Caterpillars

[AlexWoods]

I'm growing outdoors. Having trouble with caterpillars. I've been spraying with Caterpillar Killer by Safer. But they keep coming. I feel like I find 4-5 on the same plants every day. They are at the base of the flowers up against the stems so I'm not sure the spray is getting to where they are. Any suggestions?

 

[prometh]

get rid of the moths... garlic or cedar extract as a repellent.. or use yellow sticky traps near the top

 

[Seamaiden]

Alternate the Bt spray with Spinosad, keep spraying every two weeks. You don't need to worry about caterpillars eating the leaves, you need to worry about them being born inside your buds. If you're using a hand sprayer, get a decent pump sprayer with a wand and SATURATE those girls with the Bt spray. Push the wand through the foliage, too.

 

[caregiverken]

Alex; How far along are they?



You are doing well checking and killing them and keep doing that.

But you need to do what Seamaiden said. Power spray those buds hard and Deep

Those caterpillars will eat the shit out of your buds. From the inside out,
They do a lot of damage. :sweating


if you still see them close to harvest you might be better off harvesting early.

 

[caregiverken]

Hah,,,Look at me...I have been growing 8 months and Im already an expert, Helping the newb's, giving advice...

 

[OGONLY]

Nice job Ken. You've come a long way friend.

Alex, I fear you may be too late to get most of them. I followed Seamaiden's advice on the BT/ Spinosad sprays early in the season. I think it is important to allow the BT spray to form a slight residue on your plant to deter these things from even getting started. I found only one (little baby) this whole season and it was dead.

In your case, it sounds like some have already worked their way into the buds along the stem. This will make them near impossible to get. Watch for areas on buds where they are turning brown. That will reveal where the caterpiller has already tunneled out along the stem.

Sounds like you are best off harvesting early. I remember one year when I hung my outdoor plant to dry in my closet to dry. I thought I had picked off all the caterpillars. 2 days later I checked and there were 40 or 50 little babies munching my drying bud. Little black caterpillar shits were everywhere. Not very appetising for a smoke.

 

[MakinGoo]

Yea & the caterpillar shit will turn in2 mold when trying 2 dry ur buds

 

[crom]

Some days I catch them sunning on the leaves and on top of the buds in the early morning around say 8am when the sun is up and the dew is still burning off. Maybe they like the warmth or their out for breakfast. Either way I use tweezers and pull the little F er's off and pop them. Their eggs look like small white balls that sit on your triches and if you pull one off you can pop it between your fingers. Stay on the hunt! Here is a picture of a caterpillar egg I found the other day. It's the little white ball that sticks out like a sore thumb, on the left of the picture, creamy white ball. Hope it helps, oh and do what Seamaiden said too!

Just think Ken this time next year you will be doing big things lol

Cheers,
Crom

 

[crom]

Here is a video of a Monarch butterfly emerging from a similar egg sack and eating it's sack, whilst dancing to the tech step beat lol. They are very tiny when they hatch, and most of the time they hatch in the buds and eat their way out, causing bud sites to die off and they leave their poop behind that leads to disease or infection. Imagine nursing a cut on your arm by covering it with your poop. mmmm
[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ype1Ik-k7VE[/YOUTUBE]
Cheers,
Crom

 

[caregiverken]

Thanks you guys
I was playing..I still have tons to learn..
I'm already am excited about next year Crom :)

 

[crom]

Thanks you guys
I was playing..I still have tons to learn..
I'm already am excited about next year Crom :)

It's all gravy Ken! You can do this for decades and still have tons to learn. Hammer down those basics and then have some fun learning! Hell I get excited for the next cycle indoors around week 3 lol Always looking ahead.

 

[baba G]

Exactly, I learn something new every cycle, if it isn't grow room related mechanics it's a certain varieties preferance that will become known to me....I never stop learning with this plant, no matter how much you know there is more to learn!

 

[omk2teg]

Build your self a green house with mesh walls for ventalation, i had similar problem last year. Only way is to keep them away from your ladies.

