By Luke Sumpter

Who doesn’t get joy from growing cannabis outdoors? Not much compares to walking through the garden, with the sun on your skin and the soil between your toes, while inspecting your polyculture of cannabis strains, companion plants, and delicious vegetables. However, things aren’t always this tranquil. Various challenges have the potential to skewer this peace and throw some stress into the equation—namely pests!

A whole host of insects have an appetite for cannabis, and they aren’t exclusive to outdoor growing operations. Aphids, whiteflies, and mealybugs are but a few of the species that seek to devour the sap and tissues of your plants. Left unchecked, these tiny adversaries can cause severe damage—enough to reduce yields at best and destroy a plant at worst. Luckily, there are some cheap and easy ways to deal with such invaders, including whipping up a batch of insecticidal soap. Learn more about this Earth-friendly remedy below, and how to make it.


What Is Insecticidal Soap?

Bactericidal. Fungicidal. Virucidal. As you can probably tell, the suffix “cidal” indicates killing. The soap you use after each toilet session most likely contains bactericidal and virucidal agents. So, insecticidal soap refers to a concoction designed to eliminate certain pests wreaking havoc in the garden or grow room.

After the initial shock of an infestation, many growers are tempted to opt for harsh and toxic chemicals to eliminate their many-legged foe. It might seem like a good idea at first, but plants absorb chemical insecticides. Apply them too close to the flowering stage, and you risk contaminating the fruits of your labour. Moreover, such chemicals might also pose a threat to human health, and inevitably end up seeping into waterways and the local environment. Insecticidal soap serves as a cheap, easy, and more environmentally friendly alternative (provided you use the correct ingredients).

Natural Pesticides: How Does Insecticidal Soap Work?

Killing insects involves—you guessed it—killing. Far from soothing them with painkillers and giving them the chance to utter their last words, the application of insecticidal soap catalyses a rather brutal process. But you have to decide what you’d rather have survive: plants or pests? If you opt to go down the route of pest control, it’ll help to know how exactly insecticidal soap works. These formulas work by two means: suffocation and dehydration.

First, they interrupt oxygen uptake in small, soft-bodied insects by disrupting cell membranes. These structures envelop cells and allow for the controlled movement of key compounds; without them intact, cells quickly perish.

Second, insecticidal soap targets the waxy coating that insects produce. This substance emerges from the cuticle—an outer layer that serves as protection and an attachment point for muscles. The waxy excretion works by locking in moisture and keeping insects hydrated. Once destroyed, pests quickly lose critical moisture.

Which Pests Does Insecticidal Soap Protect Against?

Insecticidal soap protects against several of the most common cannabis pests, including those mentioned below:

 Aphids 
These critters are quick to multiply, and use their mouthparts to puncture plants and feed on sap.
 Mealybugs 
These insects also have a taste for sap, and their feeding leads to plants wilting, curling, and the premature dropping of leaves.
 Thrips 
Equipped with wings and sharp mouthparts, thrips like to feed on new developing tissues, leading to distorted growth.
 Spider mites 
Leaving cobweb-like strands in their wake, spider mites damage plant tissues until leaves turn yellow, wilt, and drop to the ground.

Is Insecticidal Soap Safe for Your Garden and the Environment?

It sounds safer than insecticides, but does pouring soap all over your plants hurt the environment, too? That’s a good question. Some soaps on the shelves contain harsh chemicals of non-natural origins that will indeed harm the environment to some degree. But making insecticidal soap doesn’t involve using any old product. Gardeners are encouraged to use natural and organic soaps that contain ingredients that quickly break down and assimilate into the soil food web, feeding the microbes that live there.

Products such as Castile soap (thought to have originated in the Castile region of Spain) contain safe and natural ingredients such as aloe vera, shea butter, essential oils, salt, and vegetable oils. If you’re short on time, there are a bunch of products out there to choose from. Alternatively, check out our recipe below to make your own.

Insecticidal Soap: How To Make It

Whether you’ve spotted an insect infestation around your weed plants or you’d rather prepare yourself against the inevitable, this insecticidal soap “recipe” serves as a cheap and easy way to deal with weed-munching insects.

 Equipment 

• 5l plastic bottle

• Stirring stick

• Spray bottle

 Ingredients 

• 2½ tbsp. pure liquid soap (without fragrances or artificial colours)

• 2½ tbsp. vegetable oil

• 4l water

Directions

1. Add the soap, vegetable oil, and water to the 5l bottle.

Step 1

2. Use the stirring stick to mix the solution thoroughly.

Step 2

3. Attach the lid, and shake the bottle vigorously.

Step 3

4. Pour the contents into your mixing bottle, reattach the lid, and store the excess in a cool, dark place.

Step 4

How to Use Insecticidal Soap

Are you ready, Storm Trooper? Now that you’re armed to the teeth, it’s time to holster your spray bottle and strut into your grown room or garden like an assault detachment on a mission. The rules are simple: you must apply your weapon directly to pests. Insecticidal soap has a short window of efficacy; any left on the leaves will just dry up. Keep your eyes peeled, and pull the trigger whenever you come across squadrons of aphids, mealybugs, thrips, and spider mites.

Insecticidal Soap: You’re Getting Greener

At RQS, we applaud weed growers for stepping over to the green side of the cultivation spectrum. We understand that, in their desperation, some growers elect to use harsh pesticides. However, these chemicals only pose a problem to plants, people, and the environment. We’ve made it our mission to offer growers effective alternatives, and we’re proud of you for choosing Earth-friendly solutions to deal with gardening problems. We salute you!

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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: