Budworms Are Back Again, Please Help

Hey everyone,

Its been awhile since last post. Last years harvest was ok...it could have been better if I knew what to look for with these freaking budworm...they did major damage.

I have spent lots of hours online looking for a way to kill these low life, good for nothing pests...and it cant be done. Tabacco farmers also have problems dealing with them and they still have not found a way to kill them completely. That BT stuff helps a little but does not completly work.

Ok...here is the problem that I need help with. This year I know what to look for...and sure enough I found the hole in the stem where the little shit is living. I found a thin wire and pushed it into the hole to try and kill it, which I think I did....however...

The stem now has a hole in it and I dont know what I should cover/plug the hole with? I dont want to leave the hole open because who knows what else might decide to climb in it.

So if anyone has some good ideas on what I could use to either wrap around the stem to cover it or what I could put into hole to patch it.


Thanks for the help,
Jon

im in norcal so my flowers are pretty fat i cant spray them now right? cause i just saw my first damage

rezo said:

im in norcal so my flowers are pretty fat i cant spray them now right? cause i just saw my first damage

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i spray up until a week before harvest. starting as soon as buds start forming.

put a band aid around the hole ( wound)

fdd you know your shit .. so thank you i will make a trip to the shop today much respect and appreciation for the veteran growers here.
you guys got me from 8 oz off 16 plants under a 1000w hps to 1.25lb off 9 plants under 1 1000w hps all by using the knowlege from this site

rezo said:

fdd you know your shit .. so thank you i will make a trip to the shop today much respect and appreciation for the veteran growers here.
you guys got me from 8 oz off 16 plants under a 1000w hps to 1.25lb off 9 plants under 1 1000w hps all by using the knowlege from this site

Click to expand...

glad we could help.

For future grows you may wish to try what lots of gardeners do to combat Squash Vine Borers on their zucchinis (these buggers also bore into the stem). A master gardener suggested taking a syringe earlier in the season and injecting BT into the stem. Because these types of larvae EAT the inside of the stem, topical treatments don't really work on them and require precise timing. She had had significant success with *injecting* the stems with BT. I didn't find this out early enough to ressurect my zucchini plants this year, but am planning to try it next year and I can imagine it might be a help against Budworms too.

Good luck, bro.