Growing cannabis has its own fair of challenges and rewards. Pest infestation is one of the worst experiences for many cannabis growers. Besides damaging plants, pests affect the entire process and produce poor yields.
Outdoor growing is more prone to pest infestations compared to indoor setups. However, some pests can affect indoor plants and cause severe damage. Even though you can use pesticides to kill pests, it is usually not recommended due to the harmful chemicals. You might contaminate the quality of your cannabis and affect users and the environment.
Common pests include thrips, whiteflies, aphids, crickets, slugs, grasshoppers, ants, birds, and snails. So how do you fight off pests in high-yield seeds? Caring for your plant and maintaining its health is paramount to reaping immense rewards during the harvest period.
Today, there are many effective techniques that both beginners and seasoned growers can use to prevent pest infestation. This article offers great insights into how you can keep your plants healthy and promote the successful outdoor growing of cannabis. Read on to plan the cultivation process and secure your yields from unexpected losses or destruction.
Companion Planting
Companion planting is one effective method to keep pests away from cannabis plants. It entails growing other species of plants alongside your cannabis plant. The main idea is to protect your crop with companion plants to reduce pest infestations, as such plants scare pests off by their odor or chemical composition. Besides, some plants may improve the aesthetic appearance of your garden or might be edible.
Therefore, you can choose to adopt either a monoculture or polyculture technique. Monoculture entails growing one plant species, while polyculture covers different species. Polyculture is usually recommended since the various plants mutually benefit each other. Besides bringing diversity, the plants will improve the soil culture and promote healthy cannabis growth. Thus, the companion plants will form a habitat and protect your high-yield auto flower seeds USA plants from pests and diseases.
Growing diverse species of plants minimizes the risk of your weed’s chemical contamination since they are natural pesticides. Some of the recommended companion plants are peppermint, basil, coriander, lavender, and nasturtium, among others.
Beneficial Insects
Another method of keeping healthy plants is to introduce beneficial insects into your cannabis garden. These insects are a form of pest management technique that feeds on the harmful pests preying on your cannabis plants.
Also known as parasitic wasps, these insects help reduce the number of caterpillars in your wee canopy, which are harmful pests that destroy the entire crop. A praying mantis is another example of a beneficial insect that helps put off the pests from your crops. This way, you ensure that all pest management is done organically, without the use of pesticides.
Soil Sterilization
You must sterilize your soil to eliminate pests from the start. The soil is the main breeding ground for many pests and infectious organisms. It is advisable to avoid reusing potted soils since they might have pathogens. But if you must reuse, sterilize the soil by high-temperature exposure or steam sterilization. It is an effective method that kills pests and guarantees proper cannabis growth of high-yielding seeds.
Netting
Netting is a pest control method that aims to capture large predators like birds. Birds also damage outdoor cannabis plants, and netting is one way of keeping them away. You don’t have to worry about the birds during the growing phase, but when your plants are vegetative or flowering.
Thus, netting involves erecting a secure net around your cannabis plants. This method prevents birds from accessing the crops without interfering with the light or other environmental conditions. Even though birds are useful sometimes since they eat other pests, they can still damage your plants and affect the yields.
Sticky Pads
You can purchase sticky pads from any cannabis vendor online and place them on the cannabis plants. Or you can get more information about pests and high yielding seeds on AskGrowers to ensure you are on the right track.
The pads’ stickiness kills the pests after they land on them and get stuck. Even though it is not entirely a preventive measure, this approach is a way of controlling the numbers. Sticky pads are the best for first-time growers since it is not a complicated technique.
Fences
Sometimes your pets will become predators and invade your cannabis garden. What do you do to prevent such an occurrence? A strong fence is a perfect solution to prevent unwanted pets or animals from entering your garden. These pets might dig out or urinate on your plants.
Thus, you can opt for intense training to control your pets. But if it doesn’t work, the fencing option might come in handy in preventing serious damage.
Conclusion
Ultimately, maintaining a healthy cannabis plant is crucial if you grow high-yield seeds in your indoor or outdoor setup. Conduct extensive research on the various pest prevention methods and choose one that works well for you. Pests are harmful and might damage your crops beyond repair. Adopting preventive and controlled measures to keep off the pests and guarantee optimal growth with impressive yields is advisable.
This article is a creation of Tia Moskalenko, a dedicated weed expert with impressive qualifications in the cannabis industry. She is a competent author with a niche in outdoor cannabis growing. Tia is also a researcher sharing extensive data on cannabis with a wide audience.
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