By Luke Sumpter

Cannabis might be a hardy plant, but it's also prone to pests and pathogens that can significantly affect the quality and size of your harvest. One way to manage cannabis pests is to use biological pest control. Keep reading to learn how biological cannabis pest control works and why it's becoming ever more popular.


What Exactly Is Biological Pest Control?

Biological pest control refers to the method of using living organisms to control pests in your grow room or garden. These organisms include:

  • Beneficial bacteria and fungi
  • Insects that prey on pests
  • Plants that naturally repel pests and pathogens or attract beneficial insects

Biological Pest Control vs Synthetic Pest Control

As opposed to using living organisms to control pests, synthetic pest control uses synthetic chemicals such as:

  • Pesticides
  • Fungicides
A man using pesticides on Cannabis Plants
A Man Using Pesticides on Cannabis Plants

Chemical pesticides are carefully formulated to eradicate one or multiple types of pests. They can work in a number of ways; by killing pests upon contact, by affecting their ability to reproduce, or by influencing the pest's behaviour in a detrimental way (for example, some pesticides may cause pests to stop eating or drinking water).

Chemical pesticides and fungicides are generally very effective and fast-acting, and many growers turn to them when they're facing a large pest infestation that needs to be controlled immediately. Unfortunately, however, chemical pest control agents aren't always very selective and may kill beneficial insects living in your garden, such as those listed further down in this article.

Plus, the harsh chemicals present in pesticides/fungicides can contaminate your cannabis flowers, as well as damage your soil and contaminate the runoff from your garden. For those reasons, many cannabis growers choose to use biological pest control methods wherever possible, as they offer a non-toxic, eco-friendly, and sustainable alternative.

The Pros and Cons of Biological Pest Control

Every approach to growing cannabis has its own set of benefits and drawbacks, and biological pest control is no different. Below, we'll outline the pros and cons of using biological pest control in your cannabis garden so you can decide if it's the right approach for you.

The Benefits of Biological Pest Control

  • Sustainability: Unlike synthetic pesticides/fungicides, biological pest control methods do not produce harsh chemical runoff that can pollute the local environment. Biological pest control methods also do not disturb or degrade soil, meaning you can reuse the soil used to grow your cannabis plants post-harvest.
  • Non-toxic: Chemical pesticides and fungicides contain chemicals that are toxic to humans, pets, and the beneficial insects and bacteria living in your garden. Biological pest control, on the other hand, is free of these harsh chemicals.
  • Specificity: Biological pest control focuses on introducing organisms into your garden with very specific targets. That means that it allows you to control a certain pest without damaging any other organisms in your garden/grow space.
  • Cost-effective: Biological pest control takes a proactive approach to dealing with pests, and focuses on creating a good environment for your plants that doesn't favour the spread of pests and pathogens. While this approach is more hands-on, it helps to prevent pest infestations rather than just treat them, and can therefore save you money in the long run.
  • Long-term: Biological pest control offers a long-term solution to pest management. Once you introduce them into your garden, many of the beneficial insects, plants, and other organisms we list below sustain themselves with little-to-no input on your behalf. Plus, the fact that they won't disrupt other plants or animals in your garden means that biological pest control methods can be kept in place for much longer periods of time than synthetic pesticides/fungicides, which can damage your plants when used in excess.

Ladybugs as Biological Pest Control
Ladybugs as Biological Pest Control

The Disadvantages of Biological Pest Control

  • It's a slow process: Biological pest control is a long-term endeavour. Introducing beneficial insects and plants into your garden may seem simple, but it can take considerable time for these organisms to start producing an effect, especially when compared to the immediacy of using pesticides and fungicides.
  • It's not a permanent solution: Biological pest control won't completely eradicate a pest from your garden.
  • It's less controlled: No matter how much we might try, there is no controlling nature. Sometimes, introducing organisms into your garden to prey on a particular pest works; sometimes, it simply doesn't. Oftentimes, finding a biological method of controlling pests that works and suits your garden takes time and some trial and error.

Using Biological Pest Control: Indoor vs Outdoor Cannabis Cultivation

Below, we'll walk you through different ways to use biological pest control in your cannabis garden. While some of the methods might seem more applicable to indoor rooms/tents and others might seem more suitable for an outdoor space, they are not mutually exclusive. Feel free to experiment with each method as you see fit, and follow the links provided for more information.

Using Biological Pest Control Indoors

First, we’ll start with bio pest control measures primarily implicated for indoor use.

