I live in Western Massachusetts and last season my outdoor grow was infested with an insect we are calling Bud Worms.Any ideas on how to control this pest.The eggs are laid inside the plant itself.The eggs are laid in the early spring and there they lie dormant until the temperature start to moderate in the fall.This is the time that the colas are growing.They emerge at the top of the bud from inside the stem and eat the top of the forming bud.The waste product they produce, produces mold that ruins the bud.This area of the country used to grow shade grown tobacco.for for cigar wrapper.This insect used to invade tobacco grows.But it only ate the buds and not the leaves.So it was not considered a problem.Not the case in Marijuana.With all the outside grows happening now in Massachusetts. They now have the ideal food source for their life cycle.Thai is their life cycle.SPRING-Moth emerges from ground It then lays its eggs in the tender stems ware the buds are forming.The eggs lay dormant until fall when the temperatures start to get cooler.This triggers them to hatch.The worms then move up inside the stem to the top of the bud and does its damage.After it is mature it then falls to the ground and digs in.In the spring it emerges as a moth and the cycle starts again. Any ideas on how to control this pest? T
Prevention is key when growing outdoors. Start treating them early in veg for pests. If they never make a home on your plant, they can’t eat it from the inside out
There are two products: “Safer” spray and “Captain Jack’s Dead Bug”. Both use a bacterial strain lethal to grubs, worms, caterpillars, spider mites etc and is completely benign to humans and plants. If used in conjunction with peroxide and mechanical removal it should greatly reduce the problem.
The only way to eliminate the pests from an outside grow is to cover them in insect cloth. I use it for the louper moths in the summer and they are effective.
Sounds like caterpillars or something in that family. I’d try some BT for caterpillars. I use this on my outdoor plants. Used as a preventative works better than as a reactionary result of an infestation. Once they are inside the buds, it’s game over for that bud.
Safer Brand 5163 Caterpillar Killer II Concentrate, 16 oz Amazon.com
