My brother’s in Riverside and major caterpillar problems! He said blacking out the yard helps quite a bit! But he still got slaughtered! Lol! Just not as quite as bad!
In my experience, anything you put between the sun and the plant will affect the light to whatever extent! The plant will let you know! You might get away with covering it at sundown when the moths are most active and uncovered in the morning! It’s a crapshoot! Caterpillars are bad down there! And make sure you black out your yard as much as possible! No porch lights, pull the window, shades, etc.! Let your neighbor be the one to attract the Moths!
So far, I've been fighting them off fairly successfully. Sprayed them with BT once or twice very early in Veg, and have been checking them closely for eggs every day. I found one that looked like a caterpillar to be, and like the eggs, got rid of it. However, I've been hit pretty hard with what I believe are aphids, but they're not nearly as bad as a full-on caterpillar attack would be. I did eventually buy the grow tents, and though the pest issues have decreased dramatically, I agree with your point that they would reduce sunlight intensity. I think they have but at this point that's not a dealbreaker for me 'cause the caterpillars could kill the entire grow.
I made two big mistakes early on. The first one, and I knew better, was I fed them in the direct sunlight. I checked them the next morning and they were all negatively affected. I actually lost a couple, but I think the ones that have survived are healthy now. The other mistake i made was, as I was doing an LST of "pinatti" (sp) I broke off two branches. I tried to mend with tape, and thought I did save one, but next day it was also gone. I should have mentioned upfront that these were clones, and as
@defective said in this thread, that one went into flower a couple weeks ago.
I got spooked when I fed them in the light and almost blew it, so I've been very hesitant to add any nutrients at all. I have used miracle-gro grow big once or twice, and I ahve the FF trio but haven't used them yet. I've been checking this site any time I got stuck and this forum has already saved me more than once. Recently, I think it was last night (short term memory loss, ya know) I read on here and then elsewhere how important Calcium was, and so now I think I must buy some more nutes. Do you have any suggestions for the best commercial calcium supplement?
ETA: TPS, GH, etc? Thanks.
ambient light at night is your enemy! And they’re not the only things that will try and kill your plants! You’re in for a hell of a good time!
