Best Insecticides For Flowering

[phiGweed]

Good evening everyone!! I’m back for some much needed advice!

I’m looking for an insecticide (for preventative measures) that I can spray on my cannabis plants while in flowering And up until harvest. I’ve read from previous forums that neem oil leaves a bad taste on the buds so I want to steer away from insecticides similar to that. I’ve read a few people suggest “ IPM Athena “ . Does this leave a bad taste on the buds? If so, do you guys have any other recommendations? All advice needed! Thank you

 

[013]

Hey whats up?

I’m not familiar with Athena product you mentioned but I would expect most gardeners here use a product from our sponsor SNS (Sierra Natural Science) or another great option is Safers Soap… both products can be used in flower…. and of course bud washing at harvest

 

[Sueet]

Well, I am reticent to answer this, because I am using a non sponsored product, but I'm using a product called Agromagen.
It works against powdery mildew, spider mites and aphids. They also say it works for whitefly, but I haven't had those (yet /knockonwood). I used it for my cbd plants.
I can't say for sure about the powdery mildew, since I knocked that down before the bugs made themselves known with a citric acid & epsom salt spray. Definitely never saw any further spots appear after I started using the agromagen, but I can't guarantee it was still there /shrug. It worked great on the aphids and mites.
(AND - my cats did not object to the leaves after they had been sprayed/dried, - they wouldn't touch the ones that had neem on them last year)

 

[OGpapa]

Stick with natural or organic. SNS had something for everything. Neem is best used diluted. Many swear by it. Is there a particular issue?

 

[Phytoplankton]

I’ve never used Athena, but my guess is it may leave a “taste”. It contains Lemongrass oil, Geranium oil, citric acid, and peppermint oil. It says it’s safe to week 5 of flowering.

That said, have you had pest issues this grow? I personally don’t like to spray anything in flower, particularly if there’s not an infestation. If you’ve had pests then the sns would be a good choice.

 

[Azimuth]

The Safer's is a good option, but only when you have bugs, not as a preventative.

It is a true soap (has potassium salts of fatty acids) and works by dissolving the exoskeleton of the bugs and dehydrating them to death. But it only works on bugs you spray directly. A bug landing on a freshly sprayed leaf will be largely unaffected.

It can be used right up until harvest.

 

[013]

Great catch Azimuth on the Safers is an active wet killer not a preventative…. thanks for saving my bacon!!!

it helps to bone up on ipm via foliar in weeks before the flip and it’s worth mentioning soil drenches… stuff like Neem or SNS can mixed into your feed watering so it’s uptaken systemically by the roots to boost plant defenses

 

[Emilya Green]

As a true preventative, begin using @Sierra Natural Science SNS 209 from the very beginning and use it faithfully right up to the very end. It is added into the water and it goes inside the plant to make it unappetizing to most bugs. Used from the very beginning of the grow, the bugs can never get a good foothold and if you are invaded, a little bit of spot spraying with SNS 203 will be the little extra you need to take care of the infestation.

 

[cbdhemp808]

I never use neem once buds have formed. After buds have formed, I recommend using orange oil (limonene) and all-natural Dr. Bronner's peppermint soap, mixed into pure water in the pump sprayer. It's easy to find food-grade orange essential oil in glass bottles (best because it will interact with plastic). Orange oil is a potent insecticide. As for ratio: 1/2 gal water, 1 tsp Bronner's soap, 12-16 drops orange oil. Shake well. You can experiment with more orange oil, but be careful because it can burn leaves at higher concentrations.

 

[cbdhemp808]

I never use neem once buds have formed. After buds have formed, I recommend using orange oil (limonene) and all-natural Dr. Bronner's peppermint soap, mixed into pure water in the pump sprayer. It's easy to find food-grade orange essential oil in glass bottles (best because it will interact with plastic). Orange oil is a potent insecticide. As for ratio: 1/2 gal water, 1 tsp Bronner's soap, 12-16 drops orange oil. Shake well. You can experiment with more orange oil, but be careful because it can burn leaves at higher concentrations.

I forgot to mention... this mix is pretty much a kill-on-contact thing. So, you could do a spray of pure water after a time, say 1 hour.

 

[Bogus Monkey]

Lost Coast Plant Therapy. - So far so good. All I have is the usual, Fungus Gnats. - 2 OZ bottle free - just pay shipping. I am about 1/2 way through 12/12. 2OZ treats a gallon.

 

[bluter]

As a true preventative, begin using @Sierra Natural Science SNS 209 from the very beginning and use it faithfully right up to the very end.

i've never heard of sns being safe. i know you can't import it, it's restricted here. that doesn't lend a pile of confidence.

 

[SmokingWings]

i've never heard of sns being safe. i know you can't import it, it's restricted here. that doesn't lend a pile of confidence.

My understanding is that restrictions like what you are mentioning are often because the company has decided not to pay for all the testing and licensing needed for approval of use in another country. They are the ones who have to prove to that country's government agencies that the product is safe and that is does what the manufactured says it does.

