The BEAST: Buffalo's Best Fiend

Growing Advice on Recreational Horticulture

My plants have bugs on them. What is the best way of getting rid of the bugs without poisoning myself?

The safest and easiest way is dilute some dish soap with water and place it in a spray bottle, or you can purchase neem oil at any local nursery or greenhouse. Both of these will work for indoor plants as well. If you have any slugs in your garden, take a plastic cup and fill it up a quarter inch with beer; the slugs will climb in and then the stupid fuckers will drown because they're too drunk to climb back out. If you have scaly mites or any other large insects that you can see, soak a q-tip in rubbing alcohol and put the touch of death on each bug individually.

My outdoor plants are starting to bud, and they are getting moldy. Any suggestions?

The mold is more than likely due to the rainy weather this year. I cannot tell the type of mold you have without looking at it, but in most cases it is white and dusty. There are mold sprays you can hit your buds up with, but my suggestion is, if possible, to shake the excess water off the plants after each rain. I myself would cut the mold out. If it's on the leaves cut them off whole; but if it's on the buds trim the moldy bits off. If we don't get sunshine soon, it will mean moldy crops for everyone.

My plants are outside, and they're 8 feet tall.. What can I do to make them less conspicuous?

I suggest you tie the plants down. They will lay flat. but grow towards the sun. Use kite string to tie it down, but be sure and put a piece of cloth around the plant first. You will have to do this slowly, or you'll snap the stems. If you do break a stem, don't get upset: just use two sticks and some masking tape to tape it back together and it will mend itself in 7-10 days

My plants are just starting to bud. Is it safe to remove the big leaves yet?

I suggest you leave the big leaves on as long as possible until they turn yellow or have bugs on them. They are called fan leaves, and their job is to get as much sunshine as possible and convert it into food for the plant. If you take them off, your buds will not be as big as they would had you left them on. You can see this for yourself by removing the leaves from one side of a plant and comparing the buds.

When growing my plants outdoors, should I be feeding them, or will they be naturally getting enough from the ground?

Definitely feed them. I will have a future article on what to feed, when to feed, and how much to feed in the next issue.

From here on out, I'll be doing an article each issue on indoor-outdoor growing, what plants to grow, feeding, and other helpful tips. I will answer all questions sent into The BEAST (sic@buffalobeast.com, subject: "Dr. Rotten"). Also send in pictures of your gardens, buds, etc. We also will be doing interviews and features like the issue's top strain, and other fun, stuff, too. Peace till then..

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