HomePlant healthIntegrated pest management blueprint for indoor medicinal cannabis in Auckland

Plant health · Auckland medicinal cannabis

Integrated pest management blueprint for indoor medicinal cannabis in Auckland

A working system for keeping pests and diseases out of an indoor medicinal-cannabis facility: clean starting material, confident identification, control choices that are lawful in New Zealand, monitoring through the crop cycle, and a written trail from the first finding through corrective action to batch hold or release.

Plant health23 generated photo platesOfficial NZ + primary sources~55 min read

01 · Read this first

Purpose and scope

This is an operating blueprint for an indoor medicinal-cannabis facility in Auckland. It joins pest and disease identification to clean stock, New Zealand input legality, worker safety, residue release, traceability and CAPA. The point is not to own the most sprays. The point is to keep biology and compliance from cornering you at the same time.

The supplied 128-page IPM Book V15 was used as a coverage benchmark: IPM principles, cultural/environmental/biological/chemical controls, programme construction, eight arthropod profiles, six disease profiles, identification resources, glossary and operator tools^[10]. Its branded programmes, artwork, rates and prose are not reproduced. New Zealand official sources and primary literature control this paper.

Generated photographs are educational reconstructions

Every photographic plate in this guide was generated for the paper. Use it to decide where to look and what to sample, never to claim species-level confirmation. Broad and russet mites require microscopy; HLVd requires RT-qPCR or RT-PCR; root and leaf diseases often require a diagnostic laboratory. A convincing image is not a test result.

Live status wins. Re-check the current Ministry, ACVM, EPA, label, SDS and WorkSafe position at procurement and use.
Facility thresholds are controlled values. Numbers in this blueprint are examples or planning defaults unless your approved SOP adopts them.
Old damage does not heal. Verify success with live organisms, new lesions, new growth, traps, roots or laboratory results - not cosmetic recovery.
Clean stock is the centre. A mother-room failure compounds through every daughter lot. Treat it accordingly.

Figure 1. The control path. Skipping confirmation or the legal gate is how a small biological problem becomes a batch problem.

02 · Reference

Definitions

The biological, diagnostic, operational and New Zealand regulatory terms used in this blueprint.

Action thresholdYou set the oven timer before the roast goes in, not while standing over a hot pan wondering. An action threshold works the same way: the observation agreed in advance that turns watching into acting. It may be a count, a trend across several reads, a severity level, or a single confirmed find where the tolerance is zero.

AlateA winged aphid, produced when a colony becomes crowded so that part of it can leave and start elsewhere.

AntagonistA beneficial microorganism that suppresses a plant pathogen, by competing with it for space and food, by producing substances that inhibit it, or by other interactions.

AsexualReproduction without the fusion of gametes. Indoors, most pest and pathogen populations multiply mainly this way.

AxilThe angle where a leaf or branch joins the stem. It is sheltered, which is exactly why it is worth inspecting.

BiosecurityThe controls that stop pests and pathogens entering the facility, and stop them moving around once inside.

BronzingA bronze-brown discolouration caused by feeding injury or stress. It describes what you can see; it does not name what caused it.

CAPACorrective and preventive action: contain the event, find the cause, fix it, change what allowed it, and then verify that the change worked.

ChlorosisLoss of green colour from plant tissue.

Conidium / conidiaA fungal spore produced without sex and used for dispersal; conidia is the plural.

CornicleOne of the pair of short tubes near the rear of an aphid, and the feature that most quickly confirms an aphid is what you are looking at.

Crown rotDisease at the crown, where the stem meets the root system.

Cupping / tacoingLeaf edges curling upward or downward. Heat, humidity, chemical injury and mite feeding all cause it, so look for the organism before deciding which.

Damping-offThe sudden collapse of a seedling or cutting caused by root or crown pathogens, commonly Pythium or Fusarium.

Dew-point marginA cold glass sweats in a warm room because its surface sits below the temperature at which the surrounding air has to give up its water. Dew-point margin is that gap measured on your crop: the difference between the temperature of the leaf or surface and the dew point of the air around it. A small margin means condensation is close.

Dissolved oxygenThe oxygen carried in the irrigation solution. Roots need it, and when it runs low they are stressed and some root-disease conditions are favoured.

DuddingA production term for weak, stunted cannabis with poor flower development. It describes an appearance and diagnoses nothing; it is not a synonym for HLVd.

EntomopathogenicAble to infect and kill insects or mites; used of the fungi, bacteria and nematodes deployed as biological controls.

ExclusionEverything that keeps a pest, pathogen or unapproved material from entering the controlled crop system in the first place.

FRAC / IRACStop a course of antibiotics early and the bacteria left standing are the ones the drug bothered least, and those are the ones that go on to multiply. Repeated use of one mode of action does the same to a pest or pathogen population, which is what resistance means. FRAC and IRAC are the systems that classify fungicides and insecticides by mode of action, so that a programme can rotate between groups instead of reapplying the same pressure.

HoneydewThe sticky, sugar-rich liquid excreted by aphids, whiteflies and other sap-feeding insects.

IncidenceAfter a storm you ask two separate questions: how many rooms have a leak, and how wet each one is. Incidence is the first question, the proportion of plants or sites affected, and it is tracked separately from severity, which is the second.

InoculumPathogen material capable of starting a new infection, such as spores, infected debris or contaminated water.

InstarThe stage an immature arthropod occupies between one moult and the next.

LarvaA feeding immature stage that looks nothing like the adult. In fungus gnats, thrips and caterpillars the larva is both the damaging stage and the one worth identifying.

LOQLimit of quantification: the lowest concentration a laboratory method can report with acceptable performance. Below it, the method cannot give you a number.

MeristemThe actively dividing tissue at a shoot tip that produces all the new growth above it.

MyceliumThe network of fine threads that makes up the growing body of a fungus.

Mould / moldVisible fungal growth. Mould is the standard New Zealand spelling; mold appears in imported references and means the same thing.

NecrosisDead plant tissue.

NymphAn immature arthropod that already resembles the adult but is not yet mature.

OomyceteA fungus-like organism from a lineage separate from the true fungi. Pythium is an oomycete, not a true fungus.

OosporeA thick-walled survival spore produced by some oomycetes; it can persist in a system between crops.

ParasiteAn organism that lives in or on a host and draws resources from it, usually without the one-host lethal outcome that defines a parasitoid.

ParasitoidAn organism, in IPM usually a small wasp, whose immature stage develops in or on a single host and kills it.

ParthenogenesisA jar of dough left in the warm doubles overnight with nothing added to it. Parthenogenesis is the equivalent in a pest population: offspring produced without fertilisation, so one female can found a colony and numbers climb without the delay that finding a mate would impose. Several indoor pests reproduce this way.

PathogenAn organism or agent that causes disease.

PetioleThe stalk joining a leaf blade to the stem, and a reliable place to look for mites and early symptoms.

Preventive / curativePreventive means applied before a problem establishes, to keep pressure down. Curative means applied after confirmation, to reduce a problem already present.

PredatorA beneficial organism that hunts and eats many individual prey across its lifetime.

PupaThe stage between larva and adult in insects with complete metamorphosis. It generally does not feed, and it is often tucked into media or debris where sprays do not reach.

PycnidiumA small flask-shaped fungal fruiting body that produces conidia. In a Septoria lesion it appears as a dark dot in the centre.

REIRestricted entry interval: the period after an application when nobody may enter the treated area unless the specified PPE and conditions are in place.

ReleaseThe documented quality decision that allows a held plant, material or batch to move or be supplied, once the required evidence and approvals are complete.

Residue limitThe maximum or action limit a residue must sit under for a batch to be released. A substance having a limit is not permission to apply it.

Rogue / roguingTo remove a diseased or infested plant from the production system and destroy it.

RussetingBronze-brown roughened tissue caused by feeding injury or other stress.

SeverityHow much of an individual plant or site is affected. It is tracked separately from incidence, which is how many are affected at all.

SachetA small carrier pack that releases beneficial organisms into the crop gradually, provided the conditions it needs are met.

SanitationCleaning, and where required disinfection, carried out by a validated method that removes debris and reduces viable contamination on a defined surface or system.

ScoutingA repeatable inspection along a mapped route, used to detect, identify, count and trend what is happening to crop health.

Sooty mouldA dark fungus that grows on honeydew. It points to sap-feeding insects above it and is not usually the primary plant pathogen.

SprenchAn application volume between a spray and a drench, aimed at the plant base and the media surface.

SporeDried yeast sits inert in a cupboard for months and comes back to life the moment it is warm and wet, which is why debris left between crops still matters. A spore is the reproductive or survival unit produced by a fungus or a fungus-like organism, and its type decides how you sample for it and how you control it.

StipplingThe many tiny pale points left where mites or similar pests have emptied individual plant cells.

Systemic resistanceA defensive state switched on across a whole plant by some stimulus. It may reduce susceptibility, but it is not evidence of control over a pathogen already established.

VectorAnything that carries a pest or pathogen from one place to another, living or not: an insect, a tool, a pair of hands.

ViroidA small infectious RNA molecule with no protein coat around it, simpler than a virus. HLVd is a viroid.

ZoosporeA spore that swims. Oomycetes such as Pythium produce them, which is how the disease travels through a water system.

ACVMThe New Zealand regulatory framework for agricultural compounds and veterinary medicines, administered by MPI.

EPANew Zealand's Environmental Protection Authority, which administers approvals and controls for hazardous substances and new organisms.

HSNOThe Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act framework, administered by the EPA.

Inhalation / non-inhalation lineThe decision about whether a lot may end up being inhaled. It changes which pesticide-active provisions apply and what the quality consequences are, and it must be settled before any input is selected.

MPINew Zealand's Ministry for Primary Industries, which administers ACVM and the biosecurity pathways governing inputs and imported organisms.

Minimum quality standardThe statutory quality requirements that medicinal-cannabis ingredients and products must meet before they can be supplied in New Zealand.

Approved-input registerThe site's controlled list of products and organisms that have passed legal, safety, analytical, compatibility and operational review.

Batch holdA quality status that stops a batch moving or being released while evidence or an investigation is still incomplete.

Trade wasteCommercial or industrial liquid waste discharged into the wastewater network under Watercare and Auckland controls.

Evidence assessment

Evidence and limitations

How sure is this paper?

We've gone to great lengths to keep these guides honest. One of the main ways we do that is self-review: we actively look for claims that are subjective, only lightly backed by literature, or based on grower practice rather than a controlled study — and we call those out instead of dressing them up as settled science.

Often there simply is no paper for the decision you're making. In those cases we're drawing on what other growers report and what has worked in our own rooms. That can still be useful — but it is not a lab proof. Do what works for your plants, your room, and your meters. If a table disagrees with your crop, believe the crop and log the difference.

Solid

Well supported by plant science, standards, or broad multi-source consensus

Exclusion, clean stock, monitoring, and CAPA structure
NZ pathway thinking: approval/status is not the same as 'someone used it once'

Operational

What many growers and rooms actually run — start here, then tune

Threshold models and mother-room controls as facility SOPs

Grain of salt

Subjective, thin literature, single studies, or “this works for us” practice

Any named product/organism status without checking the live register today
AI-generated diagnostic plates as confirmatory ID (training aids only)

See something glaringly wrong? Tell us and we'll fix it. Please open a GitHub issue with the paper name and what looks off (include a source if you have one): Report an accuracy issue. Local law, labels, and licences always override any recipe here. Inline notes labelled grain of salt flag the highest-risk over-trust points in the text.

03 · System

IPM principles, control layers and feedback loop

IPM is a loop: prevent entry, monitor consistently, identify correctly, compare the finding with a controlled threshold, combine compatible controls, then record and verify. If the recheck fails, the loop runs again at a higher response level. The arthropod review and the existing cannabis literature support layered indoor management rather than a single calendar product^[11].

