There are a range of different wasps - there are parasitic ones that lay their eggs on/in the caterpillars and then the eggs hatch and the wasp larvae eat them from the inside (think aliens), and then other ones that take them back to the nest and feed them to the larvae.
It might sound a bit ‘out there’ but wasps respond to intention pretty well - they work as a hive mind and have significant intelligence - so if you just keep calm, don’t hurt the hive and send out good vibes - they will ignore you. i have hives in my greenhouse that had hundreds of wasps in them - and we have very little insect pest problems. We have a lot of other insects in our arsenal - predatory flies, preying mantis, ladybugs, lacewings, soldier beetles and even toads and birds.
Trap crops are another good option - plant something that is more attractive to the pest - there are many tasty things that a pest insect might prefer to eat - caterpillars for instance would probably choose a brassica or cruciferous vegetable over cannabis any day…
I have found that if you can create a relatively balanced ecosystem pests have their place as part of the food chain - it takes a year or two to build - but in the long run - it pays off if you are working on growing premium organic product.
Nathan thank you, Awesome stuff, eco balance…seems so odd when you listen to the world of indoor growers and its like growing on the moon, so unnatural" I mean this plant thrives in the outdoors! then take ALL of the nature around it away??.. great info…Ceaser Milan (dog whisperer, talks mental energy/intent as a key to his training also!)
thank you for the great info.
Are there places you could recomend to get these specific insects at??? (as a resources question)
If you sprinkle it around the base of the plant it will prevent soft insects crawling up (it can also help reduce fungus gnats), or you can sprinkle it on leaves (it will just wash off) that the caterpillars are crawling over. For caterpillars one of the best things you can do is just observe and remove them physically - the moth or butterfly usually lay eggs on the underside of leaves, the caterpillars will hatch and crawl around - easy to pick off. It depends on the species. Once you know your prey - you can figure out what its nature is and how to manage it better.
This is a Canadian place that I get beneficial insects and such from - it has some good info - I am sure there are many such places in the US.
Wow, Alan from SolisTek here. I was just going to come in here and shamelessly plug Neutralizer in this thread and low and behold it’s already here! Thank you for the support. Please do let us know how it works for you!
I’ll be interested to see what he has to say. Also feel free to invite him to join the community. If he’s interested send me his email address and I can send him an invite.
I thought I cannabis hyperemesis last year - kept throwing up and retching after smoking.
I had been testing (market research) one of the Licenced Medical companies (Canada) range of products and it actually turns out they were using Myclobutanil and hiding it (in the ceiling)… It was the worst tasting pot I have ever smoked - every strain tasted like the perfume a old grandmother would wear. Lemon haze, girl scout cookies, platinum kush, shark shock… every one tasted the same… That same company recently sold for $400+ million. When big pharma business and cannabis collide…
The use of neem oil is totally questionable. Sure it works as a management strategy - but it shouldn’t be taken ingested or taken internally - having neem residue on plants that the consumer then smokes (and it goes directly into the system rather than ingesting and getting filtered in the liver) is ultimately asking for trouble down the line.
If you spray anything on your plants you need to make sure that no residue is left come final processing. Too many shortcuts are taken by impatient people wanting to cash in. Pure organic cannabis that is flushed and washed before cutting should have no residues or toxic crap. It is a healing herb, keep the poisons away.
"Neem oil is not currently part of our list of pesticides that we screen for. We are considering the additional of that, as well as other contaminants to our screening protocol, but I do not know the time line for adding those in.
