# Pests and Bugs Guide



## amsterdayum (Mar 10, 2009)

Pests and Bugs Guide


There are several types of bugs and pests to watch out for when growing Marijuana. Wether you grow outdoors or indoors, small time stealth or big time commercial manufacturing, bugs can become a problem. Heres a list of pests to watch out for.

Deer - These mammals are widely distributed, and hunted, with indigenous representatives in all continents except Antarctica and Australia. Africa has one small species called the red deer though. A deers diet consists of easily digestible shoots, young leaves, fresh grasses, soft twigs, fruit, fungi, lichens and unfortunately Cannabis.

Rabbits - These small animals can be found all over the world in every continent except Antarctica. While cute soft and fuzzy, these mammals tend to reak havoc on tender annuals, vegetables, newly planted trees and shrubs and as luck would have it, Cannabis.

Cats - I have heard more than one story about a growers cats attacking his/her Cannabis plants when they got in the grow room. In my own experience I've noticed they wont eat the plant until I am not watching. Cats are naturally carnivorous but it is still quite common for a cat to supplement its diet with small amounts of grass, leaves, shrubs, houseplants, or other plant matter anyway. One theory suggests this behavior helps cats regurgitate if their digestion is upset; another is that it introduces fiber or trace minerals into the diet. Despite the reason as to why, its obviously important to prevent this fate. To stop a cat from eating your indoor marijuana plants, simply prevent him from getting into your grow area. If this is not an option as you have your indoor plant in plain sight, you could raise them to where the cat cannot reach them.

Dogs - Even man's best friend gets in on the action of destroying a lovely Cannabis plant. Most dogs eat and chew up plants more out of curiosity, rather than hunger. The same methods for preventing cats works for preventing Canines and usually better as dogs can't climb like cats can. Never trust that any of you house pets wont eat your plants because you've seen them sniff them and walk away. I've made this mistake before.

Armadillos - These descendants of sloths are most common in the central southernmost American states, particularly Texas. Their range is as far east as Florida and as far north as Kansas, and while cold winters have slowed the expansion of their range (due to a lack of sufficient body fat), they have been consistently expanding their range over the last century due to a lack of natural predators and have been found as far as western Kentucky, and are expected to eventually reach Ohio before the cold winters inhibit their expansion. There diet consists of insects, grubs, and other invertebrates, yet an armadillo eating a Cannabis plants is not unheard of.

Rats, mice, moles, squirrels, possums and groundhogs - These rodents all tend to eat through a Cannabis plants main stem. They are common in every continent except Antarctica. They have been farmers enemies for thousands of years.

Preventing These Mammals and Rodents

Most mammals and rodents can be easily avoided with a three foot tall chicken wire fence that stands around the plant or plants. A double layer is the most effective. Since this isn't always the most economical decision for most growers, you can use one of several repellents. The two main types of repellents are contact and area. Contact repellents are applied directly to the plant and have an undesirable taste. Some are made of rotten eggs or cayenne pepper. Area repellents are placed close to the plant and repel by smell alone. These are sometimes derived from Ammonium soaps. A strange and cheap area repellent is bags of human hair and suspended bars of soap. Another form of prevention is to scare the pests off with propane cannons or any loud noise that goes off on a regular interval. Even fireworks or gunshots. Motion sensor strobe lights will work well for a short time as well.
Armadillos can be best avoided by ridding and bug problems in your outdoor garden, and watering the area around your plant with a neem oil and water solution to kill any larvae as to not entice the armadillo to come around and get curious about your Cannabis plants.
Most animals have an advanced enough learning capacity to learn the prevention tactics and work around them, so try to switch them up from time to time, or at least move them around your growing area. See the end of this guide for home recipes.
Most rodents especially moles are repulsed by Castor beans and Castor bean oils. Groundhogs can also burrow under fences, damaging roots.
Another lesser known pest is the bird. They usually act as a predator to bugs that destroy crops. They are only damaging during sowing and early growth as they will sometimes eat Cannabis seeds or young seedlings. This can be prevented with noise makers, aluminum strips or the old fashined scarecrow. The main culprits seem to be starlings, sparrows, and crows.




