Pest control in early flowering

H

Hobbit Grower

Active Member
Need advice, I have a pretty strong outdoor grow going right now. The flowering stage is underway and the pest are there.
I pick off all that I can see but it is all kinds. Grass hoppers and all kinds of flying bugs small and big. I spray early evening with pyrethrum every 3-4 days and once a week with caterpillar (safer brand). I don’t use any nutrients just a small dose of 0-10-10 about a week ago. Any advice to keep this crop healthy and bug free appreciated. I don’t know the strain. I attached a few pics. Thining, Feeding, pest control. Just compost for soil when started.image.jpgimage.jpg
 
H

Hobbit Grower

Active Member
From understanding BT is for catepillars and the last time I used that it did no work so well. I switched to safer brand and have had a lot more results.
 
$

$toned

New Member
My setup is similar, outdoor into the earth. Massive 7ft x 7ft plants. When I started noticing aphids and caterpillars(or inch worms) I pulled out the neem oil, peppermint oil, dish soap and warm water. Depending how you apply, 1oz neem, 1 teaspoon peppermint, 8 to 10 drops of liquid dish soap to 1 gal of warm water. Shake it up often and saturate your plants.. On top and under the leaves. I've been doing this for 2 months now... Minimal to almost no pests. Does NOT affect the ladybugs and lacewing pretadors. (you want thses bugs on your plants)
 
NewEnglandFarmer

NewEnglandFarmer

Well-Known Member
I'm told neem is a no-no during flower.

Supposedly silica helps deter leaf-chewing bugs. Some say not to foliar spray silica during flower, others say they do it all the time. Could root drench.

Just a thought, but would a birdhouse or two in the vicinity help? Seems like they would go after the insects...
 
D

DreamMiner

Active Member
Looks beautiful. I'm dealing with similar issues.

Last year I used Neem Oil, Captain Jacks Dead Bug, and Ladybugs. They didn't really seem to help much, and I had problems with aphids, spider mites, and caterpillars at different points in my season that made big problems for me.

This year, a friend recommended checking out Mammoth Biocontrol [im in no way affiliated, but probably worth checking out] which I've been applying weekly since veg. During veg I was getting real thorough, spraying till the solution dripped off the fan leaves. I've seen aphids in other parts of my garden, on leafy greens and veggies that I wasn't hitting with the Biocontrol, but nothing on the vegging plants, which has been great to see.
BUT MY PRIMARY CONCERN AS IS YOURS IS PEST CONTROL DURING FLOWER, (WHICH SEEMS TO BE SUPER HARD TO GET GOOD INFORMATION ABOUT...)

I reached out to the Mammoth to see if I could spray flowers with the solution. I'll quote you their response.

"
Generally speaking, we do not recommend spraying oil after flowers have set. So the end of week 2 beginning of week 3 into flower would be the cut off for application. My concern isn’t some kind of toxicity, it’s having an impact of flavor and quality.

Canncontrol new and improved. We took what we learned from Biocontrol and made it better!

  • This formulation is 3x more concentrated.
  • The application rate to 1 oz. per gallon.
  • We improved the functionality, CANNCONTROL eliminates: Powdery Mildew - Botrytis (Gray Mold) - Mites - Aphids - Whiteflies - Thrips - Fungus Gnats.
  • This formulation includes a surfactant for improved coverage and effectiveness
"

Since flower started for me I've been doing 3 main things,
1. I've cut back to only spraying the top mulch, stem, and large fan leaves, AS WELL AS THE ENVIRONMENT AROUND MY PLANTS. I also ordered Cannacontrol to have on deck for future crops, and in case of infestations.
2. As soon as flower started I ordered Lacewing, Ladybugs, and Predatory Mites which I released all around my garden. I see ladybugs every once in a while, but I have no idea how many one these predatory insects have stuck around. Regardless, I plan to release another gang of them later in the season, when buds are bigger and hitting fan leaves selectively with Biocontrol will be challenging.
3. I've been thorough with my fan leaf defoliation, removing as much potential living space for pests and making it easier for me to identify them and also work on the plants. I've been going through not more than once a week to defoliate.

If (God Forbid) I do find infestations forming later in the season that I can't handle manually, I'm not going to hesitate to go hard with the spray, but that will be a last resort. So far what I've been doing has kept pests away or at least at bay, but I feel like if I'm not constantly vigilant, they could pop up quick at any moment.

