One of the biggest advantages of growing marijuana indoors is the fact that the gardener has ultimate control. Food, water, light, and temperature – every aspect of the plants’ world is under the complete and constant control of the grower…except one.
Pests such as spider mites, aphids, and other insects in indoor marijuana gardens present one of the biggest challenges facing cultivators.
The perpetual thorn in the side of any grower, a pest infestation can ruin all your hard work and send your financial investment in the garden down the drain.
While we will be adding articles on how to deal with specific pests in the future, one of the best overall defenses against a pest infestation is to never allow it to happen in the first place!
Tips for Avoiding Insects In Indoor Marijuana Gardens
- You can save yourself a lot of headaches from the start by making sure your clones are free from pests from the get-go. Inspect carefully, ideally when purchasing, but certainly before they are ever allowed into your indoor marijuana garden. Use a loop or magnifying glass to look for insects, tiny holes in the leaves, or the fine webbing from spider mites. Reject any with pest problems.
- Make sure anything brought into the grow room is clean and pest free – not only the plants themselves, but bags of soil, equipment, etc.
- A clean grow room is a happy grow room. Pests live in dust and dirt, so don’t provide them a home, keep your grow room as spotless as possible.
- Wash all tools and containers before they enter the grow space.
- Remove your shoes and wear clean clothes in the grow room in order to avoid inadvertently bringing pests inside, especially if you have been outside.
- Keep pets out of the grow room as pests can hitch a ride on the back of your dog or cat and next thing you know you have an infestation.
- Wash your hands before handling your plants.
- Seal off the indoor cannabis garden. Use spray foam, caulking, and or weather stripping to fill in gaps or holes where light and/or pests could enter the room.
- Do not use carpets in your grow room.
- Use air filters over any place where air gets in the room.
- If you are growing in dirt, start each crop with new fresh soil.
- Remove debris and trimmings from the room immediately.
- Be vigilant! Closely monitor your growing plants for signs of pests. The earlier you catch a problem, the better chance you have of saving your crop.