Figure 2. Every intervention returns to monitoring. Without the recheck, it is activity rather than control.

The control pyramid in operating form. Chemical and reduced-risk inputs sit last, not because they never work, but because they carry the narrowest legal and compatibility envelope.
Layer	Purpose	Rule
Cultural	Keep the problem out, quarantine what arrives, clean surfaces and tools, control how people and plants move, remove the debris and weeds that shelter pests, and scout on a fixed route with a written record.	Build from this layer before moving upward
Environmental	Take away the temperature, moisture, airflow and root-zone conditions that favour the problem.	Build from this layer before moving upward
Biological	Establish the right predator, parasitoid, nematode or antagonist before pest pressure outruns it. A slow-cooked meal cannot be started at six and eaten at half past; predator numbers build on their own schedule too, so the release date is set by that build-up rather than by the day the problem became obvious.	Build from this layer before moving upward
Chemical / reduced-risk	Use only after the legal gate is passed, aimed at the life stage that is actually vulnerable, and followed by a recheck on a date you set in advance.	Build from this layer before moving upward

Zero tolerance is not the same as eradication everywhere

HLVd in clean stock, broad/russet mites in quarantine, root aphids in propagation, powdery mildew on flowers and Botrytis inside a bud are exclusion or quality events. A low fungus-gnat adult count in an established vegetative room may be a trend-management problem. Use organism and room consequence, not one universal number.

A site severity scale. Incidence, trend and zero-tolerance overrides still apply.
Severity	Name	Definition	Default response
0	Not found	No confirmed organism and no damage. Keep to the planned monitoring frequency; nothing changes.	Monitor
1	Trace	One confirmed individual, colony or lesion at one mapped point, with no sign of spread.	Escalate by the approved decision matrix
2	Local	More than one finding within a single zone, or a trap count climbing over successive reads, without room-wide spread.	Escalate by the approved decision matrix
3	Established	Several zones affected, more than one life stage recurring, disease incidence rising, or the biological programme losing ground.	Escalate by the approved decision matrix
4	Systemic	Spread across the room or into linked rooms, clean stock involved, crop quality at risk, or shared infrastructure contaminated.	Escalate by the approved decision matrix

04 · New Zealand gate

Legal eligibility of IPM controls in New Zealand

New Zealand medicinal cannabis does not have one pest-rule book. The decision sits across the medicinal-cannabis regulations and minimum quality standard, ACVM, HSNO/EPA controls, WorkSafe, analytical release, and Auckland trade-waste/environmental requirements.

Regulation 18 restricts pesticide treatment of cannabis crops, while Regulation 7 defines residues that must be tested and their limits. The Ministry's current guidance distinguishes inhalation from non-inhalation pathways and explicitly retains ACVM and HSNO obligations^[1]^[2]. The presence of abamectin, spinosad, pyrethrins or another analyte in a residue panel is not permission to apply it.

Most agricultural compounds require ACVM registration; some product classes are exempt, but the exemption conditions and other laws still apply^[3]. EPA approvals and controls must be confirmed, including the approval information in section 15 of the current New Zealand SDS^[5].

1
1. Intended end use
Decide first whether any part of this lot could end up as flower that a patient inhales. If it could, keep it on the inhalation-capable pathway from the beginning. The rules covering products that are not inhaled are wider, and it is easy to drift into them without noticing. They are not available to a lot that may be inhaled.
2
2. Medicinal-cannabis pathway
Confirm that the active substance or product has a route specifically accepted for medicinal cannabis, such as Regulation 18. Regulation 7 covers residues a laboratory measures in the finished product. A substance appearing there as something to be measured is not permission to apply it to the crop.
3
3. ACVM authority
Confirm the product is registered, or that a documented exemption covers it and every condition attached to that exemption is met. Not finding a product on a register tells you nothing either way; absence is not evidence of an exemption.
4
4. HSNO approval
Confirm the substance holds an EPA approval, and read the controls attached to it. The safety data sheet (SDS) is the supplier's hazard document for a product; check section 15 of the current New Zealand version, then verify what it says against the EPA database rather than trusting the sheet on its own.
5
5. Worker controls
Read the current label and safety data sheet for the personal protective equipment (PPE) required, the controls on how the product is applied, and the re-entry rules. A freshly painted room looks finished long before it is comfortable to sit in, and the wait is set by the paint rather than by how the walls look. A treated crop area works the same way, and that wait has a name: the restricted entry interval, or REI, is the period after an application when nobody may enter unless the specified PPE and conditions are in place. An indoor area under an REI needs signage and controlled access.
6
6. Analytical route
Before a product joins the approved-input register, settle four things: which residues must be tested, the limit the batch has to meet to be released, whether the laboratory's accreditation actually covers that test, and whether the method can measure low enough. That last point is the limit of quantification, or LOQ: the lowest concentration a method can report with acceptable confidence. A method whose LOQ sits above the release limit cannot show that the batch passes.
7
7. Biological compatibility
Check the current side-effect data for every beneficial organism already working in the room: predatory mites and insects, parasitoids, nematodes and microbial products. Side-effect data records how a product affects those organisms and how long the effect lasts. A spray can be entirely lawful and still wipe out a biological programme that took weeks to establish.
8
8. Environmental route
Decide in advance where unused mix, rinse water, contaminated PPE and spills will go, and how each is contained. Nothing goes to stormwater. Whether anything may be discharged to the sewer as trade waste depends on the position Watercare holds for the site.

Do not hard-code SKUs, rates, PHIs or REIs in a general paper

Those values belong in the version-controlled approved-input register beside the current label and SDS. WorkSafe says REIs vary by product, crop/use and exposure; off-label use requires its own risk assessment. Indoor REI areas require signs and controlled entry^[6].

A pathway screen, not a product recommendation. The approved-input register holds the current answer.
Input class	Planning position	What still must be verified
Fatty-acid soaps / permitted salts	Potential reduced-risk contact option	Exact medicinal-cannabis pathway, product authority, crop site, residue/quality, PPE/REI
Sulphur	Potential inhalation-capable active pathway	Product authority, indoor exposure, crop-stage/quality limits, compatibility and current label
Hydrogen peroxide	Potential active pathway for defined uses	Crop contact vs line/surface sanitation, concentration, worker exposure, phytotoxicity and discharge route
Food / permitted food-additive actives	Possible pathway only where every condition is met	Novel-food/composition caveats, product ACVM/HSNO position, actual use and analytical route
Microbial actives	Several named species/strains appear in the regulation pathway	Exact species/strain/product, viable use, ACVM/HSNO status, non-target/beneficial effects and label
Conventional food-crop pesticide	Not automatically inhalation-capable	Whether a lawful non-inhalation or specific medicinal-cannabis pathway exists; residue calculation and testing
Beneficial organism	Not the same as a pesticide active	Current organism status, import/release route, supplier, cold chain, containment and facility compatibility

Testing of pesticides and other non-critical minimum-quality-standard attributes may be performed by appropriately scoped GMP or ISO/IEC 17025:2017 laboratories, while critical tests require GMP capability. Confirm the laboratory scope and method before relying on a release plan^[2].

05 · Exclusion

Clean-stock controls in IPM

The mother room is not just where clones come from. It is a source-material system. Its failures multiply through every cutting, room and batch downstream.

HLVd can be asymptomatic, moves efficiently with vegetative propagation and contaminated tools, and research supports transmission risk through roots and recirculating hydroponic solution^[24]^[25]^[26]. Visual health is therefore not a release test.

Figure 3. No genetics bypass quarantine, and no accession is promoted on appearance alone.

Foundation mothers are created only from released material and retain the cleanest controls.
Production mothers, cutting lots and rooms inherit a traceable parent-child relationship.
Tools are sanitised between defined plant units, not merely at the end of the shift.
Quarantine, foundation stock and production stock do not share nutrient solution or unvalidated return water.
A positive or inconclusive test has a written hold, repeat, destruction and traceback rule before the first sample is collected.

Planning cadence only. The controlled sampling plan must match the laboratory method, plant age, tissue, risk and facility history.
Plant class	Planning cadence	Sampling rule	Decision rule
Incoming accession	At entry and again before promotion where risk warrants	Individual plant; validated tissue/method	No promotion until release criteria are met
Foundation mother	At creation and risk-based recurring schedule	Individual, no routine pooling unless validated	Positive = destroy, hold linked daughters, investigate
Production mother	Before major cutting campaigns or site-defined recurring schedule	Individual or validated pool with reflex testing	Positive = stop clone movement and trace since last verified negative
Clone lot	Risk-based verification linked to mother status	Lot-based plan with controls	Hold linked rooms when source status is compromised
Hydro environment	Investigation / sentinel use where system risk exists	Tank, return, root interface under validated method	Positive environmental signal triggers cohort investigation, not automatic plant diagnosis

A monthly test is not protection if the genealogy is broken

If you cannot identify every daughter lot since the last verified negative, a positive mother turns into a building-wide guessing exercise. Build the trace tree first.

06 · Contamination pathways

Facility contamination pathways

Pests and pathogens do not care which department owns a vector. A clean-stock programme fails if workers backtrack, scissors cross mothers, return air connects quarantine, or a shared reservoir moves root pathogens. Cannabis disease reviews repeatedly identify stock, tools, water, debris, density and environmental conditions as interacting routes^[19].

Figure 4. Movement normally goes clean to dirty. Any authorised backtracking requires full decontamination and a recorded exception.

People

Room-class gowning, clean-to-dirty shift order, no unrecorded backtracking, treated-area controls and site-specific training records.

Tools

Room or plant-class ownership, verified sanitizer concentration/contact time, between-unit rules and a clean/dirty state that is obvious.

Air

Quarantine separation, pressure intent, filtered supply, no shared contaminated return, canopy/dead-zone mapping and condensation checks.

Water

Segregated tanks/circuits where consequence demands it, no unvalidated recirculation, biofilm control, drain mapping and backflow prevention.

Plant/material

Approved sources, sealed waste, clean media/pots, controlled beneficial receipt and no cardboard/packaging wandering through clean rooms.

Waste

Bag and log crop waste in the room; contain rinse/spill liquids; use approved disposal and trade-waste pathways, never stormwater.

Watercare requires a trade-waste agreement when a business discharge is not low risk, with site controls and monitoring defined by the agreement^[8]. Auckland's E33 framework prioritises avoiding contaminant discharge and requires appropriate onsite management, containment, treatment or lawful disposal^[9]. Site address, drainage and activity classification remain facility inputs.

07 · Prevention

Cultural and environmental controls

The quiet controls are the ones that scale: eliminate weeds, algae and plant debris; keep doors/screens/barriers functional; quarantine every genetic source; use one-way work; maintain a fixed scouting route; and commission root-zone and canopy conditions. They reduce both the chance of entry and the rate of spread after entry.

Prevention checks must produce an observable pass/fail, not a vague instruction to keep the room clean.
Control point	Minimum check	Failure signal	Correction
Exterior/interior reservoirs	Weeds, algae, drains, debris and standing water	Repeated small-fly pressure or pest reservoirs	Remove source, repair drainage/leaks, clean and verify
Sanitizer	Product, concentration, contact time, surface cleanliness	No concentration record, dirty surface or premature wipe-off	Remix, pre-clean, repeat full contact time
Canopy air	Representative airspeed/dead zones and leaf movement	Still dense pockets, condensation or repeated Botrytis/PM zone	Rebalance fans/HVAC and canopy density
Night transition	Leaf/surface temperature, RH, dew-point margin	Condensation or a narrow margin during lights-off	Change humidity removal, air movement, temperature ramp and irrigation timing
Root zone	Temperature, DO where relevant, moisture pattern, drain, biofilm/algae	Warm saturated roots, poor drainage, sloughing or shared-cohort symptoms	Correct irrigation/oxygen/heat, isolate and diagnose
Sticky cards	ID, colour, height, date, clean readable surface	Unmapped cards or counts without position/history	Replace, map and standardise reading

Room RH is not the leaf microclimate

Dense canopy, cold surfaces, irrigation timing and lights-off transitions can create wet or near-condensing tissue while the wall sensor looks acceptable. Commission the actual risk locations and record the correction trigger.

