What is windburn?
Autoflowering cannabis plant farmers may make use of fans to encourage the flow of air in their cannabis garden. However, you need to be careful about how much ventilation and airflow you offer your cannabis plants.
While an optimum amount of breeze gives a rich yield and encourages the growth of healthy buds, too much wind can damage your cannabis plant and leave them ‘wind burned’.
Note that plant windburn happens because the flow of air is overwhelming for your cannabis plants as it causes transpiration to take place much quicker and more often than it should.
Windburn can stress your autoflowering cannabis plants and result in undesirable outcomes in your cannabis garden such as:
- Stunted growth
- Smaller buds and poor yields
- Yellow, brown, and bronze burn marks on leaves
Long-term exposure to strong winds can damage the leafy surface area of your cannabis plant. It can inhibit your weed plant from performing the biological functions needed to survive.
If your plant is already suffering from plant problems such as pH/nutrient imbalance, pests, or water drainage issues, then the additional stress from windburn can kill your cannabis plant.
You must treat windburn as soon as you notice the symptoms.
How does windburn happen?
According to a published chapter that studies the influence of wind on the behavior of stomata and photosynthetic stems from Annals of Botany, wind speeds are responsible for moving water-saturated air away from stomata.
However, too much flow or air can lead to excessive rates of transpiration such that your autoflowering cannabis plant will lose more water than it can absorb. This water loss is undesirable as it can cause your plant’s leaves to shrivel, curl up, and become flaccid. Note that incredibly fast winds can cause tissue damage and give your cannabis plant leaves a shredded appearance that looks similar to a pest infestation where insects have chewed away your plant’s leaves.
Indoor cannabis plants and windburn
Cannabis plants that are being grown indoors are particularly vulnerable to plant windburn as growers will awkwardly place fans too close to their plants. When fans pointed directly at your cannabis plant, instead of moderately exchanging air within the environment, they can cause overwhelming volumes of airflow to take place that damages the leaves of your plant.
You will notice that areas in your cannabis garden where the wind strikes with the highest pressure are also the areas where your plants have the most damage from plant windburn.
What are the symptoms of plant windburn?
Once you can confirm that your plants are suffering from windburn, you can move onto windburn treatment for plants.
However, determining whether your plants are suffering from windburn is tricky as the symptoms are fairly similar to other autoflowering cannabis plant problems such as nitrogen toxicity, too little water, too much water, nutrient lockout, and heat stress.
Here are the most common symptoms for plant windburn:
- Leaf edges appear brown and burnt
- Yellow spots on new leaves
- Leaves curling and clawing
- Plant wilting and drooping
- Twisted plant growth
- Abnormal plant growth
- Dark purple spots on leaves
- Cupping of leaves
Photo credit: zenpype.com
The most common telltale sign of windburn is that your leaves will claw inwards. Inspect the newer leaves at the top of your plant. If these leaves show greater signs of distress compared to leaves at the bottom, then your autoflowering cannabis plant could be suffering from plant windburn.
How to treat cannabis plant windburn?
There is no way to immediately reverse the damage done by plant windburn, but there are measures you can take to counter it and give your cannabis plant the best chance of survival. With appropriate care, attention, and treatment, your plant will be able to recover from windburn.
Here is what you can do to treat your plant for windburn:
Adjust fan settings
Begin combatting windburn by adjusting the fan settings for your cannabis garden. The flow of air in your growing space should be such that the maximum movement of air takes place between your grow lights and the canopy of your plant.
Make sure that all cannabis plants are exposed to a gentle breeze that can move their leaves slightly. If your plants are outdoors, then you need to set up a windbreak using cloth, sticks, or store-bought pickets.
Prune your cannabis plant
Depending on how severely your autoflowering cannabis plant has been affected, some of your leaves will either be damaged or dead.
There is very little hope for leaves with serious tissue damage to recover, so you will need to get rid of them. Cut your losses, and clip away leaves that have been bruised by plant windburn.
Counter wind desiccation
Windburn can be exceptionally drying for cannabis plants, so you need to help your plants counter wind desiccation by starting an effective windburn treatment for plants.
It is recommended that you apply an anti-desiccant on your cannabis plants such as pine oil emulsions which offer a protective coating and help with biological processes such as transpiration, osmosis, and photosynthesis.
How to avoid plant windburn?
The best way to treat plant windburn is to avoid it from occurring in your cannabis garden.
Follow the tips listed below to avoid plant windburn in your cannabis garden:
- Avoid growing too many autoflowering cannabis plants together in a congested space. Your plants need space to breathe and grow.
- Use fans in your growing space which have multiple airspeed settings. Having varying fan speed options will allow you to adjust wind speed as required for your cannabis plants.
- Point your fans towards a bare wall so that air does not directly strike the leaves of your plant. Doing so will still allow air ventilation to take place.
- Use oscillating fans which provide a gentle breeze and move from one direction to another. These provide adequate airflow without blowing for too long over a particular area.
- Ensure that your leaves are slightly moving with the wind instead of violently shaking or vibrating. Check your fans for proximity to plants and power.
