Don't Kill Pests! Let others do it For YOU!

Get help from beneficial insects when growing cannabis outdoors.

growing cannabis plants outdoors present numerous challenges we don't have to concern ourselves with when growing plants indoors we are at the mercy of the elements wind rain storms excessive sunshine and too much heat and swarms of locusts..

Okay maybe the locusts is a bit of an over-exaggeration but you'd be surprised what damage a few grasshoppers could do to an outdoor cannabis plant when growing cannabis plants outdoors.

you can go down one of two routes to protect your plants you can go down the all chemical route with harsh pesticides that will kill just about anything that moves from butterflies to worms and everything in between alternatively you could go down the bug friendly route and instead of killing problem insects yourself let others do it for you taking advantage of the natural food chain

here we are talking about encouraging other creatures that are partial to having a snack or two comprised of bugs that like to chow down on cannabis plants so what do you have to do to attract good insects

it's called companion planting you grow companion plants alongside your principal crop with the intention of creating a naturally beneficial ecosystem the next question you want answering is what are bad insects what do i need to guard against

these include caterpillars grasshoppers green flies aphids fungus gnats thrips spidermites and white flies the list seems to be a little daunting but unless you're one of those people who are seriously unlucky you're unlikely to have to deal with all eight of these at the same time

so what about insects and creepy crawlies i do want to attract green lace wings are great in larval form they'll munch their way through aphids spider mites thrips whiteflies and leafhoppers

fortunately when adults they don't have a portion for cannabis plant leaves but prefer pollen nectar and honey dill caraway fennel and coriander are great plants for attracting lace wings and will prove useful in the kitchen as well ladybugs or ladybirds depending on what you prefer to call them love nothing more than to feast on moths beetles mites and thrips

unfortunately they can fly so you need to attract them and keep them create a small pond and plant cilantro chives calendula marigold dill and yarrow which should also attract assassin bugs that will help control pests unlike spider mites and other destructive mites predatory mites are beneficial to your plants as they live off other pesky mites you can attract them by growing mint though keep the mint in separate pots or grow it around the border of your plantation as it can spread rapidly

you can also buy live predatory mites as you can green lace wings and ladybugs you see not all bugs are bad for you or your cannabis plants we'd love to know what your experiences are dealing with insects good and bad let us know in the comments section below and of course if you enjoyed this video like and subscribe so you too can become a cannabis expert