 

[crom]

Build your self a green house with mesh walls for ventalation, i had similar problem last year. Only way is to keep them away from your ladies.

Make a frame out of either pvc or wood and use shade cloth with zip ties. That's my plan for next year as of now. I think it will help with the heat and it will help with the stress of those damn ghetto birds buzzing lower than freakin Siagon in '68! Being a veteran and having done work with helicopters, they seem to fly way too low in residential areas. Who thinks those pilots aren't texting while flying those frickin Little Bird helos, same ones SF uses! Tax dollars at work...:character0095:

 

[Seamaiden]

Nice job Ken. You've come a long way friend.

Alex, I fear you may be too late to get most of them. I followed Seamaiden's advice on the BT/ Spinosad sprays early in the season. I think it is important to allow the BT spray to form a slight residue on your plant to deter these things from even getting started. I found only one (little baby) this whole season and it was dead.

In your case, it sounds like some have already worked their way into the buds along the stem. This will make them near impossible to get. Watch for areas on buds where they are turning brown. That will reveal where the caterpiller has already tunneled out along the stem.

Sounds like you are best off harvesting early. I remember one year when I hung my outdoor plant to dry in my closet to dry. I thought I had picked off all the caterpillars. 2 days later I checked and there were 40 or 50 little babies munching my drying bud. Little black caterpillar shits were everywhere. Not very appetising for a smoke.

Yea & the caterpillar shit will turn in2 mold when trying 2 dry ur buds

K, the WORST for me is when everything is dried and cured and ready for trimming. And you're sitting there trimming, saving that gorgeous top cola for last because you know it's gonna be SO beautiful, and... It. Just. Crumbles. In your hand. Just crumbles away, and then these fucking turds fall out of the stem. Bud looked great on the outside, but turd-filled on the inside and crumbly from mold.

Happened to me with last year's harvest, with the gorgeous Mendo Purps x Grape Krush pheno I was gifted from Blaze. We had our granddaughter that year and I didn't get to do *any* spraying, feeding, nothing that I normally do. Paid for it by losing damn near every top bud from her. :(

Exactly, I learn something new every cycle, if it isn't grow room related mechanics it's a certain varieties preferance that will become known to me....I never stop learning with this plant, no matter how much you know there is more to learn!

So true, and it's what keeps me looking and moving forward. Plus, learning this plant helps learn me others, and so on, and so on and so it goes.

I relearned some things this year, like that I need to be more diligent treating new clones that come in from someone else. <rolleyes> Don't learn that lesson, get SMACKED.

 

[caregiverken]

Yeah I learned the hard way about them little Budworm caterpillars on my last Harlequin harvest. I didn't see them and when I went to the hospital my wife took over and she spotted them. I told her it was too late to spray those buds cause they were a week or two from harvest. We probably had to toss 5 or 6 zips from the 3 plants they infested.(almost 1/4 of the crop)

 

[JAHGYDI]

can i alternate between safer brand caterpiller killer and azatrol every 3 days. or more.

 

[Blaze]

Good advice all around, but just remember to never use bT more than 2 or 3 times a season either, or all you will be doing is breeding bT resistant caterpillars. If you are still having pest issues after 3 applications switch to something else.

Also I would be careful using azatrol very far into bud. Even though it is organic it still poses potential health hazards. It very clearly states on the MSDS that it should not come into contact with water, food, or animal feed, so I'd be leery using too much of it late into flower on something you are going to smoke......

 

[caregiverken]

Good advice all around, but just remember to never use bT more than 2 or 3 times a season either, or all you will be doing is breeding bT resistant caterpillars. If you are still having pest issues after 3 applications switch to something else.

Also I would be careful using azatrol very far into bud. Even though it is organic it still poses potential health hazards. It very clearly states on the MSDS that it should not come into contact with water, food, or animal feed, so I'd be leery using too much of it late into flower on something you are going to smoke......

Or eat.

Good advice!

 

[The HC]

Could you extract the THC from the fuckers with alcohol.