Figure 5. Same route, same points, same plant parts. Consistency makes trend data comparable.

08 · Living controls

Biological control programmes

A biological programme succeeds when the right organism arrives alive, is released into a suitable crop and climate, survives existing residues, finds the target stage, establishes where needed and is verified. Generalist and specialist predators are not interchangeable; neither are aphid or whitefly parasitoids^[15]^[16].

Functional groups only. Verify current New Zealand organism status, supplier availability and product law before naming a deployable agent.
Control group	Typical role	Release-plan checks
Canopy predatory mites	Phytoseiulus persimilis for spider-mite hotspots; Neoseiulus californicus or N. fallacis for broader spider-mite suppression; N. cucumeris or Amblyseius swirskii for thrips larvae and, where the evidence supports it, broad mites or young whitefly stages	Before calling any of these deployable, confirm the organism's current New Zealand status, whether a supplier can actually deliver it, which pest stage it attacks, whether the room climate suits it, how it is released in sachets or loose, what residues are already present, and whether there is evidence it establishes
Canopy predators	Orius species against thrips life stages, and lacewing larvae against aphids and other exposed soft-bodied prey where the host fit is supported	Confirm current New Zealand status and supplier availability, then release against the correct prey stage and check how far they disperse, whether there is enough prey to stop them eating each other, the crop stage, and residues that would kill them
Aphid parasitoids	Aphidius species chosen for the confirmed aphid host; cannabis, green peach and potato aphids are not interchangeable targets	Confirm current New Zealand status, supplier availability and host match. Then monitor the mummies that show parasitism is happening, watch for wasps that attack the parasitoids themselves where that is relevant, and track residues and when a replacement release is due
Whitefly parasitoids	Encarsia formosa or Eretmocerus species chosen for the confirmed whitefly species and nymph stage	Confirm current New Zealand status and supplier availability, then confirm the whitefly species, the release timing, the climate, the evidence of parasitism, and whether residues in the room are compatible
Root-zone predators	Stratiolaelaps scimitus and, where lawful and available, Dalotia coriaria against fungus-gnat larvae, soil-dwelling thrips stages and other small prey in the media	Confirm current New Zealand status and supplier availability; check media depth and moisture, whether there is prey for them, whether they arrive alive, how evenly they are distributed at release, the residues present, and whether they establish
Beneficial nematodes	Steinernema feltiae against susceptible fungus-gnat larvae and other supported stages in the media	Confirm the product and organism are lawful and available; check live and dead morphology on arrival, keep them cold, use them promptly, and check agitation and oxygen in the tank, light exposure, filter and nozzle sizes, and whether a dip, drench or sprench suits
Entomopathogenic microbes	Beauveria and other approved insect-pathogenic strains against the aphid, thrips, whitefly or other stages named on the label	Confirm the exact strain and product and its New Zealand pathway, then manage storage and viability, the contact and environmental conditions it needs, effects on non-target organisms, worker controls, residues, and the recheck
Plant-pathogen antagonists	Trichoderma, Bacillus or Streptomyces strains for preventive suppression of supported root or foliar pathogens, not for reviving dead tissue or a plant already colonised internally	Confirm the exact strain and product, its New Zealand status and supplier availability. Keep it away from sanitisers, check it suits the reservoir and the crop, and check storage, whether it colonises, and what evidence exists for the outcome you want

1
Approve
Confirm organism/product identity, NZ legal status, supplier, compatibility and target stage.
2
Receive
Record lot, arrival time/temperature, packaging condition and expiry/use window.
3
Verify viability
Use the supplier method to check movement, counts, nematode survival or microbial condition; reject failed material.
4
Release
Map rate and location against crop stage, pest distribution and environmental conditions.
5
Establish
Check predators, parasitised hosts/mummies, prey-stage decline or other defined evidence.
6
Correct
If establishment fails, find whether the cause was dead stock, wrong species/stage, climate, residues, timing or application.

Imported invertebrates require species eligibility, permits/facilities where applicable and biosecurity/HSNO compliance. Do not turn a global supplier catalogue into an NZ release list^[4].

09 · Controlled exception

Input selection and application

Once a finding crosses threshold, select the fewest controls that cover the confirmed organism, life stage and plant part without breaking law, worker safety, beneficials or release. Rotate IRAC/FRAC modes where relevant; physical modes and living controls still need compatibility planning.

Product-agnostic modes. The actual product, use site and rate come from the controlled register and current label/SDS.
Mode	What it does	Common failure
Contact kill	Acts only where spray reaches the organism	Poor underside/flower coverage or protected life stages
Smothering/desiccation	Disrupts soft-bodied pests physically	Crop-stage injury, incomplete coverage or incompatibility
Microbial insect pathogen	Infects susceptible pest stage under suitable conditions	Wrong stage, low viability, unsuitable humidity or incompatible residue
Predator/parasitoid	Consumes or develops in a target pest	Released too late, wrong host, dead arrival or no establishment
Root-zone antagonist	Suppresses pathogen establishment/pressure	Asked to cure dead roots or mixed with a sanitiser that kills it
Oxidation/sanitation	Reduces contamination on the validated use site	Assuming line/surface sanitation rate is safe or effective on living crop
Environmental correction	Removes a condition supporting the problem	Treating room average while the microclimate remains wrong

Application quality is part of efficacy

Calibrate output, check water and mixing order, verify agitation, select nozzle/pressure, define target coverage, manage lights/HVAC, contain runoff, clean equipment, post REI signage and perform a phytotoxicity test patch when the approved SOP requires it. A legal product applied badly is still a failed treatment.

Do not release an input to stores until every applicable field is complete and approved.
Approved-input register field	Required
Product and supplier	Yes
Active ingredient / living organism / strain	Yes
Target organism and target life stage	Yes
Inhalation or segregated non-inhalation pathway	Yes
Medicinal-cannabis legal basis	Yes
ACVM registration or exemption evidence	Yes
EPA approval / HSNO controls and current SDS revision	Yes
Label use, crop or contact site, and application method	Yes
IRAC or FRAC group, or the physical or biological mode of action	Yes
PPE, REI, signage, pre-harvest interval or withholding period, and crop-stage restriction	Yes
Analytical method, required limit, and the LOQ achievable in practice	Yes
Compatibility with every beneficial organism in the room	Yes
Mixing, water quality, calibration and clean-out requirements	Yes
Waste, rinse and spill route	Yes
Evidence grade, approver, last verification and review due date	Yes

10 · Field atlas

Arthropod identification

The plate is the start of the diagnosis. Confirm morphology, sample the right plant part, separate lookalikes, then choose controls that reach the actual life stage.

Cannabis supports diverse piercing/sucking and root-zone pests; primary reviews emphasise that indoor management depends on accurate identification, life cycle and plant location^[11]^[12].

1. Rice root aphid (Rhopalosiphum rufiabdominale)

AI-generated educational reconstruction of rice root aphids colonising cannabis roots — Example. Soft, pear-shaped aphids living in the root zone, in cream, amber or brown colonies, often with a waxy residue around them. Winged individuals turn up on sticky cards set low, just above the media. The paired cornicles and the plump aphid body separate them from fungus gnats, which are slender flies. **Generated plate; not to scale and apparent magnification varies.**OpenAI image generation

Earliest reliable signsYellowing you cannot explain, stunting, a weak response to watering, sticky or waxy material at the root crown, and colonies on the roots or the base of the pot. Everything visible above the media could equally be several other problems.

Life cycle and spreadWingless colonies feed below ground. When a colony gets crowded it produces winged individuals that leave and start new ones. They travel in rooted cuttings, loose media, pots, runoff water, and on the hands and tools that handle all of those.

Condition-qualified developmentUnder root-zone conditions that suit them, a full generation may take roughly 10-14 days; the plant, the temperature and the media all shift that window. Survey for all three forms: the live-born young, the wingless adults, and the winged dispersers.

Size / inspection scaleThe plate is not to scale. Colonies can be seen with the naked eye on an exposed root ball, but confirming the animal takes about 30x-60x with a hand lens or microscope: enough to resolve the antennae, the paired tubes near the rear called cornicles, and the body shape of a winged adult.

Where to inspectLift whatever covers the root zone and look at the crown, the outer edge of the root ball, the drainage holes and the debris under the bench. Set yellow cards just above the media surface, and keep any winged specimen you cannot name.

ConfirmationMicroscopy, or identification by a specialist. Compare the antennae, the cornicles and the body shape against an adult fungus gnat before choosing a control.

LookalikesAdult fungus gnats, root-zone or nutrient stress, Pythium root rot, and simple overwatering.

Internal thresholdZero tolerance in quarantine, foundation mothers, production mothers and clone rooms. One confirmed colony in production triggers containment and inspection of every lot linked to it.

First responseIsolate the zone. Bag the worst plants. Stop pots and media moving anywhere. Inspect the mothers and clone lots connected to this one. Clear standing water and algae without drying the roots into stress. Choose only root-zone biological agents or inputs that currently pass the New Zealand legal gate, then recheck the roots and the low cards on the approved interval.

Layered control optionsCultural: refuse infested stock and media, keep pots segregated, and clean up spills. Environmental: remove standing water and algae without stressing the roots. Biological: consider lawful root-zone predators or nematodes matched to the stage you are targeting. Approved input: only a registered product, or a documented exempt root-zone use, that passes the New Zealand legal gate.

Target stage and plant partAim at the exposed colonies and the moving young stages on the roots and crown, and watch for winged adults on the cards just above the media. Spraying the canopy does not reach a colony living underground.

Crop, worker, residue and compatibility constraintsQuarantine and mother stock stay at zero tolerance. Before treating, confirm the organism or product's legal status, that root-zone use is covered, and that beneficials already present will survive it, then check crop stage, the PPE and REI on the label, and what the residue means for testing.

Specimen handlingBag a labelled root or crown sample with some live colony still on it, and keep winged specimens from the low cards separately. Record the plant, lot, room, root zone and collection time, and keep the chain of custody intact: an unbroken written record of who held the sample and when.

Dated recheck and success criterionReinspect the mapped roots and the low cards after the approved interval, then again once a full generation has had time to pass. Success means no live colony, no new winged adults, and no spread to linked plants.

Trace-back and CAPA triggerTrace the source genetics, the media and pot lots, the irrigation and runoff connections, the benches, the tools, and the way staff moved between them. Hold linked clone lots until you know where it came from and how far it went.

Profile evidence: ^[14]^[11]

2. Fungus gnats (Bradysia species)

AI-generated educational reconstruction of fungus gnat adult and larva at cannabis media — Example. Adults are delicate dark flies with long legs and long antennae. Larvae are translucent, legless and wormlike, with one obvious shiny black head capsule at the front. **Generated plate; not to scale and apparent magnification varies.**OpenAI image generation

Earliest reliable signsAdults run or fly weakly over wet media. Larvae live where algae, dying roots and slime films are. Feeding on root hairs slows young plants, and the wounds left behind can interact with root disease.

Life cycle and spreadEggs and larvae are in the growing medium. The larva becomes a pupa there, and only the adult flies. Anything sprayed on the canopy misses most of the population.

Condition-qualified developmentEgg to adult commonly runs about 18-28 days, with temperature, moisture, substrate and available food all moving that figure. Track eggs, larvae, pupae and adults separately, because a card count measures adults only, not the population.

Size / inspection scaleThe plate is not to scale. Adults are roughly 2-4 mm (0.08-0.16 in) long and easy to see over the media. Confirming them takes about 30x-60x: enough to see the shiny black head on a larva, or the wing veins and body shape of an adult.

