Pest Management Protocol

Welcome in. I imagine currently you are looking for some remedies for that pesky bug problem at home. Don't worry you have come to the right place.

With cannabis it is vitally important to have a clean pest free vegetative plant going into flower. Because you cannot spray anything on the plants in flower without it leaving trace amounts of whatever you sprayed, directly in the flower itself. Some sprays are so harmful it will even leave traces behind in vegetative state. We are not a fan of any of those harmful sprays. We have a very solid natural approach that works.

Predatory mites are a great option. For EARLY or PREVENTATIVE measures. If you have a infestation. A lot of times its best to cut the infested parts out and to remove them entirely to give the new predatory mites a fighting chance. When firstly discussing bugs we need to understand there life cycle. Spider Mites are a great example. They can complete there entire life cycle from egg to adult in as little as 5 days or as great as 20 days. Why is there a range of days? That is largely based off the temperature of the environment.

What we can gather from that is that if we are to lower the temperature of the environment. We can reduce the speed of the life cycle. That will be a crucial part in fighting the pest. whatever it may be. The second part of that. Consistent spraying or releasing of predatory mites is important to cut off the life cycle and stop the spread of the bugs. For instance spraying our deterrent spray daily is fine for the plants and is very disruptive to the life cycle of most of the bugs. Spraying it weekly wont have as good of results. Spraying one time and hoping and wishing it all works will infact not work and just slow them down for a brief moment.

Spider Mites. Can get out of control quick!

The first signs of spider mites are the little white dots that happen on the leaves from where the bugs suck the sap from the leaves. The next tell tale sign is the black dots all over on the underside of the leaves. If it gets to where there are webs like actual spiders. It is out of control.

At the first sign of the white dots I like to flip the leaves over and access the damage. If the damage is very minor and there are very few bugs. I will immediately start spraying daily for 2-4 weeks until I'm sure they are all gone. If the damage is more sever and there is a lot of little black dots AKA Spider Mites on the bottom. I will cut off the leaves that have heavy damage and will then remove those leaves from the grow area entirely and then spray daily for 2-4 weeks or until I stop seeing damage. If it has gone all the way to webbing. You have to cut it off in my experience and to remove as much damage as possible and then spray 2x a day for 4 weeks to make sure you stop them from coming back.

Other things that help: High Humidity, Low Temperatures, Soap spray, Neem spray, or predatory mites. We use Erickson's Pest Deterrent Spray.

Fungus Gnats thrive in Overly wet soil!

Fungus Gnats are one of the easier pests to deal with. Yellow sticky traps, Diatomaceous Earth, soapy spray, letting the soil dry out, are all viable easy ways to deal with Fungus Gnats. We use Erickson's Pest Deterrent Spray.

Cannabis Aphids are one of the easier pests to get rid of.

Most generally not too much of a problem. They are a soft bodied bug that is found on the underside of the plant. They are easily combated by a soapy spray or neem oil.

We use Erickson's Pest Deterrent Spray.

Thrips can be very taxing to your cannabis plant.

Most generally when I first notice Thrips is the spotting of the leaves and if you turn them over. Alot of times you can see little yellow almost worm like bugs crawling around sucking the leaves dry from the underside. Once they set in they can be a bit of a bugger to get out. I recommend cutting out the heavily damaged leaves. Spraying with a soap or neem based oil for 1-2 weeks then release mites for maximum efficiency. We use Erickson's Pest Deterrent Spray.

White fly's can be easily dispatched.

White fly's are pretty easy to spot. Just shake the plant and if you see little white fly's. Well you know what you got. They are quickly dispatched with a soap or neem based spray. Lady bugs naturally hunt these as well. We use Erickson's Pest Deterrent Spray.

Mealy bugs are not too common in the midwest.

Lady Bugs are a predator for mealy bugs. There honey dew residue attracts black mold. neem, soap, or alcohol based sprays work well on them. We use Erickson's Pest Deterrent Spray.

Caterpillars can wreak havoc on flowering cannabis plants.

It is very important in the early stages of flowering Outdoors to inspect daily for caterpillar damage and or caterpillars. Before the hairs start coming on your plants if you suspect caterpillars. It is recommended that you use a soap or neem based soap daily until the plant sprouts hairs. So that you can kill any worms crawling around hiding. once the flowering cannabis plants do start to have hairs. I walk thru the garden in the early morning as the sun rises outside and I go over each plant and pick off any remaining worms thru the rest of the season. If you are very vigilant in doing this. You can make sure not to get any bud rot. We use Erickson's Pest Deterrent Spray.

Bud rot is irreversible

When Bud Rot happens you need to cut it out!

If you cut down a plant and you suspect it has been in contact or has Bud Rot. You need to add 2 tablespoons of hydrogen peroxide to 5 gallons of water and dip all of the branches in the water to remove any chance of remaining spores in the bud. Hydrogen peroxide will dry turning into h20 and leaving no traces. This may still not be enough. But that is the best option to potentially remove it. Be careful Bud Rot can be damaging to your lungs.

Most generally caused by non sterile overly wet working conditions.

In my experience root rot is something that happens from bacteria running rampant in a water tank or another area that should always be kept clean. If you have holding tanks for your water. Make sure they are cleaned often.

Infamous Powdery mold. It may look like trichomes but its mold.

High Humidity and low air movement is a perfect breeding ground for Powdery Mold. People have made claims that spraying pure milk solutions can be helpful. I find a alcohol based spray works best for me. We use Erickson's Pest Deterrent Spray.

I put russet and broad mites together for this section. This is the mother of all things bad when it comes to pests in your garden. If you see the leaves of your plants start to curl like this. It will be a matter of days before all of your plants are dead if you don't take action immediately. You wont be able to see the mites with your eyes. You will need a very strong microscope 50x to see them. Spraying them does almost nothing. The Erickson's Pest Deterrent Spray does slow them down slightly but the only way I have ever combatted them with any success is using predatory mites. These mites are so bad we release predatory mites every week just too make sure if any were to come around they are quickly squashed before they can get out of control. If you spot the leaves tacoing its usually too late and it doesn't matter if you have 4 plants or 99 they will all die within days. These are the hardest thing for cannabis farmers to truly deal with. The invisible killer that eats trichomes and destroys the plant.

If you have any further questions or comments feel free to comment below. We are all here to grow and learn from each other to hopefully grow the best cannabis safely at home.