Protect your garden from destructive pests!
Protect your garden from destructive pests!
Now that your plants are entering the Vegetative Phase they have begun building up their structural integrity and developing foliage. This is one of the most exciting parts of growing because so much begins to happen right before your eyes!
Your plants will begin to shoot up and grow quickly, but all this growth is also exciting for pests that want to feed on your plants.
Let’s discuss some common pests that most growers deal with so you can successfully manage them and stay focused on growing your best harvest ever!
One of the most serious enemies of marijuana plants is bigger pests such as cats, dogs, and rodents. This also includes wild animals like deer, rabbits, and raccoons. By nature, these creatures like to dig, nibble, and trample on plants. Obviously, this can be bad news to the cannabis crop and hence it is very important to protecting your marijuana plants from animal pests.
Protecting Marijuana Plants from Animal Pests
While tiny insects and bugs can be destructive, it usually takes a long time for them to do serious damages. On the other hand, bigger animal pests can single-handedly ravage the garden overnight. This is especially true when we have squirrels, gophers, and rabbits digging up the ground and damaging roots systems.
For marijuana growers, finding the garden in such a bad condition is a stressful nightmare. Nothing is more frustrating than seeing months of hard labor gone to waste. While it is possible to resuscitate wilting plants, those with bigger damages in the roots will most likely die.
To deal with this issue, this article will cover the identification of different animal pests that could frequently visit the garden. Once we can identify them, prevention becomes easier, and we can return to focusing on taking care of the plants.
Tips to Protect Marijuana Plants from Animal Pests
Food and shelter are the main reasons why large pests sometimes bother the marijuana garden. That’s why most damages occur between fall and spring. As such, they are packing up calories in the fall to prepare for the harsh winter. Then, during springtime, they are trying to regain the pounds they have lost. In both cases, the fatter they are, the better. Here is a complete list of animal pests and the methods to deal with them.
Birds
Birds are known to feed on germinating marijuana seeds. As a result, we are left with nothing to grow if can’t control the number of birds feeding in the garden. On the other hand, if they are not eating up the seeds, they could be digging holes to hide their stash. They do so to bury nuts and other seeds to hide them from other predators.
| Identification: These flying critters like to dig up and bury their food treasures in spring, summer, and fall. In the winter, these holes are usually dug up and left open. |
| Prevention: Providing a netting over the crop is a good place to start when dealing with birds. To protect the seeds, germinate them indoors, or place a cover on the pots. |
Cats And Dogs On Marijuana Plants
Pets have good and bad aspects to them when it comes to growing marijuana. Here is our ultimate guide on keeping cats And dogs around marijuana plants
Pets have good and bad aspects to them when it comes to growing marijuana. Dogs, for instance, are especially good at chasing away unwanted animals, such as birds or small mammals.
On the other hand, they can actually harm your plants, especially if they choose your plants as a nice place to defecate.
For some reason, this seems to happen more often than not when you bring your pet along to your grow site.
Signs Cats and dogs
Domesticated pet poop is not only unpleasant – it could have parasites in it that would be bad news for your compost pile. In other words, it would be a toxic substance to add to your compost pile. If you combine a pet’s defecation with it trampling your plants, it could cause some serious damage to your marijuana plants.
For some reason, many marijuana growers report their pets loving to wind their way through their garden of marijuana plants. Both trample your plants and cats will even pee on them.
This is especially damaging to your plants because cat urine contains large amounts of ammonia and nitrogen – this will burn your plants. If you ever see your cat (or the neighbor cat) peeing on your plants, make sure to immediately pour water over the soil so the urine is diluted.
Cats are also known to eat marijuana plants. I used to have a cat that always tried to sneak into my grow room and have some leaves. I think I know what attracts them to marijuana but it’s still weird 
How to get rid of cats and dogs
The only sure-fire way of ensuring that your pets don’t cause any damage to your marijuana plants is to train them to avoid the garden altogether. It’s not as tricky as it might sound. Even cats will know to stay away from your plants if you put a dusting of hot chili pepper across the soil. This method even keeps other pests (besides your pets) away, so it’s a win-win.
If you have an indoor cat, you should also make sure their indoor litter box is nice and clean. If it’s an outdoor cat, you should make some sort of a sand-based area that cats will prefer to use. You do need to always keep it clean, however, or else cats will find a new location to do their business.
Another way to keep all cats away is placing chicken wire across the top of your soil. Cats find it unpleasant to walk on and, therefore, will avoid it. You can then use wire cutters to cut holes where your plants will grow.
Dogs’ main problem is their addiction to digging. If you have a pet dog, give it an area where it is allowed to dig. If you have trouble training them to only dig in one area, keep them on a leash – don’t confine them to too little space, but at least keep them away from your marijuana garden.
