Pest problem?

[Jungle Joseph]

I have found some damage possibly caused by a pest of some description. Some plants are in soil, some in coco perlite.
I've searched high (pun intended) and low, and I can't see anything in the soil or coco. I can't see anything on or under the leaves. I've also checked with a loupe. Help!

 

[Phytoplankton]

Yeah, looks like something is nibbling on the leaves. Thing is with growing outdoors you get a lot of transitory insects, like crickets, grasshoppers, slugs/snails, sometimes even catepillars, etc. They are there one day, gone the next. I hesistate to spray anything unless I have to, because of a real infestation. In your case, I'd just watch it and see if I can find the culprit, but unless it gets worse, bugs gotta eat too. Luckily if it does get worse, you're still in veg, so spraying is not going to affect your buds.

 

[SmokingWings]

lot of transitory insects, like crickets, grasshoppers, slugs/snails, sometimes even catepillars, etc. They are there one day, gone the next.

Looks like he is growing in a tent but indoor insects can still be nomads as in "here today & gone tomorrow". Sometimes they will go crawl off to explore the insides of the lights and will still be there so they can be found by the technician who replaces burned out parts.

 

[Roy Growin]

No problem, your plant looks healthy
Don't fret over the odd leaf

 

[Phytoplankton]

Looks like he is growing in a tent

Totally missed that! My suggestion is to lift those pots and check underneath, I had a couple crickets in my tent that were wiping out my seedlings, I finally found them hiding under the edge of one of the fabric pots.

 

[SmokingWings]

Totally missed that! My suggestion is to lift those pots and check underneath, I had a couple crickets in my tent that were wiping out my seedlings, I finally found them hiding under the edge of one of the fabric pots.

Good point on something hiding under the pots.

 

[bluter]

Totally missed that! My suggestion is to lift those pots and check underneath, I had a couple crickets in my tent that were wiping out my seedlings, I finally found them hiding under the edge of one of the fabric pots.

crickets are omnivores. they eat plant shoots when young but move on to insects as they mature. at some point they go from pest to beneficial.

edit : they'll also eat the eggs of other insects.

 

[Jungle Joseph]

Yeah it's indoor, temp 25ish degrees c, humidity 50-70%
Besides the chewed leaves, nothing is visible, no bugs, no nothing. Pretty hard to fight what you can't see, hopefully they'll leave, or get fried by the light. Thanks for the replies everyone, I'll keep my eyes open.

 

[Phytoplankton]

crickets are omnivores. they eat plant shoots when young but move on to insects as they mature. at some point they go from pest to beneficial.

edit : they'll also eat the eggs of other insects.

Field crickets, which is what we have mostly in the US and Canada, are omnivores, but they normally only resort to eating insects or animal material is there is insufficient vegetable matter. If they are eating your plants, they have plenty of vegetable matter and probably are not going to be eating insects. The ones I found eating my seedlings were fully adult.

From Field Cricket

"Field crickets are omnivorous. They eat dried organic materials, fresh plant matter, small fruits, seeds, and, at extreme need, both living and dead insects."

 

[bluter]

Field crickets, which is what we have mostly in the US and Canada, are omnivores, but they normally only resort to eating insects or animal material is there is insufficient vegetable matter. If they are eating your plants, they have plenty of vegetable matter and probably are not going to be eating insects. The ones I found eating my seedlings were fully adult.

From Field Cricket

"Field crickets are omnivorous. They eat dried organic materials, fresh plant matter, small fruits, seeds, and, at extreme need, both living and dead insects."

their diets change over time and they like young seedlings but not mature plants or anything that produces trichomes. trichomes are a natural defence against herbivores. grasshoppers are far more likely to eat an established plant and there are some caterpillars that are real bad for them.

 

[Jungle Joseph]

Whatever it is, I hope they bugger off on their own, or get eaten, or I'll have to spray. I've looked pretty hard and can't see anything. It's not terminal but it's annoying me so I think I'll keep watching them for now.
Man I hate bugs.