Help! Theres light green worms eating my plant!

[z.capton]

I found 2, picked them off, killed them. They are eating the leafs, they have destroyed about 20 leafs, ate holes in most of em, but big and multiple holes. I only found 2, when I looked em up, an I picked them off an squished one, then the other, I sprayed my 3-in-1 organic poison on it (Which I used for spider-mites about a month ago, an it worked) an it didnt kill him. I sprayed him directly, an he lived another 10min or so, then I sprayed more an it finally killed him after about 20 minutes or longer, an it took a lot, so I dont think spraying the plant down with it will help, since it took that much an direct contact.

I dont know what to do, theres only 1 plant... so if anyone has had this problem, please let me know what you did. I cant pick them all off, because they camouflage into the leafs, they are almost impossible to see, especially since there are still baby leafs sprouting, they look like those new leafs coming in... an they are the same exact color, that rich, lime green, that your new leafs are when they sprout.

I have to imagine there is more then 2, I looked the plant over for a good half hour, but only found those two. Any advice, past experience with them, would be gladly appreciated! Also, how did these come about to my plant, it has been indoor since day 1. Im now 3 days into flowering... thanks!

They look like caterpillars. Here is a direct link to a google image of one...

http://www.dicts.info/img/ud/inchworm.jpg

 

[darkdestruction420]

get a toothpick and check every single node and under every single leaf by moving em around to look, the worms will move if you poke em or touch em at all so it makes it easier to find em. start at the top and work your way down. i had this problem b4 and thats what i did and i killed like 6 of em but never saw another one the whole grow after that. spray the plants with the organic pesticide for the next week or 2(or longer if u are still worried some eggs might still be alive). kill the adults manually btw. dont bother spraying the adults, stuff always says its supposed to kill on contact but usually it takes 20+minutes if at all, just use it to kill the eggs.......

 

[ghostsamurai25]

Those organic sprays arent suppose to kill on contact, what they do is block the bug from eating and they eventually die.
At least thats what I got from my safer bottle.

 

[captain insaneo]

2 words neem and pyrethrum, pyrethrins cause bugs to loose the waxy coating on their shell/ skin causing them to dehydrate and loose the ability to thermoregulate, neem tastes fucking nasty believe me you only get that in your mouth once. Bugs 1 hate the taste of neem too and 2 it interrupts their ability to molt and grow this causes them to either move on or starve to death. You can buy both individually or find a product that has both like neem py by natures garden. but for it to be effective you need to spray both sides of the leaves top and bottom! or the little fuckers go hide on the bottom.

 

[sweetcheese]

2 words neem and pyrethrum,

This is great advice, but can you use these products on buds?

I am a neophyte when it comes to using any kind of poison on plants, cos I never had to, I do a bug hunt once a week but thats easy for me cos I only have a few plants and they are all LST'd. Bigger plants need spraying, but whats safe and effective when in flower?

Maybe its helpful to also describe how I usually deal with these pests: I got a set of dental probes cheaply from ebay. I find these indespensible for examining buds and leaves closely without causing too much damage.

The pic you have supplied shows a diff species of caterpillar to the ones I have. Mine are leaf rollers, called as such because they roll the leaves and stick them together then drain the goodness from the inside before moving on to the next leaf. They don't move in that distinctive "inchworm" way

Looking for them in the dead or damaged leaves is futile; instead, look up from below the plant. Rollers make a fine silk that they use to bind the leaves and buds and this can be spotted more easily from below with a light source above.

If your plant is vegging its just a question of looking for these sticky parcels of fresh foliage and unwrapping them carefully and murdering the little pot head piller inside.

If your plant is budding you have a bigger problem as they love buds more than you do. Again, check the leaves first (I actually tag the branches with bits of wire so I know I have checked it and I don't waste hours on the job).

Then look at the buds. A good sign that a nug is being attacked is if its looking in any way stressed or smaller than the others. I also found that a dying bud will turn amber prematurely, another sign that theres a muncher in it.

Very gently pry the bud open. If you see strands of web silk or stuck rolled and glued leaves, you have a caterpillar.

When it comes to fight or flight these guys won't bite your arm off. They have three preffered methods of retreat. Favourite is to worm further into the bud which can be a pain if its a huge nug, you will have to chase the little scrote around, or, if your nug is sturdy enough, give it a pinch and squash the parasite inside. Gross I know, but at least your bud will survive.

The second method of retreat; Our hero will simply bail. This is not good as he will survive and attack the next branch. If he does this and you lose him, shake the tree quick and see if he drops.

Third method is pathetic, he tries to lower himself on a strand of silk. Sucker. Natural selection isn't smiling on this one. Capture him, torture him, kill him. Take him out of the gene pool with ext prej.

Some advice that I have read elsewhere: The moths of some species lay eggs which become caterpillars, these look like black specs that can be removed easily, but I havent seen these myself. You could also cover your plants with mosquito nets to keep the egg laying moths and other pests away.

I'm also into encouraging spiders to live in my plants, I don't know how effective they are, but I can't think of a more organic pest control. I will go in the garden later on a recruitment drive. Create an elite private army of arachnids and set them up in a control plant and monitor the results.

 

[Brett Brown]

I found a few dead spots on my buds of my plant and the buds are very developed now and when I saw a dead spot on the buds(which I examine daily) I opened up the bud and found a green catipillar about an inch long. and then another one about 1/4 inch long in the same place inside the buds and I saw a dead zone or area and that was what made me check. Now I have 4 clones that i plnted outside after they were big enough and now I saw when i was inspecting the now forming buds on those and saw a few little white balls with holes on the top of the balls are those the moth or butterfly eggs that are hatching after they get consumed by the buds and eat there way out? or does anyone know what these white little balls are that are about the size of a pin head and i saw them as i was inspecting the buds and they were on the small leaves that eventually get covered by the buds as they grow and then do they hatch and start eating through the buds? because there are none on the leaves or on the stems just right near the small bud center on the small sugar leaves and eventually they seem were they are located that they will get covered up by the growing buds!!!! they are never on the stems or outside of the big fan leaves!!!!!!

 

[stumpjumper]

Gahh I just killed two of them little green bastards on one of my plants. I happened to notice a couple leaves with holes chewed in them and a silky web all over it. I thought "SHIT MITES" but it wasn't shit mites, it was just a couple of these bugs who for chopped in half with my fiskars.

 

[nick17gar]

yes. use bug spray. i used "safer" when i had some bugs and it doesnt kill them, but a few days later they are gone. its safe to use, and you should. im sure its safer then bugs lol. either way, you can always spray with a lil water when your sure the bugs are all gone (turn off HID lamps til they dry)

 

[dante76]

here are some moth traps out there at like homedepot/lowes. I would also recommend using a mosquito net like the one below...although its quite late now to start using this, i would recommend every outdoor grower use these going forward...they work better on shorter plants (indica) because they aren't very long in height. i might consider doing a double layer just to be safe. They are mesh so light/air will go in and keep the bad bugs out..you can even but ladybugs or other beneficial bugs (trichogamma wasps for killing catepillar eggs) in with this too!!

you need to check bud worms as well...thats how they start and move out of the bud to continue feeding. I also would suggest that you go through every single bud especially the tips. you'll have to bend back the buds on your colas to see whats going on... i don't think any foliar could penetrate that deep...highly impossible. i'm doing this and its no easy task...very time consuming...make sure you under a bright light because newly hatched worms are hard to see but you've gotta find them or else.

I never hated butterflies and moths so much until now!!

 

[Wetdog]

Get a product with BT in it, there are many and Safers is just one. Dipel is another. Lowes, HD, or any garden shop. Organic and natural.

BT=Bacillus Thuringiensis A naturally occurring bacillus that only affects caterpillars. They ingest it, it locks up their gut and they die. Totally harmless to anything else.

I've used it for better than 30 years and have ingested a fair amount also. I like to eat tomatoes right off the vine and my tomato plants always have some applied for tomato hornworms.

You can do all that crazy shit, or just apply this stuff and let nature take its course.

Wet

 

[dante76]

i thought of doing this and bought some from Home Depot..but after realizing how deep the worms are in the bud..the foliars can't get that deep unless you dip it in it....seriously they are deep in the bud...they practically crawl along the stem under the bud...no foliar can get that deep just by spraying...

the worms will eventually come out of the bud but by then..they've done damage that can't be recovered.

trust me...i'm going through this as i speak...BT does work for regular catepillars no doubt but you can't get budworms this way until they come out of the bud..but if you wait till they come out the damage is already done.

just my 2 cents..

 

[dante76]

those white things are the eggs...trichogamma wasp kill these. you can order them from planetnatural.com for like$ 20 bucks but that won't keep moths from laying new eggs...get a mosquito net.

 

[Brett Brown]

Get a product with BT in it, there are many and Safers is just one. Dipel is another. Lowes, HD, or any garden shop. Organic and natural.

BT=Bacillus Thuringiensis A naturally occurring bacillus that only affects caterpillars. They ingest it, it locks up their gut and they die. Totally harmless to anything else.

I've used it for better than 30 years and have ingested a fair amount also. I like to eat tomatoes right off the vine and my tomato plants always have some applied for tomato hornworms.

You can do all that crazy shit, or just apply this stuff and let nature take its course.

Wet

One big Question? after you get the catepillars out or dead are the buds they leave behind useless? or can they be dried and smoked? are the buds harmful or deadly after they are dead or removed? cause if so these little bastards have ruined one whole plants worth of bud. Mostly in the top of the cola. like they had been planted there before the buds grew and then when they grew they engulfed the eggs and then they hatched way inside. Please let me know If you can if the buds are still good or should i cut them off the plant and get rid of them???? Thank You, BB2112!!!!! Thjank You for the help much appreciated!!!!!

 

[Brett Brown]

i thought of doing this and bought some from Home Depot..but after realizing how deep the worms are in the bud..the foliars can't get that deep unless you dip it in it....seriously they are deep in the bud...they practically crawl along the stem under the bud...no foliar can get that deep just by spraying...

the worms will eventually come out of the bud but by then..they've done damage that can't be recovered.

trust me...i'm going through this as i speak...BT does work for regular catepillars no doubt but you can't get budworms this way until they come out of the bud..but if you wait till they come out the damage is already done.

just my 2 cents..

I just wanted to know if you get the catepillars out before too much damage can the buds still be used? I will use this stuff but can the buds be dried and smoked after you put that stuff on them ? I just wanted to know if i should be worried to use the buds after they have been cleaned out and that stuff is applied. Can you use what's left? I found them early because I saw the eggs. so i took an egg off and put it in a cup with newly cut leaves and it turned into a catepillar, so i looked on the plant everyday and started seeing little dried white hairs that were dry premature and I pulled backl the bud with a toothpick and saw the little bastards chewing there way through the inside of the buds. So the outside and most of the buds are still good if i got all the eggs out. But if they are still intact can they be dried and smoked after they are cleaned out and that stuff appleid or should I cut off the bud and disguard the buds that have been affected? Thank You, BB2112!!!!!!! appreciate all everyones help!!!!!!!!

 

[dante76]

some of the buds were ruined such as the one below...some are ok...just depends on the size of the catepillar/budworm. when they are small they are black...this green one grew quite a bit from the larvae stage. Some of mine were real small and had virtually no damage and maybe 5 tips of my colas were ruined but i would suggest that when you find a cola that has infestation, break it down immediately becuase there can be more than one in there. i had one cola that had 4 or 5 worms in it and it was still salvageable becuase they were still very small.

 

[dante76]

also from what i read before BT will break down in about a weeks time so if you spray it on the plant you won't have to worry about it affecting the flower after you dry/cure. some of my bud i just cleaned and snipped out the dead parts...just use your best judgement...if 1/2 of the bud (not the cola) is eaten, i would trash it.

 

[thewake91]

having the same problem also when i stick a toothpick in the hole they dug little brown ovals are stuck to it.eggs or just pieces of dead bud?

 

[dante76]

not sure but whatever it is...get it out of there..i guarantee its not plant material.

 

[thewake91]

i did more research and im pretty sure its budworm shit. not good.

 

[dante76]

yeah and if you ever seen these black little rocks thats catepillar shit...get that off as well. I use this for an indicator too to know if there's something in the vicinity.