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White tips on Dianthus leaves.... help

loveunrequitedloveunrequited Posts: 33
in Plants
Anyone have any idea what is going on with these Dianthus? They are in a grow tunnel with a lot of other plants, other plants are fine but these Dianthus are developing white tips, looks like the green has been bleached, never seen it before. Is it insects? disease? any help would be appreciated! 

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  • BobTheGardenerBobTheGardener Posts: 11,391
    Possibly sun scorch, if they had water on the leaves followed by strong sun.  It does look like something to do with their growing conditions rather than a pest or disease.  They really don't like being overwatered or their feet standing in water, so check drainage which needs to be excellent, although I can see you've used perlite which will help.  Let them dry out between waterings if you aren't doing that already.  They also prefer alkaline soil so if you are using rainwater (which is slightly acidic), try switching to tap water, if you are in a hard water area.  Hopefully, something above will help.
    A trowel in the hand is worth a thousand lost under a bush.
  • loveunrequitedloveunrequited Posts: 33
    I did think that but I’m always careful not to water leaves, the only way water would get on the leaves is when condensation is on the inside of the tunnel from the late pm-early am, until I open the doors fully and if it’s a little windy then the condensation can drip off the top of the inside of the tunnel, I just found it strange how it’s on the tips mostly, then I read something about bugs sucking the life out of leaves and I thought it could be that but there’s no bugs, have checked under leaves, I also have an army of ladybirds so they tend to keep pests away. This is the first time I’ve had Dianthus and I’ve read they have very shallow roots, right now they are in a compost/vermiculite/perlite mix, so I’m just wondering if I should do a mostly coir mix with some compost and perlite, I think coir doesn’t stay as wet as compost? I sprayed them with fungus spray aswell thinking there was some sort of fungal disease, hopefully that doesn’t harm them! 😬
  • loveunrequitedloveunrequited Posts: 33
    I’m also in a soft water area, I have been using tap water, could that be the cause? 
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