Close to harvest with some Caterpillar damage...

[dretot]

Hello,
I'm new here and nearing the end of my first outdoor grow. I'm at the end of week 6 or 7, not sure exactly. I found some cats last week. I've been diligently removing them and sprayed B.t. They've died off, but have done some damage. Should I cut out the damage and let them go another week or 2? Should I harvest now, clean and dry? I would like your advice on how to proceed.

thank you,
dre

 

[Oh gosh]

That small tiny white dot is a cat egg. First pic, sugar leaf on the left side. Pick those off and hunt for them twice a day, morning and evening. If its under control let her finish up.

 

[dretot]

Thank you for the reply. I've been obsessive about cat control ever since first finding them. I check on them probably 10x's a day. I'm still learning and I actually found the first cats after reading about them on this site, I didn't realize it was such a bad problem, Thank you for pointing out the egg! Damn, they are such a pain.

dre

 

[Chinook3]

You can't find them all! When small they are about an 1/8 of an inch. They can be anywhere but what they are looking for is new soft growth, crawl in eat and grow. Then grow and find a new bud. You get left with a poopy hole in your bud that soon grows mold. On some nice big buds you will not even know until you are trimming. Best cure is prevention.

Chinook3

 

[dretot]

Yes, I learned a tough lesson. I will be "on it" should I decide to grow next year. Here's the top of a couple of buds that were dried out, just came right off. See the hole in the stem.

 

[Chinook3]

I use a spray program of neem a couple times a week during veg. Followed by adding BT and Green Cure to a tank of water in my sprayer twice a week during flower. The BT is safe and kills cats. The GC is for powdery mildew. It seems a very effective program. They do not seem to effect the plant as long as I spray early evening giving it time to dry before dark.

Fanman