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There are also a good amount of bugs that will destroy your entire crop given the chance. They do best in more humid conditions. The best way to control bugs is to not get them. Using bug prevention measures from the begining of your grow is the best method of control. Heres a list of bugs to watch out for.
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Spider mites - Spider mites are the number one bug to look out for when growing Cannabis. They are less insect and more arachnid then anything else. They have eight legs, no antennae and a small oval body measuring 1/50th of an inch(.04mm) when an adult. They have the ability to produce and fine silk web that collects on your plant as a tell-tale sign of a Spider mite infestation. The mouth of a spider mite is designed to be able to bite a single plant cell and suck the enzymes from it, causing a tiny white or yellow spot on the leaves. When these spots gain in number, they give the leaves a bronzed over look, usually followed by the premature dropping of victim leaves.
Full grown females lay their eggs on their host plants, and the eggs can hatch anywhere from a couples days to a couple weeks into their first stage, which is called a larva. The larvae are round bodied with six legs. The larvae feed for a several days, then seek a sheltered spot to rest and molt into the first nymph stage in which they gain two more legs. The first nymphs feed a few days, rest and molt into the second nymph. The second nymphs feed, rest and molt into their last stage as adults. The males are the size of the second nymph and have pointed abdomens. The females have rounded abdomens and are larger then the males. Spider mites usually spend the winter months in their egg stage.

Checking for Spider Mites - To find Spider mites, you must make a thorough inspection with a magnifying glass on BOTH sides of the leaves.

Predators - Ladybugs.
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Aphids - These winged soft-bodied hell raisers destroy your plant by slowly sucking the sap from it. They occur in colonies under the tender foliage. Affected leaves will turn yellow or molt after excessive sap reduction. Aphids produce sugary honey dew in deposits under leaves and branches. These deposits attract ants that eat the sweet liquid. Most Aphid infestations are first noticed when the honey dew deposits attract a mold known as "Sooty mold," and the grower notices the blackness caused by the fungus.
Aphids begin their infestation when anywhere from one to a ten adults fly to a new plant and lay a few underdeveloped young in the most tender tissue leaving them to eat and grow. After laying them the adults fly off to a new plant. An underdeveloped aphid matures in a week or so, and a mother Aphid can produce up 60 offspring several times in their lives. This leads to hundreds or thousands in several weeks.

Checking for Aphids - To inspect for Aphids examine the budding areas and the undersides of the new leaves for clusters or colonies.

Predators - Leaf hoppers, Lacewings and Hover-flies.
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Mealy bugs - This un-armored scale insect is found in moist warm climates. Mealybug females feed on plant sap, normally in roots or other crevices. They attach themselves to the plant and secrete a powdery wax layer (therefore the name mealybug) used for protection while they suck the plant juices. The males on the other hand, are short-lived as they do not feed at all as adults and only live to fertilize the females.

Checking for Mealy bugs - Mealy bugs are very tiny, about 1-2 cm in length and are white. Check all over the leaves but especially at the node pints.

Predators - I can't find any information on Mealy bugs predators. Probably Wasps and Ladybugs.
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White flies - These 2 mm insects acts just like Spider mites as they hide under the leaves and suck their enzymatic dinners cell by cell. Not only does this cause a great economical loss in crops around the world, but white flies have the ability to carry diseases from plant to plant. Their damage has been estimated to be hundreds of millions of dollars every year. Some plants that can be used as deterrents from white flies are marigold, mint and Nasturtiums.

Checking for White flies - White flies are usually be found stuck on the under side of the leaves. Shake your plant and they'll fly around.

Predators - Ladybugs
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Lice - These stout-legged unwinged insects measure between .05 to 8.0mm, and have claws for tight grasping on its host. Lice occur indoors as well as outdoors. They tend to attack plants with, "Questionable health."

Checking for Lice - They are very small and usually range in color from pale beige to dark Grey. Check every leave, top and bottom with a powerful magnifying glass very carefully.

Predators - Assassinator wasps.
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Leaf hoppers This winged insect pest is unfortunately found all over the world. Leaf hoppers are often responsible for the spread of plant pathogens especially viruses and phytoplasmas. In some cases these plant pathogens are also pathogens of the insect themselves, and can replicate within the salivary glands. Leafhopper species feed on a wide variety of vascular plant species, including grasses, sedges, broad-leafed woody and herbaceous plants of many families, and conifers. They feed on sap from the victim plant.

