Integrated pest management

[Franklin]

What, if anything, do you all do for IPM? I have to admit I'm pretty lax in this area but then again I haven't really had any problems except for a minor thrip infestation from some plants I brought in from outdoors. Growing in living soil I have had ongoing fungus gnats but they're not a huge deal. I feel like I'm playing with fire though, especially as spring and summer approach. What do you all do?

[Going2fast]

Praying seems to help. But seriously I just keep a weathered eye out for them and do a thorough cleaning after every run.

[SoOrbudgal]

Yep keeping the outdoor from coming indoor. My soils are sealed off from bugs in my totes. I don't reuse outdoor soil in my indoor grows. I've never had issues with nothin other than a soil nats but very few. I wipe the tent down after every run.

[crucialbunny]

There will probably be a number of folks here that disagree with me, but honestly, I grow in living soil outdoors in containers and bring that stuff indoors often with no issues. There have been a number of studies done that show living soil in of itself is a very good pest control mechanism. The only issue I can recall having was a mild thrip infestation last year when I was keeping a plant outdoors during the day and bringing it inside for extra light in the evenings to prevent flowering. They were easily dealt with using rubbing alcohol & water spray.

[AGH]

Such a great question! Here are a few things that I do and it's different based on if you already have pests or not. It's also important to remember that it's integrated pest management not eradication.

Just a note - this is for organic living soil. Synthetic grows have different options available in addition to these since in synthetic grows there really is not much of a soil biome to consider so you can use more aggressive treatments.

Before Pests
- The most important piece, the very foundation of pest management, is managing your environment. Evolution is amazing in that it balances out the needs and vulnerabilities of different species. It just so happens that the ideal environment for cannabis is the opposite of the ideal environment for the things that can harm it. Thanks, evolution! So make sure that your temps, humidity, watering regime (too wet soil invites TONS of different pathogens), make sure you're exchanging fresh air with good ventilation and that you're moving air around (good for the plants, but also helps keep those flying pests from flying as well)
- I learned the hard way that when I cook soil, I dust it with some Diatomaceous Earth. This keeps anything that may hatch that was in the soil from doing any damage since as soon as they start crawling around, they are doomed with Diatomaceous Earth.
- Some people mix their soil with Neem cake. I've never done this and have mixed feelings about Neem. There are very good arguments on both sides. My thoughts are it probably doesn't affect taste and it's probably very good at preventing pests, but as long as I can get by without it, I will.


After Pests
- First rule: keep on treating for several weeks after you have seen your last pest. It's easy to let your guard down and breath a sigh of relief once you no longer see any activity. However, you don't just need to think about the current living pests, but also the eggs and larvae that are in the soil or on the plants. If you stop now, you'll be back to square one in just a few days. This is where it's important to understand the lifecycle of pests.
- Use a combination of pest control. This helps to make sure that pests don't develop a resistance to any particular method. It also helps because different control techniques work in different ways.
- I have used insecticidal soap with great success against fungus gnats. This removes the protective waxy coating on pests and kills them. It also will interrupt eggs from hatching and will kill larvae. This is a contact control solution, so it only is effective if it gets on the pests. Make sure to spray the leaves, top and bottom, as well as the surface of the soil since pests often hang out there and some eggs can be eradicated as well.
- When I had mites, I used Neem oil in addition to the insecticidal soap. Neem works in several ways in that it disrupts the reproductive cycle of the pests causing population collapse. It has also been shown to enter the actual plant which ends up in any pests that munch on the leaves. Again, be cautious with this and usage recommendations range from not using it at all during flowering to not using it closer than 2 weeks before harvest. Do your due diligence when deciding when/how to use Neem oil.

When I had mites, this was my technique:
- Water (had to adjust because the soil was too wet) properly.
- After watering, I would use insecticidal soap on the soil surface as well as tops and bottoms of leaves.
- Once the top layer of the soil dried enough, I would dust on Diatomaceous earth
- When it was time, I'd water again and repeat the process except I'd use Neem oil
- And so on
- This was in addition to getting a handle on my environmental conditions mentioned above.

Hope this helps!