CajunCelt's Spring '14 Grow - Vanilla Kush - 1970 True OG - N.L. - Blue Cheese

My "happy slideshow" from previous grow...
I'm getting anxious for gals to build.
Took cutting from the OGs to see whose female. Fingers crossed.
More current pics in a week or so.

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:bump:
Bumped to new page. :)
 
Damn cajuncelt, your a growing machine.
 
So, got a female from the OG. Hooah.
The BC in flux is going slow, but healthy. All plants left are female, so up & going.
All are transplanted into permanent homes now.
The Kush didn't dig getting topped, but it's moving along well enough.
I've taken cuttings to sex & will have clones soon.
The training slowed girls some, but will flip to flower in 2 weeks as well as take final cuttings.

On another note, I'm building a cloner & automatic top drip system soon & planted new frijoles.
DC jack for laptop (so...pics) soon.
 
Looking proper but it's to be expected from you Cajun.
 
Thanks bro. My flux is slow. I can see if I had about 3 months I could veg, the flux would be a monster!
I've popped the beans for the next grow & may need to let her grow out.
She's still pretty pissed @ me.
 
Outdoor plants were hardened off for 2 weeks & are outside permanently. They are under CONSTANT attack from grasshoppers. I'll need to hit up the outdoor experts. SNS & neem oil not gonna cut it.
 
Cajun grasshoppers are a predator that sometimes can wipe out crops fast. We don't have to deal with them out here but where I grew up they were everywhere. I found this on the net. It has a lot of good info.

Predators

Blister beetle and ground beetle larvae attack the egg pods of grasshoppers. They are both capable of consuming between 50 to 60% of grasshopper egg pods.

Snakes, toads, cats and skunks feast on hoppers.
Bird predators include bluebirds, brown thrashers, crows, hawks, mockingbirds, meadowlarks and sparrows.
Horse-hair worm, a large nematode up to several inches in length parasitizes and kills hoppers.
Robber flies and spiders will feed on grasshoppers.
Field mice and many types of rodents will dig up and eat the egg pods. They also feed on the adults.
Chickens, ducks and Guinea hens are prolific consumers of hoppers. Muscovy ducks are tops!
Preying mantis love to eat grasshoppers!
Fish: One of our visitors reminded us how fish love to dine on hoppers! He goes on to add that live hoppers make excellent fish bait and that the bigger the hopper the bigger the fish you can catch. Bass are extremely fond of them.

Barriers

Plant the herb horehound (Marrubium vulgare) which is known to repel grasshoppers.
Grasshoppers do not like cilantro which is used by many organic gardeners as a barrier crop.
Plant calendula as a barrier deterrent.
Spray a heavy infusion of garlic oil as a repellent.
Grasshoppers are attracted to monocultures and do not like nitrogen-fixing crops like peas and sweet clover.
Row covers, like Reemay, or screens can be effectively used to keep them from your crops.

Garlic Oil Spray
To make: Combine 3 ounces of minced garlic cloves with 1 ounce of mineral oil. Let soak for 24 hours or longer. Strain.
Next mix 1 teaspoon of fish emulsion with 16 ounces of water. Add 1 tablespoon of castile soap to this.
Now slowly combine the fish emulsion water with the garlic oil. Kept in a sealed glass container this mixture will stay viable for several months. To use: Mix 2 tablespoons of garlic oil with 1 pint of water and spray.

Traps and Sprays

Nosema locustae is a one celled parasite that infects and kills the hoppers when they ingest it. A single treatment can last for several years. Hoppers being of a cannibalistic nature will eat the dead parasite infected bodies. This sets in force a chain reaction passing the parasite from generation to generation. Certain species of hoppers may expire within several hours after treatment whereas others may take 4-6 weeks to be affected. Nosema locustae can be purchased at local nurseries and through many mail order sources.

It is generally sold already mixed with branmeal or you can mix it with branmeal yourself to entice the hoppers. Apply Nosema locustae as soon as hoppers begin to hatch. You definitely want to treat by the time they hit the third or fourth instar stage. It has little effect past these stages and on adults.
Apply at a rate of 1-2 pounds per acre. You can make a second application after 4 weeks.

Sink glass jars into the soil. Fill to the halfway point wit a mixture of 10 parts water to 1 part of molasses. The hoppers are drawn to the sweet smell of the molasses, they dive in and drown. Clean traps as needed.
Try a caffeine spray. Brew coffee 5 to 10 times stronger. Cool and spray as is.
Try a pepper spray using jalapenos, habaneros or any HOT pepper to repel the adults. Include some castile soap in with this.
Spray insecticidal soap mixed with beneficial nematodes directly on grasshoppers in the evening.
Diatomaceous earth applied as a dust can be an effective control. DE has razor sharp edges that penetrate the hoppers exoskeleton, dehydrating them and killing them. The same effect is had internally as they will also eat DE. Be sure to wear a mask when working with DE, you do not want to inhale it!
Gardeners can use organic botanical products like pyrethrin to knock down nymphs in the first or second instar.

A word on Diatomaceous earth: 30 million years ago, silica shells of one-celled algae (diatoms) built up on the ocean bottoms forming deep deposits called diatomite. These fossilized shells are mined and milled they produce the razor sharp shards of silica, a desiccant.
DE looks and feels like talcum powder; but to an insect it is a lethal dust that scratches and absorbs the wax coating on the insects' surface, leaving it to die from dehydration. DE will eventually kill any insect that is exposed to it and will kill earthworms. DE does not break down in the environment, so it remains effective until it is washed away or turned into the soil. It is non-toxic to mammals, but will irritate the mucous membranes!
DE has a high mineral content and will add these minerals to the soil, improving it.

Neem Oil: A controversial topic among organic gardeners: neem oil is not to be dismissed lightly. Made from the seed of the Neem (azadirachta indica) tree, a shade tree native to India. The active compound azadractin is extracted using water, alcohol or petroleum ether. Neem has been used for centuries in India to protect stored grains.

Neem has many different effects on insects. It acts as an insect antifeedant and repellant. It can stop or disrupt insect growth (IGR = insect growth regulator) and sterilizes some species. Also of interest Neem has now been classified as an ovicide, mildewcide and miticide. It has now been approved for use on food crops.

For grasshoppers it should work as an IGR on the nymph stages of hoppers however you must be judicious in your spray program to get good control. As far as the adult stage we have consistently found that any plant sprayed with neem was not eaten by the hoppers. They actually land on the plants, but have not been observed to eat them at all. Other studies indicate no antifeedant success when using neem.

Fall cultivating will help expose buried egg pods to the weather and helps to discourage laying.

Black Strap Molasses: combine 4 ounces of this with one quart of water. Spray directly on hoppers. This will clog their pores so they cannot breath resulting in their death.

Henbit: A tea made from this weed and used as a spray may have some possibilities to repel hoppers.
Leaving areas of tall grass uncut can help by giving hoppers food and a refuge. You can then use the treatment of your choice to get at them in the contained area.
 
Awesome. Plants will be gone soon if I don't get on to of them. I thought spider mites were bad. Whew.
By the way, these are not the cut Lil green grass hoppers. These are locusts. Big, brown & mean (they bite...hard).
 
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