Checking for Leaf hoppers - The average leaf hopper is about 1/4 inch long and with a red three segmented body and small thick wings. Check the nodes and stems.

Predators - Spiders, assassin bugs, wasps, and robber flies.
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Tree hoppers - Tree hoppers are related to Cicadas and Leaf hoppers. They feed much like Leaf hoppers but they tend to produce Honey dew, attracting ants. Along with the Honey dew comes the Sooty mold and blackened leaves on your Cannabis plant(s). A tree hoppers life cycle ends after a couple of months at most. During this time they reproduce on several occasions in their mature life, leaving eggs in the plants tissue.

Checking for Tree hoppers - Tree hoppers may be collected by beating or sweeping the foliage of their host plants. Most species are usually collected by carefully searching for them by eye, particularly in the crooks of nodes. Ants seem to be very good at finding tree hoppers, and because ants are more active and easier to spot, tree hoppers may often be located by locating groups of ants. Many species are also attracted to lights.

Predators - Same as Leaf hoppers predators.
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Thrips - Thrips are tiny, slender fast moving insects with fringed wings. They damage the plants by grating open the leaves with their especially evolved mouths to suck out the chlorophyll resulting in shiny silvery spots. The tend to attack more of the flowering tops and the fresher, younger leaves. Thrips cannot fly very well as their wings aren't very well developed, but when the wind is right they can swarm enough to become a human nuisance.

Checking for thrips - Despite their small size (1mm or less), thrips can be seen marching in a column on the victim plant.

Predators - I can't find any information on thrips's natural predators.
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Catterpillars - These tubular segmented larvae of butterflies Eat right through the leaves on many plants.

Checking for Caterpillars - Check for leaves being bitten from the outside to the inside.

Predators - Brachonids, Chalcids, Ichneumon wasps and birds.
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Slugs/Snails - These soft-bodied mollusks are found in many different climates and biodomes. They are attracted to a wide variety of plants, and can damage the plants anywhere from slightly to fatally. They chew through the leaves they can climb to or reach from the ground. They have caused extensive damage to crops for thousands of years.

Checking for Slugs/Snails - Look for leaf damage low on the plant, or mucus.

Predators - Frogs, toads, snakes, hedgehogs, eastern box turtles, and some birds and beetles.
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Grubs - These nuisances are the larvae form of beetles species. They hatch in the dirt and eat through root systems. They like to destroy many different crops grown for harvesting purposes.

Checking for Grubs - Check the top of the soil during watering to see them squirming around and crawling through the dirt.

Predators - Birds.
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Fighting Insects/Home made remedies for pests-

Neem oil - Fights most predators including Cucumber beetles, Aphids, Spider Mites, etc.

- Finely chop one onion and two medium cloves of garlic. Blend in a blender with 2 cups of water on high. Strain the pulp and pour the mixture into a spry bottle. Mist the plants making sure to coat both the top and bottom of the leaves at least half of an hour before the lights back on. Used for most pests, especially Aphids.

- A mister filled with soap water at a ratio of 6 drops per quart is to be sprayed on the bottom of the leaves to coat most insects breathing organs, thus killing them. This is used usually before any insects have been seen or identified, just to prevent the need to identify any.

- Fatty acid salts or insecticidal soaps are very good against aphids. They apparently work to disrupt insect cell membranes. They require direct contact with the insects and leave no residual effect. Nervous system insecticides, such as malathion, Dursban (chlorpyrifos), and Orthene (acephate), are labeled for use on many shade trees and ornamental plants for aphid control.

- Take a copious amount(as many as you can collect) of the insect you wish to repel and grind their corpses up into a powder. Mix the resulting powder with one quart of water and, spray as a repellent for the insect that you ground up for the powder.

- A bleach water mixture with a ratio of 1 Tbsp Bleach to 1 gallon 95 degree water in a spray bottle is great for misting the leaves especially for the dreaded Spider mites.

- Mix 1/8-1/4 cup of hydrated lime with one quart of water. This creates an effective spray agains many insects, especially spidermites. Add a drop of non-detergent soap to act as a sticking agent and insecticide. Lime can cause serious harm to plants if you use too much, so always spray a test plant first and watch it for a few days, to check for any adverse effects on plants.

