brentmcbride66
Member
Bugs/ caterpillars/worms eating my stuff up. Can i use 7 dust around the stalk?
bugs
- Thread starter brentmcbride66
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GreenDragon
Moderator
The only thing I put on my tobacco is BT (non-toxic to humans and bees) and soapy water for aphids. A few holes will not affect the quality of the leaf (except of course for wrapper leaf) and a little predation will actually stimulate nicotine production.
Welcome to the forum, @brentmcbride66. Feel free to introduce yourself in the Introduce Yourself forum. Do read the New Grower's FAQ, and scan through the topics in our Index of Key Forum Threads. Both are linked in the menu bar.
Nothing much will slow down damage from grasshoppers and crickets, other than avoiding nearby tall grass and nearby wooden framework. My preference is to add imidacloprid to my transplant water—only once, and only at transplant. That minimizes early damage from flea beetles, aphids and many other small bugs, though it seems to have zero impact on crickets etc.
If you see caterpillars (especially hornworms), then spraying weekly with BT (Bacillus thuringiensis) will kill them. BT is considered "organic" for growers. If you have fewer than a couple of dozen plants, then you can instead just inspect each leaf (top and bottom) for caterpillars daily, and squish any that you find.
Good luck with your grow.
Bob
Nothing much will slow down damage from grasshoppers and crickets, other than avoiding nearby tall grass and nearby wooden framework. My preference is to add imidacloprid to my transplant water—only once, and only at transplant. That minimizes early damage from flea beetles, aphids and many other small bugs, though it seems to have zero impact on crickets etc.
If you see caterpillars (especially hornworms), then spraying weekly with BT (Bacillus thuringiensis) will kill them. BT is considered "organic" for growers. If you have fewer than a couple of dozen plants, then you can instead just inspect each leaf (top and bottom) for caterpillars daily, and squish any that you find.
Good luck with your grow.
Bob
Alpine
Moderator
Welcome to FTT.
Looks like grasshopper damage to me. There are only a few (and with little to no effect) insecticides against them. What you can do is keep the grass around your tobacco garden as low as possible, so that wild birds can catch the darn little jumpers. Or let a couple of hens wander freely around your baccy plants. Guinea fowls are even better than chickens at keeping bugs at bay, but are a real hassle to keep at home (they are very noisy and tend to fly in your neighborhood gardens… a thing that doesn’t promote relaxed interactions with said neighbors LOL).
If you’re growing for cigarettes, I can guarantee that once the leaves are shredded, the holes won’t be noticeable at all, and the quality of the smoke will be the same.
pier
Looks like grasshopper damage to me. There are only a few (and with little to no effect) insecticides against them. What you can do is keep the grass around your tobacco garden as low as possible, so that wild birds can catch the darn little jumpers. Or let a couple of hens wander freely around your baccy plants. Guinea fowls are even better than chickens at keeping bugs at bay, but are a real hassle to keep at home (they are very noisy and tend to fly in your neighborhood gardens… a thing that doesn’t promote relaxed interactions with said neighbors LOL).
If you’re growing for cigarettes, I can guarantee that once the leaves are shredded, the holes won’t be noticeable at all, and the quality of the smoke will be the same.
pier