caterpillars!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Discussion in 'Growing Marijuana Outdoors' started by Boonilla, Sep 7, 2009.

  1. I started finding a bunch of these fuckers on my plant today!!! She is about 2-4 weeks away from harvest....Any suggestions? I ordered Trichogramma wasps today for the eggs but I need to kill the ones I have now. I have been plucking them all day I keep finding more. Can I use bacillus thuringiensis or Bt spray on a flowering plant? HELP!!!
     
  2. Along with the bacillus thuringiensis, there are some organic insecticides available that contain Spinosad It contains a bacterium that targets most leaf eating insects, while sparing the beneficial insects such as lady bugs and praying mantis's.

    It has been particularly helpful to help me rid my plants of spider mites. It also kills caterpillars and is safe to use right up until 1 day before harvest. (for vegetables) I use Monterey Garden Insect Spray. It is OMRI rated and is only 16 bucks a quart.
     
  3. I have been having a lot of trouble with caterpillars too and Ive used BT spray and dust up until about two weeks before harvest, then I make sure to spray it all off with plain water in the morning so the sun dries the water to prevent mold, and I have had no problems, I have even heard of people using it a week before harvest and some right up to harvest, but you have to be sure to rinse them off really well. Good luck with the caterpillar problem, I know they can be a real pain.
     
  4. Im having a problem with those little fuckers as well. I drenched my plant with Neem oil but the next day i found 6 more like the neem didnt do shit except burn a few buds:(. I have been just picking them off by hand and throwing them into spider weds. I want them to suffer for hurting my girls. I need to try something else though cuz they are gonna start causing bud rot problems.
     

  5. have pulled about 4 little green caterpillars in last few days, but am worried about touching bud too much to find them, will too much handling cause me any problems?
    they seem to be deep inside bud

    G
     
  6. Touching a bud is better than not....they fucked up a few of my buds! I pulled about 20 of them yesterday. I sprayed pepper/garlic water on the buds and Safer caterpillar spray(BT) today. I think it is working because I only found one today.
     
  7. It is much safer to touch the buds and remove the caterpillars and there shit then not to. They borrow deep into the buds where sprays dont penetrate, and cause bud rot. I drenched my plant in neem oil and then washed it all off and the next day there were still caterpillars alive and well but I had burnt about 10% of my plant as well. So now I just try to find them all by hand. Neem oil doesnt work on them for sure. I picked one off and put it on the ground and sprayed a pool on the little fucker and he just laughed and started to crawl away so i stepped on him.

    Are there any sprays that you can just drench the plant and it wont burn the buds?
     
  8. Read post # 2 above..............and the links
     
  9. if youre worried about killin the buds with some sort of chemical in the cleaner, then do the natural way. throw yeast or flower used for making bread and shit. the insects will eat the yeast and then drink beads of water around the plant... which equals... the insect will kill itself by expanding waaaay past its capacity. aka it explodes. you end up with dead insects all around your plants though.
     
  10. Are there no concerns with BT or Spinosad ruining the taste, high or toxicity of the finished product? That's my MAIN concern. I'm ready to go to war on those ****suckers! Hand picking is NOT an option.
     
  11. I get the odd caterpillar - I just pick them off - don´t want any insecticide (including organic ones) near my buds at this point.
     
  12. True that.......... that why I asked. I don't want to compromise ANYTHING. If I have to pick until my eyes bulge out, I guess I will. LOL
     

  13. I guess I asked that question because some people have more plants than they can easily hand pick those bastards off....
    Thus, it makes me wonder how many times I have actually smoked herb that has been treated with it.
     
  14. Trust me, hand picking them is no easy task. I could spend all day looking for them. I have been picking them off and spraying any hole where they might hide with BT. The active ingrident in the spray breaks down quickly when it is exposed to light/UV. I wish someone could answer the question about the taste.
     
  15. #15 sonyvaio2, Sep 10, 2009
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 10, 2009
    i had the same problem along with a few other insects. i went down to a garden shop accross the street from one of the local cannabis clubs. the guy knows me well, and knows of the type of plants im growing, very familiar. he gave me, and reccomends most to use a product called Dont Bug Me, made by fox farm, it contains pyrethrum wich is derived from chrisanthenum flower, 100% organic. its a contact spray not meant for prevention but for immediate results. it doesn't stay active on your plants for long, it breaks down quickly and does not stay in the enviroment. it is so organic you can use to the day of harvest. i sprayed this stuff on my plant and watched four little caterpillars drop within five minutes, catipillars that i diddnt see pre-spray. it gets right ito the buds and gets every last one. it prevents me from having to try to carress my buds looking for them, wich you want to do as least as possible. i suggest it, if you can get your hands on some. another thing is my plant is also close to harvest, and it has no negative affect as far as visually and the smell. it works great.:D
     
  16. I went out and got some Fox Farm dont bug me spray because the BT didnt seem to be working. I found about 15 med sized caterpillars yesterday and and a few tiny babies. I had to try something stronger and kills on contact. Everything I have read about the chem in the spray is that it breaks down extremely fast.........so how could it ruin the tast of the buds three weeks from now?
     
  17. #17 sonyvaio2, Sep 11, 2009
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 11, 2009

    i never said it would ruin the taste, i have not smoked the finished product, but being how it breaks down well within a day, i can not imagine it having any negative effect on the finished product or any effect at all, remember your suppose to be able to use up to the day of harvest. if you bought it, pay attention to spraying it, you want to give the whole plants a nice light coat, including the top and bottoms of the leaves. another thing is becareful spraying it in the heat of the day, or when the sun is directly on it, im not sure if there would be any reactions, but i like to do it when the sun is setting, to keep wet a little longer. P.S. its not a preventer, just a contact killer, so still keep your eye on it.
     
  18. I had similar issues and spent hours in my garden picking the little fuckers off and out of the insides of my buds. They burrow into the buds and eat the tender center stem out and cause the buds to actually dry up and die at the tops of the buds!

    BT does work, however is works best as a preventive measure because it just does not get inside the buds where these little fuckers are living, in order for BT to work the caterpillars need to eat some of the leaf with BT on it. BT is a natural bacteria in soil and it works by affecting the digestive system of caterpillars (it starves them to death once they digest it) so you can see why trying to rid them with any spray is difficult once they have invaded your plants.
    For next years grow use BT every few weeks up unitl 1-2 weeks prior to harvest and you will not have this issue. These caterpillars come from moths/butterflys, they lay there eggs on the plants, then hatch and eat away until cocoon time....
    I did use BT and had some success during flowering, but still found caterpillars inside my buds after harvest...and lot's of caterpillar crap too!
     

  19. ...How much about did you lose?
     

Share This Page