All that testing and then licensing ain't cheap and the company has to decide if they will have enough income from sales to justify the expenses.

 

[Emilya Green]

i've never heard of sns being safe. i know you can't import it, it's restricted here. that doesn't lend a pile of confidence.

I don't know why Canada won't allow it to be imported. The botanical extracts are all food grade GRAS (generally recognized as safe when used as directed) materials, that are fully biodegradable, and not toxic to animals. It is exempt from EPA registration under minimum risk pesticide exempted under FIFRA section 25(b).

 

[SmokingWings]

Lost Coast Plant Therapy. - So far so good. All I have is the usual, Fungus Gnats. - 2 OZ bottle free - just pay shipping. I am about 1/2 way through 12/12. 2OZ treats a gallon.

This is a spray, right? Curious about that because I would think that it would take a lot of spraying sessions to kill off enough adult Fungus Gnats to slow down the amount of eggs being laid on the soil.

For gnats I use Mosquito Bits which are more like a pulverized Mosquito Dunk and just put a pinch on top of the soil in each pot whenever I notice the gnats starting to invade. About all it takes, too, just a pinch.

Just about every grow shop sells the Mosquito Dunks but with a bit of searching the Bits can be found. I have also seen the Bits in local hardware stores. Sometimes the hardware stores have 'bits' from a different company but the active ingredient is the same, Bti, but not to be confused with Bt which is for caterpillars.

 

[HighlanderRecluse]

Hi, new grower but I have used the Canna Cure spray on some normal fruit plants for bugs and had good results, environmentally friendly and free of toxins and I think it helps the plant a little as a foliar spray

 

[bluter]

My understanding is that restrictions like what you are mentioning are often because the company has decided not to pay for all the testing and licensing needed for approval of use in another country. They are the ones who have to prove to that country's government agencies that the product is safe and that is does what the manufactured says it does.

All that testing and then licensing ain't cheap and the company has to decide if they will have enough income from sales to justify the expenses.

we accept equivalent testing done in other countries.

I don't know why Canada won't allow it to be imported. The botanical extracts are all food grade GRAS (generally recognized as safe when used as directed) materials, that are fully biodegradable, and not toxic to animals. It is exempt from EPA registration under minimum risk pesticide exempted under FIFRA section 25(b).

as a rule of thumb if it's legal in california it's legal in canada. california has stiffer restrictions than we do. points to it being another issue.

Hi, new grower but I have used the Canna Cure spray on some normal fruit plants for bugs and had good results, environmentally friendly and free of toxins and I think it helps the plant a little as a foliar spray

a lot of fruit and garden sprays are food safe but become toxic when exposed to heat. you need to be certain it is safe both for food consumption, and after it's been heated.

 

[greenjeans]

I heard Geranium mentioned - is it something that repels or kills aphid etc.??? Asking for a friend!!!

 

[Emilya Green]

It turns out that SNS is available in Canada after all. Check out the products at desertcart, a leading online Canadian shopping store.

 

[SmokingWings]

I heard Geranium mentioned - is it something that repels or kills aphid etc.???

By themselves, flowering plants or their leaves are unlikely to outright kill an insect. Insects that would be killed by any plant would tend to avoid eating or even going near the plant. Evolution does not favor a specie that tend to commit suicide like that. Using plants to protect any other plant that we want to grow takes a bit of research.

Checking with Mr Google it seems that Geraniums are good at repelling mosquitos and leafhoppers but not aphids. But Geraniums are good at repelling spider mites just in case your friend is worried about those mites on his Cannabis crop. But, while Marigolds are known to repel many types of insects including some that go through a larvae stage these same Marigolds will attract spider mites. Find a plant that attracts a predator that goes after spider mites and put that near the marigolds. An example of the 'circle of life' as our son used to say.

Gotta take notes or open up several tabs at a time while doing research on companion planting. Have to find what insects are repelled by what plant, which plant will attract the insect and figure out which insect will eat which insect.

Going with a "spray and kill them all" plan does not work out well at all. Often what ends up happening is the spray not only kills the aphids, as an example, but it also could kill a predator insect that eats the aphids plus several other insects that attack the plants we want to keep.

Tell your friend to plant several small clumps of Zinnias and if he or she is lucky enough the aphids will go to those flowers. Really, really lucky and some ants will come along and start to set up a ranch and keep the herd of aphids on the Zinnias. Now your friend knows where the aphids are living. Just leave the ants and aphids alone and after the aphids kill a few Zinnia the ants will move their herd somewhere else.

Some of this came up in a thread from several years ago:
https://www.420magazine.com/community/threads/why-i-never-spray-for-pests.416323/

Another one that might have some info towards the end is this one, but it has been awhile since I read it so I can't say for sure...
https://www.420magazine.com/community/threads/big-spider-mites-issue-mineral-oil-during-flower.505509/