Anybody have any idea what these are?

Anybody have any idea what these are? I found them on the stem of a fan leaf.

3 Likes

Some type of scale is my first thought. Many blessings and much love

5 Likes

I would say scale also… pick those off, get an ipm going, and keep an eye out for any more

3 Likes

They almost look like sNails. Do they move?

5 Likes

Brown scale. You can knock them off with a hard stream of water. If your plants are at a stage where that’s okay then I’d start with that to reduce their population faster than hand picking and it will get the ones too small to see and in the cracks and crannies. Then some sort of IPM. They’re gross and I can’t seem to get rid of them. Condolences.

6 Likes

Agree, they look like scales … Arriba

4 Likes

Scales, little cunts

4 Likes

Looks like you guys are right. It is insect scale. Damn this sucks. Luckily the infestation is not too bad yet. It appears I can get rid of them with neem oil? Might have to get some ladybugs too.

2 Likes

Do you get them every year? This is my third year growing outdoors and I’ve never seen anything like them. They are on some autoflowers that are just finishing up. I’m a little worried and don’t want them to spread to my other plants. :snail: :herb:

2 Likes

They are only an issue indoors where I live, so it’s not seasonal, I have them all the time. I’ll think I defeated them, then 2-3 months later they show up again.

They spread by crawling and flying while immature, and the smallest babies are too small to see. The ones you showed are large enough to reproduce.

I recommend washing your buds before drying, they make sticky sweet juice all over the plant like aphids do. It’s basically just sugar water, so it washes right off, but if you leave it they may get moldy and not dry well. On the plants it encourages the growth of things like powdery mildew sooty mold.

Here’s a nice thorough description of their life cycle and more:
Brown soft scale - Agricultural Biology

3 Likes

Don’t use Neem on anything you’re going to smoke. Good practical advice in that article. I recommend not bothering to attempt to exterminate them, just focus on getting your harvest.

5 Likes

Yes. Thank you for the good advice. They’re just about ready, maybe just a few more days. Only a few white pistils left on the plants. I was hoping these autoflowers would be done in 3 months. But it’s been 3½ months now.

1 Like

Where the heck did they come from?

2 Likes

Definitely scale I had them last season :face_with_symbols_over_mouth: the ant’s here seemed to be farming them and feeding off the sticky liquid. Hose them off and keep your eyes out because they keep coming back.

3 Likes

Yeah I only found a handful of adults and I have since plucked them off. There were a few big old fan leaves where I found a bunch in the nymph stage underneath. I have since looked at all the leaves and plucked off the ones that had anything on them, tied them up in a plastic bag and tossed them into the garbage can.

1 Like

I’m just wondering where they came from. And I’m hoping that they don’t get out of hand. I will be harvesting the last two autoflowers in a couple days that had the scale on them. But I have a bunch of photo sensitive plants that have two months to go before they’re ready. Man I hope they leave them alone. I’m going to have to be going over them with a fine tooth comb everyday. Darn it.

https://floraflex.com/default/blog/post/preventing-and-treating-scale-insects-on-cannabis-plants#:~:text=Identification,is%20excreted%20by%20scale%20insects.

That should be good enough to get you to harvest. Do you usually wash your bud? If not there’s plenty of good advice in some threads on here. I just rinse mine down thoroughly in the shower in cool water, but the garden hose on a gentle spray would be similar.

For your photo plants, I’d rub down or spray down the lower trunks since that’s where they showed up first on your other plants (and on mine).

Where they come from depends on where you live. Some parts of the world they are a regular pest. Where I live they don’t survive outside year round, so usually hitch a ride home from garden centers.

1 Like

You’ll be alright, just keep on keeping on.

2 Likes

Learn something new every day… I never have even heard of this before… thanks for the knowledge!!

3 Likes

They have a complicated life cycle. Every early stage is tiny. They are easy to kill with soap or horticultural oil sprays.

1 Like