You are viewing a single comment's thread from:
RE: Flowers and Trichomes, Oh My! - 2018 Legal Marijuana Grow - Episode 9
Yeah it is just a fact of life here - I still had a good harvest last year, but definitely lost some bud that I kept out just a little too long. I didn't take the caterpillars as seriously as I should have last year, been much more vigilant this year and I caught them when they were just showing up this time :) What really hurt last year was mostly just that the largest/nicest looking buds that I was most excited about turned out to have been chomped on the inside by caterpillars without me even noticing and then the bud rot set in along the caterpillar damage. Your plants / setup look great btw!
Man that sucks about the caterpillars. I'm happy to say that I haven't had a problem with them yet. Every season has its own challenges and opportunities to learn. Find out what eats the caterpillars (ie. praying mantis, parasitic wasps, predatory mites, labybugs, ect..) and try to release them into the garden early in small quantities so they establish themselves first. I love using natural predators to regulate pests. The key is regulate, If you have an infestation, it's up to you to get rid of the majority of the problem then let the beneficial insects "regulate". I hope I don't come off as a know-it-all. I'm still learning. Thank you for the kind words about my grow. The proof is in the smoking. We will know soon! Happy steeming!
Parasitic wasps are the main predators of caterpillars, and we have a healthy wasp population in our back yard :) They lay eggs on/in the caterpillars and then the wasp larvae eat the caterpillar. I took the natural let it balance itself out approach last year but I didn't really comprehend the amount of damage that even a couple of caterpillars could cause once they were larger. They don't just hole up in one place, they eat their way into the bud until they get next to the main stem and then they will eat their way along the main stem, which damages the base of every single individual bud that wraps around the main stem. But you can't see this damage from outside! You have to totally crack open the bud to even see it at all!
Maybe try a companion plant that the caterpillars like better than your herb. I had cabbage, kale and kohlrabi that the caterpillars seemed to like more than my herb I guess.I know what you mean, they are destructive little bastards. Like I said, caterpillars haven't been an issue for my ganja, my veggies are another story.
Yeah @tygertyger suggested the same on my last post, growing some cabbage as a distraction/decoy. I will probably try that next year
and instead of killing them you can just bring them to the cabbage they stay there at least they do for me ... poor baby round caterpillars who just want to get high :P