic acrylic paint and painted it over funky stem areas and it seemed to slow it down.
 
Z

zinc

Member
Okay friends and neigbors, for better or for worse, I've done it. I've cleaned/disinfected every damaged area I can find (perhaps...12?) with 92% isopropyl alcohol, let it dry a bit, then lathered on and rubbed in gently a beeswax based product called SnoSeal (that I've used in the past for waterproofing leather hiking boots, works exceptionally well). I've tried to apply it thickly and comprehensively, for obvious reasons. Here's my take: no way in heck can the mold grow ON this wax. Can remaining living mold that the alcohol didn't kill live UNDER the wave in an anaerobic environment? Damn I hope not!!! If it grows under the wax, I think every infected branch is doomed. But let's see how this plays out before completely panicing. I hoping I'm advancing the fine art of growing in fog-ville environments! (Though I'm certain the real art is never allowing any external plant damage, in which case, I suspect this all is largely a non-problem). See pics of the waxed areas, same areas as I shared earlier. I believe I only need 6-7 more weeks here!!!! Praying this works.IMG_0532.JPG
 

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zinc

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Glory be, a sunny morning in SF!!! After several days of dripping wet fog. Found yet several more new mold spots, more cleaning, more waxing. NEXT: I'm intending to do a comprehensive (including buds) spray down on Monday late day (when it arrives, and assuming conditions are dry) with Actinovate. From my searching and reading, some say this stuff is magical re: blockages of botrytis mold. IF YOU THINK SPRAYING BUDS WITH THIS STUFF IS REALLY STUPID, PLEASE SAY SO NOW!!!! Conditions here being so often wet, and with gray mold already infect areas of stems, it seems inevitable I will get it in my buds unless I take strong preventative action now. That's my thinking anyway. Anyone have a best guess of when my buds will be ready for harvest at this latitude? I'm thinking 6-8 more weeks (into early Nov), but it's just a guess. Fighting the good fight here!!!
 
Z

zinc

Member
Can anyone recommend BEST strains for (a) SF latitude (a little above 38 degrees) AND frequent wet/foggy conditions (mold resistance) AND outdoor grow in general??? Data I need for next season!! TIA.
 
Z

zinc

Member
More losses. First signs of rot in buds, in of course my largest and most developed colas. Chop, cut, gone. Dry now, and the actinovate arrives tonight. I presume every single bud will get the rot over time as they thicken up and we get more bouts of wet fog (certain). So this is my Last Best Hope.
 
topcat

topcat

Well-Known Member
http://www.peakseedsbc.com/seeds.htm

Texada Timewarp has a good reputation for wet conditions, developed in B.C., Canada. In these wet conditions, I favor Canadian varieties and PeakSeedsBC is reputable, stable and the best bang for your buck. I just found some fungus on a trunk and cleaned it with a soaked sponge of H2O2, then smeared a generic Neosporin on it. Your wax will be a good barrier as well.
zinc said:
Can anyone recommend BEST strains for (a) SF latitude (a little above 38 degrees) AND frequent wet/foggy conditions (mold resistance) AND outdoor grow in general??? Data I need for next season!! TIA.
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thumper60

thumper60

Well-Known Member
topcat said:
http://www.peakseedsbc.com/seeds.htm

Texada Timewarp has a good reputation for wet conditions, developed in B.C., Canada. In these wet conditions, I favor Canadian varieties and PeakSeedsBC is reputable, stable and the best bang for your buck. I just found some fungus on a trunk and cleaned it with a soaked sponge of H2O2, then smeared a generic Neosporin on it. Your wax will be a good barrier as well.
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I ordered that strain from them 4-5 yrs ago O germ rate out of a pac?same with Jordan of isle big fat O,iam in the states???
 
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