- Old-fashioned fly-paper is very effective in the garden for aphids and white flies. In fact, any board or heavy paper painted yellow and coated with a sticky substance such as tangle foot (available at garden centers) will do the job.

- Pheromones: These biological mating scents attract insects to a trap which is coated with a sticky substance. Pheromone traps are effective, but remember they are "attracting" the insects - be sure to position them on your garden perimeter or you'll attract outside pests into your garden! Available at larger garden centers, usually in the $5 - $15 range.

Remedies for deer and other mammals/Rodents -

- Mix one whole egg with a quarter cup of water and mix well. Pour the mixture into a pump bottle and spray it on your plants. This deterrent will withstand light rains because the egg sticks to the leaves. Great remedy for stopping deer.

- Mix one tablespoon of liquid dish detergent with one ounce of hot sauce in one liter of water and spray directly on plants which deer have been nibbling to stop them.

-For larger volume applications of the above remedy, mix the following ingredients and proceed to pour the mixture into a pump bottle and spray it on your plants
1 cup milk
2 gallons water (8 liters)
2 whole eggs
2 Tbsp cooking oil
2 Tbsp liquid detergent

To deal with larvae -

- Remove the top layer of soil from your pots. Then water them with a Neem Oil and water mixture with a ratio of 3 Tbsp per Gallon of water, flood them well , to kill the larvae. Replace the topsoil with fresh soil, to deal with the adults sprinkle powdered garlic on the soil. The yellow sticky traps also work well paced on the soil during the night cycle or you could put a couple "No Pest Strips" in the room and turn off any fans for the day to let the vapors build in the room.


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## Boneman (Mar 10, 2009)

Nice work.....I couldnt read it all cuz my eyes are hurting but nice work


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## lennyo (Mar 20, 2009)

Thats a hell of alot of words man.

good info but CHEERS.


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## GeneralfuzzNo.1 (Mar 22, 2009)

Are any of the treatments here harmful to the plant? would it make noticable change to the plants final product if used in early stages? it probably better off to stop them before they start, but if you use the sprayer of bleach or soapy water when not needed would it stunt or burn the plants?


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## amsterdayum (Mar 22, 2009)

if ur going to use bleach use less than what was stated above and dont soak the plant just use a very fine mist to much and the bleach will do more harm than good....


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## GeneralfuzzNo.1 (Mar 22, 2009)

Cheers man, i think i may have a spider mite problem! gonna use the soapy water method but was wondering if its enough? and how heavily should i soak them? this is a first grow and im fifteen days in wit spider mites!!!! Everythings was going so well  
Please Help!


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## amsterdayum (Mar 22, 2009)

is it alot of mites?


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## amsterdayum (Mar 22, 2009)

what ever method u use make sure u completly cover the bottom of all leaves, its very hard to get rid of mites if u have alot of them and ur seein webs u might want to go with the bleach and water but use like a tsp of bleach per gallon of warm water, but i would go with the soap or neem oil 1st as they do no damage to the plant where bleach if u use to much ur fukt


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## GeneralfuzzNo.1 (Mar 22, 2009)

no doesn't seem like alot! no webs, just some black spots on the bottom leaves! Think i caught it early Will the soapy water method kill the mites? i was readin some wher in this forum that for some other people it didn't work as well... could this just because there problem is more severe? and is there any preventitive solution i could take wit stopping this shit from happenin again? 
Thanks for the help!


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## GeneralfuzzNo.1 (Mar 22, 2009)

oh and is lemon dish soap ok or is there a specific type of soap your talking about? and is it per quart gallon or litre?


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## amsterdayum (Mar 22, 2009)

any dish soap should do it


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## amsterdayum (Mar 22, 2009)

GeneralfuzzNo.1 said:


> no doesn't seem like alot! no webs, just some black spots on the bottom leaves! Think i caught it early Will the soapy water method kill the mites? i was readin some wher in this forum that for some other people it didn't work as well... could this just because there problem is more severe? and is there any preventitive solution i could take wit stopping this shit from happenin again?
> Thanks for the help!


ok if u want to prevent pests of any kind heres some things u can do, next grow clean the grow room with bleach and clean any tools u use, anything that might enter the grow room should be CLEAN and never take an indoor plant outside if u do ur pretty much begging for mites


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## Jerry Garcia (Mar 31, 2009)

I saw a bug today for a split second on top of a leaf today. It was winged with a black shell and white dots (I THINK...I only got a fleeting glimpse before it hid somewhere) and wasn't huge but not that small either. Any idea what it is?