Foliar Spray

  • Foliar sprays are one of the most popular ways to apply commercial insecticides and pesticides. However, they also play their part in biological pest control. Some organisms you can apply directly to your plants in the form of a foliar spray include:
  • Compost tea: Made from compost, compost teas are rich in nutrients as well as bacteria that can help to protect your plants from pathogens and pests. Rather than using compost, you can also make foliar leaf teas from worm castings or guano, which also contain natural bacteria and fungi that'll help protect your plants.
  • Neem oil and potassium soap: While not technically living organisms, neem oil and potassium soap are by far two of the most effective organic pest control agents out there.

Nematodes

Nematodes are microscopic worm-like animals that, when used properly, can be a huge asset to your cannabis garden as they hunt and kill both pests and their larvae. Nematodes can be very effective against a variety of pests, from ants and ticks to caterpillars, gnats, and leafminers.

The best way to use nematodes in your favour is to buy them from a reputable supplier and introduce them into your soil. Most nematodes come in the form of some kind of carrier (such as vermiculite) that you can introduce directly into the soil.

Mycorrhizae

Often thought of as a specific type of fungi or bacteria, mycorrhizae actually describes the symbiotic relationship between a plant's roots and a network of beneficial fungi. When you take the time to create a rich, organic soil for your plants, these fungi are able to grow around their rhizosphere, helping to maintain both the health of the soil and your plants. For example, mycorrhizae can help your plants take up more nutrients from the soil as well as protect them from pests and pathogens.

The best way to use mycorrhizae is to inoculate your soil with beneficial bacteria before you sow your seeds; in fact, mycorrhizae is very effective at protecting seedlings and is known to benefit the development of their roots.

Nematodes - Mycorrhizae
Nematodes - Mycorrhizae

Biological Pest Control for Outdoor Cannabis Cultivation

While most of the aforementioned indoor pest control options are also viable outdoors, below are some measures that are more specific to outdoor crops.

Companion Planting

Companion planting is all about giving your cannabis plants some "companions". Certain herbs, for example, naturally repel pests with their unique aromas. Flowers or fruit trees and vegetables, on the other hand, help to attract pollinators and other insects that naturally feed on smaller insects (such as plant pests). Finally, companion planting also adds to the biodiversity of your garden, making it harder for pests and pathogens to settle in, as it's much easier for them to strike monoculture crops.

Beneficial Insects

Last but definitely not least, another great way to adopt biological pest control is by introducing beneficial insects into your garden to prey on pests. Some popular insects used to protect cannabis and other plants include:

  • Ladybugs: Can help control aphids, moths, beetles, mites, and thrips, as well as their larvae.
  • Lacewing larvae: While adult lacewings are herbivores, lacewing larvae feed on aphids, thrips, whiteflies, leafhoppers, and spider mites.
  • Praying mantis: These unique-looking specimens hunt aphids, caterpillars, and whiteflies.
  • Nematodes (see above).

Other beneficial insects for your cannabis garden include assassin bugs, predatory mites, and rove beetles. Some of these insects can be bought from garden centres, but companion plants can help to attract them into your garden for free!

Parasitics Wasps

Parasitic wasps are a popular choice of beneficial insect that naturally prey upon aphids. They also attack various beetles, flies, spiders, and bugs. Endoparasitic wasps inject their eggs inside of their prey, which develop over time as the prey continues its normal functions, whereas ectoparasitic wasps develop on the outside of their prey and paralyse it instantly.

Wasps Biological Predator Cannabis

Spiders

Spiders are very helpful creatures within cannabis gardens. They spin vast webs and are no picky eaters. These will feed on a large variety of different pests. Planting flowers within your garden will help to attract spiders.

Spider Natural Predator In Cannabis Plants

What Is the Best Pest Control Method for Cannabis?

As growers, we're always on the lookout for the best way to promote the health of our plants and thereby enjoy a high-quality harvest. When it comes to pest control for weed plants, we see most growers opt for a hybrid approach that allows them to reap the rewards of both biological and synthetic pest control methods.

For example, growers might inoculate their soil with nematodes and mycorrhizae at the beginning of their grow, and use companion planting to try to prevent pests from settling into their garden. When facing an infestation, however, they may turn to synthetic pesticides and fungicides to deal with the situation as soon as possible, before slowly returning to a more biological and eco-friendly approach.

