Worm or Caterpillar pest?

W

Wildbilly

420 Member
Hello All,

First time outdoorgrower with 4 seemingly healthy plants. While gazing at what I think is soon to be harvested buds I noticed a small green caterpillar about a 1/2 inch long moving along on the top of one of the buds. It is the only one I have seen and didn't notice any leaf damage.

Any idea on what this little bugger is and do I need to do anything?

Any and all help is appreciated!

Thanks,

Bill

Nor Cal, SF Bay Area

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Caterpillars love to get inside the buds and their turds can cause the buds to rot. They like to munch on leaves too.
You can spray BTK to kill them. It's safe. Otherwise just remove them when you spot them.

Welcome to 420Magazine, @Wildbilly.
:420:
 
Welcome Wildbilly! Yep, get rid of them.
 
Welcome to 420, Wildbilly!:welcome:

Safers brand caterpillar killer will keep them in check- it's BTK, a bacteria that's harmless to everything but caterpillars.
Home Depot, or Lowe's has it.
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Edit: It's BTK, as @Regrowth stated.
Not BTI...BTI is what's in mosquito dunks...
I got my BT's mixed up... :)
 
I think the BTK is a typo and what is needed is Bt which is what is recommended for caterpillars. People using an insecticide for killing caterpillars should double check that what they are trying to get rid of is not something that will grow into a beneficial insect like one of the pollinators including butterflies like the Monarch or Swallowtail.

It could the be lighting and the angle but that looks like one of the maggots or worms that will get into some nuts like Walnuts. Or maybe it is a corn borer which is considered to be a pest for many vegetables and Marijuana flowers or buds.

Bti is a closely related organic insecticide that is great for getting rid of Fungus Gnats in indoor grows and mosquitos in outside ponds and pools.

The trivia for the day is that "BTK" is the nick-name a serial killer gave himself almost 45 years ago. He would taunt the police and the public by saying that BTK meant "Bind, Torture, Kill". Took about 30 years before he got caught and ended up being charged for 10 murders. He was tried in court and sentenced to 10 consecutive life terms. At age 75 he is most of the way through his first life sentence.
 
SCD said:
BT K(kurstaki) is caterpillar specific
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Got it. Most labels just call it Bt in big print on the label and list it in small print as Bt subspecie kurstaki in small print. So, same stuff. And, both the Bt (Btk) and Bti work great for their intended use.
 
The pics show a better one of the caterpillar. Won't be able to take any others since i fed him to my fish! The other pics are when I removed some brown portions on some of the buds. One was a little hollow and had some fine brown dust like particles, not sure what to make of that. The other pic looks like a seed or something that has been split open. Not sure what that is either. Haven't seen any other caterpillars even when I dissected the buds.

Thanks for all your help!

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The brown dust is bud rot. Remove it with trimming scissors and make sure to get it all and wipe the scissors with alcohol after.
 
Hey @Wildbilly and welcome to the forum!

I'm an outdoor greenhouse grower in Hawaii. Occasionally I'll find a caterpillar and just pick him off. Thankfully I haven't needed to use Bt.

If you've got signs of bud rot, that could be very bad. Bud rot tends to creep up and BOOM... you can lose your whole harvest. So, carefully inspect your buds and trim out anything that's infected, as Otter was saying.

The presence of bud rot means you may need to harvest early. What are your trichomes looking like? Do you have a hand-held microscope to view your trichomes?

Lastly, if you have signs of bud rot, you can use hydrogen peroxide solution to help control it. I use 6 fl oz (12 tbsp) 3% drugstore peroxide in 1/2 gal pure water, in the pump sprayer. Spray the whole plant, buds and all. You can do this daily if needed, or every other day, etc.

I have found that if buds are compact and dense, bud rot can be more of a problem. Buds that are more open allow penetration of the peroxide spray.

I hope this helps, and happy growing! 🌞
 
Hi CBD,

Thank you for your reply. I was planning on harvesting yesterday and today but had an issue with my dog so I'll be doing it tomorrow. About 80% of the trichomes are milky white (see pics) so it looks like I should be harvesting right now. If after viewing you think I should wait, please let me know.

Again, thanks for you help!

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Wildbilly said:
Hi CBD,

Thank you for your reply. I was planning on harvesting yesterday and today but had an issue with my dog so I'll be doing it tomorrow. About 80% of the trichomes are milky white (see pics) so it looks like I should be harvesting right now. If after viewing you think I should wait, please let me know.

Again, thanks for you help!

IMG_5455.jpg


IMG_5456.jpg


IMG_5457.jpg


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Click to expand...
I can't tell much from the photos. What I use is a Carson MicroBrite handheld microscope. You can then see the trichomes up close and estimate how many are milky, and how many are amber. I usually go for milky and a few amber, but it's a personal choice. I also deal with bud rot, so sometimes I will harvest early, before the ideal amount of amber trichomes appear.

What is your assessment now re: bud rot?
 
I inspected all the buds and think I have cut out all the rot. From what I can tell there was only a few buds that had it. Also only found 1 other caterpillar. I have a jewelers loupe and a slide out magnifying glass sthat has a light on it that I use to get a close up view. The slide out main glass is 10x but has 2 smaller glasses at 20x and 30x. I think they are strong enough. I'll check out the Carson MicroBrite.

Thanks again!
 
Carson MicroBrite Plus 60x-120x Power LED Lighted Pocket Microscope.
$15

60x works good to view trichomes.

One thing that helps is to pre-focus... i.e. just set it on a table cloth and dial in the focus on the cloth threads. Then when you are examining buds on your plants, don't use the focus knob... just move it slightly in/out to bring the trichomes into view. I made some more comments about all this in another thread, HERE.
 
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