Guide to Marijuana Pests
In today’s article, we’ll explore the most common and harmful pests that cannabis growers may encounter. The cultivation process is a learning experience, and marijuana can face specific challenges from unwanted insects. With the information provided, you’ll learn how to identify, prevent, and eliminate pests that target cannabis plants. Additionally, you’ll find links to detailed monographs on each pest, offering more in-depth information should you need further guidance.
What is a pest?
A pest is an invasion or proliferation of insects, animals or diseases that can harm human health, crops or domestic animals. Pests can also transmit diseases.
What is a marijuana pest?
A marijuana pest refers to infestations of insects, diseases, or molds that can harm the plant’s quality and yield. Common pests include spider mites, aphids, whiteflies, fungi, snails, and ants, which may also transmit diseases that weaken the plant. In addition, some pests damage the soil, reducing nutrient availability. Left unchecked, most pests will feed on the plants until they kill them. Therefore, it’s essential to be vigilant, practice prevention, and know how to effectively manage these issues if they arise.
Factors influencing the occurrence of pests
When it comes to pests, there are several factors that can influence their appearance and proliferation. Temperature directly affects the life cycle of pests: high temperatures can accelerate their reproduction, while cooler environments can slow down their activity. Humidity is critical, as excess moisture creates a favourable environment for pests such as fungi and insects that thrive in damp conditions. Light can also play a role, as pests such as thrips and spider mites are attracted to bright light conditions. The growing medium can be a source of pests if it is not sterilised, and poor drainage can create a suitable habitat for insects. Finally, incorrect use of fertilisers can weaken plants, making them more susceptible to pests.
In short, these factors must be taken into account:
- Temperature: High temperatures accelerate the reproduction of pests.
- Humidity: Excessive humidity favours fungi and pests.
- Light: Intense light conditions attract certain pests such as thrips.
- Growing medium: Poor drainage or contamination attracts pests.
- Fertilisers: Incorrect use can weaken plants, making them more vulnerable to pests.
Una vez que la planta de Cannabis haya crecido y esté floreciendo, las amenazas que afectan a las plantas de cannabis incluyen el moho, hongos y plagas. Una multitud de insectos pueden atacar y arruinar un cultivo de cannabis, como veremos más abajo.
The Worst Pests for Marijuana
As any cannabis user or grower will know, most marijuana contains a good load of tetrahydrocannabinol or THC. Humans have been using this plant for centuries, using it for both medicinal and recreational purposes. Originally, the Cannabis plant was able to produce THC as a pest deterrent. Any mammal that comes and eats cannabis buds will soon feel dizzy and disoriented, and is unlikely to try it again anytime soon.
Insects, however, do not seem to react in the same way. On the contrary, insects seem to love marijuana as much as we do. Because insects multiply rapidly and often move in groups, your entire crop can be wiped out quickly if there is an infestation of the worst pests for marijuana.
That’s why it’s essential to try to prevent pests as much as possible (we’ve included tips for doing so at the end of this article). It is also imperative to know how to spot an insect infestation should it occur, and how to deal with it quickly. Remember, not all insects are a threat to marijuana, but those that are should be dealt with immediately.
Prevention Methods to Avoid Pests
Preventing the appearance of pests is the key to maintaining a healthy crop free of infestations. Implementing preventative practices minimises the risk of pests attacking your plants, and can also strengthen overall crop growth. Here are some of the best prevention strategies, from maintaining a controlled environment to using organic methods such as neem oil and incorporating companion plants.
- Use protective netting: Netting or physical barriers help prevent insects such as whiteflies and thrips from gaining access to the plants.
- Clean regularly: Make sure to keep the growing space clean and free of organic debris, which can attract pests.
- Rotate crops: Switching plant species or varieties in the same space can prevent pest build-up in the soil.
- Frequent inspection: Check your plants regularly for early signs of pests to take immediate action before they spread.
- Use natural preventatives: Apply preventatives such as neem oil to repel insects and prevent pests from developing organically and safely.
- Companion plants: Place pest-repelling plants such as basil or mint near your crops to create a less favourable environment for harmful insects.
Products to Combat Marijuana Pests
In most cases, when pests appear in the crop, it is usually easy to treat them by spraying specific pest control products. These products are designed to quickly eliminate the problem without harming the plant or altering its health or the quality of the final product. In fact, today there is a wide range of pesticides created specifically for cannabis that do not affect the taste or effects of the buds. Moreover, they are safe for both the grower and the environment, making them an effective and reliable solution for keeping crops pest-free.
It is important to remember that not all insects are harmful to a crop; in fact, some are extremely beneficial. These insects help maintain a natural balance in the garden by controlling harmful pests biologically. For example, natural predators such as ladybirds and lacewings eliminate aphids and other insects without the use of chemicals. For this reason, it doesn’t make sense to remove the entire biome from your garden, as some insects are improving your crop and contributing to its overall health.
