By Luke Sumpter

These organic pesticides will stop cannabis pests in their tracks.


Cultivators need to be on the lookout for pests when growing outdoors. No matter where in the world you are, there will be many forms of insects, animals, and fungi waiting to chow down on your crop.

There are several preventative measures that growers can take to stop infestations from taking hold. Companion planting is used to deter insects and distract them from weed plants, and beneficial insects can be introduced to hunt down and eliminate pest species.

When these systems fail or haven’t been implemented, it doesn’t take long for pests to lay waste to a cannabis crop. An effective way to save plants from being destroyed is to administer insect repellents. It’s common within agriculture for farmers to use chemical pesticides and fungicides to do the job. These chemicals work, but come at a price. Many pesticides are linked to health issues in humans and end up washing into the waterways where they cause harm to wildlife and the environment. Plus, do you really want to smoke weed that’s been sprayed with pesticides?

By making your own insect repellent at home, you can use natural substances that combat pests without damaging your health or the environment.

1. Neem Oil Is Effective At Killing Bugs

Neem Oil

Neem oil is commonly used as a biopesticide by organic farms and is effective against a whole host of pests, including aphids, whiteflies, mites, fungus gnats, and leaf miners. Neem oil can also control fungal infections such as powdery mildew. Unlike synthetic pesticides, neem oil doesn’t damage surrounding wildlife such as honeybees, ladybirds, mammals, and birds.

Neem seeds contain the chemical azadirachtin, which occurs in volumes of 0.2–0.4%. This molecule works as an antifeedant and repels feasting insects and grazing animals. To make neem spray, you’ll need to source a high-quality oil. Try and find a product that is 100% pure, cold-pressed, and free of additives.

Ingredients

  • 5ml neem oil
  • 1 litre water
  • 2ml organic liquid soap

Directions

Simply add 5ml of neem oil to 1 litre of water. You’ll also need to add 2ml of organic liquid soap to allow the oil to mix with the water. Transfer the solution into a spray bottle and apply to affected plants.

2. Garlic Targets Pests, But Spares Ladybugs

Garlic

Garlic is used as a biopesticide within agriculture and has a broad spectrum of use. Several constituents within the cloves have been identified as potent insecticides. Garlic works well to deter pests whilst leaving beneficial species like ladybugs unharmed. To make a garlic-based spray, follow the recipe below.

Ingredients

  • 2 garlic cloves
  • ½ cup olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon organic liquid soap
  • 2 litres water
  • Cheesecloth

Directions

Blend the garlic cloves with a splash of water and leave to infuse for a day. Strain the liquid using a piece of cheesecloth and add the garlic water, olive oil, and soap to 1 litre of water. Scoop up 1 cup of the solution and add it to the remaining litre of water. Fill up a spray bottle with this solution and apply to plants as required.

3. Tomato Leaves Contain Aphid-Killing Alkaloids

Tomato Leaves

Tomatoes seem like innocent plants. They produce bright red, tasty fruits and smell magnificent. But the leaves are a different story. Tomatoes are a member of the nightshade family alongside the notorious belladonna plant. Although far less poisonous, tomatoes carry the family name with the chemicals in their leaves. This part of the plant contains alkaloids that can fight back hoards of hungry aphids.

Ingredients

  • 2 cups chopped tomato leaves
  • 4 cups water
  • Cheesecloth

Directions

Add 2 cups of chopped tomato leaves to 2 cups of water and set to soak overnight. Strain the water through a piece of cheesecloth to remove the spent leaves. Add another 2 cups of water to dilute the solution. Fill up a spray bottle and spray on aphids to stop them in their tracks.

4. Essential Oils Will Send Pests Running

Essential Oils

Essential oils are potent plant extracts rich in terpenes. These aromatic molecules are produced by plants to defend against hungry insects in nature. Therefore, it makes perfect sense that a spray composed of essential oils would work well to deter pests. The essential oil from peppermint, eucalyptus, and rosemary are among the most potent. This natural insect repellent is particularly effective against aphids, whiteflies, spider mites, and ants.

Ingredients

  • 1 teaspoon eucalyptus essential oil
  • 1 teaspoon peppermint essential oil
  • 1 teaspoon rosemary essential oil
  • 1 litre warm water
  • ½ teaspoon organic liquid soap

Directions

Mix all 3 essential oils together in a small bottle and shake well. Scoop up ½ teaspoon of this mixture and add to 1 litre of warm water. Add ½ teaspoon of organic liquid soap to emulsify the solution. Spray on affected plants to deter the pests mentioned above.

5. Superfood to Humans, Enemy to Pests: Turmeric

Turmeric

Turmeric is arguably considered one of the most effective natural nutritional supplements. This is thanks to its powerful antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects. It is also useful in many ways for plant health—especially for cannabis.

Turmeric contains bioactive materials that have insecticidal, pesticide and insect repellent properties. Curcumin is responsible for the yellow colour of turmeric, but it is also the primary active chemical that acts as a natural pesticide. As a result, turmeric will repel a wide range of common garden bugs, including ants and mosquitos.

Ingredients

  • 20g Tumeric
  • 1L Water

Directions

You can use turmeric as a natural pesticide in powder form or as a spray made with water. To make the spray, simply mix 20g of turmeric with 1 litre of water. Shake the bottle well, and the solution is ready to use.

You can also sprinkle some turmeric powder around the plant base and leaves. Or spray the plant with your turmeric water solution. If you are growing flowering or fruiting plants, avoid spraying the bloom sites as the yellow colour of the spray may stain.

The Benefits and the Power of Organic Pest Solutions

There are dozens of reasons to use natural pesticides. Firstly it’s kinder to the environment. Going organic reduces pollution and stops new chemicals from entering your growing environment and plants.

There are many excellent products you can make that will help you raise lush and healthy cannabis plants free from the clutches of insect pests. In addition, organic gardening practices, such as using natural pesticides, make you a better grower.

You need to understand your growing media, the insects you are trying to avoid, and the plants in your grow room. For devoted growers, this isn’t seen as a chore. Quite the opposite in fact, for many it is a crucial benefit of the organic process.

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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: