10 Best Aphids Control For Cannabis in 2024

Growing plants is a form of art, and caring for your plant is very important. However, pests can make that very difficult to achieve; that’s why you need to learn the technique of controlling pests. A lot of focus and attention goes into caring for your plants and the environment they live in. Getting rid of aphids on your plant will make a difference in how your plant turns out.

Aphids are insects with soft bodies, and they can either be green, yellow, white, black, red, and brown; their color depends on what stage of life their at and the environment where you live. Aphids can be found worldwide, so that you can find an aphid infestation on a cannabis plant anywhere in the world.

Aphids look different in every stage of their life. The rounder and bigger bugs are the adult aphids, while the smaller, thinner white bugs are the baby aphids, also known as nymphs. Sometimes, the aphids you’ll find on cannabis plants are really dark in color or totally black. Aphids enjoy attacking the bud most of all. Sometimes a grower might find green flies or tiny black on their cannabis plant, but these are actually winged aphids. Winged aphids come in pale and dark colors that include yellow, green, and red. However, they usually have the same body shape, whether they have wings or not. Most aphids that attck cannabis plants are usually green, so most people won’t know they have an aphid infestation if the aphids are other colors, such as the young aphids that have a red color.

Aphids destroy cannabis leaves by piercing them with their sucking mouthparts and sucking on the juices present in the leaves. They usually come in colonies and will be found on the underside of the leaves and stems. When the leaves of a cannabis plant are infested with aphids, it tends to become yellow and may wilt due to the damage done to the leaf.

Aphids, Honeydew, And Black Sooty Mold

Aphids produce a sweet substance called honeydew in large quantities, and this can cause another problem as this sweet liquid waste attract a fungus known as sooty mold. This fungus tends to grow on honeydew deposits, causing it to increase across the leaves and branches, thus turning them black. The mold causes discoloration of the plant, and if it gets to the bud, the plant will be unsafe to smoke. Another issue that comes with the droplets of honeydew is the fact that it also attracts other insects like ants.

Aphid infestation occurs when the winged aphids, also known as colonizers, land on your plant and lay eggs that hatch into baby aphids known as nymphs; these juvenile aphids begin to munch on your plant, thereby destroying the crop. It takes about 7 to 10 days for aphids to shed their skin and fully mature; because of this, they tend to leave a silver looking exoskeletons. Once the aphid has reached its wingless adult form, they are ready to birth live baby aphids and start the process from the beginning. The majority of aphids in this form are usually female, and each one is able to give birth to dozens of young aphids.

Due to how quickly they reproduce, just a few of the winged colonizers can lead to the birth of hundreds to thousands of aphids on a single plant. In just a few weeks, an aphid infestation can get blown out of control. The aphids tend to keep reproducing until the plant becomes overcrowded or overstressed that it can no longer support their appetite. When the plant becomes too weak to support the aphids, they start to reproduce the winged aphids that fly off in search of a new plant to infest.

Solutions To Aphid Infestation

The best cause of action when you find aphids on your plant is to get rid of them quickly before they spread. If you intend on using an insecticide, ensure that you do not use nervous system insecticides such as Dursban, Orthene, and Malathion. They are not safe to use on edible plants, so they won’t be safe to use on cannabis.

The best solution for the prevention of aphids is to notice it as soon as it begins. When you plant outdoors, it can be really hard to know when the winged aphids will come; this is why it is important to check your plants regularly, at least once every week, to ensure that your plants do not become infested by aphids while you’re busy with something else.

It is vital to check the bud area and the underside of the growing leaves for colonies and clusters of young aphids or any type of pest. If you find these colonies, then the aphids have already established themselves on the plant, and they will continue to reproduce at an incredibly fast rate.

The most common way to get rid of these bugs without using chemicals is by taking the plant outdoors and using a power sprayer to spray off as many bugs as you can. It is also advised to remove the buds and leaves that are infected heavily.

Another way to prevent aphids is by getting rid of ants in your garden. Ants tend to aphids in order to collect their honeydew, and this could cause the number of aphids in your garden to increase. As a cannabis grower, you should get rid of ants once you notice them in your garden so that they do not make your aphid problem worse.

There are silver-colored reflective mulches that you can purchase, but be warned that if the soil is too moist, it might attract other insects such as mole crickets, so ensure that the soil is dry enough before using this product.

Prevention Of Aphids On Cannabis

• Ensure that you boost the immunity of your plant by adding organic matter to the soil in order to increase the fertility
• Use enhanced cultural and organic practices to increase the rate at which moisture is absorbed and retained
• Getting rid of weeds, plant debris, and un-decomposed matter under your plant will aid in the destruction of the aphid eggs laid in preparation for winter
• Introduce predators such as ladybird beetle into your garden. They feed on the aphids; you can increase the presence of ladybugs in your garden by growing plants such as parsley, geraniums, sweet alyssum, and sunflower. Other well-known predators of aphids are the soldier beetle and syrphid fly
• Start growing plants such as Garlic, catnip, and chives in your garden to repel aphids
• Use a balanced and slow-release fertilizer on your plants to prevent excess nitrogen as it attracts aphids

If, after following all these steps and there are still aphids infesting your garden, you may have to get rid of them using various organic and biological techniques in order to reduce or prevent any harm to the environment and your health as well.

We have compiled a list of some of the best natural organic products that you can use to get rid of aphids on your cannabis plant. They are gentle enough not to hurt your plant, but they are also powerful enough to rid you of your aphid problem.

Let’s check out the list.

We did our research and have come up with a list of products that will help you with your aphid problem. We have compiled them with their key features, specifications, and everything you need to know.