It is essential to use pesticides that are specifically designed for marijuana, as other non-specialised products may contain ingredients that are harmful to plants. By using the wrong pesticides, you could severely damage your crop, even causing the plants to die. Marijuana pesticides are formulated to target common pests without negatively affecting plant health, so it is important to follow recommendations and avoid using generic products.
List of the Worst Insect Pests for Marijuana
Here is a list of the worst pests for marijuana, explaining why these insects are so harmful to marijuana and how they work. We will also give you solutions so that you can remedy the worst pests for marijuana.
Slugs and snails
Slugs and snails are possibly one of the most recognisable of the worst pests for marijuana on the list. They are large, greyish-brown creatures with no visible legs; snails have a round shell. They leave shiny trails everywhere and make holes in leaves.
A good form of home prevention is using salt, beer or even incorporating other insect predators of snails and slugs, such as lizards, toads or even birds such as chickens. You can also use eco-friendly remedies such as Pyrethrin Plus, which will get rid of annoying pests such as snails.
Slugs and snails are a common sight in any outdoor cannabis grow. Unfortunately, they seem to like the taste of marijuana and we don’t blame them for that, but we need to get rid of them as soon as possible.
As mentioned before, most slugs and snails are immediately visible because they are larger than most other pests; some specimens can be huge! In addition, these two creatures leave silvery, shiny trails wherever they go.
Once you have slugs and snails, there are several things you can do. Salt is a well-known bug killer, as it dries them out. Beer is also apparently a very useful trick, and can even be used as a deterrent! However, try to remove all traces of beer from the buds and incorporate it in areas where the plant is not affected.
Finally, frogs and toads kill slugs and snails. If there is a water source nearby to attract amphibians, you probably don’t have to worry about these two pests.
Trips
Everyone is familiar with thrips, and they are one of the worst pests for marijuana, as well as being one of the most common. These insects are small and pale and can be translucent. The hallmark of thrips is that they leave silver, bronze and white marks on the leaves, making them more brittle.
Thrips can really affect your crop and are very annoying. They are small insects that feed on the flowers of your marijuana, ruining the part of your marijuana that you are most interested in.
When young, thrips are pale and wormlike, but grow more fly-like and darker as they mature. It is difficult to spot a thrips infestation and even more difficult to get rid of a well-established group of thrips. You’ll notice it when they’ve ravaged the leaves of your plant, though.
These insects leave white, silver and yellow trails on the leaves they chew. Some growers say they look like snail tracks. Thrips are another pest that can spread disease, causing many more problems for the crop.
The best measures are preventative, with things like diatomaceous earth. Once you have an outbreak, you can use neem oil to get rid of them. Predatory mites are also a good option for dealing with thrips. Neem is one of the best natural remedies against thrips and the other worst pests for marijuana.
Caterpillars
Caterpillars belong to the group of the most recognisable worst marijuana pests. Marijuana caterpillars are fat, worm-like creatures that are often brightly coloured and patterned, making them much more recognisable than thrips. Caterpillars voraciously devour leaves, creating holes throughout the plant.
Most people will know what caterpillars look like and how to spot the damage. The problem is that they may not realise they have caterpillars until the damage is already done. Caterpillars can create huge holes in the leaves, and the borer varieties will eat the plant from the inside out. This can cause enormous damage to your crop.
Although butterflies and moths may look cute, you can’t let them flutter around your garden. Butterflies and caterpillars are very attracted to cannabis and can end up laying their eggs in your Cannabis crop. In the worst case scenario, the eggs hatch and the larvae will have a very succulent food to sustain themselves.
If caterpillars have made their way into your crop, wasps are a good predator of caterpillars, one of the worst pests of marijuana. Also, use a Bacillus thuringiensis (BT) spray. This is basically an anti-caterpillar spray, although it also kills mosquitoes and grubs. However, it is generally safe for most beneficial insects.
Red Spider Mite
The red spider mite is a mite with four legs, an abdomen and a head, and is a ferocious pest of marijuana. It is approximately 0.5 mm in size and has a peculiar characteristic in terms of its colour: it is light green with two black spots in the summer months and orange without spots in the autumn and winter months.
In short, in its different stages of development it has different colours such as whitish, yellowish, reddish-brown and greenish, depending on the tree or plant that hosts it or the time of year.
The red spider mite is very resistant and therefore difficult to combat, due to the fact that there are three females per male, causing a high production. They are resistant and mutate easily from one generation to the next.
Preventing and curing spider mites
Aphids
We continue with another of the worst pests for marijuana, and one of the best known among growers. We are talking about aphids, also known as aphids, small bugs with yellow wings that live on the underside of leaves. Aphids can cause leaves to turn yellow and wilt.
Aphids are another common pest in cannabis gardens. In fact, it is a problem that affects agriculture in general. Aphids tend to populate the underside of leaves, sucking out nutrients. Thus, the leaves turn yellow and wilt when they are malnourished.
