Munki's "Al Naturale" Autoflower Outdoor Escursion - 2011

[Jozo-sha]

Got a question for y'all. I've seen this bug every once in a while over the past few weeks. Wondering if they are doing damage to my plant. I think they are fruit flies. Did some reading and I would think they would just be a bit of a nuisance without doing true damage. We do have an orange tree in the back yard where the fruit falls and rots sometimes.

Not an issue. Fruit flies are those 'sop up mah food after barfing on it with gastric juice' eaters, not 'OM NOM, CHEW CHEW, CHEW' types.

I know, that was sooooooo scientific.

 

[Propa Gator]

Neither they nor gnats get me excited, but the suckers & chewers get the NPS.

Label says: "If it crawls or flies, it dies"
I say: Kill 'em all, let God sort 'em out.

 

[Poke Smot]

huh...

 

[420GodsTrichome]

 

[Munki]

Day 68, afternoon. Yeah, I don't think the flies were any concern. I did some checking with a microscope to check the resin (looking pretty good but I would had let it go for another week maybe), but when I checked a dead area, I found I could pull it off very easy. I looked carefully in the area surrounding it and found a pretty fat caterpillar. Went ahead and cleaned up the plant by pulling off the dead spots and examining the plant as best I could. Found about 5 caterpillers, mostly small (like 1/5 the size of the big one). There has to be more as they are quite camouflaged. This will force me to harvest the plant this weekend, probably on Sunday. Trimmed the fan leaves off today in preparation, so I'll I need to do then is cut the base and hang it.

Same pic as above but without the flash, just sunlight.

The big caterpillar.

Some of the dead budlets, pulled from the plant. They are quite crystally, so should still be quite good.

All trimmed up...

Here are the leaves cut.

 

[Propa Gator]

Get that caterpillars hookah. You got the bud bandit's booty

 

[Munki]

Get that caterpillars hookah. You got the bud bandit's booty

Do you think that when I harvest the plant and hang it to dry that any remaining caterpillars will drop out and search for a live plant? Figured once the juices stop flowing, they will search for a fresh meal.

 

[Propa Gator]

I'd tent that suka with a NPS overnight. Dry cleaner bag, or something.
Namaste did some research and said that nothing bad stays in the herb, even late like this.

 

[Goldengoose7]

Sorry to see you got some BUG issues going on. That always sucks!

Propa Gator offers good advice!

 

[Munki]

Sigh. I hoped to never use a Hot Shot No Pest Strip, but I think I'll give it a go. Will make a trip to Home Depot tomorrow morning.

 

[Propa Gator]

NPS kinda laughs at 'Al Naturale', but...
Bud thieves must pay for their deeds.
Allowing them to crawl away to greener pastures is... unsatisfying.
They come back around for more. With their kin

 

[Munki]

NPS kinda laughs at 'Al Naturale', but...
Bud thieves must pay for their deeds.
Allowing them to crawl away to greener pastures is... unsatisfying.
They come back around for more. With their kin

No place for them to go though as I do not run a perpetual operation. They exist on our bougainvillea plants where birds and wasps feed on them. I think they fell from the vines onto my plant a while back. I'll be more careful next time and may fashion a screen cover to protect a small plant like this in the future, but if I just harvested this and the caterpillars fell out, they would have no where to go. I would find them easily in my drying tent.

 

[Munki]

Greetings & Salutations, my simian friend.

Here comes the biologist avatar, Ganjananda gone wilde. These 'bud worms' are really larval moths that can tolerate or thrive on cannabis flowers and their attendant medicated goo, particularly the white cabbage moth, but other moths/butterflies lay their eggs on our ladies also. Any white moths in the garden that can be killed should be killed before they get a chance to lay eggs that develop into their larval form. If you're worried about karma, eat them, my youngest daughter had a taste for them when she was young [~2-3 YO] and she has given me three grandchildren, none of them with moth-borne pyschosis, so they are harmless to us, but not our crops.

IPM [integrated pest management] is something that you should familiarize yourself with, this link will get you going [UCD & UCSD are both big on horticulture].
UC Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program
The following link will set you free, it is about a bacterium, Bacillus thuringiensis that parasitizes only larval Lepidopterans [moths and buterflies]. You spray these microcritters on the plant, the bugs eat them, quit eating, and drop dead. The stuff is extremely safe, but educate youself for free, @ UCSD.
Bacillus thuringiensis

Remember my little lean-to greenhouse that I sent you last year? That was built to stop these freeloaders, not for stealth.

