We will go over some common pests/diseases you may face.
Spider Mites: these guys can be an absolute nightmare. They multiply extremely quick and once established they can be quite hard to fully eradicate. Spider mites thrive in hot dry environments, lack of airflow helps them even further. They’re many natural sprays you can use aswell as some not so natural products which we would avoid like mighty wash. Two DIY sprays you can use before flower would be 1 part water to 1 part rubbing alcohol, another is 2 parts water to 1 part rosemary oil. We highly recommend predator mites, the species (Phytoseiulus persimilis) is a spider mite specialist and can be purchased online from natures good guys among other companies. Spider mites can be found both on top and under the leaves (usually on top if under a hot light like an HPS for example). They will significantly slow plant growth, especially in veg. The white spots they leave on your leaves is from them sucking out the fluids & chlorophyl. Below are a few pics.
Aphids: Another pest that will quite literally suck the life out of your plants. They hang out under the leaves and feed. Most aphids are wingless, but some will have wings. You may see a few flying around your garden but don’t confuse them for simple flies. Sprays like neem oil can used but only before flower. We recommend using green lace wings (aka aphids lions) or lady bugs, green lace wings being our first choice. They can be purchased online.
Caterpillars/worms: Outdoors these can be a real problem in flower. They will crawl inside your flowers, where they will eat the flowers leaving behind poop. This will create a ton of mold and diminish a harvest greatly. We notice this tends to happen most to plants that are near large trees. The caterpillars can crawl up from the ground but also be directly blown onto your plants from a nest of them in a tree. keep a close eye on your plants from mid flower onward. Sprays like spinosad can be used but we would personally try to avoid them in the first place.
Botrytis: You have grown some huge fat beautiful flowers, you’re 10 days away from harvest but now you see mold and have a frown. Bud rot will usually affect the largest buds first. To avoid this calamity it’s very important to have proper airflow and humidity levels indoors. Humidity around 40% in flower should help prevent mold, checking at a VPD chart can be a good idea too. Pruning excess foliage can also help to increase airflow and prevent mold. Outdoors you’re at mother nature’s mercy, so choosing a variety that suits your environment is very important, harvesting slightly early outdoors can also be a better option than losing most to mold.
