On average, how much % of your harvest is lost to carerpillars?

As stated on title!

0%

0% to caterpillars, 10-20% to budrot though

Why not treat your plants with BT or spinosad? I hate toxic pesticides, but there is no reason not to use one of the many effective harmless solutions. For budrot, prevention is the best cure!

Rurumo said:

Why not treat your plants with BT or spinosad? I hate toxic pesticides, but there is no reason not to use one of the many effective harmless solutions. For budrot, prevention is the best cure!

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BT will only prevent bud rot caused by caterpillars but nothing else. Spinosad will make your harvest fail testing, even if only sprayed in very early flower.

waterproof808 said:

BT will only prevent bud rot caused by caterpillars but nothing else. Spinosad will make your harvest fail testing, even if only sprayed in very early flower.

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Wrong bt will kill the Caterpillar before it causes bud rot.

I never said BT was to prevent bud rot, I only mentioned bud rot because sirtalis brought it up. I would never spray spinosad once buds are forming at all, like I said, PREVENTION people. You should start an IPM program from day one, not wait until you are losing your plants. If you stay on top of things early, your plants will be able to hold out through flower.

See green said:

Wrong bt will kill the Caterpillar before it causes bud rot.

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aka preventing bud rot CAUSED by caterpillars. same difference

Iv never let it get like that My first outdoor harvest had bud worms and even then. Less than 1%. But never again since then.

0% so far (knock on wood). But I inspect plants daily and remove any eggs immediately before they hatch. Occasionally remove cats by hand but don't often see them. If I see any I spray Bt.

Lost 50% last season due to rot caused by caterpillar droppings.

I did not spray anything.

Same as above - 0% to caterpillars.

10-20% to budrot depending on annual rainfall and/or frost.
I'm on northeast coast and try to get as far into Nov as I can before harvesting. Those Oct rains and saltwater fog can be a bitch.

For preventatives I rotate -
Venerate (replaced Spinosad due the toxicity to the bees)
Bti (Bacillus thuringiensis)
Regalia
Cease (Bacillus subtilis)

Varies a lot according to the strain. Part of my long term plan is to select for plants that deal well with the myriad of issues out door growers in Oklahoma face. And then hit those plants with ones that have the terps and potency you are looking for! I would guess 5 to 20%.

Last year it was 50% of one plant when the caterpillars caught my ass ‘slippin. Fortunately, she started flowering in June way ahead of the rest and I was able to spray my other girls down with BT.

waterproof808 said:

BT will only prevent bud rot caused by caterpillars but nothing else. Spinosad will make your harvest fail testing, even if only sprayed in very early flower.

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What do you mean by, “fail testing”? Admit my ignorance with regard to this. Spinosad is organic and not unlike BT, and has a very good human safety profile, and is a bacteria driven pesticide solution.

Warfox said:

What do you mean by, “fail testing”? Admit my ignorance with regard to this. Spinosad is organic and not unlike BT, and has a very good human safety profile, and is a bacteria driven pesticide solution.

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It is banned for use in cannabis cultivation in California and several other states. I’m not sure the reasoning behind it, but I have heard of lots of producers failing testing because they used spinosad in early flower, I think some have even failed for using it in late veg.

waterproof808 said:

It is banned for use in cannabis cultivation in California and several other states. I’m not sure the reasoning behind it,

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It kills bees

@OGGanjaPatient I’m in Eastern Canada and I haven’t lost any to caterpillars; yet anyway. Only my third year outside but there sure seems to be a lot more egg masses from moths on my plants than the last 2 years. I picked a half dozen or so egg masses off today and I’ve been doing that a few times a month. I‘m not spraying with anything, but if I do I usually use aerosol pyrethrin.

I'm finding that BT sprays right after the sunshine doesn't hit my plants anymore is perfect. About 6pm for me. It gives them about 4 hours to dry before the temps really drop, and the caterpillars come out at night to feast.

I have a plant about 6 weeks in flower and I'm still spraying. I mix it with Garden Friendly Fungicide as a budrot + caterpillar killer.

Yes I agree spraying right after the sun is off them is the best time I have found. I have been using the cease biofungicide for botrytis and pm prevention. along with the bt.