Best way to prevent the Corn Earworm and Tobacco Budworm?

[Lovie]

Hello!

I live in Virginia. The biggest threats to outdoor crops are the Corn Earworm and the Tobacco Budworm. I have seen some older threads that discuss how to get rid of these pests, but I want to know the best way to prevent them. I am putting planters all around my plants that contain flowers that naturally produce pyrethrins. I have not come across an insecticide preventative that states it works against preventing the CEW and TBW that is suitable for cannabis. I did see in one thread where someone used beneficial insects to get rid of an infestation, which I am leaning toward doing if I cannot find another prevention method. I really want to find an alternate solution to beneficial insects!

 

[SmokingWings]

I did look at basic info for the Corn Earworm and it looks like the thing to do is to search Hemp Corn Earworm. That will give a fair bit of info on that insect and commercial Hemp farmers but the info looks pretty good to know and will relate to what you are doing.

If it was me I would go into town and head for the local farmer's co-op. Ask them for what they have for Corn Earworm for your back yard garden. That way they are more likely to recommend something that can be applied with handheld sprayers and not need to be towed behind a large farm tractor.

 

[Lovie]

I

I did look at basic info for the Corn Earworm and it looks like the thing to do is to search Hemp Corn Earworm. That will give a fair bit of info on that insect and commercial Hemp farmers but the info looks pretty good to know and will relate to what you are doing.

If it was me I would go into town and head for the local farmer's co-op. Ask them for what they have for Corn Earworm for your back yard garden. That way they are more likely to recommend something that can be applied with handheld sprayers and not need to be towed behind a large farm tractor.

My current research says to use pheromone traps to collect the moths and/or a light that attracts the moths and kills them. From what I have read it says to monitor the traps. When you see the traps have collects a large amount of moths to expect to find their eggs/worms on your plants. I read that there is something that is safe to put on the buds and plant to kill the worms. It is a virus that kills the worms. The worms have to digest the virus. The thing with that is it takes 2 to 3 days before the worm dies......so that is 2-3 days it gets to eat my plant before dying. I want to find a way to keep them off my plants in the first place. I am making a trip to a nursery in the next couple of days to get some flowers that produce pyrethrins so I will ask while I am there if they know of something.

 

[013]

No experience with those 2 pests…

normally nicotine is good preventative for many species but confident the tobacco bud worm comes with built in immunity.

SNS foliar sprays use a low dose of rosemary oil and/or clove oil depending on which product you select.

BTk is for green worms, caterpillars & moths too, I believe

Spinosad is good stuff too, I use as prophylactic treatment just cause and it’s upped my grow game.

Found these guys last fall, something dropped eggs and luckily caught it before it got too bad…if you zoom up there’s green worms on foliage

B86C2CB9-A462-4E50-A8EE-826A595788EF.jpeg

• 013
• Oct 21, 2023

 

[Lovie]

No experience with those 2 pests…

normally nicotine is good preventative for many species but confident the tobacco bud worm comes with built in immunity.

SNS foliar sprays use a low dose of rosemary oil and/or clove oil depending on which product you select.

BTk is for green worms, caterpillars & moths too, I believe

Spinosad is good stuff too, I use as prophylactic treatment just cause and it’s upped my grow game.

Found these guys last fall, something dropped eggs and luckily caught it before it got too bad…if you zoom up there’s green worms on foliage

B86C2CB9-A462-4E50-A8EE-826A595788EF.jpeg

• 013
• Oct 21, 2023

I did read spinosad work on them but is not allowed for use in commercial hemp in VA. I figured there was a reason it is not allowed so I didn't look any further into it.

Can you use spinosad until harvest? And is it safe for buds? The moth of these 2 pest like to lay their eggs close to the buds of the plant.

 

[Sueet]

If it was me, I'd prolly go with insect netting for the plant. They can't lay eggs on it if they can't get to it.

 

[013]

hmm, not sure but seem to recall a maximum of 6 applications. I try to have the bulk of my ipm done before flip, I don’t like spraying anything during flower except for Safers soap

think mine is Captain Jacks Dead Bug brand kinda thinking the instructions will be online

 

[Lovie]

If it was me, I'd prolly go with insect netting for the plant. They can't lay eggs on it if they can't get to it.

I had looked at netting. A lot of the netting states it protects against UV lighting......would that be a problem for my plants? Newbie here, still learning!

 

[Sueet]

No, plenty of uv will still get thru. Most indoor grows don't get any at all and they do pretty good.