Where to inspectRead the yellow cards set low near the media, put down potato slices or take media samples to find larvae, and check irrigation uniformity, standing water, algae and organic debris.

ConfirmationWing veins and body shape on an adult, or the black head capsule on a larva, under a loupe or microscope. Keep the specimens if winged root aphids are a possibility.

LookalikesWinged root aphids, shore flies, harmless small flies, and the poor rooting caused by Pythium.

Internal thresholdAny larvae in propagation deserve action. Elsewhere, set a trend threshold for the site: a count rising across several cards matters far more than one adult on one card.

First responseDry the media surface as far as the crop allows, remove algae and repair leaks, clean the drains, target the larvae with an approved root-zone biological programme, and use the cards to confirm adults declining over the next life cycle.

Layered control optionsCultural: remove algae, debris and standing reservoirs, and repair leaks. Environmental: let the surface dry back as far as the crop safely permits, and correct poor drainage. Biological: use lawful nematodes or media-dwelling predators against the larvae. Approved input: keep any drench or surface treatment inside its authorised use and aimed at the stage it actually affects.

Target stage and plant partThe damaging stage is the larva in the upper moist substrate and root zone. Cards tell you what the adults are doing; they do not control anything. Watch media and cards together across one full cycle.

Crop, worker, residue and compatibility constraintsDo not push dryback past what the crop tolerates. Before any input, check that root-zone biologicals will survive it, what it does to the irrigation system, the crop stage, the PPE and REI on the label, and the residue route.

Specimen handlingSeal labelled adults or card sections in one container and a media or root sample containing larvae in another. Record the plant, zone, trap height and how wet the media was, and send anything unidentified for microscopy.

Dated recheck and success criterionCount live larvae at the same media points and adults on the same mapped cards at the site interval, through one full generation. Success is a falling trend that holds, with no root injury in propagation.

Trace-back and CAPA triggerLook at irrigation uniformity, leaks, algae and slime films, drains, incoming media, propagation hygiene, and any root disease appearing at the same time.

Profile evidence: ^[17]^[11]

3. Thrips (Frankliniella occidentalis and other thrips species)

AI-generated educational reconstruction of thrips and feeding injury on cannabis — Example. Adults are slender, with narrow wings fringed in fine hairs. The larvae are smaller and pale. Feeding scrapes cells empty and leaves silvery streaks or patches, usually with small black dots of frass, the term for insect droppings. **Generated plate; not to scale and apparent magnification varies.**OpenAI image generation

Earliest reliable signsSilvering, distorted young leaves, scarring on flowers, and dark specks. Adults and larvae hide in folds and inside flowers. The stages between larva and adult often sit in the media or in debris rather than on the plant.

Life cycle and spreadEggs are pushed into plant tissue, where a spray cannot reach them. Larvae feed on the plant. The next stages do not feed and shelter in protected places, and then the adults return to the canopy.

Condition-qualified developmentA generation often runs about 14-21 days in warm indoor conditions, though species and temperature both matter. Eggs sit inside plant tissue, larvae feed on the crop, the non-feeding stages hide in sheltered places, and adults disperse.

Size / inspection scaleThe plate is not to scale. Adults and larvae are found by inspecting plant parts closely; about 30x-60x resolves the pale larvae, the fringe on the adult wings, and the detail needed to separate species or find eggs pushed into the tissue.

Where to inspectBlue or yellow cards, tapping flowers over white paper, close inspection of young folded leaves and flowers, and samples of the media and debris where they pupate.

ConfirmationA loupe or microscope. Getting to species matters when you are choosing a specialist biological control, or judging the risk of the thrips carrying a virus.

LookalikesMechanical abrasion, wind burn, oedema, and injury from an earlier spray.

Internal thresholdZero tolerance in quarantine and clean stock. In production, one confirmed hotspot or a card count rising across repeated reads triggers the site response level.

First responseContain the hotspot. Remove badly damaged tissue carefully, so you do not shake insects loose across the room. Treat both the canopy and the sheltered stages off the plant. Confirm the beneficials in the room will tolerate whatever you use, then re-read the mapped cards after the recheck window closes.

Layered control optionsCultural: refuse infested stock, bag hotspots, and clear debris. Environmental: remove sheltering weeds and debris and correct canopy conditions that suit them. Biological: use lawful predators or parasitoids matched to the species and the stage. Approved input: choose a lawful contact or microbial option that reaches the target without collapsing the beneficials.

Target stage and plant partAim at the feeding larvae on young leaves and flowers, and at the sheltered stages off the plant. Adults move and eggs sit inside tissue, so one contact pass is never the whole job; plan the monitoring and the repeat timing around that.

Crop, worker, residue and compatibility constraintsWhich species you have can decide which biological agent works. Flower contact, residues that harm beneficials, crop-stage quality, the PPE and REI on the label, and what the residue means at testing all narrow the choice.

Specimen handlingCollect larvae and adults from a mapped hotspot into labelled sealed vials, and keep a symptomatic leaf or flower separately. Record which card and which plant part they came from, so the identifier has the context.

Dated recheck and success criterionRepeat the tap tests, the plant inspection and the mapped card counts at the approved interval through one full generation. Success is no feeding larvae, a falling adult count, and nothing spreading beyond the original hotspot.

Trace-back and CAPA triggerTrace incoming plants, cut flowers and packaging, doors and screens, weeds, tools, the order staff move through rooms, and debris in the substrate. Identify the species if control is underperforming, or if the virus risk differs between them.

Profile evidence: ^[12]^[11]

4. Two-spotted spider mite (Tetranychus urticae)

AI-generated educational reconstruction of two-spotted spider mites, eggs and webbing on cannabis — Example. Oval mites with two dark patches on the back, round translucent eggs, and colonies on the undersides of leaves. Fine silk webbing appears as numbers rise. **Generated plate; not to scale and apparent magnification varies.**OpenAI image generation

Earliest reliable signsFine pale stippling first, then bronzing, leaf decline, and webbing across petioles, shoots and flowers. Hot, dry pockets in the canopy usually show it first.

Life cycle and spreadEgg, a six-legged larva, two nymph stages and the adult, often all present at once. Development speeds up sharply with warmth, so a small patch can change character in days.

Condition-qualified developmentEgg to adult may take roughly 7-14 days, faster as canopy temperature rises. Survey eggs, the six-legged larva, both nymph stages and adults, because indoors they overlap as a matter of course.

Size / inspection scaleThe plate is not to scale. Work leaf by leaf on the undersides with a 10x-30x loupe, and move to a microscope wherever the two-spot pattern, the eggs, or the difference from a beneficial mite is uncertain.

Where to inspectMap the hot, dry zones first. Check leaf undersides with a 10x-30x loupe, tap foliage over white paper, and follow any webbing back to the live colony that made it.

ConfirmationMicroscopy for the two-spot pattern and the life stages. Separate them from beneficial mites before treating anything.

LookalikesSpray stipple, nutrient flecking, dust, and beneficial mites.

Internal thresholdAny confirmed colony in quarantine or on mothers. In veg and flower, one colony that is reproducing is enough to trigger containment; do not wait for webbing.

First responseFlag and isolate the hotspot, restrict staff and tools moving through it, bag the worst leaves, and correct extreme hot, dry pockets. Release the approved predator programme, or another lawful compatible control. Judge the result on live mites, not on leaf damage, which cannot heal.

Layered control optionsCultural: refuse infested stock, bag hotspot leaves, and stop spread by contact. Environmental: fix extreme hot, dry pockets without creating a humid one that invites disease. Biological: deploy a currently lawful predatory-mite programme early. Approved input: only a compatible lawful contact or microbial option that can actually reach leaf undersides.

Target stage and plant partLive mites and eggs on leaf undersides, and the leading edge of the hotspot. Colonies inside webbed flowers are both harder to reach and more costly to the batch.

Crop, worker, residue and compatibility constraintsOld stippling does not measure whether a treatment worked. Check residues against the predators, flower contact, crop stage, the label PPE and REI, the residue route, and the risk of leaf burn before any input.

Specimen handlingBag labelled leaves from the leading edge with live mites on them, keep the samples cool and intact, and prepare a slide or tape mount separately if the laboratory asks for one. Note the hotspot temperature and where the plant sits.

Dated recheck and success criterionRecount live mites and eggs on the same mapped leaves and at the hotspot edge after the approved interval, and again before one full generation closes. Success is no outward spread and a decline in live stages that holds.

Trace-back and CAPA triggerTrace plant-to-plant contact, staff and tools, carts, incoming stock, and hot dry dead zones. Review why detection was late, and whether an incompatible residue stopped the predators establishing.

Profile evidence: ^[12]^[11]

5. Broad mite (Polyphagotarsonemus latus)

AI-generated educational reconstruction of broad mites and ridged eggs on cannabis meristem — Example. Microscopic pale mites on the softest, newest tissue. The eggs are the useful diagnostic: oval, and decorated with pale raised dots or ridges. **Generated plate; not to scale and apparent magnification varies.**OpenAI image generation

Earliest reliable signsNew growth that is hardened, blistered, glossy or twisted, short internodes, and damaged shoot tips. The symptoms stay behind after the mites have gone.

Life cycle and spreadThey concentrate on the protected new growth, and travel on plant material, on workers and on equipment. At their size, looking for them without magnification is not a reliable way to find them.

Condition-qualified developmentIn a warm, humid crop a generation can close in roughly 4-7 days. When timing controls, account for the ornamented egg, the six-legged larva, the still and sheltered stage between larva and adult, and the microscopic adult.

Size / inspection scaleThe plate is not to scale. Adults are under about 0.2 mm (0.008 in), which is below what the eye can resolve. Inspect intact shoot tips and the distinctive eggs at roughly 20x-60x, and go to a compound microscope to confirm.

Where to inspectSample the youngest distorted tissue, the bases of petioles, and the shoot tips. Mount tape or pieces of leaf for a dissecting or compound microscope.

ConfirmationMites under the microscope plus the characteristic eggs. Confirm before changing the feed or reaching for a rescue treatment, because the symptoms have several other causes.

LookalikesLeaf edges curling from heat or light, herbicide or spray injury, nutrient toxicity, stunting caused by a virus or viroid, and fasciation, a genetic distortion of the growing point.

Internal thresholdZero tolerance in quarantine, mothers and propagation. Any confirmed find in production is serious, because by the time you can see it the infestation is old.

First responseIsolate, and usually remove, confirmed clean-stock plants. Trace the clones and the movements. Sample tips more intensively. Choose a control that is currently lawful and fits the crop stage. Judge the result on new growth and microscopy, not on old distorted leaves.

Layered control optionsCultural: reject infested stock, isolate the tips, and remove confirmed clean-stock plants. Environmental: correct excess heat and humidity, without pretending one setpoint suits every room. Biological: use a currently lawful predator with evidence against broad-mite stages. Approved input: limit use to a lawful option that reaches the shoot tip and is compatible with the predators and the crop stage.

Target stage and plant partEggs and moving mites inside shoot tips, folded leaves and petiole bases. The resting and sheltered stages sit where sprays do not reach, so coverage and repeat timing decide the outcome.

Crop, worker, residue and compatibility constraintsDiagnosis needs a microscope, because the symptoms outlast the mites. Protect the beneficials, and settle flower contact, crop stage, label PPE and REI, residues and leaf-burn risk before any input.

Specimen handlingCollect several intact symptomatic shoot tips from the leading edge into labelled sealed bags, keep them cool, and prepare tape or leaf mounts by the laboratory method without crushing the tip.

Dated recheck and success criterionPut several new tips from the hotspot and its perimeter under the microscope after the approved interval and through one full generation. Success is repeated absence of live mites and eggs, normal new growth, and no expansion of the affected area.

Trace-back and CAPA triggerTrace source plants and clones, worker and tool movement, carts, nearby crops, and any treatment that masked the symptoms. Hold linked propagation material until microscopy clears it.

