Yeah! It's Bud Worm Season. Pics

I was thinking about something like Subcool's "Garden of Weeden" style.

Bend some PVC tubing over the plants & cover it with screen-cloth.

doublejj said:

I was thinking about something like Subcool's "Garden of Weeden" style.

Bend some PVC tubing over the plants & cover it with screen-cloth.

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they crawl thru the lawn. i bet they'd get underneath.

i just sprayed again. it may be the last time before i start harvesting. i plan on starting next weekend. i see eggs and moths. i think i saw one tiny dead spot on the tip of a cola. nothing inside.

.............Pesky little fuckers!

Well, if you could keep it down to, them having to crawl under, you could spray the ground with some 'SERIOUS' insecticide & that should stop them.

I'm just thinking out-loud here.

I am in the same situation, I have three nice girlies and two of them have these caterpillars, I am picking them out every morning, and cutting off the affected bud. It's breaking my heart I am like 1 week away from harvest.

If I cut away the affected buds and dry them out, is it still smokable?

****spliffstar***** said:

I am in the same situation, I have three nice girlies and two of them have these caterpillars, I am picking them out every morning, and cutting off the affected bud. It's breaking my heart I am like 1 week away from harvest.

If I cut away the affected buds and dry them out, is it still smokable?

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I've cleaned em up and smoked em. Yum, tastes like chicken. But I did have some that were so damaged that I had to trash. I lost 4 oz from one plant this year and just a few buds off the other. I'm beginning to think that its the plants smell that attracts the moths. The Worm damaged plant (I call it Das Worm) had a heavy smell real early but the relatively undamaged plant (I call it Chopper because a police chopper circled my house so I freaked and chopped it down last Friday)didn't start to smell until about 4 weeks ago. Once it did start to smell it really reeked and the worms began to show up. Fortunately I started BT treatments back when I found worms on the damaged plant. So My second plant didn't get nearly the damage that my first plant got.

Jeez, I don't think I'll even be getting 4oz. from any single plant. Good thing I've gotten good at cloning, eh?

Have you seen the thread on japonic acid..? Damn.. I don't think that is its proper name. Someone just posted an article from a UK publication about a treatment for plants in the seed stage that seriously improves disease and pest resistance. I even found a U.S. source for it, and now I can't remember the name of the thread.

Anybody have any idea what species of moth/butterfly caterpillars attack ganja?

I have yet to come across these things, I'm in the midwest.

There was a time a few years ago when I found a caterpillar chomping a nugget in a curing jar, that's it. I figured it was just a random caterpillar, no others on the plants.

Those of you that have trouble with bud worms, do you use any kind of pest control or bt or anything?

I never have and my plants are always just crawling with beneficials; spiders, daddy long legs, predatory crickets, yellow jackets, spiders, and more spiders. Even the occasional robber fly. I don't see how any pest insect could last more than a few minutes on the plants.

I've taken quite a few spider bites while working the garden, definitely worth it though.

Anybody know the species? I want to see if the much maligned bud worms are even native to my area.

I am in Southern California and the caterpillar problem is pretty rampant. I stalked my plants and found out what's happening. Moths land on the plant at night, drop eggs and a week later you have these green and brown caterpillars free loading on my plants. I am going to go with a screen next grow.

I have been picking the caterpillars off in the morning, I look for buds that the hairs have turned all red, then I open the bud and sure enough caterpillar and eggs, I then pick the caterpillar off and smash it with a rock...It's probably stoned anyway hahaha.

Crazy Chester, I had a police helicopter circling and got paranoid as hell, but left the plants, I think I am ok.

every moth and butterfly in my county has visited my garden. from little tiny brown moths that fly outta the lawn to big gold butterflies. i have wasps and spiders working for me but the moths still get by them. i started spraying Bt when flowers first started forming. once your buds get some density to them the Bt won't get down inside. if the worm makes it past the Bt he's home free. if you have fat colas and you haven't sprayed yet you may already have them deep inside.

I have never hated caterpillars and Moths so much in my life!!!

Anyway, I guess I will pick out what I can, and harvest next week and dry those suckers out. I smoked Mexican Shwag for half my life back in day, not telling what I have smoked. Caterpillars and Eggs can't be too bad...

I must say, I wouldn't mind being a caterpillar eating through some Dank buds

fdd2blk said:

if you have fat colas and you haven't sprayed yet you may already have them deep inside.

View attachment 212740 View attachment 212741

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:shudder:

the horror

crazychester said:

yep, that's the stuff. With veggies you can spray and harvest the same day. I've read that ranchers feed it to animals to ride them of certain parasites.

The directions say to mix one or two teaspoons per gallon so i mixed it at 2 tsp/gal and haven't seen any plant damage. I'm going to spray a second dose tomorrow. Its three times a week until i get down to the last two weeks.

I hope i can make it another month without getting to paranoid. The mormon neighbors make me worry.

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i have mormon neighbors too. Lol

Is it all good to make hash out of the trashed bud?

do praying mantises really work?

How about powder Diatomaceous Earth

Diatomaceous earth is widely used to control soft-bodied insects. However, one of my sisters has a pest control guy for their ant problem (she's in SoCal, so those of you down there probably know exactly what I mean) and HE uses nothing but DE. She says it WORKS, big time.

I like DE because its organic, and washes off after a few floral sprayings.

Don't Do Drugs said:

do praying mantises really work?

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You bet they do. Hands down a very efficient predator. I live in the country so I have TONS of Mantis' and they are all over my weed doing their job. If I find one in another part of the yard I will transport "it" on my shoulder to my patch. The mantis goes straight to work. Just don't drop one right next to another.

If you have plenty of Ladybugs and Mantis' you won't have any problems at all with your buds concerning insect parasites.

out..

Unless you have a LOt of weed growing, I'd suggest just picking them off by hand. that's what I do. i don't kill them either, merely transport them elsewhere. They all have their jobs to do and I don't have the worm work manual to guide me, so I go by the best rule whenever possible. Do no harm.

Besides, they're cute.

out.

CrackerJax said:

Unless you have a LOt of weed growing, I'd suggest just picking them off by hand. that's what I do. i don't kill them either, merely transport them elsewhere. They all have their jobs to do and I don't have the worm work manual to guide me, so I go by the best rule whenever possible. Do no harm.

Besides, they're cute.

out.

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what do you suggest for those with A LOT of weed growing? i tried 200 mantis and they all just flew away. i've been spraying Bt for 2 months. i pick off everything i can.