So I know this should go in the outdoor section but I feel like I will get better results here. The other day I had what I thought was some bud rot and I cut off the buds yesterday. This morning I was looking at it and discovered that I have budworms. Right now I kind of wish it was vud rot instead. Anyways I brought it to work to ask one of the farmers and he said to just pick them off so I came home and did that. The original plant I noticed this on I thoroughly examined and found quite a bit. Then I skimmed the rest of the plants and noticed another one that was pretty infested. After an hour if this I decided picking them off just won't work I don't have nearly enough time to do this. So with that being said what can I do to save my ladies? I believe I still have about a month or six weeks before harvest I am probably like 6 weeks in being outdoors. Any help would be great. I have access to pyrethrum if that's okay at this point or I also have access to lavender and rosemary and neem/karanja cake not oil. Thank you for the help!
I'd start spraying with BT. bacillus thuriengensis. BT For Caterpillar Control It's a good idea to positively identify the species of pest you have as there are different species of BT. Your local extension office can ID them for you. "Different strains of Bt are effective against different insect species. The kurstaki variety is most effective against larvae of butterflies and moths. The israelensis variety (Bti) is highly toxic to the larvae of blackflies and mosquitoes, and Bt galleriae kills the larvae of wax moths that infest beehives" As Waktoo pointed out, @Brassnwood is a great resource for information. You can also pose your question in Backyard Grow Like The Pros. @mlmama25 and her followers are all outdoor growers that deal with budworms.this time of year.
Thanks guys! I can say that the pictures I saw and what I have read these are most definitely budworms. Of the 6 plants I have outside I noticed two had a bad infestation and the others I found maybe one or two. One of the two infested ones is like a week away from harvest as I checked the trichomes out everything else is a few weeks away as I said earlier. I am thinking that I will cover the plants with reemay and pick off the caterpillars instead of spraying. I am hoping this will work to keep the moths from laying anymore eggs and gives me a chance to get whatever budworms I can. I am a little concerned about spraying at this piont in the season due to mold. My concern at this point is what about all the worm poop on my plants I was hoping to give these plants to some patients I know but I don't feel comfortable giving someone medicine with poop in it.
I cross answered this on another thread but I'll cover it here as well for them that don't make it over to the Outside section all that often.. As Chunk replied BT-k is the recommended product.. Sold under a half dozen brand names it should be findable in most parts of the country.. The Bonide Thuricide is what I'm using as it's a few dollars cheaper at the garden center then the safer brand from the Hydro store.. I run a 15 watt bug zapper with the grill chopped out so I can brush it clean each morning as my monitor in the current moth infestation.. BNW
Thanks BNW just a few questions. I have a plant that is a week from harvest, spray or no? This is the worst one I had as far as finding the budworms. Am I screwed with this plant? And as far as the rest of them go, how often to spray and how close until harvest can I safely spray? Thanks again.
BT has a very short life once exposed to sunlight and the environment and is rated for use through day of harvest for eatable crops.. In the worst of the moth season when the zapper is full every morning I'll spray as close as 3 or 4 days apart and as close as a day or 2 before harvest.. http://extension.entm.purdue.edu/GM/PDF/GMquestions.pdf Some .edu info on BTk BNW
So I have not yet gotten any BT I need to wait until tomorrow but it is looking like we are going to be getting a bunch of rain the next couple of days. How is this going to affect spraying the plants? Can I still spray if it is raining? Will I have to spray every day if it rains?
Wow okay that went terribly. I was not able to find any Bt locally. I went to 2 grow shops (terrible idea) and they both tried to tell me I had leaf miners and both said they know people who have what I am describing and it sounds like leaf miners. One guy tried to tell me to google it and I was like I did I know what leaf miners are I have bud worms. Another guy told me to just harvest my plants even though they are 3 or 4 weeks away and he also told me to dunk my plants in listerine after harvest. I remember now why I don't go to these places. They both told me to just harvest the plants cause there is going to be bad weather coming along, I would rather take my chances with the weather than harvest bud a month early. Anyways would Spinosad or Pyrethrin be of use to me as I have to order the Bt still and I have spinosad on hand and can get pyrethrin from one of the farmers at work. Thanks for the help guys I am glad you guys know the difference between a budworm and a leaf miner.
^Chop your plants and dunk them in listerine? WTF? lolz I'd spray before and after the rain... let us know how it goes, good luck...
Yeah man he told me to do that cause I mentioned dunking in baking soda and lemon juice as I was told in the thread chunk linked. Dudes smoking too much Listerine. Anyways I found the Bt and am going to spray tomorrow night just curious as to what rate to spray as bottle says 1/2 - 4 tsp per gallon I am going to pull my worst plant Tuesday as she is ready but rest are about 4 weeks away if that makes a difference.
