How To Protect Your Cannabis Plants

Protecting your Cannabis Plants

So, you want to start growing cannabis? Congratulations! Or are you already growing and wondering how you protect them? 

This blog post will equip you with the necessary knowledge to identify potential risks and ways to prevent them. We will also advise on ways to protect your buds or seeds from total loss if they’re already exposed.

Why You Need to Protect Your Cannabis Plants

Cannabis plants are prone to attacks from different elements.

1. Diseases
2. Pests
3. Environmental stress
4. Predators 
5. Contaminants and pollutants 

Without protection, you can easily lose your plants, which can result in wasted resources, including time. That’s why you need to know how to handle each element.

Protecting Against Diseases

Like all living organisms, cannabis plants are vulnerable to several diseases, including bacterial, fungal, and viral ones.

Common Cannabis Diseases

• Powdery mildew is a fungal disease that arises from high humidity in the grow room. It attacks the plants, leaving white powdery spots on the leaves.
• Bud rot is also caused by prolonged exposure of buds to high moisture. The disease destroys the flowers from the inside and gives them fuzzy grey-brown spots. It’s sometimes referred to as gray mould.
• Root rot results from high moisture in the growing medium, primarily due to overwatering or a poor draining growing medium and pot. It attacks the roots, making them unable to absorb nutrients, eventually killing the plant.
• Leaf septoria manifests as yellow or brown spots on the leaves. The fungal infection is often triggered by excessive moisture.
• Bacterial soft rot makes the plants mushy and gives off a foul smell. It mainly affects the stems, roots and buds.
• Bacterial wilt blocks water transport within the plant. Even with high moisture content in the growing medium, the plants still show signs of wilting before dying.
• Bacterial leaf spot and bacterial blight are caused by different bacteria. However, they both lead to defoliation and affect photosynthesis. 
• Cannabis mosaic virus is a harder-to-treat disease that is spread chiefly by pests. The leaves get a discoloration that is not attributed to nutrients.

Prevention Techniques

1. Use fans to circulate the air and ventilation systems to introduce fresh clean air. Also, ensure proper plant spacing to curb spreading.
2. Set your humidity at 40-70% and the temperature range between 20–30°C (68–86°F). This deters pests and keeps the plant’s immunity system at peak.
3. Sterilize your grow room thoroughly before potting your plants. Always use sterilized tools, especially after pruning or removing sick plants or parts.
4. Grow disease-resistant strains

Treatment options

If your plants have been affected by disease, you must control their spread to preserve the remaining yield.

1. Organic fungicides and bactericides such as neem oil and baking soda solutions can significantly help.
2. If you choose chemical solutions, strictly follow the manufacturer’s instructions to ensure the buds are fit for human consumption.
3. Remove severely infected plants from the grow room and dispose of them accordingly.

Defending Against Pests

Pests infestations are serious as they can damage plant structures. We have already seen how they can also lead to diseases.

Common Cannabis Pests

• Spider mites wave fine webs, while broad mites cause shiny and twisted blisters on the leaves
• Aphids are tiny pear-shaped insects often clustered around stems and leaves. They leave a sticky honeydew residue.
• Whiteflies are moth-like and fly around the plant when disturbed. 
• Caterpillars, Loopers and Inchworms bore large holes through the leaves and buds.
• Barnacles look like tiny crusts attached to the stems and leaves.
• Fungus gnats hover around the soil surface as tiny black flies. Their larvae are destructive to the plant roots.
• Broad mites are often invisible to the naked eye and can lead to curled leaves, stunted growth and bronze discoloration.
• Mealybugs have a cotton ball appearance with a white waxy secretion.

Prevention Techniques

1. Beneficial insects like ladybugs act as natural predators that reduce the pest population.
2. Plant barriers like nests and sticky traps can help physically prevent plant access.
3. Once more, ensure cleanliness with no potential breeding ground or hiding spots for the pests.
4. For treatment, pesticides with a food grade are used as a last resort. You can try out organic ones first.

Mitigating Environmental Stress

Poor environmental conditions can significantly impact your plant’s health. Stress slows down growth and increases susceptibility to diseases and pests. Here are the causes of environmental stress and how to mitigate them effectively.

Heat and cold stress

High temperatures lead to heat stress, which causes wilting, curled leaves, and even scorched tips and edges. Prolonged exposure can dry out the soil. This dehydrates the plants, which in turn weakens their immunity to pests and diseases.