Profile evidence: ^[16]^[12]^[11]

6. Hemp russet mite (Aculops cannabicola)

AI-generated high-magnification educational reconstruction of hemp russet mites on cannabis — Example. Extremely small, pale, tapered and wormlike mites with only two pairs of legs, both near the head. High magnification is not optional here. **Generated plate; not to scale and apparent magnification varies.**OpenAI image generation

Earliest reliable signsDull bronzing or russeting, brittle petioles, curled leaf margins, weak new growth, and flower quality falling away. The damage tends to climb the plant.

Life cycle and spreadThey gather on stems, petioles, leaf surfaces and flowers, and move on air currents, on people, on tools, and by plant-to-plant contact.

Condition-qualified developmentA generation may take roughly 7-10 days in warm indoor conditions, with the plant and the environment moving that figure. Track eggs, larvae, nymphs and the tapered adult. Every active stage keeps the two pairs of legs near the head, and populations migrate upward through the plant.

Size / inspection scaleThe plate is not to scale. Adults are under about 0.2 mm (0.008 in) and the eggs may be around 20 micrometres (0.0008 in). Inspect several stem, petiole and flower samples at roughly 60x-100x, or send them to a diagnostic laboratory.

Where to inspectTake several samples from the leading edge of the symptoms, including petioles, stems and flowers. Use roughly 60x-100x, or a diagnostic laboratory.

ConfirmationSpecialist microscopy. One clean sample does not clear a symptomatic plant, because the mites sit in patches rather than evenly.

LookalikesBroad-mite injury, leaves curling from heat or light, nutrient problems, drought, and the poor vigour associated with hop latent viroid (HLVd).

Internal thresholdZero tolerance in quarantine, mothers and propagation. One confirmed plant in production triggers containment and trace-back.

First responseStop plant contact and plant movement. Bag confirmed plants as the site procedure directs. Sample the cohorts linked to them. Review airflow and tool routes as carriers. Apply only lawful, compatible measures inside the crop-stage window, and require repeated negative microscopy before closing the event.

Layered control optionsCultural: exclude infested stock, stop plant contact, and bag confirmed high-consequence plants. Environmental: review airflow and heat or dryness stress, without treating climate as a way to eradicate them. Biological: use only a lawful predator with evidence against this group of mites. Approved input: choose a lawful tactic, confirmed under high magnification, that suits the crop stage and the biologicals already present.

Target stage and plant partThe leading edge of the symptoms on stems, petioles, young leaves and flowers. Sample at several heights, because the mites move upward and sit in patches.

Crop, worker, residue and compatibility constraintsConfirmation at high magnification is mandatory. Late flower sharply narrows what may touch the crop; check beneficial compatibility, label PPE and REI, residues, quality and leaf burn.

Specimen handlingCollect several labelled stem, petiole, leaf and flower pieces from the leading edge, plus material from linked plants that look healthy. Keep them cool and sealed, and submit them intact for specialist microscopy.

Dated recheck and success criterionRepeat the 60x-100x or laboratory counts at the same mapped heights and along the leading edge after the approved interval and across one full generation. Closure requires repeated negative samples and no new upward spread.

Trace-back and CAPA triggerTrace genetics, clone cohorts, plant contact, airflow, staff and tools, and how sensitive the sampling was. Hold linked clean-stock material, and review any clearance that later proved wrong.

Profile evidence: ^[12]^[11]

7. Whiteflies (Trialeurodes vaporariorum, Bemisia tabaci complex and related species)

AI-generated educational reconstruction of whitefly adults and nymphs on cannabis leaf underside — Example. White, powdery, moth-like adults that lift off the underside of a leaf when it is disturbed. The eggs, the crawlers and the flat scale-like nymphs stay on the underside, and older nymphs may show red eyes. **Generated plate; not to scale and apparent magnification varies.**OpenAI image generation

Earliest reliable signsGeneral yellowing, sticky honeydew, black sooty mould growing on it, and clouds of adults when foliage is disturbed. The nymph stages are easy to walk past.

Life cycle and spreadOnly the first nymph stage, the crawler, moves any distance; after that the nymphs settle and feed in one place. Species and stage both change how well a parasitoid performs and which control fits.

Condition-qualified developmentEgg to adult commonly takes about 21-28 days in warm indoor conditions, with species and temperature changing the range. Account for the egg, the mobile crawler, the fixed scale-like nymph and its red-eyed late stage, and the winged adult.

Size / inspection scaleThe plate is not to scale. Adults are roughly 1-2 mm (0.04-0.08 in) and obvious once disturbed. The eggs, the mobile first-stage crawlers, the fixed nymphs and the red-eyed late stage all sit on the underside and need about 30x-60x; naming the species needs a specialist.

Where to inspectTurn leaves in the lower and mid canopy, count how many carry nymphs, run yellow cards at canopy height, and inspect wherever honeydew or sooty mould has appeared.

ConfirmationMicroscopy, or specialist species identification whenever the biological programme depends on which species it is.

LookalikesPowdery mildew, small moths, cast aphid skins, and harmless white debris.

Internal thresholdZero tolerance at entry. In production, any underside colony that is reproducing, or a card count rising over successive reads, triggers action before the adults disperse.

First responseContain the zone, bag heavily colonised leaves, tighten underside scouting, and deploy only approved biologicals matched to the species, or a compatible lawful input. Verify on both measures: adults on the cards and live nymphs on the leaves.

Layered control optionsCultural: exclude infested plants, bag colonised leaves, and remove weeds and other reservoirs. Environmental: fix stagnant hot spots without pushing humidity up. Biological: use lawful predators or parasitoids matched to the confirmed species. Approved input: only a lawful option that reaches leaf undersides and leaves the parasitoids and the crop stage intact.

Target stage and plant partCrawlers and young nymphs on the undersides, while yellow cards track the adults. Settled older nymphs and eggs usually need a second pass timed to the stage.

Crop, worker, residue and compatibility constraintsThe species decides which parasitoid fits. Check flower contamination, honeydew and sooty mould, residues against the beneficials, label PPE and REI, crop stage, and release testing before any input.

Specimen handlingBag labelled underside leaves carrying eggs and nymphs, keep representative adults or card sections separate, and record plant height, card position and any honeydew before sending them for identification.

Dated recheck and success criterionCount live nymphs on the same mapped leaves and adults on the same cards at the approved interval through one full generation. Success is no new colonies and both counts declining and staying down.

Trace-back and CAPA triggerTrace incoming plants, weeds, doors, vents and screens, staff and tools, and whether the biological released actually matched the species. Assess the sooty mould and any product surfaces it reached.

Profile evidence: ^[12]^[11]

8. Foliar aphids (Phorodon cannabis, Myzus persicae, Macrosiphum euphorbiae and others)

AI-generated educational reconstruction of cannabis aphids on a cannabis shoot — Example. Soft, pear-shaped insects with a pair of tube-like cornicles near the rear. A colony holds nymphs, wingless adults, white cast skins, and sometimes winged adults. **Generated plate; not to scale and apparent magnification varies.**OpenAI image generation

Earliest reliable signsClusters on shoots, stems, leaf undersides or flowers; growth curling and distorting; sticky honeydew, and the black sooty mould that follows it.

Life cycle and spreadUnder crop conditions the females give birth to live young without mating, so a colony builds quickly from a single individual. Crowding then produces winged adults that leave and start new colonies.

Condition-qualified developmentIn warm indoor conditions a generation may be roughly 7-10 days. Live-born nymphs mature into wingless adults, and crowding or stress produces winged dispersers, with generations overlapping.

Size / inspection scaleThe plate is not to scale. Colonies and adults are visible on shoots and leaf undersides; about 30x-60x resolves the cornicles, the cast skins, the nymphs, and the characters used to separate species.

Where to inspectExamine growing tips, leaf undersides, petioles and flowers. Map where the honeydew is. Read yellow cards for winged adults. Learn to tell aphids from the beneficial larvae that hunt them.

ConfirmationIdentify to species when choosing a specialist parasitoid. Cannabis aphid, green peach aphid and potato aphid are not interchangeable targets.

LookalikesWhitefly nymphs and cast skins, scale insects, beneficial larvae, and winged root aphids.

Internal thresholdZero tolerance in clean stock. One reproducing colony in production triggers local containment and a survey of the whole room.

First responseBag badly infested tips. Control any ant activity. Keep honeydew off tools and clothing, so it is not carried around the room. Choose lawful biologicals matched to the species, or a compatible input, and then recheck for living aphids and for new nymphs being born.

Layered control optionsCultural: exclude stock, bag infested tips, control ants, and remove weeds. Environmental: correct plant stress, but do not expect climate alone to control aphids. Biological: use lawful predators or parasitoids matched to the aphid species. Approved input: choose a lawful contact or microbial option compatible with the beneficials and the crop stage.

Target stage and plant partExposed nymphs and wingless adults on growing tips, undersides, petioles and flowers. Track winged adults on yellow cards, and repeat, because new nymphs keep arriving.

Crop, worker, residue and compatibility constraintsSpecies identity can decide whether a parasitoid works at all. Honeydew on flowers is a quality risk in its own right. Check residues against the beneficials, the crop stage, label PPE and REI, and what the residue means at testing.

Specimen handlingCollect live wingless adults, winged adults and nymphs from a mapped colony into labelled sealed vials, keep a symptomatic tip separately, and record which part of the plant they came from.

Dated recheck and success criterionRecount living aphids and newborn nymphs on the same marked tips, plus winged adults on the mapped cards, after the approved interval and across one full generation. Success is the colony gone, or an approved decline that holds without spread.

Trace-back and CAPA triggerTrace incoming stock, weeds, ants, staff and tools, and whether the biological released matched the species. Assess where honeydew landed and which clean-stock lots are linked.

Profile evidence: ^[13]^[12]

9. Budworms and caterpillars (Lepidopteran larvae; species confirmation required)

AI-generated educational reconstruction of caterpillar damage and frass inside a cannabis flower — Example. A chewing larva in foliage or flowers, with bore holes and pellets of frass. Injury inside a flower opens a wound that Botrytis can enter. **Generated plate; not to scale and apparent magnification varies.**OpenAI image generation

Earliest reliable signsMissing tissue, bored flowers, frass, browning in one spot, and a single wilted sugar leaf. The damage can stay hidden until the flower is opened.

Life cycle and spreadEggs hatch into feeding larvae, and the pupae and adults may be outside the crop entirely. Keeping them out is far more reliable than trying to rescue a flower they have already entered.

Condition-qualified developmentTiming depends on the species and the temperature, so identify the larva before setting any interval. Treat the egg, the feeding larva, the pupa and the adult as four separate things to look for.

Size / inspection scaleThe plate is not to scale. Open the whole flower and work through the interior for larvae, bore holes and pellet-like frass; about 30x-60x is for eggs, very small larvae, or the features used to identify the species.

Where to inspectCheck entry points and screens, look for flowers with frass or a wilted leaf, and open flowers destructively where the risk justifies it.

ConfirmationLarval features, or specialist identification. Open the damaged flower to separate insect injury from a Botrytis infection that started on its own.

LookalikesBotrytis with no insect involved, mechanical flower damage, and broken stems.

Internal thresholdZero tolerance in indoor production. Any finding in a flower is a quality event immediately.

First responseRemove and bag the larva with the affected flower, inspect the neighbouring plants, close the route it came in by, assess the flower for secondary rot, and use a lawful crop-stage-appropriate control only where it is justified.

Layered control optionsCultural: maintain exclusion screens, inspect entry points, and bag larvae and damaged flowers. Environmental: reduce host plants and entry pressure outside without compromising ventilation. Biological: consider only a lawful organism appropriate to the species. Approved input: treating a flower late is a legal and quality decision of last resort, not a default.

Target stage and plant partEggs and small exposed larvae, before they get inside a flower. Once a larva is inside a cola, removing it and assessing the rot that follows beats any attempt at surface coverage.