Show me one Hydro Store employee with a half a brain. They shouldn't be allowed to give advice - especially when it comes to insecticides. What morons. Imagine the people that DO listen to them. Poor people. J
I use about the middle of the ratio spread on the Bonide Thuricide 1 teaspoon per gallon.. Only mix what you need to spray as it shouldn't be stored and be sure to rinse the sprayer when your finished and leave open to dry.. The other big threat outside at least in So Cal is the Powdery Mildew.. Looks like drywall dust on the plant.. I use Green Cure weekly for controlling that.. It's a close relation to household baking soda and both can be used in cooking but the Sodium Bicarbonate while it will stop PM is not as nice to our plant as the more costly Potassium Bicarbonate the Cure is made of.. I keep both on hand as I'll rinse a just harvested mildewed plant with baking soda and hash it as food grade only not for smoking.. I don't use sodium bicarb on a living plant.. While Spinosad does kill caterpillars it's a bigger gun then BT and I keep it in reserve for other pest like Mites and Thrips and try and only use what's needed to control the pests at hand.. Limited controls rather then the shotgun DDT methods used by so many for so many years.. Just my 2 cents.. BNW
If you choose to use spinosad, read the label carefully and be mindful of pollinators in your landscape. Spinosad has been shown to be highly toxic to bees when wet but less so when dried. Spray in the evening, at night or early morning if you decide to use it. Spinosad General Fact Sheet
I say the same thing jerry. I feel bad for the people these guys are talking to on a daily basis. This is why I don't go to the grow store ever. I just figured they might be the place to go to and get something for pest control but I was proven wrong. This is the place to go to learn that leaf miners are caterpillers and that dunking your plant in high pHed water with listerine is the thing to do. And he seemed proud about doing this he was like it made my plant nice and green afterwards, I bet it did I bet it was all the listerine that stayed behind and he wouldn't have a problem with his plant looking crappy if he didn't use chemicals either. But what do I know I don't own a grow store and I've never dunked my plant in listerine so maybe I am missing out on all the good buds I could be smoking. Thanks man. I did get the Thuricide I finally found it locally. I will go with the 1 teaspoon per gallon. I never mix up anything I am spraying more than I need of it as I don't like to waste and find good results with mixing at the moment of spray. I do have some powdery mildew but of the strains I have outside at the moment only one seems to be an issue with that. I don't have a whole lot of it on them like I do with my cukes did but it is there. As for the Spinosad it is great I have used it indoors for mites and it was the only thing that seemed to work well when I was badly infested, outdoors I try not to spray a single thing on my plants if I don't have to. The only reason I am spraying is because these things are destroyi\\ng my ladies and I can't have that. Anyways thanks for all the help guys I really appreciate it. I am glad to finally be sprayinng these ladies tonight, it seems that one plant is getting really bad but the rest are still looking good from what I can see. I plan on spraying them down every 3 days until I harvest them and hope that the plants remaining do well. Recently there has been some wind and rain and that really seemed to beat the ladies up but I have two plants that acted like nothing ever happened it was kind of amazing with the way the others got knocked around.
Alright so I harvested my first lady today. She was an NYPD really really quick strain compared to anything else I have. The rest of my ladies will be up until the end of October most likely. The NYPD I have was the worst of the plants in regards to the budworms and I am hoping to end up with something salvageable off of her. After the harvest it didn't look too bad, I had been picking the caterpillars I could find off of her and I sprayed her once with the BT on Saturday. Only a few caterpillars were found today before harvest. Now time to wait for the other ladies. I had 6 good size plants and 4 little one bud plants (didn't get in the ground soon enough) today I took 1 of the bigger ladies and 2 of the babies. The 4 little ones did not have any damage on them or caterpillars. I will be spraying again tonight with the BT and hopefully in the next week or 2 I will be smoking some nice outdoor dank. It has been about 10 months since I last smoked and I have been waiting for these ladies I have been offered some smoke from a few people but I am all set with there harsh chemical bud. I have been getting stoned off some coconut oil I made up this summer, I let it sit in the greenhouse at work with the trim from my last indoor harvest for the lunar cycle between July-August, shit gets me stoned for like 2 days when I dip into the jar.
Are you gonna do anything for the powdery mildew? I wouldn't underestimate it! Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk
To update my worst plant which was harvested last Tuesday was fine after harvest. I pollinated it and got a shit ton of seeds so considering that and the budworms my 1.5 oz was a great yield. I got 17 grams off my best plant last year so I am happy this was my smallest or just about of the 6 this year though I had a few with like one bud on them this year. I found no more worms after harvest which is great. Currently spraying every 3-4 days with Bt so I am confident in my remaining ladies. I am a happy grower. I should mention the one I just finished was sprayed once 3 days before harvest.