S
StoneyBud
Guest
buckboi_88 said:
Now we're cooking!
Ok, first, the ants. There are two distinct types of ant problems:
1. Leaf cutters: Are the ants cutting small pieces of plant material from the plant and carrying it off?
2. Aphid Farmers: An intimate, symbiotic relationship exists between ants and aphids.
They are often compared to cattle, with the ants acting as protectors and ranchers.
What aphids have that ants want is something called honeydew, a sweet substance that is excreted by aphids through their anus and contains surplus sugar from the aphid's diet.
Ants protect aphid eggs during the winter, and carry the newly hatched aphids to new host plants, where the aphids feed on the leaves and the ants get a supply of honeydew.
Because of their ability to reproduce rapidly and grow large colonies, their feeding on plants causes yellowing, stunting, mottling, browning, and curling of leaves, as well as inhibiting the ability of the host plant to produce crops.
Infestations by aphids can cause plants to die, and the insects can carry other diseases, such as plant viruses, from one plant to another. Their saliva is also toxic to plant tissues.
Among the biological controls of aphid infestations in agriculture and horticulture are lacewings, sometimes called "aphid lions," lady beetles or ladybird beetles (ladybugs), and syrphid flies.
On a smaller scale, some gardeners control aphids by simply washing them off with a spray of soapy water.
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Your problem is probably a combination of constant wetting from the rains and an aphid infestation. Both can cause browning of the buds.
For the wetness, if the plant is local enough, you could go out after each rain and gently shake the bush to dislodge most of the water being held on the buds and leaf nodes. This works well in tropical areas.
For the aphids, you can buy some ladybugs (about 500 for a plant that size) and they will clean the bush of aphids in short order.
You can't use pesticides on your plant because it's already in flower. You don't want the residue of the pesticides in your smoke.
How long before you harvest? How many weeks have your plants been flowering?