They will dropout when the plant is hung, but you want to get all of them out before you chop. A Q-tip can be used to clean out the boring channel, as you have found, tissue necrosis is caused by their feces and this feces has fungi in it that can spread over the whole bud, so keep them clean. Every bit of brown [necrotic bud] should be removed and I wouldn't recommend smoking it.

Plant is looking good,


B

Been a long time, Ganja Ananda. Thanks for checking in with my journal. I think you are right regarding it being white moths as I thought I saw one take off from the plant when I was going over it yesterday afternoon. They hide all over the backyard and come out at night.

Wish you were here sooner so I could have gotten this bacterium earlier. Happen to know a source for this bacterium or will I find it in the link provided above?

I found this on the web...

"There are many types of caterpillars which are usually the larval (caterpillar of a grub) stage of moths such as cabbage moth (Plutella xylostella)and small cabbage white butterfly (Pieris rapae). Cabbage white butterfly is white with distinct black spots on the wings and is around 40mm across. The cabbage moth is greyish and small and is around 10mm across. The moths and butterflies lay their eggs on the underside of leaves. The larvae of caterpillars hatch from the eggs and then feed on the leaves or fruit, so it’s the caterpillar of the cabbage white butterfly or cabbage moth which does the damage. The blue-green smooth textured caterpillar is that of the cabbage white butterfly, while the caterpillar which is green-brown is that of the cabbage moth. They both start eating the outer leaves before moving to the inner heart of the cabbage. It is a good idea to try and either pick off the caterpillars or spray them when they are still on the outside of the leaf, before they tunnel into the heart. Plants favoured by cabbage moth and cabbage white butterfly include cabbage, broccoli, Brussel sprouts, Chinese cabbage, celery, beetroot, rocket and watercress."

By looking at the caterpillar, I'd say it was the moth over the butterfly, but the treatment should still be the same.

BTW, did your daughter eat the caterpillars or moths?

 

[Mr Smith]

Sorry to hear about the bug problem, good thing the plant is finished.

 

[Munki]

Sorry to hear about the bug problem, good thing the plant is finished.

The more I dig into the plant, the more caterpillars and damage I find. Learned another lesson about pests in my area. May cost me the plant though. I start trying to clean it but get depressed when I pull a part off and find a caterpillar with fecal matter. Really bummed about this right now as I've realized I waited too long to treat this problem effectively.

Still worth it to journal and see the how it grew over time. Don't have too much money invested in the plant, so no problem there either unlike indoor grows.

 

[Xlr8]

Crazy question, but would water curing the bud remove any of the nasties in there? I've heard it works wonders for bud with mold issues, etc... Just a crazy thought - thought I'd see if anyone had any insight.

Really sorry to hear about the f%*#%ing caterpillar, Munki. I've had major losses before, and it can make your heart sink. Nice grow and journal, I hope you can salvage something from it. Take care my friend, and keep you chin up - this was a great journal either way. X

 

[Mr. Krip]

@ Ganja - What a great post! +REPS!!!

Munki, sorry to hear about the pest problems! I bet you're missing the indoor growing right about now.

Like XLR8 said, it was a great journal and a great learning experience for all of us.

 

[Munki]

I'll be posting pics later today, but the situation initially looks very bad. Seeing grey mold on the main stem after easily pulling a bud off has made my heart sink.

I did a dry fogger in my 2 x 4 tent with the plant in there last night. Looking on the box, it mentions "No oily residue on surfaces" but also upon closer inspection, it also states it has "fresh scent". Bombed it at 10 PM and retrieved it at 7:30 AM. Plant no longer smells of its wonderful, fruity scent. Does not smell like anything I would want to ingest anymore. That may fade, but with all the other issues I've seen already, the best thing I'll probably harvest is knowledge.

Really depressed right now. Will share more later.

 

[Mr. Krip]

That really sucks, Brother, and I'm sorry to hear it. On the bright side, it was only one plant, an auto, that didn't look to be a huge producer. Plus, you didn't spend a ton of money on electric to grow her....

Here...let me give you a hug....

 

[Vapedogg223]

about the bad news Munki, that sucks...I guess this shows that no matter how sexy a lady might look on the street, you never know whats lurking under the surface!

I made a couple attempts at water curing, and while the result was smokable, and got me high, it was very harsh. I say a couple attempts, because the first time it was so harsh I thought I did something wrong, so I tried it again. I mentioned it on a thread about water curing and someone else had the same experience.

Life is too short to smoke harsh weed, so I gave my water cured buds to a friend. I believe he used them for edibles with great results.