The truth is that there's no one-size-fits-all approach to dealing with cannabis pests. Finding the right approach will depend on your skills and preferences as a grower, as well as the type of setup you're running. In most cases, however, a hybrid approach works great.

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Privacy Policy - Royal Queen Seeds

To ensure a safe online environment and guarantee adequate data protection, we strictly comply with all legal requirements. In this privacy statement, we provide information about how and for what purpose data is collected, safety measures, storage periods and contact details.


COMPANY NAME: SNORKEL SPAIN, SL (hereinafter ROYAL QUEEN SEEDS)

C/ Vilar d'Abdelà, 5 (nave 1) CP: 08170 de Montornès del Vallès

+34 937 379 846

support@royalqueenseeds.com


The present Privacy Policy sets out the terms on which we will treat personal data at ROYAL QUEEN SEEDS; this includes any personal data collected through our website https://www.royalqueenseeds.com/ as well as any other data we process in the course of our business activities.

ROYAL QUEEN SEEDS collects the following personal data for the purposes listed below:

SECTION 1 – PERSONAL INFORMATION WE COLLECT

1.1 Account purchases

Account purchases can only be made if you are in possession of a personal account. When you create an account or purchase something from our shop, as part of the buying and selling process we collect the following personal information that you provide to us:

This information is required for delivery. In addition, when you browse our shop, we automatically receive the Internet Protocol (IP) address of your computer. Based on this information, we can optimise your online experience and at the same time protect our online environment.

Purpose of data collection

We collect and store account-related data for the following purposes:

(a) to carry out obligations arising from any contracts between you and us, and to provide you with information, products and services that you may request from us;

(b) to set up, manage and communicate with you about your account and your orders;

(c) to conduct market research and analysis;

(d) to confirm your age and identity, and to detect and prevent fraud.

1.2 Newsletters

With your explicit permission, we may send you newsletters about our shop, new products and other updates. We send newsletters based on your explicit consent. In the event that you purchase a product, and in accordance with current regulations, we may send you commercial communications in accordance with the legitimate interest of our company, always about products or services similar to those you have purchased or contracted. In any case, you may exercise your right of opposition through the channels announced in this Privacy Policy. The following information is collected in relation to the newsletter:

We do not need to know the sex of the person in order to send the newsletter (data minimisation: by law we must ask for data that is strictly necessary to provide the service, and in this case knowing the sex is not necessary to send the newsletter).

Purpose of data collection

The data collected is used to:

(a) personalise our emails, including your name and gender;

(b) provide gender-specific content.

You can withdraw your consent at any time by using the link provided in the newsletter or the contact information provided in section 2.

1.3 Customer service and contact form

In order to provide appropriate support, our customer service employees have access to information related to the account. Consequently, their support will be highly effective and friendly. The data provided in our contact form is used by our CRM provider, SuperOffice. We will only use your details to respond to your message.

SECTION 2 – LEGITIMATE INTEREST

If you have purchased any of our products, please note that we may process your personal data for promotional purposes, based on Royal Queen Seeds' legitimate interest only to offer you products or services from our company and about products or services similar to those you have purchased. You may exercise your right to opt out of future messages by the means set out in this Privacy Policy or through any notification you receive.

2.1 How do you withdraw consent?

If you change your mind, you can withdraw your consent for us to contact you for the purpose of collecting, using, or disclosing your data at any time by reaching out to us at: support@royalqueenseeds.com.

SECTION 3 – DISCLOSURE

We may disclose your personal information if we are required to do so by law or if you breach our Terms of Service.

SECTION 4 – HOW LONG DO WE KEEP YOUR DATA?

At Royal Queen Seeds, we will not retain your data for longer than is necessary for the purposes described in this Policy. Different retention periods apply for different types of data; however, the longest period we will normally hold any personal data is 10 years.

4.1 Account information

Data relating to the account remains relevant for as long as the consumer is in possession of an account. Therefore, the data remains documented for as long as the account exists. When our customers delete an account, the associated data will be deleted within a reasonable period of time. Requests regarding the inspection or correction of stored personal data or the deletion of an account can be sent to support@royalqueenseeds.com.

4.2 Newsletters

In the event that you give us your consent to inform you about our products or services, we will keep your data until you express your wish not to receive any further communications from us. However, we regularly (every month) carry out a relevance check. Registered customers (and their personal information) will be deleted whenever customers do not reply to our request. In addition, our newsletter mailing has an opt-out feature. Consumers can withdraw their consent by using this opt-out feature.

