caterpillar resistance??

[TrillOG]

is there a variety of cannabis that is caterpillar resistant?? I ask because I saw caterpillars on everything this year, and they have been an issue in the past, so I was curious if anyone had come across a variety that was especially hardy in that regard. would hate to have scrap another crop because of mold from caterpillar shit next year...
thank in advance..

 

[Cannavore]

http://homeguides.sfgate.com/rid-caterpillars-pesticides-plants-29475.html

 

[_tessarecting]

I've never seen any that are totally resistant. Bacilius thuringiensis sprayed on the evening of the full moon and spinosad the evening of the quarter moon has been keeping them totally in check here and I live in an oak grove. They seemed like they were going to be bad this year...I was worried about it.

 

[TrillOG]

pretty cool info Cannavore, tessarecting do you know what the collateral damage of the spinosad??

 

[plantingplants]

Yea just pick up some of Monsanto's Bt-Weed (TM). Genetically engineered to produce Bt!

 

[VERMONSTAH]

^^^^^^^^^ LMAO monsanto glow in the dark corn too!?

 

[Principante 8]

Spinosad is about as safe as it gets. The product I use is 'Conserve sc'. I've never tried any of the popular consumer brands. I looked at the label of conserve and it contains 1lb of active ingredient per gallon of product, and the Monterey garden brand contains. 04 lbs per gallon of product. So conserve is 25x the strength. I don't mean that it will be used on the plant at that strength, it just means the conserve is much cheaper in the long run, especially for larger gardens. It won't harm plants, is safe for edible crops, and won't do much harm to humans. Google msds(material safety data sheet) along with either of the products I mentioned here, and you can read for yourself and decide if you think it's for you or not. It stinks bad for a few hours and then you won't notice it at all after that. I've used it up to two weeks before chop with no noticeable difference in quality or flavor. I've even used it at double strength while battling broad mites (in rotation with nasty miticides), and it didn't cause any problems at all. The plants don't seem to notice it much. This may not be the case with other brands, so ask around, or try a test plant first.

I read the article posted in the link above, and I'd advise to steer clear of neem while buds are on the plant.

 

[Swamp Thang]

Regardless of how you wage war against caterpillars, keep your eyes peeled so that you don't brush up against ANY species of caterpillar.

It took a couple of days on anti-histamine drips in hospital to save my life, after I walked past and brushed against a leaf under which a highly venomous caterpillar was lurking.

Some of the greatest dangers in the woods, are often barely visible, on account of being so small and well disguised.

 

[Tynehead Tom]

I grabbed some Ustad Shiskaberry 3 copy (f2) and have been running one in my very basic greenhouse this summer at 52N. The male and the female I selected have been extremely resistant to thrips, mites, stem rot, powdery mildew, caterpillars, grasshoppers, sugar ants and aphids.... essentially they have made it thru the worst summer on record for my region and with 3 weeks to go are proving to be the most resilient plants in my garden. I also have a Shiskaberry F1 (circa 1998) that is almost as resisitant to the bugs but did notice the thrips and mites "tried" to establish but failed. If a plant can make it in my climate up on the Cariboo plateau in western Canada, it is surely hardy and resistant. ALL my other varieties have required stringent pest management and nearly lost the whole garden to stem rot, culling 3 big Black Tuna bushes weeks ago now from the stem rot. Using serenade (rebranded as Natria) and that's working great.
We have a lot of moths and butterflies and crickets and grasshoppers of varying sizes and colors, I saw everything from big fat grub looking caterpillars to big furry ones to the little inch worms with the silk string behind them. Found the odd cocooned leaf with a mottling caterpillar inside on virtually every plant.... but absolutely zero leaf munching or cocooning on the shiska 3 f2. The bugs literally left it alone.
but for sheer resitance to everything my climate has thrown at it, all the bugs and very low temps (-1C tonight) included, Ustad Shishkaberry 3 is well worth it. Very potent loads of terps and yields real nice too. I think it's only at one Canadian seed bank ... and they are cheap as hell LOL

 

[ChaosCatalunya]

Bacillus thuringiensis is a natural bacteria that destroys caterpillar stomachs, works well, there are sub species, Kurstaki and Israeliensis... Read up and get the right one, it takes a couple of days to really start to kill

 

[Lucky 7]

Try Monterey Garden BT . . . . Amazon 5 stars . . . I've used it for 2 years, really helps, organic too . . . I do not spray on buds, just stems, etc before flowering

 

[_tessarecting]

Bt is only good for a day...sunlight kills it...same with spinosad...spraying your stems in veg does absolutely nothing

 

[20sackzack]

Yeah isnt the idea to spray the buds since that's what the caterpillars eat? I've never seen them eating leaves or stems, just juicy buds. Although I've heard bt will colonize all over the plant which is why it doesn't need a surfactant to spread it... I still add yucca to mine when I spray though. Rotating bt and spinosad is keeping the cats in check for me

 

[plantingplants]

Spinosad is more like 3-5 days for direct sun. Nearly double for shaded. I like to soak the buds. I think if it gets in the inside then spinosad will last quite a while, and cats like to burrow in there.

Been looking at papers and there is a lot of variation in half life results for btk. In sunlight it's said to last anywhere from 4 hours to 3 days. Some viable spores in trees have been recovered over a month later. Again it's probably good practice to really hit the areas that don't get sun for the highest persistence.

 

[Purple Jungle]

Massive caterpillar issue here too. I was gonna do a post about it but I gotta trim another two bags & also go back to chop more...

Chopping anything that's damaged or has shit remotely resembling mold that's just beginning to spread.

 

[TrillOG]

20 sack zack the caterpillars around here are eating the leaves not the bud, the stopped eating the buds when the sparklies started, the real problem is they shit little organic pellets all over the bud that gets stuck to, or inside of the buds, molds or is just there and visible and you end up with what purple jungle is talking about, moldy caterpillar shit destroying your bud...

 

[TrillOG]

but yeah purple jungle they are shitting all over your bud, and its molding if its for smoking dont even play around, cut that shit off and any surrounding bud touching... but come to think of it, there are some caterpillars that bite the stem, stay in one place getting fat like they are drinking sap, but they just shit on everything its ridiculous... im going to ask the big homie if I can post a couple pictures since its his garden... but I don't know if I can do outdoors, I might just stick to the 250 in the closet... that outdoor shit is crazy!

 

[Purple Jungle]

Dude, I have all sorts of fucking caterpillars. Or I had cause I killed all of them fucks. But huge, tiny (that seem to be just tiny not just young), green, brown, hairy, bald, eating buds, eating stems... I hate them so much. I caught them early though. They rot the flower + spread mold. Blah. Hope it's gonna be fine. I finished today, went two times over every single bud in my garden. I see one more - I spray.

 

[Noonin NorCal]

Get a mosquito net. we built a structure this year with it and haven't had one or found one yet

 

[Lrus007]

maybe try some tanglefoot on the main stem.
that will keep the ones from the ground in check.
works well on fruit tree's.
Lrus007