I've decided to take some preventative measures anyway, even if this happened to be a one-time bug appearance (because really, where there's one bug...). I was going to get some neem oil, maybe make the onion and garlic blend you described, and then spray the bottom of the leaves with dish detergent (Joy, i think). Then, I'm going out to get some hanging bug repellent something or other I read about a little while back, if I can remember what it was (hot shot strip or something...not those hanging sticky things though, but they are sticky...).

How often do you think I should apply the neem oil and detergent? I'm trying to be preventative...

Thanks for the awesome thread amsterdayum! +rep


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## Leonardo101 (Nov 2, 2009)

Thanks for the thread. I think that it is clear what everything does in the recipe except the milk and oil. Is it necessary to put them in there and why? Thanks. 

Remedies for deer and other mammals/Rodents -

- Mix one whole egg with a quarter cup of water and mix well. Pour the mixture into a pump bottle and spray it on your plants. This deterrent will withstand light rains because the egg sticks to the leaves. Great remedy for stopping deer.

- Mix one tablespoon of liquid dish detergent with one ounce of hot sauce in one liter of water and spray directly on plants which deer have been nibbling to stop them.

-For larger volume applications of the above remedy, mix the following ingredients and proceed to pour the mixture into a pump bottle and spray it on your plants
1 cup milk
2 gallons water (8 liters)
2 whole eggs
2 Tbsp cooking oil
2 Tbsp liquid detergent


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## Leonardo101 (Nov 3, 2009)

So eggs are used for their sulphur right? Why can't we just mix some sulphur with a sticking agent and apply that?


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## eclecticspider (Nov 9, 2009)

Has anyone ever tried using tree frogs in their garden?


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## gthomas19 (Jan 13, 2010)

I have a small bug problem I have seen a few small orangish tube looking creatures that leave clumps of tiny white curling hairs. My plants are currently 33 days into flowering. What are these bugs and how do I get rid of it?


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## Rusty Crutch (Mar 13, 2010)

I like to use these little guys to keep my grow room pest free. https://www.rollitup.org/general-marijuana-growing/310069-praying-mantis-pest-control.html


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## husalife (May 18, 2010)

Ever heard of Alf Alfa Hoppers amsterdayum?

They give me the most trouble outdoors in mid south east usa.


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## reefacheefa (May 18, 2010)

i just bought some scotts 3-1 organic shit, says it protects against many types of plant diseases and many different bugs.... hope like hell it works, says you can apply directly to the plant up to 1 day before harvest


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## tcongo (Sep 16, 2010)

When using dish soap Do NOT use anti-bacterial soap......Try to stick with a basic dish soap and do not use an ultra concentrated...


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## Ricky Pastille (Sep 28, 2011)

The purpose of the soap is for its coating ability. It blocks the respiratory systems of most bugs thanks to its viscosity. Doesn't work instantly like a poison, but it's a pretty reliable way to eliminate most garden bugs.


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## bodybuildingbotanist (Jun 19, 2012)

This is an awesome post man, solid stuff!


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## lepis22 (Jul 9, 2013)

yeah onion really works on aphids


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## Letsenjoy (Jul 18, 2013)

GeneralfuzzNo.1 said:


> Are any of the treatments here harmful to the plant? would it make noticable change to the plants final product if used in early stages? it probably better off to stop them before they start, but if you use the sprayer of bleach or soapy water when not needed would it stunt or burn the plants?


 
Bleach? That Sounds like a horrible Idea, I say Think Organic!


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## KevinWCuts (Feb 19, 2014)

I've had these things on my stems for the last month. I looked at them under a microscope and they looked like microscopic caviar. When I scrape them off the stems they leave a gooey mess. What the hell are they and how do you get rid of them?
View attachment 2999763


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