Caterpillar(s)

[pandapuffin]

I have 1 skunk44 in 4th week of flower. Im in a bug free box, and havent had any trouble with airborne pests. Though, just last night, I noticed that in my soil, there was about 5 or 6 caterpillars (very small, mabe an inch long and very thin). I used brand new soil,(but I brought the container in from the outdoors (it used to have some other flowers in it). So I guess some of those bugs were lying dormant in the plant pot somehow. I just dont understand why I wouldnt have noticed any until just now if they were always in there. Know what I mean?? So, are these caterpillars bad?? What can I do to eliminate them? I dont want those lil' bastards to eat my plant. I mean, it seems like they're staying in the soil, but I guess that means they're feeding off the roots. Right?? Help.

 

[TheAfficianado]

Kill them all by hand if necessary!!!!!!!!!!! Check every 4 or five hours, at least everyday, WITH A MAGNIFYING GLASS OR LOOP and go over every fan leaf starting from the bottom up. At this point you don't want to spray poison on your buds, so it has to be by hand. I went away for five days and thought I had my caterpillar problem solved, I missed EXACTLY ONE! When I left it was microscopic, when I came back it was 2 inches long, bloated, bright lime green and catatonic from THC or normal dormacy and my fan leaves were non-existant except for the veins. It literally looked like the skeleton of a large pot plant. Luckily, it turned out to be male but I was still pissed. In short, there is no GOOD caterpiller EVER. Not EVeR!!!!!

Just my 2 cents,
The Afficianado

 

[pandapuffin]

yeah, i pulled a few of those little bastards out last night. You have an opinion if I should re-pot the plant in something else?/ Im a little afraid, i dont have any experience with re-potting a flowering plant. I have a bug killer called MAX (i think) by Miracle Grow. It's made to spray on tomatoes and the like without harming the plant, but killing the bugs. what if I just sprayed some of this in the soil (i have done this once before without seeing any bugs, just as a precautionary measure), it says its safe for the plant. Its in a red bottle.. dont know if that helps. After all this waiting, im not gonna let those little bastards ruin my plant. Thanks for your help.

 

[MynameStitch]

I would not use anything chemical if you can avoid it....... try using some BT in your soil, it's a mosqito dunk just in case it's not caterpillars, cause caterpillars do not live in soil, they have to live on leaves and much on them.

If it is catapilars you can use safer soap, neem oil, or hand picking helps too; the adults won't lay larva, so since your indoors it will be easy to help rid of them with hand picking.

As for the BT, use 1/2 dunk to a gallon of water, this will kill off anything else that might be living in the soil you don't want. When you keep soil outside without it being contained you always risk bringing in unwanted bugs, especially the dreaded spider mites; it's always good to contain the soil and try to sterilize it before use, or avoid keeping it outside to the open weather if all costs.

I keep mine outside, but I had a hefty storage lid and never had any problems, also kept it away from grass and other things.

 

[TheAfficianado]

Gotta tell you I am a no-go on the repotting stage unless you repotted in the last 72 hours but even so it would stress the plants and add to growing time of probably 10 days unless you were to increase the darkness of the light cycle by an hour and a half.

So basically no to repotting. Again I say hand pickem off with a magnifying glass or jeweler's loop. But lets say that it becomes a horror show. I would hit the soil with a product that is at Lowes and Home Depot called Green Light Bioganic Home and Garden Insect Spray and it is OMRI certified organic. It contains Thyme Oil, Sesame Oil, and Clove Oil and thats it. Says it can be used up to the day of harvest and I figure catepillars have soft skin.

But I hate even organic chems due to pests. The other option if they are on the surface of the soil and not on the plant itself is to spread diotemaceous earth (not sure on the spelling, but there are at least three threads on it, do a search) over the top of the soil and it will cut the 'pillars to shreads. Also, remember catepillars are cannabilistic and that is probably why I only found one fat one when I got home, because they kill one another as an act of genetic dominance and territorial imperative. So they actually help you do your work which is why I still argue for some quality time with the plants by hand if stealth is not a problem.
Peace,
The Afficianado

 

[DIGITALHIPPY]

you sure there not gnat larvey?
they could look like catapillars when young.

