History
One of the most treacherous, and ferocious threats to our outdoor cannabis crops comes from a moth known as the "European-High flyer", specifically Ostrina nubilalis. This species of moth lays forms a larvae that is uniquely vicious in terms of its survival techniques and abilities to adapt.
Let's begin with a little history. Directly after World War 2, we had an issue with DDT (dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane) which was used as a contact poison for many different types of insects. It was also used to treat troops to control Malaria. Nobody knew at the time, but it turns out DDT have a very toxic ecological effect on the environment. DDT eventually built up heavily in lower-food chain animals such as rodents and amphibians, what happened was is that the Bald Eagle population ( and quite a few birds of prey) plummeted. Because they were ingesting a percentage of that DDT (much like humans ingest a small amount of mercury when eating fish and a lot from shark ), it caused their egg shells to develop no strength, and become very thin. And then they would lay their eggs and sit on their eggs to incubate them, the shells would crack and they would kill all their babies. Don't get me wrong, the DDT worked great for keeping the bugs off the plants, it just took a long time for us to figure out what was really happening. In a sense, it really helped us rise to the occasion after WW2 was over, our corn yields skyrocketed for years after using DDT!
Immediately when the Bald Eagle population was put under protection, obviously all DDT use came to a halt, well, for 30-40 years we've had to make due with different organic, and synthetic pesticide remedies. Most of those years farmers would take into account the rather large percentage of corn they knew they'd lose. Essentially we're talking about mostly field corn. The european-high flyer, and soon to be corn-borer specifically has been targeting field corn since the 1900s. It was until the 1990s , where genetic modification research was being done in an effort to fight world hunger. It turns out they were able to find out that a specific strain of bacteria Bacillus thuringiensis effectively kills caterpillars (specifically targeting them!). It was first found on sick gypsy moth, and isolated in the lab. The cry toxic can be extracted and used as a pesticide for multiple uses. It does not effect all species of insects, or even humans/pets, we do not have a receptor in our brains for the protien toxin.
After this GMOed corn was put on the market, it increased the yields for farmers by 10-30 percent. Many similar things have been done with many other plants of course, marijuana, apples, potatoes, etc.
How it Relates
Well, maybe not everyone has to deal with the european-corn borer, be it their location or the fact they grow indoors. However, for the regular outdoor gardener, they can be brutal to watch infect and literally swim through your precious trichomes. We as cannabis gardeners do not have that luxury of a genetically modified genome with BT. The corn-borer will not stop at a measly garlic spray, neem oil, or some pussy system insecticide. Might as well give them a cup of tea with their lunch too. Well, the obvious reason is to
spray BT right?? Well yeah, of course. Plus natural insects that won't get effected by the BT as extra insurance. However, they are called BORERS for a reason. Once they've eaten enough leaf material, they're mandibles are large enough to carve into the rigid, very dense cellulose structure of the stems/stalks. Once they're in, they begin hollowing out the tunnel, as to traverse through the plant without getting found. I've even seen small little exit drill holes for them to have easier access. When they travel, they poop. The poop quickly induces a botrytis mold that kills your buds twice as fast. The real problem here is that they seem to LOVE trichomes, and the stickiness. They really only become a problem with the buds are dense, secretive, have perfect moist crannies. It can be hard to notice, only until the top of the cola is ready to fall off, the worm is the new stem holding it up. Even then, you cannot spray enough BT spray on your plants, it will not seep through the stem with any sensible application.
So, the idea is to continually inspect, and treat with BT (or Azamax) spray once a week, all the way up to 2 weeks before harvest, even then their's a risk of infestation.
There's nothing worse than to see your beautiful crops that you've been working hard, and been watching grow get infested by something like this. Awareness becomes an important asset in order to not lose everything, after all, we don't grow cannabis fields (or atleast most legal growers don't), so the more crop that is infected has an even greater effect on total yield.
