Greedy bastards

Smudga

Active Member
I have 4 plants close 2gether on a geurilla grow 3of them are a week or so into flower anyway ov the four one (the biggest with most flowering sites,sods law) has its leaves being eaten the leaves are left like skeleletons of leaves it has not affected the other 3 plants and they touch the skeletised plant please help cos I can't bear the thort of my buds being eaten please HELP!!
 

smokin away

Well-Known Member
I have noticed many bugs in my outdoor grows as well as indoor. Most of the time they were a menace but did not seem to affect growth or production. I suppose they could get nasty as in your case. You can try to identify the bug but if you're half blind like me you can barely see them without equipment. The genetic qualities of the plant may be at work as well.

It has been my cause to assemble proven products and proven techniques to achieve the bud. I will tell you what I know and what I have learned from research on my own as well as what I have read in books. Granted most of the the posts on RIU have little info and are indoor grows. I'm on the low end of the social scale and cannot afford $500 for an organic ounce but can't wait to sample one.

Commercial insecticides such as Sevin can be effective. It takes at least two weeks for it to bio-degrade so you can't use it if the bud is almost there. Second, I read in an Organic Gardening book that using it or other commercial insecticides kills the earthworms that exist in the soil under it. I would use this as a last resort and only on an immature bud at the most.

When I grew inside I was having terrible problems with gnats They come from the soil and are a real bother but don't really eat much. I used some cheap fly paper to control them. The real fresh brand name ones seem to work OK. They can be placed any where around the plant but not on it. I put mine in a circle around the plant on the ground as well as hanging one nearby the plant. It cuts them back but does not kill them off.

This morning I remembered one of my first outdoor grows when I was 17. I noticed the gardener putting something on the plants with a Hudson sprayer. He told my he was using Tobacco Juice on the plants to retard and repel the bugs. How he procured the juice I don't know but will be looking for some. Most stuff was homemade back then. I'm suspecting it may be as simple as putting some chewing tobacco in water.

One day I decided to try some that Organic insecticide they sell in the gardening store. It had "will not burn plants" right on the front. I sprayed a plant with it as directed. The next day it was dead. I used it from then on only on the soil around it. It did seem to repel them but did nothing for my cause. It's not worth the money they ask for it.

In my current outdoor grow I have been lucky so far. The bugs may hit the fan leaves but don't hold it back much. The birds are prevalant in the area. If you just leave a bucket out with water and rocks it will attract them. It becomes a water source for any thing else so don't leave it out more than a couple of days. Birds are the best for eating bugs. Frogs, toads and snakes also consume them.

If anyone reads this post be sure to add your own observations and tips. Anything may help another for the cause.

:peace:
 
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