Do you have a plan? It’s not a matter of if; it’s a matter of when you will get pests. Prevention of pests is impossible, and so is eradication. This is why it is called pest management. A grower must assume that they already have pests and do what you can to ensure that you don’t have a severe outbreak that can devastate your medical garden.
When you make these management practices a part of your regular cultivation routine, it becomes integrated pest management (IPM). This doesn’t mean that you spray chemicals and other unhealthy additives on your plants, and you certainly wouldn’t want to spray anything dangerous on the flowers that are destined for patients, but what options does that leave?
Maintaining plant health is your primary deterrent. Avoid over-watering, under-watering, and over-fertilization. Watching to ensure that no plants become root bound will also help keep plant health in tune. Beyond this, avoiding the urge to adopt cutting from others and being vigilant during the fall pest invasion will all go a long way toward keeping your indoor garden safe from infestation. I caution new growers against ‘pushing’ their garden with nutrients – one hard nutrient burn and the plants will sicken and become much more vulnerable to pests.
There is more to it than this however. For example, rotating weekly sprays is a good idea given that the worst pests like to feast on your leaves. The most basic spray is pure water. These ‘plant showers’ physically wash off pests and disturb their ability to setup shop on the leaves. When possible, I give the plants a shower before applying other sprays. However, beyond the second week of flower I tend to avoid foliar sprays in order to prevent moisture and other additives from accumulating in the buds.
LABlactic acid bacteria More sprays are effective because encouraging these bacteria to colonize the leaf surface can be a deterrent, especially for molds and mildews. They are also inexpensive (you can brew your own) and extremely safe. After all, LABslactic acid bacteria serum More can be found all around and inside of us. Probiotics designed for humans are LABslactic acid bacteria serum More. These also make a great soil drench and are a fundamental component of healthy soil biology. As a bonus, they work to create more nutrition for your plants!
Potassium Silica are effective sprays as it coats the leaves like armor. The plant then absorbs silica and uses it to thicken it’s cell walls all over the plant. These thick cell walls make it more difficult for molds to adhere (literally) to the leaf surface and it is likewise more work for a bug to puncture the cell walls to suck out the plant juices they crave.
Aloe Vera is the third spray/drench that I use in my regime to provide some basic protections and boost plants health. Aloe contains numerous compounds that work to improve the condition of the soil, plant roots, and the immune system of the plant itself. Aloe also doubles as an excellent all-natural cloning solution as it contains natural rooting hormones.
In summary – the cannabis cultivator will do well to ensure their plants have a variety of inputs (other than nutrients) that will help give cannabis all the basic components it needs to remain robust and healthy throughout its lifecycle. I must reiterate that plant health is, by far, the number one best way to keep pests at bay in your medical garden. Follow that mantra and you will have big, beautiful plants with lush foliage.
Stay tuned for our next article on pest management regarding BioControls.
Happy Harvests!
— The Lit Farmer —