Ideas put forth by Relaxed Lester
One of the most treacherous, and ferocious threats to our outdoor cannabis crops comes from a moth known as the "European-High flyer", specifically Ostrina nubilalis. This species of moth lays forms a larvae that is uniquely vicious in terms of its survival techniques and abilities to adapt.
Let's begin with a little history. Directly after World War 2, we had an issue with DDT (dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane) which was used as a contact poison for many different types of insects. It was also used to treat troops to control Malaria. Nobody knew at the time, but it turns out DDT have a very toxic ecological effect on the environment. DDT eventually built up heavily in lower-food chain animals such as rodents and amphibians, what happened was is that the Bald Eagle population ( and quite a few birds of prey) plummeted. Because they were ingesting a percentage of that DDT (much like humans ingest a small amount of mercury when eating fish and a lot from shark ), it caused their egg shells to develop no strength, and become very thin. And then they would lay their eggs and sit on their eggs to incubate them, the shells would crack and they would kill all their babies. Don't get me wrong, the DDT worked great for keeping the bugs off the plants, it just took a long time for us to figure out what was really happening. In a sense, it really helped us rise to the occasion after WW2 was over, our corn yields skyrocketed for years after using DDT!
Immediately when the Bald Eagle population was put under protection, obviously all DDT use came to a halt, well, for 30-40 years we've had to make due with different organic, and synthetic pesticide remedies. Most of those years farmers would take into account the rather large percentage of corn they knew they'd lose. Essentially we're talking about mostly field corn. The european-high flyer, and soon to be corn-borer specifically has been targeting field corn since the 1900s. It was until the 1990s , where genetic modification research was being done in an effort to fight world hunger. It turns out they were able to find out that a specific strain of bacteria Bacillus thuringiensis effectively kills caterpillars (specifically targeting them!). It was first found on sick gypsy moth, and isolated in the lab. The cry toxic can be extracted and used as a pesticide for multiple uses. It does not effect all species of insects, or even humans/pets, we do not have a receptor in our brains for the protien toxin.
After this GMOed corn was put on the market, it increased the yields for farmers by 10-30 percent. Many similar things have been done with many other plants of course, marijuana, apples, potatoes, etc.
How it Relates
Well, maybe not everyone has to deal with the european-corn borer, be it their location or the fact they grow indoors. However, for the regular outdoor gardener, they can be brutal to watch infect and literally swim through your precious trichomes. We as cannabis gardeners do not have that luxury of a genetically modified genome with BT. The corn-borer will not stop at a measly garlic spray, neem oil, or some pussy system insecticide. Might as well give them a cup of tea with their lunch too. Well, the obvious reason is to
spray BT right?? Well yeah, of course. Plus natural insects that won't get effected by the BT as extra insurance. However, they are called BORERS for a reason. Once they've eaten enough leaf material, they're mandibles are large enough to carve into the rigid, very dense cellulose structure of the stems/stalks. Once they're in, they begin hollowing out the tunnel, as to traverse through the plant without getting found. I've even seen small little exit drill holes for them to have easier access. When they travel, they poop. The poop quickly induces a botrytis mold that kills your buds twice as fast. The real problem here is that they seem to LOVE trichomes, and the stickiness. They really only become a problem with the buds are dense, secretive, have perfect moist crannies. It can be hard to notice, only until the top of the cola is ready to fall off, the worm is the new stem holding it up. Even then, you cannot spray enough BT spray on your plants, it will not seep through the stem with any sensible application.
So, the idea is to continually inspect, and treat with BT (or Azamax) spray once a week, all the way up to 2 weeks before harvest, even then their's a risk of infestation.
There's nothing worse than to see your beautiful crops that you've been working hard, and been watching grow get infested by something like this. Awareness becomes an important asset in order to not lose everything, after all, we don't grow cannabis fields (or atleast most legal growers don't), so the more crop that is infected has an even greater effect on total yield.
Ideas put forth by Relaxed Lester
