Pest/Worm problems

[Keefman]

I have 3 autos going and 2 Reg. The
Autos were a month out from harvest
when I noticed a brown looking like mold
In the buds I picked the autos early
Fearing my crop would get the mold I
Later learned it was worms after cutting
The main stem open. Now moved onto
My Reg plants is there any Methods or
Sprays I could buy to get rid of them or
Is it to late if they are in the plant?

 

[Lester Freeman]

You have to basically harvest now, or lose everything. If you see one worm, there are likely 5-10X more. The mold means they've been there and already moved on, their poop induces the mold. The ones I deal with, may be like yours, they will bore/tunnel into each stem and hollow it out from the inner core, there are typically many more than you just see, until its too late and a main cola has been decapitated. At this point, I would have to harvest now, and salvage what I got if it was terribly infested. Pre-precautions are always the best way to deal with it, spraying early up until harvest. It depends on the level of infestation, they can be really really bad sometimes.

My usual routine to let the plants keep growing is to use an icepick/toothpick to look into the inner buds and search for the worms, usually I can vibe out whether there is a problem or not, since they leave behind the poop. Going to be putting out ladybugs, but with the borers, they hide inside, so sprays and predator bugs may have a hard time getting at them!

Be Aware of the European-Corn Borer


Best of luck mate