Hi, this is your prof from Indica Institute with another lesson to help guide you with
your cannabis home grow.
Visit me at Indica Institute or my YouTube channel for cannabis related courses, lessons,
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Hi and welcome to my tips and tricks guide on how to control and prevent pests from infesting
your cannabis garden.
The objective of this lesson is to learn what beneficial insects or ‘bio controls’ are,
how they can benefit your garden, some important considerations before implementing, and what
beneficials are best for your grow.
All links mentioned in this video can be found in the video description, along with a link
to Indica Institute where you can find a growing list of cannabis related courses and recommendations
for your grow.
Contrary to the beliefs of some, not all insects are problematic for your garden.
In fact, ridding your garden of all insects can be more problematic than creating one
that is more in line with the practice of permaculture.
Beneficial insects, or bio controls allow your plants to thrive in the most eco-friendly
and organic way possible.
Introducing a host of beneficial insects into your garden will help ecologically prevent
pests from harming your plants, a technique that is being practiced at even the highest
levels of cannabis production.
The benefits of bio controls are that it is a proactive approach to pest control.
This means your plants will be rid of pests before they manage to even be harmed.
Secondly, most beneficials simply involve opening a package or sprinkling them on soil
or your plants- so their use and application is far less labour intensive than most pest
control options.
Thirdly, using bio controls keeps your plants chemical free for consumption, as well as
much more beneficial for the environment.
Many pest control options are problematic both in their production, and in the application
and runoff that results from their use.
Lastly, some bio controls have multiple benefits, such as parasitic nematodes, which feed off
pests and benefit the soil of your plants simultaneously.
Some important things to consider before you dive into the world of bio controls, is that
they work best as a preventative measure.
Continually re-introducing beneficial insects into your garden every few weeks will ensure
that your plants stay healthy and pest free.
If you are attempting to use them on an active infestation, note that it could take weeks
from the introduction of your bio controls before you eradicate the pests completely.
During this time your plants could be getting bombarded to the point where your yields will
not recover.
It’s because of this that I suggest you treat the infestation first, then use preventative
measures like bio controls after this to keep the baddies from coming around again.
If you do decide to use them for the treatment of your infestation, note that you will probably
still need to re-introduce your bio control every 2-3 weeks until the problem is completely
dealt with.
In order to use bio controls in your garden, you will need to find a supplier either online
or at one of your local nurseries or hydroponics stores.
They are usually sold in a dormant state, and kept cold so as to mimic the winter for
hibernation.
Upon receiving your order, inspect it for life before releasing it upon your plants.
The application process will vary depending on the bio controls you chose, anything from
a sachet that needs to be hung around the grow, to others that come in ‘shakers’
that need to be applied directly to the soil or plant.
If you decide to purchase online, consider signing up for a recurring delivery option
because they will need to be reapplied to your garden, especially in the early stages
as food sources are sparse.
So now that you know what bio controls are, and how they can benefit your grow - it’s
time to take a look at your options.
For first time growers, check with gardening neighbours and online for typical garden pests
in your area.
This is important, so that you can purchase the right bio controls for the pests most
likely to plague your grow.
Once you have done this, choose the combatants that are best and easiest to obtain for you.
The first, and most commonly used bio control is your typical ladybug, or hippodamia convergens.
This beetle loves to feast on aphids, but will also eat mites, whiteflies, cochineal
and small caterpillars.
Each ladybug can eat an average 60 pests a day, and around 5000 in it’s lifespan.
In order to keep them around your garden consider planting companion plants like dill, cilantro
and fennel.
Before releasing them into your garden, water your plants so upon release they can hydrate
before they begin their feasting.
A second bio control is delphastus catalinae, a relative of the ladybug.
This little guy is black and brown, no larger than the size of a pencil tip.
Unlike ladybugs, they cannot maintain a population without the presence of prey.
Their primary diet consists of whiteflies and their eggs.
They can eat between 100-150 whitefly eggs a day, and about 10,000 in their lifetime.
They kill by biting a hole in their prey and extracting the contents, leaving empty shells
in it’s wake.
Thirdly, green lacewings are great for controlling aphids, and will also help control whitefly,
spider mite and mealybug populations.
Their larvae almost exclusively preys on aphids, by sucking them dry.
One green lacewing larvae can eat up to 50 aphids a day.
They are to be placed on long stalks in between aphid colonies, and away from ants.
Ants feed on the secretion of aphids, and therefore work to protect them by eradicating
green lacewings.
In order to keep lacewings around your garden, plant companion plants like dill and coriander.
Parasitic wasps attack many different types of pests, including aphids, beetles, flies,
spiders and much more.
There are too many to cover in one sitting, so I will just say that the diet will depend
on the type of wasp.
There are two different types of parasitic wasp: endoparasitic and ectoparasitic.
Ectoparasitic wasps paralyze their prey immediately, allowing their eggs to develop on the outside
of their victim.