List of marijuana plant symptoms
– Cats or dogs digging around marijuana plants
– Cats or dogs defecating near plants
– Burnt roots
– Plant death
Sometimes pets will chew on your plants or on the weed you get from those plants. The THC doesn’t only work on humans – it has an effect on pets, too. While it usually will mellow out most cats and dogs, about a quarter of animals who ingest marijuana become hyped up and loud-mouthed.
While it might sound funny, ingesting marijuana can actually be quite dangerous for your pets. Keep the marijuana away from your precious pets.
Remember that plants with strong genetics have less change of getting sick and are less vulnerable for pests and diseases. So make sure to buy marijuana seeds from a trusted seed bank.
Rabbits
Rabbits are frequent visitors in the garden and they love to feast on the roots of the plants when they are underground. When they are above ground, they usually trample or eat the leaves. Hence, they can do double damage to the marijuana crop. Add to that, if left unchecked, they can multiply at a very rapid rate.
| Identification: Unlike gophers who tend to dig two holes for going in and going out, rabbits make only one hole. Also, they like to make the holes clean. |
| Prevention: One of the best ways to discourage rabbits from settling in the garden is to sprinkle blood meal powder around the plants. However, this method can attract carnivore animals that can further destroy the garden. So, be cautious when using this method. |
Rats and Mice
These rodents generally prefer to gobble up human trash but they have no problem feeding on marijuana plants as well. But the main reason they disturb the plants is that they have this urge to constantly gnaw at something. Their teeth grow fast and they would generally feel sick if they allow their teeth to continue growing. If left to continue, these critters can multiply rapidly, making it even more difficult to deal with them.
| Identification: For starters, we might notice that some of the plants’ stalks are mercilessly chewed on. There could also be signs of rat or mice droppings. Sometimes, there might even be damages to the buds. |
| Prevention: The best prevention technique is to keep the garden clean since these rodents are lured in by garbage and left-over food. This means putting a lid on the compost and trash bins. We can also get help from common rat predators such as cats, hawks, owls, and eagles. |
As gross as it may sound, rats and mice are also attracted to animal poo. So, make sure to clean the feces of domestic animals such as the cats and dogs.
Wallabies
Common in Australia, wallabies are the smaller relatives of the kangaroo. Their source of food is primarily plants which include grasses, vegetables, and leaves. To find food, they will cover many distances, so, it is not uncommon for some of them to wander in the garden.
| Identification: Since they mostly feed on leaves, they could strip the marijuana plants bare. They could also trample on them. Thus, the signs that we can observe when there is an unwelcome wallaby are half-eaten or trampled leaves. |
| Prevention: The best option is to build a fence using a sturdy material or a screen which is 4 to 6 feet in height. We can also use aromatic and prickly plants to deter them from coming closer to the garden. |
Wombats
Native to Australia, these muscular marsupials are notorious for burrowing just about anywhere in a property. Hence, they are the most problematic to handle. As such, they can be motivated to dig deep tunnels to look for food, escape the heat, or hide from a predator. To the marijuana crop, this can have disastrous consequences.
| Identification: Wombats tend to dig a few fresh-dug holes within their home range of 5 to 25 hectares. Their burrows usually have their characteristic scratch marks or cube-shaped droppings. |
| Prevention: Covering the entrance of their burrows with a steel mesh discourages the wombat to make more holes. The scent of a predator’s urine may also deter them from digging some more. They have the same reaction towards powdered blood or bone meal. To use, simply pour the urine or fertilizer around the holes of their burrow. |
However, be cautious about the wombat’s next move. In general, when they get displaced, they would start to burrow in even more undesirable locations such as under the house or garage.
Controlling Bigger Pests Ensures Healthy Outdoor Marijuana
To ensure a healthy garden that survives to produce buds, it is vital that we know the behavior of common animal pests. The ability to tell if they have been in the garden is also important so we can prepare the best method to repel them. Most of all, we must try to discourage them from settling in the garden by using humane methods.
In general, the best way to repel these bigger pests is to use preventative measures. Doing so reduces the chances of disturbance to ever occur in the garden. So, be familiar with the many different pests and deal with them accordingly and naturally. Doing so will make for a more satisfactory gardening experience.
FAQ about protecting marijuana from animal pets
How to prevent pests from destroying your outdoor cannabis plants?
Here are some top tips that can protect your marijuana plants from pests attack: Grow companion plants, Sterilize your soil, Spray neem oil from time to time, Place sticky pads around the plants, and have a strong fence.
How to keep bugs off plants without pesticides?
Here are 5 natural things you can use to keep bugs off: Neem oil spray, Salt spray, Onion & garlic spray, Eucalyptus Oil, and Chrysanthemum Flower Tea
Does vinegar kill bugs on plants?
Yes, Here’s our one of the top vinegar tips: Mix 3 cups water and 1 cup vinegar in a spray bottle and add 1 teaspoon of dish soap. Spray it on you marijuana plants at least 2 times a week.
Thanks for Reading Hope We helped.
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