White eggs on leaf - outdoor plant

[mashy]

Hi all,

I just spotted these white eggs on the top of a leaf this morning. Plant is growing outdoors and is in the 5th week of flowering. I have mainly seen small moths, crickets and tiny black flies around the plants, but the damage they have caused up to now is negligible.

I'm thinking that they are moth eggs which I'm currently managing with BT. So far I have sprayed BT in first week of Feb, and then again last week. I looked and couldn't find any other eggs but will look for eggs and remove every day or two.

Wasn't planning on any more BT sprays, but now I am thinking of spraying again in a week.

Any tips to help me keep on top of this?
Have a great weekend

 

[mysticepipedon]

Remove any you see. once in flower, caterpillars can be horrifically destructive. I would use BT up until flower time. The BT I have has some kind of a petroleum base, which I wouldn't want on anything I ingest.

When I grew outdoors in the Carolinas, there was some kind of "bud worm" that would drill through buds, causing parts to die. One summer it wiped out about 1/3 of the buds.

 

[Homesteader]

cutworm or some kind of moth. What is BT @mysticepipedon ? Sorry Im not thinking this morning. Like BTi?

 

[Farmer88]

cutworm or some kind of moth. What is BT @mysticepipedon ? Sorry Im not thinking this morning. Like BTi?

BT is short for bacillus thuringiensis a bacterial insecticide used commonly in agriculture. There are OMRI rated BT products in powder form if you want to keep it organic. However one of the problems with BT is the insects need to actually eat the coated leaves.

If you have eggs use an insecticidal soap to dry and kill eggs. Or rub them off with your fingers. Make sure to inspect undersides of leaves.

 

[Homesteader]

I have never used BTi in this way. You all are using it as a foliar?

 

[Farmer88]

I have never used BTi in this way. You all are using it as a foliar?

I have never used BT on cannabis plants, however I have been a commercial farmer for the last thirteen years and have a lot of experience with this product on many different vegetables and flowers.

The powdered OMRI BT is called DiPel and I have only ever used it as a foliar spray. Also using a sticker spreader such as nufilm will help immensely with any spray application. I'm sure there are more residential based products on the market but these are the products I've had the most experience with.

 

[Goodthingsgrow]

Agree with moth.

 

[Farmer88]

If you are unsure about an insect, I highly recommend taking a sample and sending it to your local agricultural extension office or local univeristy with a plant program. Where I am, we send pictures to the nerds in the AG lab and they can usually give you an accurate answer or will request a sample.

I would not recommend sending pictures of leaves if you are in an illegal area and would suggest telling them you are growing hops since the application data that comes in will be applicable to your cannabis plants as well.

 

[mysticepipedon]

I have never used BTi in this way. You all are using it as a foliar?

Yes, but I haven't used it since I grew outdoors.

Now that I mentioned the stuff I used with the petroleum base, I see the stuff I bought last year for tomatoes is OMRI listed, so that nasty shit might not be so common anymore.

I've been told there are BT strains for a lot of different pests, aside from caterpillars, but I don't know what those pests would be.

 

[Homesteader]

I think BTk (Kurstaki) is for catepillars and BTi (israelensis) more for soil bearing pests like gnats. Could be wrong though.

 

[Farmer88]

I think BTk (Kurstaki) is for catepillars and BTi (israelensis) more for soil bearing pests like gnats. Could be wrong though.

I don't think I can stress enough how important it is to get an accurate identification of your pests before actually applying a product to a plant. This is why using an agricultural extension is so valuable. They will give you accurate information on identification and suggest products for application. Please read the full lable of any pesticide you want to use OMRI or otherwise all the information on how much and how to apply. Again, you don't need to tell them what you are growing, and otherwise suppliment hops for cannabis. The products for hops will be the same for cannabis and by using hops as the plant you will be free of products that are directly marketed to cannabis growers that are marked up several hundred percent.

 

[mashy]

Thanks everyone for your replies. Some really good info in there. I started spraying the organic powdered BT on the foliage after seeing quite a few small moths around the plant, hoping to minimise any damage.
I will inspect regularly for eggs and caterpillars and keep going with the BT. Didn't find any more eggs when I looked today