Page 18 - Griffin Gazette Issue 3 - 2021
P. 18

HOW DO I TELL                    WHAT IS                        WHAT ARE THE MOST
                BETWEEN GOOD BUGS                SCOUTING?                      IMPORTANT TOOLS FOR
                AND BAD BUGS?                                                   GROWERS TO HAVE ON
                                                                                HAND FOR SCOUTING?


                This can be a difficult question   Scouting is the process of
                to answer because its based     inspecting crops for signs      A few simple tools can have
                on a number of things. First we   of disease, insect, mite, or   a tremendous impact on your
                want to look for signs that our   nutritional issues. We also   scouting practices. Growers
                insect and mite suspects are    scout for both good and bad     should invest in a hand lens or
                causing damage to our plants.   bugs, especially when we are    other magnifying device. Many
                Are we seeing a slowdown in     releasing predators as part of   pests that prey on cannabis,
                growth, distortion or damage    our IPM programs. Scouting is   hemp, and other crops, are
                to leaves, or lots of frass (insect   a central part of keeping a crop   too small to make an easy
                poop)? These can be signs       healthy from beginning to end.   identification with just the
                that a harmful insect has taken   Some growers scout weekly,    naked eye. A second simple
                up residence. We also want      while others might scout        tool that growers should use
                to look at the behavior of our   daily. While labor intensive,   for monitoring pest activity is
                suspects. If we observe them    scouting pays off in the long   a yellow sticky card, which
                on our plants, are we seeing    run by identifying issues and   should be hung strategically and
                them feed on plant material, or   correcting them before they   inspected once per week. A
                are we seeing them chase down   become crop-killers. Early      final tool is the beat test, which
                other insects? Many times it’s   detection of issues is especially   involves shaking or “beating”
                obvious, such as in the case of   important for cannabis, where   parts of a plant over a clean
                lady bugs or lacewings. Both    fewer control options are       surface to dislodge insects,
                of these insects are voracious   available in general.          mites, or other debris. This test
                aphid predators and are often                                   helps growers inspect normally
                seen with aphids caught in their                                hard to catch insects hiding on
                jaws. With predatory mites and                                  the crop and is an important part
                pest mites, however, it is often                                of scouting.
                not as clear. One sign that we
                might have a predator mite is
                                                Yellow sticky cards should be placed one every 500 to
                a fast movement speed, rather   1,000 square feet for effective monitoring. Cards positioned
                than settling down in one place.   so that 1/3 of the card is within the canopy will catch the
                Predators are often much faster,   widest variety of insects; cards can also be positioned near
                                                the media to catch fungus gnats, or above the canopy to
                and tend to roam around in      catch flying pests. Check cards once per week.
                search of prey.





                                Hemp russet                     Adult two
                                mites with eggs                 spotted spider
                                and predatory                   mite with eggs.
                                mite nearby.



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