Crop, worker, residue and compatibility constraintsSpecies confirmation matters. Any flower treatment has to clear crop stage, residues, microbial quality, compatibility with the beneficials, label PPE and REI, and market release.

Specimen handlingSeal the larva and the damaged flower with its frass in separate labelled containers, photograph the bore site, and keep the specimen intact for identification.

Dated recheck and success criterionInspect neighbouring flowers and entry points daily through the containment window. Success is no new frass, bore holes, larvae or secondary rot across the risk period the site has set.

Trace-back and CAPA triggerTrace doors, screens, incoming plants and materials, host plants outside, night work, and staff movement. Assess the linked flowers and the Botrytis risk as a quality event.

Profile evidence: ^[11]

11 · Field atlas

Disease diagnosis and sampling

Disease symptoms overlap. Use them to choose tissue, environmental records and the right laboratory route. Do not convert a picture match into a release decision.

Cannabis disease literature supports distinct management for powdery mildew, Botrytis, Pythium, Fusarium and systemic propagation threats^[20]^[21]^[22]. Septoria diagnosis is complicated by closely related species and requires more than lesion colour^[27]^[28].

1. Powdery mildew (Golovinomyces and related powdery-mildew fungi on cannabis)

AI-generated educational reconstruction of early powdery mildew colonies on cannabis leaf — Example. Raised, patchy white colonies growing on the surface of living leaves, petioles, stems or flowers. Early colonies are separate discrete patches rather than an even dusting. **Generated plate; not to scale and apparent magnification varies.**OpenAI image generation

Earliest reliable signsDull pale spots that develop visible surface growth and spores. Colonies expand and release airborne spores that start the next round of infections.

Life cycle and spreadThe fungus grows on the surface and feeds from the cells just beneath it. Dense canopies, susceptible genetics and still air all help it spread, and it does not need free water on the leaf to do so.

Condition-qualified developmentIn canopy conditions that suit it, germination begins within hours, and visible colonies producing a new round of spores can develop over several days. Cultivar and local conditions move that interval.

Size / inspection scaleThe plate is not to scale. Look over whole leaves, stems and flowers under angled light, then examine a single colony at about 30x-60x. Go to microscopy or a laboratory whenever spray residue or trichomes remain a plausible explanation.

Where to inspectUse angled light across leaves and stems, work through the lower and inner canopy and the flowers, mark single colonies on the map, and check the finding against recent spray records.

ConfirmationA hand lens or microscope to see the fungal structures. Send it to a laboratory when dried spray, mineral residue, trichomes or dust make the call uncertain.

LookalikesDried foliar spray, mineral residue, dust, trichomes, and light reflecting off the leaf.

Internal thresholdZero tolerance in quarantine and on mothers, and for any colony on a flower. A single colony on a vegetative plant triggers containment and intensified scouting room-wide.

First responseBag affected tissue without shaking it, restrict movement through the room, open up canopy density and fix humid dead-air pockets, use only a lawful measure that suits the crop stage, and judge the result on whether new colonies appear rather than on old scarring.

Layered control optionsCultural: exclude infected stock, bag lesions, and clean the things that carry spores. Environmental: correct dense dead-air zones and humidity or dew-point excursions. Biological: use only a lawful preventive antagonist with evidence against this pathogen. Approved input: choose a lawful crop-contact option suited to the tissue and the growth stage.

Target stage and plant partThe first surface colonies and any new spread on leaves and stems. Once a flower is infected it is a quality event, and the room for intervention narrows sharply.

Crop, worker, residue and compatibility constraintsDo not mistake residue for infection. Flower contact, visible residues, compatibility with the beneficials, label PPE and REI, crop stage, leaf burn and release testing all constrain the choice of input.

Specimen handlingPhotograph and bag an intact colony together with some adjacent healthy tissue, using clean tools. Keep the recent spray records with it, and submit it dry and cool by the laboratory instruction.

Dated recheck and success criterionReturn to the mapped sites with angled light and microscopy after the approved interval, and again inside the window in which a new round of spores would appear. Success is no new colonies and no growth of the existing ones.

Trace-back and CAPA triggerInvestigate the source stock, staff and tools, airflow, canopy density, humidity and dew point during lights-off, cultivar susceptibility, and which flowers and batches were affected.

Profile evidence: ^[20]^[19]

2. Botrytis bud rot (Botrytis cinerea)

AI-generated educational reconstruction of internal Botrytis bud rot in a cannabis cola — Example. Tissue inside the flower turns tan to brown and collapses, and grey dusty spore growth may follow. A single wilted sugar leaf is often the first thing visible from outside. **Generated plate; not to scale and apparent magnification varies.**OpenAI image generation

Earliest reliable signsOne leaf wilting, soft or dry dead tissue inside a dense flower, grey mould, and rapid spread through tissue that touches in humid conditions.

Life cycle and spreadSpores enter tissue that is susceptible, wounded or ageing. Dense flowers hold humid air inside them. Sclerotia, the hard survival bodies this fungus forms, and infected debris can carry it from one crop into the next.

Condition-qualified developmentWith sustained high humidity and susceptible tissue, an infection may reach visible decay and spore growth in roughly 3-5 days. Temperature, how long the tissue stays wet, wounds, and the shape of the flower all control the pace.

Size / inspection scaleThe plate is not to scale. Diagnose at whole-flower scale and then by opening the flower, looking at the edge of the lesion and any spore growth with a hand lens. Use laboratory microscopy or culture when the species affects what happens to the batch.

Where to inspectCheck high-risk flowers daily, opening any dense bud that looks suspicious. Track cultivar, zone, irrigation events, night humidity, and any handling injuries.

ConfirmationThe characteristic internal decay and spore growth. Use a diagnostic laboratory where what happens to the batch depends on confirming the species.

LookalikesCaterpillar damage, mechanical bruising, normal senescence, and other flower rots.

Internal thresholdAny confirmed flower is an immediate containment event with consequences for the batch.

First responseStop movement, and stop the fans that would carry spores while material is being removed. Bag a generous margin around the affected tissue. Inspect the neighbours. Hold the implicated lot as the site procedure requires. Correct humidity, airflow and canopy density. Open a corrective and preventive action if this is more than an isolated find.

Layered control optionsCultural: remove ageing and wounded tissue, and bag affected flowers. Environmental: prevent condensation, prolonged wetness, and dense stagnant zones inside the canopy. Biological: use only a lawful preventive antagonist with relevant evidence. Approved input: use in late flower needs explicit legal, quality and residue approval.

Target stage and plant partStop spores infecting wounded or ageing tissue, and remove the lesions inside the flower. A surface spray cannot bring dead flower tissue back.

Crop, worker, residue and compatibility constraintsAny affected flower has consequences for the batch and its microbial quality. Handle material so it does not release spores, and settle crop stage, worker PPE and REI, residues, compatibility and release testing before any input.

Specimen handlingStop local airflow, photograph the flower in place, then bag an unopened suspicious flower and the edge of the lesion using clean tools. Keep it cool, and submit it separately from healthy comparison samples.

Dated recheck and success criterionCheck mapped flowers daily during containment, and repeat the destructive inspection at the approved interval. Success is no new internal decay or spore growth anywhere in the affected zone.

Trace-back and CAPA triggerLink cultivar and flower structure, injury, canopy density, humidity and dew point during lights-off, airflow, sanitation, staff and tools, and every lot or batch implicated.

Profile evidence: ^[21]^[19]

3. Pythium root, crown rot and damping-off (Pythium species (oomycetes))

AI-generated educational reconstruction of Pythium-like root rot in cannabis roots — Example. Water-soaked tan to brown roots whose outer layer is weak and may slide off, poor root tips, seedlings collapsing, or rot at the crown. Compare against firm, bright white healthy roots. **Generated plate; not to scale and apparent magnification varies.**OpenAI image generation

Earliest reliable signsPoor rooting, wilting in the middle of the day even though the media is wet, yellowing, slow water uptake, collapse at the stem base, and matching symptoms along a shared water circuit.

Life cycle and spreadThick-walled resting spores persist in the system. The organism also produces swimming spores that travel in water. Warm root zones, low dissolved oxygen, saturation and slime films can raise the risk, though species differ.

Condition-qualified developmentSwimming spores can infect susceptible root tips quickly, and symptoms may build over days in systems that are warm, low in oxygen or saturated. Species, plant age and root-zone conditions all change the course.

Size / inspection scaleThe plate is not to scale. Compare the whole root mass, individual root tips, the outer root layer and the crown against healthy white roots. Identifying what caused it takes a diagnostic laboratory: microscopy, culture or molecular testing.

Where to inspectRoots, crown, drain water, slime film in tanks and lines, root-zone temperature, dissolved oxygen, irrigation frequency, standing water, and every cohort sharing the same water.

ConfirmationA plant diagnostic laboratory, by microscopy, culture or molecular testing. Root colour on its own does not identify the organism.

LookalikesRoot death from non-living causes, oxygen starvation without infection, Fusarium, salt injury from nutrients, and the normal browning of old roots.

Internal thresholdAny cluster of collapsed seedlings, any crown rot, or any pattern following a shared water circuit triggers isolation and an investigation of the water system.

First responseStop sharing water and material. Remove collapsed plants. Take the samples before sanitising anything, because cleaning destroys the evidence. Correct root-zone oxygen, moisture and temperature faults. Clean slime films under a validated procedure, and use only a lawful approved biological or input programme.

Layered control optionsCultural: start with clean stock and clean media, and isolate affected water circuits. Environmental: correct saturation, heat, low dissolved oxygen, standing water and slime films. Biological: use only a lawful preventive antagonist suited to the reservoir. Approved input: keep the distinction clear between something that touches the crop or roots and a validated cleaning of lines or surfaces.

Target stage and plant partPrevention at the root tips and crowns, and the spores travelling in the water. Sample before sanitation. Roots that are already dead need removing and the system correcting; nothing brings them back.

Crop, worker, residue and compatibility constraintsMany sanitisers kill the antagonists you rely on. Confirm root-zone use, the status of the strain or product, crop stage, worker PPE and REI, the residue route, compatibility with the reservoir, and how the discharge is controlled.

Specimen handlingCollect roots and crown from the edge of the lesion, media, and water from the linked tank and return line, all before cleaning, into separate sterile labelled containers. Keep them cool, and keep the record of which circuit and lot each came from.

Dated recheck and success criterionReinspect root tips and crowns and the linked cohorts, and repeat the validated water or root test after the approved interval. Success is healthy new white roots, no further collapse, and no spread to linked plants.

Trace-back and CAPA triggerInvestigate the propagation source, the water circuit, temperature and dissolved oxygen, saturation and dryback, slime films, hoses and trays, tools, staff, and every connected cohort.

Profile evidence: ^[23]^[22]^[19]

4. Fusarium wilt, root and crown disease (Fusarium species complexes)

AI-generated educational reconstruction of Fusarium-like wilt and vascular browning in cannabis — Example. Wilting or yellowing that progresses, often down one side of the plant, with lesions on the crown and roots and brown staining in the water-conducting tissue inside a cut stem or crown. **Generated plate; not to scale and apparent magnification varies.**OpenAI image generation

Earliest reliable signsWeak rooting, seedlings collapsing, lesions at the stem base, yellowing, wilt that does not recover as it should, and patterns that follow a batch of stock, tools, media or water.

Life cycle and spreadDifferent Fusarium species complexes act as root, crown, vascular or flower pathogens. Spores travel in contaminated water, plant tissue and equipment. They germinate at root tips or wounds, the fungus grows upward inside the water-conducting tissue, and chlamydospores, its thick-walled resting spores, persist in plant and media debris.

Condition-qualified developmentRoot infection and internal symptoms can develop over days to weeks, depending on the species complex, how much inoculum is present, temperature, moisture and plant stress. The resting spores persist far longer than that.

