Observe your marijuana carefully. If the marijuana plant has these spots, they are not yellow, hollow, or whitish, but obvious dry spots with intact structure. This is not a lack of nutrition or excessive watering, nor is it just burning.
It is the common pest of all leaf plants-leafhoppers.
There are at least 20,000 different types of leafhoppers in the world. Their colors can be bright red, green, yellow, blue, pink, cyan, purple, brown, tan or black. There are also many changes in body shape, but the overall outline is similar.
Adults of leafhoppers generally lay their eggs in the new shoots of trees or the main veins of the dorsal leaf, and most of them are near the base. The egg period is generally about 5 to 20 days. After the nymphs hatch, they often swarm on the back of the leaves to suck and injure or inhabit. Frightened leafhopper nymphs will crawl quickly, while adults will bounce, and can spread to a certain extent with the help of wind. The first generation of leafhoppers usually occurs in early June, while the second generation occurs in early July, the third generation occurs in mid-August, and the fourth generation occurs in early September. The occurrence period of leafhoppers will be irregular, so there will be overlapping generations. Usually in the hot June, the number of leafhoppers will greatly increase, and between August and September, the number of leafhoppers will reach the peak, and the damage will be the most serious. If the temperature is too high after autumn, the damage of leafhoppers will increase and delay. In autumn, mature leafhoppers produce warmth and will freeze to death as the temperature drops at the end of autumn.
These are the common leafhoppers, which are of various colors and sizes, and can be seen indoors or outdoors.
Leafhoppers live by sucking tree sap on the back of their leaves. The leaves damaged by leafhoppers will initially show some yellowish-white dots, and then the spots will be connected in severe cases. When the damage is the most severe, the entire leaves will turn pale. Leafhoppers often make the leaves fall off abnormally early, which not only affects the differentiation of flower buds, but also affects the growth of plants, and can also induce the occurrence of gum disease and other diseases.
The spots formed by leafhoppers are clustered, irregularly distributed, and uneven.
After the leafhopper sucks the juice from the cannabis leaf, the sucked part will become dry, but it will not perforate or appear hollow.
Whether it is an adult or a larva, the leafhopper has a strong ability to escape and hide. Once it feels a sudden change in airflow or light, it will move quickly to the dark, coupled with the various camouflage of the leafhopper, making it a cannabis cruel The hidden killer.
Adult leafhoppers are 3-4 mm long. Southeast Asian species are mostly yellow-green and green. There is a white streak in the center of the head, and an inconspicuous black spot on each side. There are also white streaks on the inside of the compound eyes and the green back of the head. Connect with the previous white pattern to form a “mountain” shape. The front wings are green and translucent, and the hind wings are colorless and transparent. The eggs are about 0.5 mm long, banana-shaped, slightly larger at the head, and light yellow-green. The nymphs are similar to adults in body shape and color except for their wings.
Some breeds may not be able to see 6 legs.
I have to say that some varieties of leafhoppers are really beautiful, but this kind of bug not only sucks on hemp leaves, but also attracts more pests by the sap from the hemp. The most serious is that it will make the smell of marijuana more obvious, laying a very big safety hazard. Therefore, once we find such dry spots on cannabis leaves, we must immediately take measures to destroy them.
How to manage leafhoppers?
- Regularly check cannabis leaves to look for dry spots, especially when it is dry and high temperature. Although leafhoppers are difficult to find, they will leave dry spots. High temperature and dryness will increase their food intake.
- Use dichlorvos, thiamethoxam, and imidacloprid alternately. Spray on plants and soil after dilution. Do not use the same agent for more than 2 consecutive times. Spray once every 7 to 10 days. Spray 2 to 3 times continuously. Achieve good control effect.
- In serious cases, adopt the method of alternating use of cypermethrin and abamectin. Once every 3 days, spray alternately on the plants and the soil. This method cannot be used during the flowering period. It will be effective in one week.
- The insecticidal lamp is suitable for cannabis plants in the late flowering period. The adults of leafhoppers have phototaxis, which can effectively kill a large number of adults. Clean, hygienic and efficient.
- Introducing beneficial insects, Coccinella septempunctata will eat a lot of various pests, including leafhoppers. You can buy live ones online and are very cheap.
Leafhoppers often appear in dry and high-temperature planting environments. Their reproductive ability is not as strong as spider mites and aphids, but they are very difficult to detect. Many times it can only be found through dry spots, but its harm is huge, and for growers, its harm is devastating. Don’t show mercy to this little bug!