Aphids On Your Medical Marijuana Plants? Get LadyBugs!

I found a little lady bug and didn’t have the heart to put it out in the cold, what with the weather going below freezing at night. So, I looked up ladybugs on the internet and found you can keep one as a pet.  I took in a green pumpkin that had never ripened and followed instructions to care for it.  Just a paper towel around the stem, a few drops of water a day on the paper towel so the lady bug can suck the water out, and a drop of honey a day for food.  I’ve had my pet lady bug for about 10 days now, she did leave for 2 days, then returned to her green pumpkin. 

I also found, to my surprise, that ladybugs are the #1 favorite of medical marijuana and marijuana growers in the United States because they eat aphids and aphid eggs.  I do not grow any marijuana myself, so I did not previously know that marijuana growers really have to have a lot of knowledge to successfully grow marijuana without their plants being destroyed by various problems, one of which is aphids and aphid eggs. 

If you are in a state
where you can grow
legal marijuana,
or legal
medical marijuana,
you might want to
keep pet ladybugs. 


Get a squash or pumpkin,
put a paper towel
around the stem, put
a few drops of water
a day on the paper towel
 because the lady bug
 can suck water out of it.

Put one drop a day of
 honey on the squash or pumpkin.
The lady bug can live
 for 2 years, or more.. 

 When you
 have a  problem with
aphids or aphid eggs,
 transfer your pet
lady bug over to your
legal marijuana  (depending on what state you live in) or
legal medical
marijuana garden.
 
  When the aphid
or aphid egg problem
is gone, put your
 ladybug back on its
 “home” squash or
pumpkin and be sure
 to put drops of
water on the paper
towel and a drop of
 honey every day on
 the squash or
pumpkin to keep your
 pet ladybug happy
 and healthy.

Aphid Control with Ladybugs
Natural Aphid Control
www.thebeneficialinsectco.com/aphid-control-ladybugs.htm‎Cached
Ladybugs are so popular in
 terms of aphid control
 because they eat so many!
Adult ladybugs can eat
up to a 1000 aphids a day…

Comments | 11

  • Great News!!

    That’s great Chris. I would imagine there would be a great need for someone to raise lady bugs considering the amount of marijuana growing in Vermont. I’d be willing to bet that market (lady bugs) would grow larger than the honey bees. That is of course until Monsanto develops an aphid tolerant Marijuana plant.

    • very true

      “That is of course until Monsanto develops an aphid tolerant Marijuana plant.”

      You are right, there…

  • Marijuana Farmers use Ladybugs for nonmedical and medical

    It’s a bit misleading for medical marijuana advocates to present ladybugs (a natural form of the pesticidial aphids) as use for “medical marijuana plants.”

    It is true the ladybugs eat aphids and help prevent cannabis plant destruction but it’s time to turn away from as Clint Werner says in my new article as seeing medical marijuana as “a monopolistic prescription drug.”
    https://www.ibrattleboro.com/sections/books/marijuana-endocannabinoid-system-our-bodies

    Ladybugs are used by “marijuana farmers” for –non-medical and medical– marijuana cultivation for adult consumption.

    • all aphids

      It’s a bit misleading to say ladybugs are for aphids on any specific type of plant. They are used to fight aphids on all sorts of plants. : )

      • Quite true, of course

        I spent my entire childhood in a self-sustaining farming family before we even heard of the word ‘organic.’

        I guess the marijuana Rx people need to keep segregating their overriding need to make sure that the Rx component stays in the forefront.

        It’s time to shift the advocacy for legalization to the forefront for ‘all’ marijuana consumers.

  • I see I overlooked Cris' 2nd paragraph

    “I also found, to my surprise, that ladybugs are the #1 favorite of medical marijuana and marijuana growers in the United States because they eat aphids and aphid eggs. I do not grow any marijuana myself, so I did not previously know that marijuana growers really have to have a lot of knowledge to successfully grow marijuana without their plants being destroyed by various problems, one of which is aphids and aphid eggs.”

  • One Good Argument for legalizing marijuanna

    Letting people grow their own is really the most logical thing that could be done.
    Marijuana purchased on the street has been tested for the presence of pesticides.
    Not too surprisingly, the valuable cash crop is protected the way most valuable cash crops are, with copious amounts of pesticides. We know this because of the residues that are found on the marijuana.

    What was startling to me about the following article, was that even the marijuana available at medical dispensaries in California is apparently commonly coated with pesticides.

    “Many of the chemicals applied to pot plants are intended only for lawns and other non-edibles. Medical cannabis samples collected in Los Angeles have been found to contain pesticide residues at levels 1600 times the legal digestible amount.”

    ” Because the product is generally inhaled rather than eaten, any toxins it carries have an even more direct route into the lungs and blood stream. Raber noted the situation is all the more concerning for patients smoking medical cannabis, whose health problems could make them more vulnerable to the risks pesticide exposure brings — especially if they suffer from a liver disease.”

    From http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/24/marijuana-pesticides-contamination_n_3328122.html

    Clearly if sales are allowed, what is needed is organic marijuana. Of course, even with an organic marijuana, there is a potential problem, since organic pesticides such as Sabadilla are not intended to be burnt and then sucked into your lungs. Maybe there could be tighter restrictions for the organic label, on what you could spray on leaves that were intended for smoking.

    • Other options

      There are many other options for using medical marijuana other than smoking it. Tinctures; capsules, even lollipops! I know a few people who use medical marijuana to help with the ugly effects of chemo and none of them smoke it. Although with pesticide levels at such a dangerous high ( no pun intended) I imagine there is a risk no matter how you use it.

    • Area of greatest need

      Most people like me who support growing are not going to get plots of land to grow marijuana. The majority of us wants to and will need to walk into a store to purchase a safely regulated product.

      Generally, marijuana plants, unlike hemp, grow to about 8 or so feet tall and require a planting pattern of wide-berth for each plant to produce those lovely buds in abundance. (There is a male-female issue as well.)

      Indoor, however, can be quite useful.
      I think Amendment 64 in Colorado also allows for up to 6 plants for personal use as a component of their legalization?

  • Is there enough room?

    Could the land of the state of Vermont be enough to supply the needs of every pot smoker in Vermont?

    I have to wonder.

    • Obstructionist views and exaggerated humor

      Thanks mr.mike all these years for your obstructionist views and exaggerated humor of sorts.

      If people with similar views hadn’t helped to cause so much harm and suffering to adult marijuana consumers I’d appreciate them a tad more…just a tad.

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