CAN I TREAT MY PLANTS WITH PESTICIDE?
You will hear MANY pros and cons on this subject, the simple answer is YES. As long as your plants is NOT flowering and you use something that is not so dangerous to your environment. Your basic vegetable pesticide for tomatoes if fine. It will not hurt your young plants and it is GOOD to give them a little on occasions at first sign of pest. Just read the INSTRUCTIONS. When I use pesticide, I go STRICTLY by the direction for tomatoes.
WHAT CAN I TREAT THEM WITH IF THEY ARE FLOWERING?
There is stuff available but the ONLY one I have ever used was Insecticidal Soap. I find the best treatment is observation of plants.
FERTILIZATION.
I personally use several different kinds. I "DRY" treat when there is a lot of rain. Basic 20-20-20. 50 lb bag goes a good ways, and fairly easy toting in duffle bag. When it?s dry I water with Fish Emulsion for vegging. For flower I use Jamaican bat guano. I also use Triple super phosphate {also A dry treatment}.
WARNING! Must be careful! This stuff will burn/ kill a plant if too much is applied, but damn the size of the buds.
DEER.
Deer like to have a SAFE zone and are also VERY smart. You will see many posts about hair, urine etc.. This all works until the Deer becomes wise to your ways, and they will! Deer are constantly hunted by dogs. Deer know just when its hunting season and throwing pee, hair etc.. will not fool them long.
The absolute best animal control if one can get it is: Tiger, cougar, lion crap . It does not take much. Sun dry and put it in little pouches, {ends of old socks} then hang these little pouches in and around grow area low in the surrounding brush. Look for the deer rub, as shown in picture. Now you start peeing on THAT tree!!!! Or take you a nice DUMP right by it, and plant your MJ close to it.
That buck rub in picture is where I like to take a pee, and then I plant MJ there in "his" territory. Doe are not going to be hanging there, only other Buck looking for a fight and are not worrying about EATING. So I guess the Moral to the story is... Deer are smart indeed, but ?man? is the master that will figure out how to exist and cultivate right in their back yard with the "buck" actually watching over the MJ. It?s crazy but it works for me.
BIRDS OF PREY.
These are my best friends. It is WISE to look for BOP. This includes nest, feeding areas, breeding grounds... The Red Wing Hawk is common in most areas. Though they hunt in the daytime, they will help keep the rats and rabbits away to some degree. Same with Red Tailed Hawk. They like to feed on bigger game like rabbits but they will eat a BIG wood rat. Any kind of Hoot Owl, these are BETTER yet, as they are night hunters. Most Rodents eat your MJ at night, so keep that in mind as well. Most of these birds like to hunt/ breed/ nest in open enough areas that should do well for MJ.
Other birds that are helpful to the GG is as follows.
Blue Jay: They got big mouths, and will alert the GG to any thing or body that is nosing around. They get used to YOU being there.
Crows/ Ravens: Same thing but LISTEN and LEARN, these guys are VERY helpful and a lot smarter than other birds. They will tell you many things once you get the knack for it. They will even TRACK and caw on a moving target; ie. LEO if he's coming.
Wrens: Now these little birds will alert you to Mr. Snake. Don?t want to get snake bit in swamp now do ya? The list could go on and on, but I hope you get the picture. Just take the time to learn your birds if you area the serious GG.
INSECTS.
When planting the high ground in the swamp, you could have ant problems. Black ants, Red ants, Piss Ants! They will also want to get up away from the water as the rainy season sets in. They build a bed around trunk of small MJ plant and will eat the tender bark until the plant is "rung" around bottom. Andro Ant killer Ants will pop up any time, especially after a hard rain.
SLIME BUG. I?m sure there is a fancy name for this next critter, I call it A slime bug. They hang out at ground level and hollow out the side of MJ stalk. They make slime/ foam looking stuff that they hide in to keep away from predators. They are mushy red/ black looking things. Easy to spot and fairly easy to deal with, observation is best.
Grasshoppers can be pesky no doubt. In most cases GHs will only eat leaves, but a big GH can eat the top of a small plant rather easy. There is MANY kinds of GHs that will eat your MJ. I find that treating with basic garden pesticide is about the best GH protection, providing your plants are not flowering. Unless you have an army of "garden" spiders the GG will encounter GHs on a daily basis.
There is not to many Spiders that can help the GG. However there is some good ones, mainly the Garden spider. The GG can re-locate spiders to patches. Most spiders will make their webs at the edge of patches once moved to location.
Note: When handling spiders I use two sticks for transporting. It is good to feed them once you see a web to make their move easier.
Ladybugs are good for eating the smaller pest such as Fly Larva that lay their larva under the fan leaves. Ladybugs do not last VERY long when you take them to patches. I find it?s a waste of good time, OBSERVATION is your best insect control.
The Praying Mantis is also a good one. These will most likely stay right on or in your plant. They eat MANY things, including your spiders, so be sure and separate them. The Praying Mantis is the over all best insect for the GG. They will stay on location fairly easy and they will eat many things. They are fun to watch and will grow very big for an insect.
I have Tick bites that have been with me for better part of five years. They actually reoccur when I get hot and sweaty, especially one on the inside of lower right leg where my boots rub. Ticks can be a POTENTIAL killer. The "Chippawa Snake Boots" with my pants leg down inside repel a lot of Ticks as this is a MAJOR route the Tick likes to take. So at least put your pants leg in your socks.
The main thing is to check your entire body as much as possible, in particular around and base of skull/ hair. I have found that if you can get the Ticks off quickly and not let them stay attached for 24-48 hours, the bite is just another bite. Do not be ashamed to strip naked and SEARCH your entire body on a DAILY basis. Pubic area/ Balls too, the whole nine yards. If at all possible, immediately after getting home take a VERY hot shower and scrub clean.
MOLD/ BUD ROT & WORMS.
Most of the problems I have are with bud worms and mold. Well these worms help cause mold and rot. The worms not only eat the buds but they crap on them as well. So ya gotta find them turds to find the worm. The mold can be cut way back by giving the plants a good shaking in the morning dew. This is what the bug crap mixes with to cause the damage.
Butterfly turds are much like the worm turds. The smaller brown/white moths that fly thick in the swamp was at one time the little bud eating worm that devastate MJ by eating and craping down deep in the flowers. It?s not uncommon for several different kinds of butterfly's to land on growing MJ in one days time.
All this stuff will contribute to BUD ROT.
When you see ANY mold/bud rot, cut it off ASAP, sometimes you may have to remove the entire branch. If you do not cut it away, you could run the risk of it spreading. A lot of rain and HOT days will also cause mold/ rot. It is GOOD to thoroughly shake rain/ dew off MJ whenever possible if flowering.