Their size allows them to be seen quite easily, so you won’t need a magnifying glass to see them. There are several types of aphids, and they can be yellow, green or black. They often have yellow wings. Most worryingly, a female aphid can give birth to live young 12 times a day, so infestations quickly get out of hand.
One of the simplest and most efficient ways to get rid of aphids is to introduce ladybirds, as we saw in the beneficial insects for marijuana article. Although these cute insects will not harm your crop, they will eliminate aphids. Alternatively, spray the plants with strong garlic water. Again, this is a safe and organic method.
By the way, if you see ants in your cannabis garden, get rid of them as soon as possible. Ants will “farm” aphids to collect honeydew, and can make the aphid problem worse. A little Agrobacterium Total explosion pest control is the best solution for both ants and aphids.
Mites
We pass the halfway point of the list of worst pests for marijuana with mites. These are very common organisms in every home that many people are allergic to. They are small spider-like creatures and their characteristic signs include fine webs on plants and pale spots on leaves.
Spider mites are perhaps the most common pests affecting cannabis growers. These creepy, crawly micro-organisms reach maturity in just a week and reproduce rapidly; once infested, they are difficult to control, but not impossible.
Check out our complete guide to getting rid of marijuana mites in a completely organic way.
Cannabis mites, one of the worst pests for marijuana, act like leeches. They drain the chlorophyll from the plant until it dies, so one of the most common symptoms of a mite infestation is the appearance of white spots on the leaves. Fine strings of spider webs can also be observed.
The mites themselves are tiny, and you will probably not be able to see them at first glance. They can usually be found on the underside of leaves. Use a special LED grow magnifying glass to see if you can identify them; they have 6-8 legs and look a bit like spiders.
To get rid of spider mites, you can use organic insecticides, like Bio Neem. Neem oil works great on many occasions, and you can even use a solution of 9 parts water to 1 part alcohol. This solution will not harm the plant, but will effectively kill the mites. Here is a link to our Neem content, where you can also find a link to our online shop where you can find Neem.
Mulch gnats
Mulch gnats are black bugs in the soil about 3-5mm in size, with a dark head and a transparent body. We recently talked about them on the blog in our mulch midge prevention and treatment content, describing them as one of the worst pests for marijuana.
Mulch or fungus gnats are dark-coloured insects that live and breed in the soil. They love to eat cannabis, and you can also find their larvae in the run-off water.
They get their name because they eat the fungus at the base of the plant and tunnel into the root system, which is terrible news for cannabis plants. Also because they settle in the mulch, compost that is used to cover the substrate of Cannabis plants.
Since fungus gnats live in the soil, they are quite difficult to see. Fortunately, there are preventative methods to stop an outbreak. First, you can place a sticky insect pad near the base of the plant, which will trap the larvae. Then, you can add a mixture of peroxide and water to the area where you think the mosquitoes are.
As for prevention, it is a good idea to use diatomaceous earth on the soil. The sharp fragments will shatter the mosquitoes’ wings, and the dryness will dehydrate the larvae and kill them.
Whitefly
We end our list of the worst pests for marijuana with the whitefly, the queen of Cannabis pests. As many of you know, they are white bugs with wings and a shape similar to a small fly. You can recognise them because they often fly away when you touch the plant. In addition, they also leave mottled spots on the leaves.
Fortunately, whiteflies are easy to spot; they cluster in large white spots on the leaves. If you touch the plant, they will all fly away in a large group.
Whiteflies damage plants and produce a spider-like effect, giving leaves a brittle appearance with lighter spots. They can also easily spread diseases, ruining the entire crop very quickly.
Pest management comes down to the basics: neem oil and garlic water. Alternatively, you can introduce other plants such as zinnias, which attract predators that kill whiteflies.
There are many insects that can attack your cannabis garden, these are just seven of the most common and worst pests for marijuana. At the end of the day, you should always take preventative measures against pests before an outbreak occurs that can seriously damage your crop.
However, anyone who has suffered from marijuana pests knows that most of the time it is not the end of the world. There are ways to manage insects safely and efficiently.
Home remedies for pests
For complete information on how to get rid of insects from a marijuana crop at home, we recommend you check out our article dedicated to the best home remedies to combat pests. In this article, we cover effective, natural solutions that can help you get rid of unwanted insects without harming your plants or compromising bud quality. These homemade alternatives are affordable, safe and environmentally friendly, offering a solution to most pest problems in your Cannabis grow in a cheap and simple way. Just keep in mind that good prevention is much better, and that the formulated products we have shown you are often more effective.
And hatsa here this content about marijuana pests, we hope you find it useful, follow us on social networks and on our mailing list for more useful articles like this one. Now we recommend you continue reading with our recommendation for today.
Founder of Experiencia Natural, creative and entrepreneur, designer, master in grower and marketing. For a normalization of all plants and substances, giving priority to patients and users.