Endoparasitic wasps inject their eggs into their victim, meanwhile the pest goes about
its daily life until the eggs are ready to hatch.
The impact of these beneficials will not necessarily be immediate, but will certainly decrease
the population of pests in your garden over time.
In order to attract and keep a variety of parasitic wasps visiting your garden, plant
companion plants like yarrow, lemon balm and parsley.
Next are praying mantids, or stagmomantis genus.
These cool looking bugs will eat just about anything, but typically focus in on house
flies, moths and mosquitoes.
They are sold as eggs, and are usually hung in sachets near the plants.
Spread out where you place them though, because when the young mantids emerge from the sachets
they will eat whatever they find, including their own.
Another great combatant to pests in your garden are, interestingly, mites.
Not the mites you are probably thinking about though.
Mites come in many forms, and there are some that are quite effective at eradicating pests
from your garden.
Phytoseiulus persimilis is a tiny mite that feeds on spider mites, particularly red ones,
including their larvae and eggs.
They reproduce faster than spider mites and feed almost exclusively on spider mites.
They will cannibalize themselves once their prey is all but devoured.
Fully grown, it can eat about 20 mite eggs, or 5 adult mites a day.
It should be noted that they should be used as a preventative measure rather than combatant
to an infestation, and once they are introduced to your garden do your best to have your plants
touching each other so that they are able to spread with ease.
Amblyseius californicus is a similar beneficial that thrives in warmer climates for those
closer to the equator.
Hypoaspis miles are soil mites that thrive off thrip larvae and pupae, but will also
eat fungus gnat larvae.
They are to be released right into the soil of the potted plant affected, and be sure
to water before releasing them, then again two hours later.
These mites can live in the soil even after their main food source is devoured, by feeding
off of algae and plant debris.
Rove beetles, or dalotia coriaria prey on fungus gnats, pupating thrips, root aphids
and shore flies.
They typically thrive in moist, dark climates, with a life expectancy of around 3 weeks.
They fly their way around the garden in search of food until it is all devoured.
Orius insidiosus is a type of minute pirate bug that feeds on thrips.
They will go as far as to burrow into flower buds in search of prey if they cannot find
them anywhere else.
To keep them around your garden, plant alfalfa as a companion plant.
Their family member anthocoridae is just as effective as orius, though it feeds off pests
like spider mites and caterpillars by using it’s three pronged beak to pierce and inject
their prey with a digestive enzyme.
Along with the aforementioned beneficial insects comes some beneficial microorganisms.
While not all microorganisms are beneficial, the ones I am about to list help your grow
in a variety of ways, such as breaking down organic matter into nutrients for your plants
and creating a symbiotic relationship with them.
First is mycorrhizae.
This is a fungus that lives symbiotically with the soil.
It creates a large network of strands called hyphae which relocate nutrients from the soil
to the plant in exchange for it’s sugary discharge.
Additionally, these plants tend to trap plant-parasitic nematodes in it’s strands, helping to rid
the soil of this pest.
Secondly, a variety of parasitic nematodes are beneficial for plant health and pest control
as well.
These little guys will take care of your baddies, then excrete them along with beneficial bacterium
back into the soil - all the while aerating it and improving flower production as a result.
They will eat nearly anything that is alive in the soil, aside from worms and your plant.
Of special note though, they will rid your soil of plant-parasitic nematodes that feed
on plant roots.
Look for any variety of these beneficials, though monochid, dorylaimida, aphelenchida
and steinernema feltiae are honourable mentions for control of a variety of pests.
So in review, beneficial insects, or bio controls, rid your garden on unwanted pests so your
plants can thrive organically without the use of chemicals harmful to the environment.
Bio controls also benefit many growers because they are far less labour intensive than other
pest control options, they are a proactive rather than reactive measure for pest control,
and they can often have secondary benefits to the plant as well - such as aerating the
soil or providing beneficial bacterium.
It is important to note that it can take weeks for bio controls to manage an all out infestation
in your garden, so the situation should be managed before relying on them to take care
of an infestation.
Beneficials should also be reintroduced to your garden very few weeks for the best results.
You can order bio controls online or obtain them at your local gardening store, where
you will receive anything from a sachet to a shaker for application in your garden.
Before planting your seeds seek out support from local gardeners to figure out what pests
are a nuisance in your area, as well as searching online.
Once you have figured this out, determine from the list given which bio controls serve
you best.
It is likely your local garden store will have bio controls that cater to the biggest
problem pests in your area.
Lastly, rather than relisting all of the options available to you I suggest you save this video
for future reference so you can refer back and incorporate the best bio control options
available for your garden’s needs.
I hope you found this lesson on pest control and prevention useful, and please leave a
comment with any suggestions for new videos in the feed below.
For more cannabis related courses or recommendations on the best products for your grow, visit
me at Indica Institute or subscribe to my YouTube channel.
Please like and share this video, and as always, thank you for listening!