Size / inspection scaleThe plate is not to scale. Look at the whole plant for one-sided decline, then cut the crown or stem lengthwise and inspect the edges of the root lesions. Naming the organism takes laboratory isolation and molecular identification.

Where to inspectCut a symptomatic crown or stem lengthwise and compare the internal tissue against a healthy plant. Inspect the roots. Trace the propagation source, the tools, the media lots and the irrigation connections.

ConfirmationLaboratory isolation, plus molecular identification where it is needed. What you do next depends on which disease syndrome this is and where it came from.

LookalikesPythium, drought or oxygen starvation, mechanical root injury, nutrient imbalance, and the poor vigour associated with hop latent viroid.

Internal thresholdAny confirmed case in clean stock or a clonal line is high consequence. Clustered cases in production are treated as systemic until trace-back proves otherwise.

First responseIsolate, bag and destroy as the site procedure directs. Hold the linked clones. Sample before cleaning. Investigate the stock, tools, media and water. Correct the structural faults found. Do not promise a cure for a plant whose internal tissue is already colonised.

Layered control optionsCultural: use tested stock and clean media and tools, and destroy confirmed vascular cases. Environmental: correct root injury, saturation and heat, without implying that climate cures an infection. Biological: use only a lawful preventive antagonist with evidence for that strain. Approved input: keep preventive root use separate from cleaning lines and surfaces.

Target stage and plant partPrevent entry at root tips and wounds, and stop spores moving between plants. Once the fungus is inside the water-conducting tissue there is no credible cure, so the decisions are about confirmed plants and the pathways that supplied them.

Crop, worker, residue and compatibility constraintsConfirming the species and the syndrome matters. Resolve sanitiser and antagonist incompatibility, crop stage, root-zone use, label PPE and REI, the residue route and discharge controls before any input.

Specimen handlingCollect the edges of root and crown lesions, and a lengthwise stem section that includes both brown and healthy internal tissue, using clean tools. Bag them separately, keep them cool, and record the stock, media and water links.

Dated recheck and success criterionInspect the linked cohorts for new wilt and internal browning, and repeat laboratory testing on the approved schedule. Success is no new cases after removal and correction; an infected plant recovering is not the measure.

Trace-back and CAPA triggerTrace the mother and clone genealogy, the seed or plant source, tools, media lots, water circuits, root injury, staff movement, and every linked cohort or batch.

Profile evidence: ^[22]^[19]

5. Hop latent viroid disease (Hop latent viroid (HLVd))

AI-generated educational comparison of healthy cannabis and nonspecific HLVd-like symptoms — Example. There is no reliable way to diagnose this by eye. Plants may look entirely normal, or may show shortened internodes, weak vigour, poor rooting, fewer trichomes, and small low-quality flowers. **Generated plate; not to scale and apparent magnification varies.**OpenAI image generation

Earliest reliable signsA clonal line or a linked hydroponic group underperforms with no environmental cause you can find. The visible symptoms fit many other things, and their absence proves nothing at all.

Life cycle and spreadThe viroid travels in infected vegetative material and moves mechanically on contaminated tools. Research also supports transmission through roots and through recirculated hydroponic solution.

Condition-qualified developmentA cold moves through a household for days before anyone coughs, and it spreads during that stretch, when nobody looks ill. That is what latent means, and it is how this viroid behaves: present and transmissible while the plant still looks normal. There is no dependable visual window, so surveillance timing follows the validated molecular method and the risk schedule for that stock.

Size / inspection scaleThe plate is not to scale. Compare whole plants and clonal groups only to decide what to sample. Confirmation happens at the level of a traceable individual plant, or a validated pooled sample, by RT-qPCR or RT-PCR, not by magnification.

Where to inspectRun traceable molecular surveillance across quarantine, foundation mothers and production mothers. Which tissue is sampled, and when, must follow the validated laboratory method.

ConfirmationRT-qPCR or RT-PCR only, with the appropriate controls and written rules for repeats and inconclusive results. The generated plate is not diagnostic evidence.

LookalikesRoot disease, irrigation faults, nutrient imbalance, russet or broad mites, genetically weak plants, and other pathogens that move through the whole plant.

Internal thresholdZero tolerance in quarantine, foundation mothers, production mothers and clone-source material.

First responseQuarantine the plant and everything linked to it. Stop clones moving. Confirm the result. Destroy positives under the approved procedure. Hold every daughter taken since the last verified negative test. Investigate tools, the path staff walk, and any shared hydroponic system. Verify the corrective action with follow-up testing.

Layered control optionsCultural: admit only tested stock, keep genealogy segregated, sanitise tools between defined plant units, and destroy confirmed positives. Environmental: segregate any recirculating solution that has not been validated, because climate does not clear an infection. Biological: nothing established will cure it. Approved input: sanitisers apply only through a validated, lawful process on tools and surfaces.

Target stage and plant partTarget the pathways, meaning exclusion, mechanical transmission and root contact, rather than visible symptoms. Monitor quarantine, foundation and production mothers molecularly, and trace every daughter lot.

Crop, worker, residue and compatibility constraintsNo photograph, vigour score or absence of symptoms releases stock. Sampling tissue and timing, controls, pooling, repeats and inconclusive rules all follow the validated RT-qPCR or RT-PCR method. Review the PPE, REI and residue implications of sanitisers separately.

Specimen handlingCollect the validated tissue with single-use or decontaminated tools into the laboratory container. Keep the chain of custody complete: accession, plant, mother, clone lot, collector, time and temperature.

Dated recheck and success criterionRepeat positive and inconclusive results, and test the linked material under the approved method. Success is documented destruction or containment plus verified negative surveillance across the defined trace group, never an apparent improvement in symptoms.

Trace-back and CAPA triggerTrace every daughter taken since the last verified negative, the tool and staff path, the integrity of the sampling, root contact, and shared hydroponic circuits. Hold the affected lots until quality assurance closes the investigation.

Profile evidence: ^[24]^[25]^[26]

6. Septoria leaf spot (Septoria cannabis, S. neocannabina, S. cannabicola and related diagnoses)

AI-generated educational reconstruction of Septoria-like leaf spot on a lower cannabis leaf — Example. Discrete tan, grey-brown or brown leaf spots with yellowed margins. Tiny dark pycnidia, the flask-shaped fruiting bodies of the fungus, may sit in the centres. Spots can merge and strip the lower leaves. **Generated plate; not to scale and apparent magnification varies.**OpenAI image generation

Earliest reliable signsLower and older leaves usually show it first. Splashing water, wet foliage and infected debris support spread, although how much it matters indoors varies from site to site.

Life cycle and spreadSeptoria species produce their fruiting bodies and spores inside the lesions. The appearance of a lesion is not enough to assign a species name safely.

Condition-qualified developmentLesions and fruiting bodies develop over days to weeks, depending on the species, the temperature and how long the leaf stays wet. Splash-driven cycles keep repeating while wet debris remains.

Size / inspection scaleThe plate is not to scale. Inspect the whole lower leaf, then the centres of individual lesions at about 30x-60x for the small dark fruiting bodies. Laboratory microscopy, culture or sequencing is required wherever the species matters.

Where to inspectMap the lesions on lower leaves, look for splash and leaf wetness and infected debris, photograph both sides of the leaf, and review the spray and nutrient history.

ConfirmationA plant diagnostic laboratory, by microscopy or culture, and by sequence-based methods where the species matters.

LookalikesNutrient deficiency, chemical splash, Cercospora, Bipolaris and other leaf spots, mechanical injury, and normal senescence.

Internal thresholdAny confirmed case in quarantine or stock triggers exclusion. In production, repeated lesions or a spreading pattern triggers containment and laboratory work.

First responseBag the infected debris. Stop splashing, and stop leaves staying wet. Improve airflow. Stop wet tools and clothing moving between rooms. Confirm the diagnosis, and intervene only with a lawful, evidence-supported measure, and only where intervention is justified.

Layered control optionsCultural: exclude infected stock, bag lesions and debris, and stop wet tools moving between rooms. Environmental: stop splash and prolonged leaf wetness, and improve airflow low in the canopy. Biological: use only a lawful antagonist supported for the confirmed diagnosis. Approved input: choose a lawful crop-contact option only after the laboratory result and a review of whether this matters indoors at your site.

Target stage and plant partInfected lower leaves, debris and the splash pathways, before lesions merge. Protect the new foliage; the dead tissue in existing lesions will not recover.

Crop, worker, residue and compatibility constraintsBoth the indoor importance and the species identity are site-specific. Flower contact, crop stage, compatibility with the beneficials, label PPE and REI, residues, leaf burn, and the lookalike caused by spray injury all constrain treatment.

Specimen handlingPhotograph both leaf surfaces, and collect several dry leaves from the edges of lesions bearing fruiting bodies, plus a healthy comparison leaf, in separate labelled paper or laboratory-approved packaging. Keep the spray and nutrient history with them.

Dated recheck and success criterionMap and recount new lesions on lower leaves and on newly exposed leaves after the approved interval, and after any wetness event. Success is no new lesions and no spread upward through the observation window.

Trace-back and CAPA triggerInvestigate incoming stock, infected debris, overhead splash and irrigation, condensation and leaf wetness, tools and clothing, nutrient or chemical injury, and linked rooms.

Profile evidence: ^[27]^[28]^[19]

12 · Diagnostic controls

Diagnostic lookalikes

A diagnostic atlas without healthy controls trains people to see disease everywhere. Compare like with like: underside to underside, opened flower to opened flower, new meristem to new meristem, and roots at the same age and substrate.

Key terms, in the facilityOpenAI image generation

Leaf curl from heat and light, no mites present

Root stress with no pathogen, which is not yet a diagnosis

The generated comparison plates are training aids, not reference specimens.
Confusion	Separating feature	Next step
Fungus gnat adult vs winged root aphid	Gnat has fly-like legs/antennae and wing venation; aphid has pear-shaped body and cornicles	Preserve low-card specimen and use microscopy
Broad/russet mites vs heat/light tacoing	Mites/eggs on sampled leading edge; abiotic stress follows exposure pattern without organisms	Microscope multiple tips before changing feed or climate
Powdery mildew vs dried foliar residue	PM forms raised growing colonies and fungal structures; residue follows droplets/rings and spray history	Angled light, microscopy or lab if flower disposition depends on it
Pythium vs abiotic root stress	Water-soaked sloughing and linked disease pattern vs dry/tan stressed roots without pathogen proof	Sample roots/water before sanitation and send to a diagnostic lab
HLVd vs everything that stunts	No visual feature is confirmatory	RT-qPCR/RT-PCR with traceable sample and controls

13 · Runtime

Building the weekly IPM programme

1
Score consequence
Room class, clean-stock status, target organism, crop stage and product-quality consequence.
2
Measure pressure
Incidence, severity 0-4, life stages, spatial pattern, trap/root/lab trend and beneficial density.
3
Apply override
Zero-tolerance findings bypass a numeric threshold and move directly to containment.
4
Find the source
Incoming stock, staff/tool movement, air, water, media, packaging, weeds/algae or crop carryover.
5
Select layers
Cultural and environmental correction, then compatible biological and lawful input options.
6
Schedule
Target life stage, application/release date, room controls, mode rotation, recheck date and stop/escalate rule.
7
Verify
Measure live organisms/new lesions/new growth, establishment, injury, residue implication and recurrence.
8
Close or CAPA
Close only when the success criterion is met; otherwise revise cause and escalate.