I would love to hear any experienced growers thoughts on all of this, and generally dealing with pests during flower, specifically for me Spider Mites, Aphids, and Caterpillars.

How do people out there feel about Mammoth Biocontrol and Cannacontrol?
 
H

Hobbit Grower

Active Member
Dream Miner
Thanks for the insight, I am going to order the canna control. Just found it on the Mammoth Products home page. I will read a bit and give it a go.
Are you using any flowering nutes. I just mixed a batch of super bloom I had laying around from previous grows to see if it would help. You can see the leaf tips starting to say something but overall the plant is healthy.
image.jpgimage.jpgimage.jpg
 
H

Hobbit Grower

Active Member
$toned
I heard the same thing that NewEnglandFarmer says, after veg veg Neem is a no go. Don’t know why but would like to see how your plants are looking with Neem in flowering.
Thank you for reply.
 
$

$toned

New Member
That's a few people who say that.. But no one can say exactly why... It is purely for taste reasons? It's safe on vegetables and for consumption... Safers end all claims to be good up to harvest, which contains neem oil and other organic insecticides and fungicide.

Last year I used safers, I had a baaaad ahpid infestation on one plant. I sprayed all 4 of my plants to ensure no more pests. I stopped spraying 2 to 3 weeks before harvest, Mid September, by that point the plants should have a good armour coat. I'm still smoking this harvest today and taste/smell is perfect to me.

This year I wanted to try my own mix of neem and peppermint. No infestation, still the aphids are present, lots of ladybugs and their larvae have appeared. Idk if I should just continue and monitor. I may have the perfect outdoor balance at the moment lol if aphids are wiped out, the predators will leave town.
 
H

Hobbit Grower

Active Member
That’s awesome to hear. My biggest challenge this started with white fly then it was these gnats. Started seeing areas where the leaves were being eaten so I put on the caterpillar killer(safer brand). Aphids have not been a problem like the flying pest.
last year I lost crop to bud worms. Did not notice till weeks before harvest. Went out and saw a bugger crawling around and started pulling open buds and they were everywhere. Will not do the same this year. Every week I hit em with the caterpillar spray. I also started with plain compost for soil this year . Unsterilzed so next year I will try to find out how to sterilize the soil. That could be why I have so many flying pest. Do you put anything in to add weight during flower?
 
ganga gurl420

ganga gurl420

Well-Known Member
Hobbit Grower said:
That’s awesome to hear. My biggest challenge this started with white fly then it was these gnats. Started seeing areas where the leaves were being eaten so I put on the caterpillar killer(safer brand). Aphids have not been a problem like the flying pest.
last year I lost crop to bud worms. Did not notice till weeks before harvest. Went out and saw a bugger crawling around and started pulling open buds and they were everywhere. Will not do the same this year. Every week I hit em with the caterpillar spray. I also started with plain compost for soil this year . Unsterilzed so next year I will try to find out how to sterilize the soil. That could be why I have so many flying pest. Do you put anything in to add weight during flower?
Click to expand...
Dont sterilize the soil.... that will kill all the beneficial microbes. Just get some beneficial nematodes and put them in your soil. They will handle the rest.
 
C

Caliverner

Well-Known Member
Hobbit Grower said:
That’s awesome to hear. My biggest challenge this started with white fly then it was these gnats. Started seeing areas where the leaves were being eaten so I put on the caterpillar killer(safer brand). Aphids have not been a problem like the flying pest.
last year I lost crop to bud worms. Did not notice till weeks before harvest. Went out and saw a bugger crawling around and started pulling open buds and they were everywhere. Will not do the same this year. Every week I hit em with the caterpillar spray. I also started with plain compost for soil this year . Unsterilzed so next year I will try to find out how to sterilize the soil. That could be why I have so many flying pest. Do you put anything in to add weight during flower?
Click to expand...


Use this stuff bud works will be gone for sure
 

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Menace805

Menace805

Member
Gemtree said:
They ship with a cool pack and with the mail being shitty you might not want to get them on amazon. Forgot its real hot and the mail sucks my bad
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Thanks..got them at the gardening section of my local hardware store..they have them refrigerated..just trying to figure the best way to apply them..they have a couple options in the instructions.
 
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