I am on my second outdoor season (last time I did this was 1990 or so one season had tremendous results). Last year everything was going fine until late summer. I noticed some of the buds were dying. Figured out it was inchworms eating into the branches, sucking the liquid out of the plant and anything past their feeding would turn black. I started harvesting the caterpillars
at night but this was nuts. Tented with ag cloth and this stopped any new infestation but getting rid of the first infestation was tiresome. It cut my yield by +30% I’d say. Figured out I could use BT (Bacillus thuringiensis another naturally occurring bacteria from the soil) with no harm to the plant or humans. Didn’t try to use Neem oil due to the residue.
Has anyone had this experience and what should I do to prevent it this season besides tenting for the whole season? Anyone have any experience with Captain Jack’s Dead Bug Brew on cannabis? The active ingredient in Dead Bug Brew is a naturally occurring bacteria called Spinosad. Anyone use Neem oil for outdoor grows or BT?
Here are a few shots from last year.
Thanks.
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Thank you for joining us!
Amazing photos. How long have you been growing for?
We have the Growing and Learning section where you can ask questions and mark off the best answers as solved solutions!
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I’ve grown in SoCal outdoors and the worms were the hardest challenge. Neem oil in veg, BT during flower is about the best you can do. At least you caught them early enough. The real damage they cause is bud rot due to them eating and defecating inside the flower structure. You won’t even see it till you harvest. I’ve tossed whole plants before.
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Hello James.
Thanks for pointing me to growing and learning for the future. Do you know anything about accounts and posting in the community? The site would not let me log into the community after I changed my email. It kept telling me my user name was taken (by me). I tried the number on the site but it will not ring. Customer service is a bit obtuse and has nothing about account issues. I got the seeds I ordered which is nice. Can you point me in the right direction for a contact to rectify my account for the community? Thanks.
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Oh forgot. As I mentioned this is only my second season coming up. I did this once before in the 80s for one season.
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Hi @RickyBobbi please can you send you me a direct message with the email you want associated with your Seedsman.com / Community account and I can sort that out for you.
They should be the same 
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