Target Pests
Using pesticides can kill your plants or crop just as readily as the pests that were attacking it! Likwise a failed pesticide screening wastes your efforts. You have alternatives to controlling problems with chemicals. Beneficial insects and predatory mites can help.
Click on one of the target pests below for more information about how to defend your garden from this pest:
Aphids
What to look for: Reduced growth, honeydew, and their common companion: ants!
- Significant rate of reproduction.
- Success using biocontrols requires an early start and regular maintenance.
Broad Mites
What to Look for: Distorted growth.
- Small size makes ID difficult.
- Eggs are covered in 'jewel-like' tuberacles.
Fungus Gnats
What to look for: Gnats with distinct 'Y' vein on wings.
- Black-headed larvae, which feed on roots.
- Fungus gnats are attracted to persistently wet soils.
Hemp Russet Mites
What to look for: Leaf 'taco'-ing or yellowing at leaf edges.
- Easily spread onto clones, clothing, and will travel on the wind.
- Invisible to the naked eye.
What to look for: Leaf chlorosis (yellowing) and reduction in yield.
- Both winged and non-winged aphid adults crawl around pots and stems.
- Spread primarily through contaminated soil.
Two-Spotted Spider Mites
What to look for: Leaf stippling and webbing.
- Spider mites thrive in high heat and low humidity.
What to look for: Blotchy feeding damage and black spots from frass (waste products).
- Thrips have 5 distinct life cycles, making control complex.
- Incredibly high reproductive potential makes early action critical.