SECTION 5 – COOKIES

Cookies are small information files that notify your computer of previous interactions with our website. These cookies are stored on your hard drive, not on our website. Essentially, when you use our website, your computer displays its cookies to us, informing our site that you have visited before. This allows our website to function more quickly and remember aspects related to your previous visits (such as your username), making your experience more convenient. At Royal Queen Seeds, we use two types of cookies: functional and analytical.

5.1 Functional Cookies

Functional cookies are used to enhance your online experience. Among other things, these cookies track what is added to your shopping cart. The use of these cookies does not require prior authorization.

5.2 Analytical Cookies

Analytical cookies are used for research and market analysis. The data collected with these analytical cookies is anonymous, making it unusable for third parties. The use of these cookies does not require prior authorization.

SECTION 5 – THIRD-PARTY SERVICES

Third-party services are required to conduct transactions and provide our services. In general, the third-party providers we use will only collect, use and disclose your information to the extent necessary to enable them to perform the services they provide to us.

However, certain third-party service providers, such as payment gateways and other payment transaction processors, have their own privacy policies regarding the information we must provide to them for your transactions.

We encourage you to read the privacy policies of these providers so that you can understand how these providers will handle your personal information.

In particular, certain suppliers may be located or have facilities located in a different jurisdiction than yours or ours. Therefore, if you choose to proceed with a transaction involving the services of a third party, your information may be subject to the laws of the jurisdiction in which that service provider or its facilities are located.

Once you leave our website or are redirected to a third-party website or application, you are no longer governed by this Privacy Policy or the Terms of Service of our website.

Web analytics service (anonymous data)

On this website we have integrated an element of a web analytics service (with anonymisation functionality). Web analytics can be defined as the gathering, processing and analysis of data about the behaviour of visitors to websites. An analytics service collects, among other things, data about which website a person came from (the so-called referrer), which sub-pages they visited or how often and for how long they visited a sub-page. Web analytics is mainly used for website optimisation and for a cost–benefit analysis of internet advertising.

Courier service

To complete deliveries we use a courier service. This courier service carries out the delivery between our company and the consumer's home. To complete these logistics, the company requires access to the consumer's name and address information.

Mailing service

Royal Queen Seeds uses a third-party mail service provider to send its newsletter. This provider has access to limited account information related to opt-in consent (e.g. email address).

Marketing services

Royal Queen Seeds has the support of a company that specialises in marketing and communication activities. Their access to personal information is very limited and mostly anonymous.

Payment services

At Royal Queen Seeds we use external payment services to handle our transactions (e.g. credit card payments).

SECTION 6 – SECURITY

To protect your personal information, we take reasonable precautions and follow industry standard best practices to ensure that it is not inappropriately lost, misused, accessed, disclosed, altered or destroyed.

If you provide us with your credit card information, the information is encrypted using secure socket layer technology (SSL) and stored using AES-256 encryption. Although no method of transmission over the internet or electronic storage is 100% secure, we follow all PCI-DSS requirements and implement additional industry standards that are commonly accepted. Information related to the account is protected with a hashing method. This method transforms the information into a generated hash. As a result, confidential information is protected and invisible, even to us. In addition, our databases are exceptionally protected against unauthorised access. For example, access to the database is only possible and permitted via approved IP addresses (e.g. from Royal Queen Seeds headquarters). Other attempts and addresses are rejected at all times.

Furthermore, data is anonymised as much as possible, so it cannot be directly linked to a specific consumer. With this data, however, we may be able to carry out market research and analysis. In addition, the third parties concerned (e.g. mailing service) are examined prior to our collaboration, comply with the GDPR from the EU and receive a processing agreement. Within Royal Queen Seeds, employees are assigned different access permissions. Specific permission provides access only to information that is strictly required to perform a task. Digital security measures are subject to change and must meet high requirements to ensure the safety of online customers. That is why, at Royal Queen Seeds, we appoint a security officer. Regular verification and improvement of security measures (where necessary) are part of the role.

SECTION 7 – CHANGES TO THIS PRIVACY POLICY

We reserve the right to modify this Privacy Policy at any time, so please check back regularly. Changes and clarifications will be effective immediately upon being published on the Website. If we make substantial changes to this policy, we will notify you here that it has been updated so you will know what information we collect, how we use it and under what circumstances, if any, we use and/or disclose it.

SECTION 8 – YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO: