bud eating green caterpillars

[bicycle racer]

yeah so my outdoor grow in socal is at 7 weeks flower i have discovered little bastard green caterpillars who like eating buds more than me. jokes aside there hurting my plants and could cause internal bud rot. any help in practical non-toxic elimination or future effective treatments for my next grow is appreciated time is of the essence. thanks fellow growers of our beloved cannabis plant peace.

 

[BiggerTom]

You need some Spinosad sold at Home Depot for $7 a pint. It's natural and used for consumed vegetable products, I'd put it on earlier in the grow than you're at now to keep them bastards at bay.
Also, you need a pair of springed scissors BR.

 

[muxee]

Stinkin catepillars :mad0229: I agree with Tom. Spinosad is the way to go. Good Luck

 

[purpleberry]

I have found a few outside, they seem to eating leaves only. There was little butterflies around today that were way to fast to catch. Does anyone know there life cycle?

 

[bicycle racer]

i actually have some spinosad somewhere i have used it against thrips onslaughts. i know its organic and non toxic to mammals but im not sure if spraying the buds now would be good although its not stincky like neem. my real concern is the caterpillars causing mold from the dirty wounds in the buds they create. i think this time ill just let them go to harvest as im at a little over 7 weeks. next time spinosad early on when i see the little white eggs which i think are the caterpillar eggs. also im going to get praying mantises to help in general with pests. anyways thanks for the responses any other advice helpful thanks.

 

[markscastle]

They start at eating leaves but end up eating buds! They eat around the stock inside the buds and kill everything above that point.Bud rot sets in to the bud at that point if there is any rain at all.otherwise the bud just dies.I use Hot pepper wax on em and first pic all of em I can off! Neem will also work on em but if it`s late in bud you will be able to taste it in the bud when you smoke it.There is a wasp that kills em,but can`y remember what it is just off hand.Might find some at planetnatural.com They got alot of good stuff there.

 

[bicycle racer]

so i went ahead and sprayed the spinosad it does not smell bad or leave a residue like neem is omri listed and non toxic to mammals. we will see if it is effective people recommend it more than anything else. my greatest fear is bud rot starting from the wounds caused by the caterpillars. outdoors its always a battle for your buds:fighting0040:

 

[fractal]

Spinosad is pretty easy on plants and works very well, but dude you're not supposed to spray anything on buds especially not anything beside pure h20.. . Hope your buds come with a disclaimer if you are planning to sell any (for compensation of costs to produce, of course)

 

[bicycle racer]

there 3 0r 4 weeks from harvest and spinosad is organic so im not too worried. it does not seem to leave a smell or residue. these plants were grown for seeds mainly the remaining buds are for me. most will be seeded heavily so i will probably make bho.

 

[v0ssman]

I have them buggers as well, picked up some green neem. Its a pyrithium, neem solution...that wont cause any issues to my buds will it?

 

[keyplay]

7 weeks in is too late to be spraying anything on your flowers. No H2o, no neem, no caterpillar killer, no nothing. You compromise the quality of the untouched buds by putting anything on them now.
I have some beauties outside getting fucked by those little bastards. I've seen one caterpiller tear up a plant in 2 days. Look for loose and brown pistils and start investigating. You can also look for the trail of shit they leave behind (black granular in a slime base ) All you can do is pick em off and squish em. I had to chopl some things a week early. They will come out to sun themselves at times in the early morning or late afternoon direct sun on the flowers. Good Luck!

 

[bicycle racer]

i would not spray neem now as that leaves an oily residue and smell for weeks a misting with spinosad in ro water is not harmfull i sprayed yesterday and today there is no way to tell i sprayed. besides thc glands are not water soluble anyways. if you check your plants in the early morning they will often be wet with morning dew its normal and does no harm. the worst that can happen is bud rot which can start in in the dead tissue inside the buds which the caterpillars caused. it sucks i find the little white eggs they come from everywhere they certainly prefer some strains over others which is good to know for next time. next grow i will use a combination of spinosad and a bt product and also i will get some praying mantis eggs im sure they would not hurt to have around.

 

[Mox]

I am currently running an outdoor grow of garlic. I have noticed the white butterfly's around my tomato plants but havn't seen any near the weed plants. Just in case though I have sprayed everything with safer caterpillar spray. It is a bacteria culture and the smell goes away quickly. I still have at least a month more to go on them, so I dont think it will hurt the flavor of the buds. The garlic smell seems to keep most pests away also so Im hoping no caterpillars this year.

 

[the man with no]

best way i found to deal with caterpillars - pickem off with ya fingers or tweasers - outdoor grow is always paved with pests , its like seeding a lawn - one for the lawn two for the birds... 5 minutes checking your stash each day is 5 minutes well spent imho - spraying ya buds will only cause rot , i know what i would sooner do....


cheers

 

[cannabyss]

From what I've read, Spinosad and BC are most effective when sprayed before or early on in flowering because once the buds are developed the spinosad can't reach deep into the areas that the budworms like to eat. They like to eat from the inside of the bud near the stem which then causes the whole bud to die or everything above that point in the stem. I'm growing outdoors and am having them as well. I have netting up, but I think some are still able to get through because the mesh is just big enough from them to squeeze through if they are determined. At any rate, I've only found 5-10 so far and only 3 small buds have been destroyed as I seem to be catching them early so far. Who knows what will happen though as I sprayed Spinosad in veg, but I doubt that it is still working.

Best wishes!

 

[bicycle racer]

yeah exactly they live in the buds making a trail*of tears for me. and i cannot reach them obviously this is a survival trait as a green caterpillar hanging around on the surface is dead by me or a bird or whaterver else eats them. i sometimes kill by hand but mostly forget it at this point i dont expect my spinosad to do much again. this was a seed grow but still its frustrating next grow i plan to spray at intervals with spinosad and bt regardless of known infestations. worse case for these plants i will make hash. the damage is mainly isolated sadly in my best strains. regardless its simply a lesson learned for next time stay on top of any possible problems particularly outdoors. whats funny is i always easily handle mites these are much worse to deal with imo.

 

[Panthercham]

A good prevention method is to top dress with some diatamaceous earth around the base of plant. Will either repel them or cut them up as they walk across it. Little bastards!

 

[luckyscorpio]

yeah so my outdoor grow in socal is at 7 weeks flower i have discovered little bastard green caterpillars who like eating buds more than me. jokes aside there hurting my plants and could cause internal bud rot. any help in practical non-toxic elimination or future effective treatments for my next grow is appreciated time is of the essence. thanks fellow growers of our beloved cannabis plant peace.

spray some spinosad....that'll do the trick!!!

 

[organicdave]

BT is the bacteria spray that works great on caterpillars. Think it stands for bacteria thuringensis or something like that. Its natural and can be sprayed on the buds even late in flowering. I wouldnt go too late though. I have been spraying late in evening just before dark as the sun light will diminish its effectiveness.

I try to spray buds completely and as the caterpillars eat this bacteria coated bud it destroys their stomachs and they stop eating and die. You will find them dead or dying the next day. Ive been spraying about every 4 days now (for the past few weeks after noticing them) and think ive got them under control.

I should have started a few weeks earlier with the spray as a precaution when I first noticed those damn moths and would not have had to worry about the caterpillars. Next year I will be on top of it. They did destroy a few buds.

This stuff BT hasnt harmed the looks of the buds at all. They still look awesome and are resin coated except for the few brown dried out crappy buds that those worms got into.

 

[HB Dave]

A few pics of Caterpillar damage after my 5 day trip.