 

[pandapuffin]

thanks for the help everyone. Digital Hippy, they're small, very thin, maybe inch-long 'caterpillar-looking' bugs. Gnat Larvae would make sense since we have a small problem with them around here, but I've never heard of tiny gnats forming from a ultimately larger, different type of insect. oh, and they're grey in color, not green like 'normal' caterpillars, if that helps..
Afficinado, after reading that, Im compltetely agaisnt repotting. I checked the plant VERY thoroughly, and there arent any insects on the plant itself, just on the top layer of soil (but who knows how deep they go). I pulled about 5 of them off the top last night. I didnt see any missing sections on my leaves due to insects, so it seems like they're not really doing any harm, but what do I know... I didnt use any of the spray i mentioned, I'd like to avoid using anything like that, but not totally against it. Im going to check out that Diotemaceous Earth - I think I read something on here about that a while back. So, thanks for the advice. You guys are great!

 

[pandapuffin]

sorry to double post, i always forget something.. mynamestitch, thank you for your help. I have seen the mosquito dunk at local gardening store, I'll go check it out today and read up on it. We dont have spider mites in this area, thankfully.. It sounds like those things really reak havoc on some peoples gardens. When I grabbed this pot, I kept thinking to myself there might be some bugs in it, so i washed it out quickly with water - and it was below 30degrees when i grabbed the pot from outside, so i didnt think any bugs would still be in there, let alone ones that are alive! I keep my soil in the bag it came in, inside the house. Though it makes me wonder if there bugs in the soil before packaging...

 

[TheOneWill]

It's best to hand pick them. I picked like 8 a couple days ago and notice some of my plants were still getting ate. So I keep looking everyday and I'm pretty sure I got the last one yesterday.

 

[MynameStitch]

Ya, I agree, hand picking and since your in a controlled environment it would be the best bet. Not to mention if they lay larvae you would see it and can just remove it.

 

[pandapuffin]

ahh - still handpicking them out everyday. I find 2 or 3 - then check back four hours or so later, and find another 2 or 3. BUT, Im not seeing any foilage that has been eaten by any bugs. So I guess they cant be that bad - I dunno.

 

[MynameStitch]

If they are coming back and coming back it can't be caterpillars, because caterpillars need to eat leaves to survive..... so if you are not seeing any damaged leaves it has to be something else.
Does any bugs come out when you water? Or are you seeing these bugs in your soil?

 

[pandapuffin]

Stich, I was thinking the same thing. There doesnt seem to be any damage whatsoever to the plant itself (though Im afraid they're feeding on roots). Ok, I was looking around on google, and it seems that the closest critter I can find to these are Soil Centipedes. Though, those are dark colored and the ones i have are grey. So, I guess theyre centipedes, not caterpillars. It seems like they have young that have hatched because after I pulled out most of the bigger ones(1''long), the very small ones started showing up on the surface. I checked out a sample of the soil with a scope and saw a few other very small bugs. But again, no evidence of damage on the plant (outside of the soil). Plant seems healthy, some branches look a little more healthy than others, but flowering is going well. seems like pistils are growing about a couple centimeters a day. What do you think?? Thanks for your help stitch.

 

[MynameStitch]

Any bug is a potential threat; I would get some mosquito dunks and try using that to see if they die, if not you may have to get something different.

BT which is what those dunks are can kill a lot of different pests, including fungus gnats.
I would go that route first and then go from there, they could be feeding off the soil or roots and robbing the plant, the damage may be coming soon if they are feeding on the roots.

How big is your plant and the pot?

 

[pandapuffin]

the plant is in week 5 of flower. its in a 4gal pot, and is about 14-16' tall, ive lst'd the top to give a little more headroom. The plant has been growing steadily and responded well to the lst (which i started in the first week of flower cause i had to move it to a different space.)