OMG not having much luck

Good morning,
I am a newbie to growing, initially killed some seeds by overwatering, good lesxon. Then your seeds arrived and things have gone much better.
However, now I have either mice or possum eating tops of plants, 6 so far. Thought insects at first and organic insecticide the plants, but happened again. Bought mice/rat killer, happened again. I am frustrated. In greenhouse and outdoors, both places affected.
Plants are not dying but now ‘runts’. Have small amounts of brown on leaves also. Using nutrients and they were going great until last week when 'chewing started.
Any suggestions please.

@mogo51 Got a cat ? :thinking:

:v::call_me_hand:

My cats take right care of my mouse and chipmunk issues!

Rabbits?

Possum??? Lol! What makes ya think it’s a possum? Chicken wire in a circle around plant usually stops vermin, cayanne pepper sprinkled upon there salad stops em from ever coming again. Put mothballs out around garden for deer, and I agree with beardless, it’s most likely bugs bunny or insects.

Go to fabric grow bags in greenhouse bout 15 gallon with the bottom 1/3 filled with super soil and the rest premium potting soil, I bet ya your adding too much of them “nutrients” .

Place a camera the results might be scarier…

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Don’t have a cat, not really a cat person. But may have to change my thoughts.

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Thank you wm following directions given by a ‘expert’ with many years experience. Every 2nd day, were going great till they got munched. I use a 3 stage system due to go to stage 3 in 1.5 weeks?
Any ideas greatfully received.

No unfortunately.

Have not seen possums or rabbits but opposite is a state forest. In a greenhouse but also happened when left out for the night. I put them out each day, bring in evening, as we are getting dew not frost, it gets cool of an evening.

It was suggested by a local, we have only been here a few months. My neighbour, who lived here all her life is saying mice/rats. Not seen either of them around.
Lots of moths and butterflies, no big grasshoppers. Plants are strong i roots and growth, so has to be something of some size???

Game camera if ya really want to know what likes your weed, short of that cayanne pepper and a few mothballs scattered around usually does the trick.

O.o good luck :four_leaf_clover::+1:

Problem with mice and rats being they go unseen for a while, and are doing damage undetected. In my opinion, it would be tough keeping little critters like that 100% out of an outdoor green house unless you really go crazy with traps and sealing up cracks and crevices…best of luck!

I must admit the only issue I have ever had with mice is when I seed buds for breeding, as mice and squirrels seem to love the seeds not the weed. Now a field rat is a different story he whacks off 7 ft sinsemilla at his eye level and trys to tote it off! Lol! Deer and rabbits love weed, I had one doe came to get high every day, she would get so high she would lay down in the middle of the patch. Clear plastic Solo cups protect seedlings, so does rabbit wire

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My first response would not have been to apply poison.

Figuring out what is causing the damage is important, but if you integrate preventive pest management for all likely pests, you’re probably going to solve the problem.

HaveAHeart traps, mouse traps, mole traps, sticky cards, tanglefoot, slug traps (saucers of beer)… these are all things you want to use before there are issues.

There are deterrents, both physical and irritant. I’d caution against applying a chemical irritant, or even utilizing certain companion plants as a first option. Instead, work to secure the greenhouse. Boards, wire mesh, woven poly, and stone are all cheap materials that can create an effective barrier.

I would not apply anything to my cannabis plants. I would not apply anything in such a way that it could get onto or into my plants. That goes for seemingly innocuous products like BitterApple.

Thank you for your input

Thank you for the advice.

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I have sprayed organic bug repellent that was recommended as safe and effective but the chewing off of tops is not small bugs. They do not come everyday and often they just chew off tops and they drop into pot. That is what annoys me the most!!!
It has been hard work getting things right, as I am not an experienced gardener, quite the opposite. My ‘green thumb’ is not very green!
I put some rat/mice blocks out as I could not get pellets. They went straight past them and ate the tops off 2 more, meaning 6 in total. They are still alive but now grunts and won’t produce much. The last 2 had buds everywhere and I was giving myself ‘attaboys’.
Will work on creature proofing the greenhouse today.
Thank you all for your help.

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In my experience, rats tend to go after roots, but I’m not saying the damage isn’t coming from them. Regardless, it’s a good idea to keep rodents and herbivores out of a greenhouse. Good luck!

I’d be really cautious about application of anything on cannabis. I’m sure the person who gave you advice about a safe organic bug repellent had good intentions, but the FDA and EPA approvals are mostly about protecting the person applying the solution, and also anyone consuming vegetables grown with them. We need pyrolysis testing for anything applied to cannabis. The Oregon Department of Agriculture is performing that testing, and maintains a list of products they approve for cannabis.

I hope this works out for you.