 

[Lovie]

I don't know how I missed it before but I just read a thread that said to use a net at nighttime since the parents of these pests are moths and come out at night so I believe that is what I am going to do. Make sure to put the net on before dusk and start waking up super early to take it off so I can make sure my plants are soaking up the sun's rays! Thank you for all the helpful responses!

 

[Dustin84]

I

My current research says to use pheromone traps to collect the moths and/or a light that attracts the moths and kills them. From what I have read it says to monitor the traps. When you see the traps have collects a large amount of moths to expect to find their eggs/worms on your plants. I read that there is something that is safe to put on the buds and plant to kill the worms. It is a virus that kills the worms. The worms have to digest the virus. The thing with that is it takes 2 to 3 days before the worm dies......so that is 2-3 days it gets to eat my plant before dying. I want to find a way to keep them off my plants in the first place. I am making a trip to a nursery in the next couple of days to get some flowers that produce pyrethrins so I will ask while I am there if they know of something.

I'm having issues with the fun pest. Early harvest and the mistake room next to the indoor grow area.. Any easy diy remedies to attract the pest away from the new growth. Got diatomaceous Earth under my hanging and drying plants. They live and don't die. Others taken care of but the worm.. I think my clones and younger sprouts will appreciate a good way to keep the worms away.

 

[Lovie]

I'm having issues with the fun pest. Early harvest and the mistake room next to the indoor grow area.. Any easy diy remedies to attract the pest away from the new growth. Got diatomaceous Earth under my hanging and drying plants. They live and don't die. Others taken care of but the worm.. I think my clones and younger sprouts will appreciate a good way to keep the worms away.

I haven't actually encountered them myself but read that they are a big problem for hemp fields in my state. I have been inspecting my plants every morning for leaves with eggs and if I find them, remove the infected leaf and spray with BT. The eggs can hatch within 2 days so daily inspections are important. The eggs are easy to spot, pic below to show you. That has worked well for me. From the research I have done prevention, is the best method. I also used nets for a while to keep the moths off of my plants until my plants got too big for the nets I got.

As far as an easy DIY remedy to attract the pest away from new growth......I don't know if that exists. Keep in mind the worms come from moths so as long as no moths get into your indoor area you should be okay. Moths will lay eggs on your plants, when they hatch they start as worms. The worms will eventually make a cocoon and turn into moths themselves. I think you may want to focus on deterring them instead of trying to attract them to something else. I remember geraniums are good for preventing them. You may want to research companion plants for cannabis to see what you can find. I read that the Cornear Worm has built an immunity to BT. I found a product called Gemstar LC. It works like BT does but it is a virus instead of a bacteria but it is designed for the Cornear Worm and Tobacco Bud Worm. Only thing, it is very expensive........$500 a gallon.

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• Lovie
• Aug 9, 2024

 

[Sueet]

My god, 500 dollars a gallon? Is it made out of gold? Sheesh. Cheaper to just grow inside at that rate, yikes.

 

[Lovie]

My god, 500 dollars a gallon? Is it made out of gold? Sheesh. Cheaper to just grow inside at that rate, yikes.

I know! I think it is for commercial-size operations. I didn't check to see how much acreage that would cover but for that price it better cover a large area!

 

[Lovie]

And I was wrong, I just checked.......$500 gets you 2.5 gallons, not 1. My bad. Still, that is a price way out of my budget.

 

[Lovie]

I also just checked the coverage area. The application rate is 4-10 ounces per acre. There are 128 ounces in a gallon so 128*2.5=320. 320/4=80 and 320/10=32 so one container should cover 32-80 acres. I guess the price is not as outrageous as originally thought when looking at it in that manner. Maybe one day they will sell smaller containers for us small-time folks!

 

[Sueet]

I have to be honest, even without considering the price.. Anything that powerful seems TOO powerful to be safe. I don't even know how you could spread 4-10 oz to a whole acre other than I presume to put it in a whole lot of water? I guess that kind of strength is useful if you need to treat acres at a time, but wow- that's scary strong imo.

 

[Lovie]

I have to be honest, even without considering the price.. Anything that powerful seems TOO powerful to be safe. I don't even know how you could spread 4-10 oz to a whole acre other than I presume to put it in a whole lot of water? I guess that kind of strength is useful if you need to treat acres at a time, but wow- that's scary strong imo.

Yes......a whole lot of water. It says typical spray volumes are 20 - 100 gallons of water per acre for ground application. It's OMRI listed. The ingredients are .64 nuclear polyhedrosis virus of corn earworm, 99.36 other ingredients. I hate when things just say other ingredients.......it's sketchy.