Cold stress occurs when low temperatures slow down your plants’ metabolic processes, causing stunted growth due to poor nutrient uptake and utilization. In extreme cases, frost damages cellular structures, contributing to irreversible tissue death.

Prevention tips for temperatures

Shade cloths can help regulate the temperature in hot climatic conditions. Fans help lower surface leaf temperatures by removing the hot air and bringing in cold air.

If growing outdoors in the winter, insulating your plants with breathable materials can help keep frost off. 

You can also move potted plants indoors when the weather becomes harsher. Indoors, heaters help optimize temperatures while grow tents act as good insulation.

Watering Issues

You need an optimum watering schedule for your cannabis plants. Ensure that your plants receive clean water consistently and in accordance with their needs and prevailing environmental conditions.

How to prevent overwatering

• Use a well-draining growing medium to avoid overwatering. If you’re growing indoors in a pot, ensure the pot has drainage pores for any excessive water. 
• For those growing in the ground, you can raise the beds to ensure that no surface water collects around the plants.
• The rule of thumb for watering your crop is to do it when only the top layer of your growing medium has dried.
• Water the plants gently to avoid drowning the plants. Also, only water the base of your plants to prevent excessive moisture on the leaves.

How to prevent underwatering

• Water your plants thoroughly. To ensure the water goes deep and covers all the root systems, you should see any excessive water coming from the bottom.
• Avoid compacted growing mediums that can prevent water from covering the entire root system.

Wind protection

Strong winds impart physical damage to your cannabis plants, breaking stems, branches and even buds.  They can also interfere with the fragile resin or trichomes on your flowers.

Protecting your plants against strong winds

• Plants with lanky stems, branches, and heavy buds need support. Trellises and stakes are some effective ways of holding up plants. 
• Outdoor growers can also employ windbreakers, such as fences, hedges, and trees, to effectively reduce the speed of wind before it reaches the plant.
• If you live in areas with a high risk of fast-moving winds such as hurricanes and typhoons, you are better off growing your plants indoors.

Nutrient Management

Nutrients are part of your growing medium and are equally part of your growing environment. Cannabis plants do well with a balanced nutrient management plan.

Tips to ensuring proper nutrient management

Conduct regular soil tests to ascertain the overall health of your soil. Using the results, you can optimize it for a high yield and protect your plants from stress.

1. Maintain a pH of 5.5-6.0 to prevent nutrient lockout due to alkalinity or acidity. Balance the pH of your soil by applying lime to increase the pH in cases of high acidity. Acidifying fertilizers aid in lowering alkalinity.
2. Apply macronutrients in line with the plant’s growth and deficiency signs. For instance, high nitrogen is used during the vegetative stage. Phosphorus and potassium are used during flowering.
3. Organic amendments such as teas, compost and worm casting amplify the health of your soil by enriching it with microbial activity.
4. Time your fertilization well to avoid nutrient burns, especially for young seedling roots.
5. Optimize the structure of your growing medium. Loosen any compactness for optimal root development and water flow.

Guarding Against Predators

Predators can be either wildlife, domestic animals and even human beings. These animals can cause physical harm to the plants, ranging from breaking them to eating them. Humans, on the other hand, target cannabis plants for vandalism and theft.

Dealing with animal threats

1. Mesh fences at least 8 feet high can help stop animals from accessing the plants. 
2. For smaller animals, such as rodents, buried wire can help stop any tunnelling for access.
3. Bird netting and reflective material can help keep off flying animals that peck on the plant’s seeds and buds. Scare balloons can also be effective.
4. Sprinkling natural deterrents such as garlic concoctions can keep the animals off.

Human interference

1. Keep your indoor growing setup under lock and key.
2. Use high-tech security and surveillance systems such as alarms and motion sensors to deter probable intrusion
3. Camouflage your plants using creative ideas such as blending them in your kitchen garden or camouflage netting.
4. Regularly check your plants for any human interference and take the necessary steps to prevent further damage.
5. Wash your hands and sterilize equipment after pruning diseased plants.

Conclusion

Carefully attending to your cannabis plants makes them more resilient while upholding their yield potential. As always, prevention is better than cure. Take the necessary steps and avoid problems once the plants sprout.