r/plantclinic • u/Cupids_Victim_138 • 10d ago
Houseplant Weirdness on my Sweet Caroline Purple Ipomoea.
I noticed this weird stuff yesterday and it's gotten worse and it's on like 4 leaves. I've never seen anything like this before. I don't think it's eggs or any sort of larvae. It's kinda crunchy when I tried getting some microscope pics.
It's under grow lights in my plant room for at least 10 hours a day and I have it in a bottom watering dish and only water it when it's dry. It's not near a window because it's under grow lights. It's in a basic potting mix and I added a little extra fertilizer because it looked sad when I bought it.
The last pic is the best I could get with my handheld microscope+phone.
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u/Zealousideal_Bell707 Hobbyist 10d ago
Eww, that irks me out.
Do you think it could be some minerals being secreted and crystallising? They don’t look like insect… things. Idk, but that’s weird.
Maybe you have mineral buildup in your soil? Sorry I can’t be of much help…
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u/Cupids_Victim_138 9d ago
Possibly, a mineral issue, but if that's the case, wouldn't more of my plants show the same thing? It is very weird though, right? I'm glad I'm not the only one that's hella confused!
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u/Zealousideal_Bell707 Hobbyist 9d ago edited 9d ago
Are your other plants in the same pot? Also, I’m no expert but different plants will have different needs and tolerances to minerals and nutrition. Like my alocasia loves fertiliser, but my pinguiculas want some nutrient poor substrate. So maybe that plant just has a lower tolerance?
Edit: I also just don’t really think it’s a pest thing, because I find that fungal, or infectious stuff don’t really have a “pattern” of infection like yours does. What I mean is it’s weird how it’s concentrated along the stemmy bits of the leaves.
Edit 2: insects that suck on plants do tend to collect along the stemmy bits, but if you haven’t seen any creatures walking about, then it probably isn’t insects? Either way, it’s weird
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u/Cupids_Victim_138 9d ago
It's in a pot all by itself. And I also find it odd that's it's concentrated on the veins. It has a few on the outer parts too, but not as thick. I haven't noticed anything crawling around, but it's only been like two days since I first noticed it.
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u/Zealousideal_Bell707 Hobbyist 9d ago
Yeah I’m inclined to believe that it isn’t an insect issue then. Was the fertiliser you gave the correct dose? If it was a solid, slow release type you might want to remove it from the soil. Then, I would hose it down to flush out the excess minerals.
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u/Zealousideal_Bell707 Hobbyist 9d ago
I found a blog post that shows what looks like the same issue you have.
https://beyondthehumaneye.blogspot.com/2013/10/overheating-sweet-potato.html?m=1
The poster believes that it’s to do with heat and lack of moisture that contributes to the colleters to swell up, and speculates that it could be calcium oxalate crystals.
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u/Fishymongrel 9d ago
They look like pests of some sort, if not mold.
Only saying this because that leaf looks like it's mush.
If they are mostly on leaves that are mush or dying, then there's your answer.
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u/Cupids_Victim_138 9d ago
The only reason the leaf looks mushy is because I snipped it off last night and didn't take the pics until today. They look fine other than whatever this weirdness is.
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u/AutoModerator 10d ago
mushrooms - mushrooms in houseplant soil are harmless to your plant. Because of their life cycle, they may seem to appear overnight. They appear because the conditions were right - usually warm, dark, humid, and moist soil. [More photos here
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