New grower Flower stage bug questions

I am new to outdoor growing, I was given 6 clones ( not that I wanted to start with them but they were a gift). My girls are all at different stages I have 3 in flowering stage and 2 in veg. and the last one might be just getting into flowering she’s very stunted so I’m not sure how she will do. Today I was out there looking at my tall girl my boyfriend and I saw that inside the Kola it was black but upon further inspection it had black specks all inside it I have also seen inchworms on my ladies ( we pluck them off if we see them). We cut that kola off right away to 1 get rid of it and 2 look better at it. I have captain jacks dead bug spray but I am nervous about spraying the girls while they are in the flowering stage. My boyfriend thinks we shouldn’t spray the buds just the leaves and spray our smaller plants.
So I come here to ask some advice about spraying captain jacks or not on the buds etc. I will post some pictures here of my girls later. I hope someone can help because I want to get rid of the bugs and make sure they are not ruined.

Any advice suggestions any type of knowledge on what to do would be great help!!!

Captain Jack’s Dead Bug. Early and often. Sounds like you’ll have issues even so…

1 Like

Can you post some clear pics of the pest ?

1 Like

Yes as soon as I can I will, I did cut the infected Kola off. they were like tiny tiny black spots they came off easy of a leaf but inside of the bud we didnt want to chance it.

Is that safe to spray during flowering stage? Or just the veg stage?

Yep…

around the thumb is where the black spots are possible bugs?
on the leaves there is more black specks they came off very easy when I wiped them nothing stuck and none are on the underneath the leaf…



These bugs we got rid of rather quickly we check our plants daily. and again these did not stick and our leaves have no holes in them.

Keep in mind, not all bugs = bad. Some bugs are predatory and eat other bugs = good. If you’re not seeing damage, I’d not worry too much. The retent in me would want to try and ID them to know for sure, however.

1 Like

Thank you, I did look on here for some answers. I did see that spiders are ok ladybugs etc. But my thing is we can not identify these I have no clue what they are and they were inside of a bud and I looked very so we cut the kola off to stop it from getting worse. The inchworms and caterpillars I know are no good so we keep them suckers off and pray they do not make a comfy home in our buds.

Can you catch a few, kill em but not pulverize them and take a pic?
If I had to guess, look up aphids very common cannibis pest…there are a bunch of different ones, I know I’ve seen little black ones

2 Likes

I will try… I am not sure how it will work out though.

Those are aphids …there aren’t too many other pest species that huddle along the main stem line like that …I’m going with black bean aphids …

Just by removing that one cola you are by no means In the clear …
I would get on some rubber gloves and pinch and kill every one ypu see …
Then come back every couple of hours and do it again …
Ypu have to disrupt their life cycle in order to kill them for good
They suck on cloraphyl and shit out kids in place that are also ready to suck and give birth
Their eggs hatch every few days so you have to be very aggressive
I’ve rid myself of them every time they attack a plant around here …and I have never sprayed pesticide
Pesticide for those that is even effective kills on contact …and usually does not do anything to thier eggs …plain water knocks them off and by putting on gloves and removing them works better than any pesticide in my opinion
It can be tedious work but don’t waste money on captain jacks as I don’t believe it kills aphids anyway …it works on thrips which be thankful ypu don’t have because they are a much more mobile pest and lay eggs almost everywhere on the plant not just one area like aphids
Aphids are very easy to get rid of if you do your homework and don’t expect whatever you spray to take them out the first time …ypu need to manually remove them …they are soft bodied and a stream of water rips right through them …

After I looked further at that last pic you need to spray them with something and try what I recommend that plant is highly infested …

You also need to worry about black soot mold from them eating …they crap out honeydew and if ants aren’t there farming them for it it will cause black soot mold …

1 Like

Another option is to buy some predator insects to release on there

Lacewing larve
Or minute pirate bug would clear the plant of them faster than you can

I’d go for the pirate as they reproduce when there is a good food source like you have there …

Your plant would be clean and protected for the rest of its life

There’s also a product on Amazon call Grow Safe
Have a look at that as it’s made from only plant oils and safe to spray on buds

The last picture with all of those bugs is not mine. I have a caterpillar problem and possible caterpillar poop they are imbedding themselves in the buds… It is causing my buds to rot from the inside. Any ideas on how to keep those nasty caterpillars+ inchworms out/ away from my buds? ( they are green and small) If you look at the very first picture I had posted and zoom in you can see the little black specks I am talking about.(It could be their poop) They have been found inside of my buds as well as the caterpillars. I didn’t think they would have been a problem because there were no signs of them, example they have not eaten the leaves but went straight for the buds themselves… We have been plucking and killing them ourselves so far… Any suggestions??

I do not like using any chemicals on them but if I have to I will, however my boyfriend and I are nervous about spraying the buds due to possible left over chemical or whatever bug killer we use for it. Which one is better captain jacks dead bug or the neem oil?
Thank you in advance!!

Look into a product called safer caterpillar
I’ve never used it but read of people having success
Sorry for the confusion about the pics …must have missed where you wrote they weren’t yours …
More concerning is the bud rot …if it is their poop it could be black soot mold …
I know if someone that just barbarically kills them manually …tedious work I’m sure …

I believe what ypu have is eastern tent worm or canker worm

Hey @Borderryan22 …need to phone in a friend lol …
Oh and my bad I can’t remember if safer is ok for buds …may not be

1 Like

Just the very last picture isn’t mine If I had that many bugs I would take the loss.
I have been looking into these ridiculous inchworms and they look like the cankerworm and we have been killing them by hand yes it is extremely tedious, but until I know what is safe for my buds I have no choice. They have only been messing with my 4 girls in the flowering stage I have 2 that are just now getting into the flowering stage so I will spray those ones to prevent this from happening to them. We were doing so good until it got really rainy and then humid outside. New England weather for ya!! Thank you I will look into safer and see if it is ok for buds.

1 Like

I hear you …I’m on the Jersey coast !!
I know captain jacks is ok for buds but have no idea hang on …


I own it but never pulled the trigger …
You have nothing to lose …I’d use this and just be really thorough

Get a continuous mist pump sprayer …theyvare cheap
Get the one that has the brass nozzle
Ypu will be able to control the spray just right and it won’t waste product

Not sure if you already have and know this lol
If so sorry …but this is what I would do

I was unaware of this mentioning caterpillars and worms thought it was for thrips …I’m the worst

I have that stuff have not pulled the trigger either. Don’t be sorry I am here for help and guidance one my first grow outdoors. I appreciate the help I am happy that I could figure out what was going on with my girls and I can prevent the other 2 who have yet to flower. My boyfriend was sad because we had to chop a lot of buds because of these bugs so the sooner I figure out the bud safety thing the better.

1 Like

I understand …my first grow too !!
The other guy I tagged has had much more experience with these types of worms too so he will be of even more help …
I’ve been helped tremendously and just want to help anyone any way I can