The weekly meeting produces room-specific actions, not a narrative report nobody uses.
Weekly meeting input	Decision output
Trap and scouting trends	Room/zone action, owner and recheck
HLVd/pathogen results	Release, hold, repeat, destroy and trace decision
Beneficial receipt/release/establishment	Continue, supplement, replace or investigate incompatibility
Environmental and root-zone excursions	Engineering/cultural correction with due date
Input applications and treated-area status	REI release, efficacy check and residue review
Open CAPA and linked batches	Containment status, evidence gap, quality disposition and effectiveness check

Control-strategy decision worksheet

Complete against the current approved-input and beneficial registers; product names and rates do not belong in an uncontrolled paper.
Decision field	Controlled entry
Confirmed target, life stage and plant part	FACILITY INPUT
Current pressure: incidence, severity, trend and distribution	FACILITY INPUT
Source/pathway hypothesis and evidence	FACILITY INPUT
Cultural and environmental corrections	FACILITY INPUT
Biological option, establishment evidence and compatibility	FACILITY INPUT
Input option, legal gate, mode group and residue route	FACILITY INPUT
Crop/worker constraints, REI and treated-area release	FACILITY INPUT
Owner, action date, recheck date, success and stop/escalate rule	FACILITY INPUT

Dated intervention and beneficial-release planner

Use enough rows to cover the target's condition-dependent development window; revise after each recheck.
Date/time	Room/zone	Target stage	Action or release	Mode / organism	Compatibility and REI	Recheck
FACILITY INPUT	FACILITY INPUT	FACILITY INPUT	FACILITY INPUT	FACILITY INPUT	FACILITY INPUT	FACILITY INPUT
FACILITY INPUT	FACILITY INPUT	FACILITY INPUT	FACILITY INPUT	FACILITY INPUT	FACILITY INPUT	FACILITY INPUT
FACILITY INPUT	FACILITY INPUT	FACILITY INPUT	FACILITY INPUT	FACILITY INPUT	FACILITY INPUT	FACILITY INPUT
FACILITY INPUT	FACILITY INPUT	FACILITY INPUT	FACILITY INPUT	FACILITY INPUT	FACILITY INPUT	FACILITY INPUT

Target-by-approved-tool matrix

A planning interface to the controlled registers, not a substitute for them.
Target	Currently approved tool	Target stage/site	Evidence grade/source	Legal verification date	Compatibility	Success measure
FACILITY INPUT	FACILITY INPUT	FACILITY INPUT	FACILITY INPUT	FACILITY INPUT	FACILITY INPUT	FACILITY INPUT
FACILITY INPUT	FACILITY INPUT	FACILITY INPUT	FACILITY INPUT	FACILITY INPUT	FACILITY INPUT	FACILITY INPUT
FACILITY INPUT	FACILITY INPUT	FACILITY INPUT	FACILITY INPUT	FACILITY INPUT	FACILITY INPUT	FACILITY INPUT

Figure 6. The minimum operational record for every threshold-triggering event.

14 · Crop cycle

Crop-cycle IPM operations

A complete crop-cycle control model. Exact timing follows cultivar, facility and approved production plan.
Stage	Daily standard work	Weekly / scheduled work	Hard decision
Receiving / quarantine	Accession, source/legal check, visual/root inspection, dedicated tools and waste	Traps, HLVd/pathogen plan, reassessment	Promote only when legal and biological release criteria are met
Foundation / production mothers	Health walk, tool control, irrigation and environment	Molecular schedule, full scout, pruning-hygiene audit	Positive HLVd or systemic/high-consequence pest = stop, hold, trace
Cuttings / rooting	Sanitary cutting, humidity/airflow, dead cutting and root review	Root development, traps, fungus/root-disease check	Patterned failure triggers source, water and diagnostic investigation
Vegetative	Environment/root-zone review and visible pest walk	Full scout, cards, biological release/establishment	Single high-risk hotspot or rising trend triggers targeted action
Flower	Climate/dew-point/air movement and dense-canopy inspection	Full scout, late-flower destructive bud checks by risk, residue/use review	Any PM on flowers or Botrytis in a bud is immediate action
Harvest / dry / hold	Hygienic handling, waste segregation, dry-room condition and mould checks	Residue/microbial/foreign-matter sampling and deviation review	Release, continue hold, remediate if lawful/validated, or reject

Post-harvest is still IPM

Contaminated tools, slow or uneven drying, dense uninspected flowers and dirty processing equipment can erase a clean cultivation run. Product remains on hold until the required quality evidence and deviation review are complete.

15 · Quality system

Containment, investigation and CAPA

Classify events as local, room-wide or systemic. Containment comes first; root cause and batch impact follow while evidence is preserved. CAPA is incomplete until the effectiveness check proves the change worked.

CAPA joins biological cause, worker/system cause and product-quality consequence.
Event	Immediate containment	Batch/crop assessment	CAPA focus
HLVd-positive mother	Stop clone movement, isolate/bag under SOP, hold linked daughters	All daughter lots since last verified negative plus connected tools/water	Source, test cadence, sample integrity, tool sanitation, hydro segregation and traceability
Powdery mildew on flower	Isolate zone/room, bag affected tissue, intensify scouting	Extent, crop stage, lawful options, residue and market disposition	Night microclimate, density, airflow, scouting sensitivity and programme compatibility
Botrytis inside flower	Controlled removal without spore spread, inspect neighbours	Lot hold/extent, cultivar/zone pattern, environmental history	Humidity removal, condensation, flower architecture, handling injury and debris
Root disease linked to shared water	Isolate circuit, stop transfer, sample before sanitation	All connected cohorts and source stock	Reservoir/return design, biofilm, temperature/DO, cleaning validation and water segregation
Worker enters during REI	Remove worker, exposure response, secure area/signage	Assess crop contact/contamination and treatment status	Lockout, sign placement, training, supervision and access control

Release: required analytical results, treatment history, traceability and deviation review are satisfactory.
Continue hold: result, investigation, repeat sample or linked-lot status is incomplete.
Reject or validated remediation: the lot fails a limit, has an indefensible treatment history, or is linked to a systemic contamination failure. Remediation is not a substitute for prevention.

16 · Working tools

Controlled IPM tools

Facility approval sheet

Weekly scouting record

Use one row/set per mapped site or exception. Unknown organisms receive a specimen/photo reference, not a guessed name.
Required field	Entry
Date and time, scout, room, zone, bench and fixed route point	FACILITY INPUT
Plant or lot ID and growth stage	FACILITY INPUT
Leaf top, leaf underside, shoot tip, stem and crown, flower, media and roots checked	FACILITY INPUT
Trap ID, colour, height, deploy and replace date, and counts by organism	FACILITY INPUT
Confirmed organism, life stage, incidence and severity 0-4	FACILITY INPUT
Beneficial organism and the evidence it has established	FACILITY INPUT
Environmental or root-zone anomaly, and any recent intervention	FACILITY INPUT
Photo ID, specimen ID, chain of custody and lab result	FACILITY INPUT
Threshold status, containment, owner and due date	FACILITY INPUT
Recheck date, success criterion, and close or CAPA decision	FACILITY INPUT
Planned sites, completed sites and missed/inaccessible-site exception	FACILITY INPUT

Quarantine and clean-to-dirty movement log

Record every accession transfer and every authorised backtrack across the hygiene gradient.
Date/time	Person or material	From	To	Release/status evidence	PPE/tool change	Exception approval
FACILITY INPUT	FACILITY INPUT	FACILITY INPUT	FACILITY INPUT	FACILITY INPUT	FACILITY INPUT	FACILITY INPUT
FACILITY INPUT	FACILITY INPUT	FACILITY INPUT	FACILITY INPUT	FACILITY INPUT	FACILITY INPUT	FACILITY INPUT
FACILITY INPUT	FACILITY INPUT	FACILITY INPUT	FACILITY INPUT	FACILITY INPUT	FACILITY INPUT	FACILITY INPUT
FACILITY INPUT	FACILITY INPUT	FACILITY INPUT	FACILITY INPUT	FACILITY INPUT	FACILITY INPUT	FACILITY INPUT

Beneficial release and establishment record

Field	Entry
Species/strain, supplier and lot	FACILITY INPUT
NZ legal-status evidence and approval date	FACILITY INPUT
Arrival time, temperature and condition	FACILITY INPUT
Viability/count check and rejection decision	FACILITY INPUT
Target pest/stage, room map and release rate	FACILITY INPUT
Climate and incompatible residue review	FACILITY INPUT
Establishment/recheck date and evidence	FACILITY INPUT
Corrective action or close-out	FACILITY INPUT

Spray / application quality checklist

Check	Controlled entry
Event ID; approved product/lot; target; room/zone; crop stage	FACILITY INPUT
Current label/SDS, medicinal-cannabis, ACVM and HSNO evidence checked	FACILITY INPUT
Applicator, calibration, output, nozzle/pressure and target coverage	FACILITY INPUT
Water quality, mixing order, agitation and prepared volume	FACILITY INPUT
HVAC/lights controls, containment, weather/external-discharge risk	FACILITY INPUT
PPE, signage, access control, REI start/end and treated-area release	FACILITY INPUT
Unused mix, rinse, spill/waste disposition and equipment clean-down	FACILITY INPUT
Phytotoxicity, efficacy and residue recheck dates / results	FACILITY INPUT

Outbreak, batch-impact and CAPA record

Field	Entry
Event ID, first detection and detector	FACILITY INPUT
Confirmed organism / evidence / uncertainty	FACILITY INPUT
Room, zone, plants, mothers, clone lots and batches	FACILITY INPUT
Linked staff, tools, air, water, media and input lots	FACILITY INPUT
Immediate containment and treated-area controls	FACILITY INPUT
Product-quality and residue impact assessment	FACILITY INPUT
Hold, destruction, remediation or release decision	FACILITY INPUT
Root cause and contributing conditions	FACILITY INPUT
Corrective and preventive actions, owners and dates	FACILITY INPUT
Effectiveness evidence and quality close-out	FACILITY INPUT

Population-trend dashboard worksheet

Graph or trend these same controlled fields in the site's validated record system; record denominator and missed sites so the line means something.
Week/date	Room/zone	Target	Trap or sampled units	Live count / incidence	Severity 0-4	Beneficial density	Action line	Decision
FACILITY INPUT	FACILITY INPUT	FACILITY INPUT	FACILITY INPUT	FACILITY INPUT	FACILITY INPUT	FACILITY INPUT	FACILITY INPUT	FACILITY INPUT
FACILITY INPUT	FACILITY INPUT	FACILITY INPUT	FACILITY INPUT	FACILITY INPUT	FACILITY INPUT	FACILITY INPUT	FACILITY INPUT	FACILITY INPUT
FACILITY INPUT	FACILITY INPUT	FACILITY INPUT	FACILITY INPUT	FACILITY INPUT	FACILITY INPUT	FACILITY INPUT	FACILITY INPUT	FACILITY INPUT
FACILITY INPUT	FACILITY INPUT	FACILITY INPUT	FACILITY INPUT	FACILITY INPUT	FACILITY INPUT	FACILITY INPUT	FACILITY INPUT	FACILITY INPUT
FACILITY INPUT	FACILITY INPUT	FACILITY INPUT	FACILITY INPUT	FACILITY INPUT	FACILITY INPUT	FACILITY INPUT	FACILITY INPUT	FACILITY INPUT

Spill and waste control

Current drain map distinguishes sanitary sewer/trade waste from stormwater.
Secondary containment and spill kits match the stored substances and credible spill volume.
No pesticide, sanitiser, nutrient concentrate, contaminated rinse water or spill enters stormwater.
Watercare and Auckland pollution-response triggers are posted and trained.
Waste contractors and disposal records are current; annual drill findings enter CAPA.

17 · Competency

Competency-based training

WorkSafe requires site-specific information, instruction, training and records; a prior course does not remove the site's duty^[7].
Module	Audience	Demonstrated outcome
NZ medicinal-cannabis input gate	QA, procurement, IPM/cultivation leads	Reject or approve a candidate input with the correct evidence trail
Hygiene zoning and movement	All cultivation, sanitation, maintenance and contractors	Execute room order, tool/PPE changes and exception process
Scouting and specimen handling	Scouts and room leads	Follow fixed route, identify plant parts, record incidence/severity, preserve unknown
Mother stock and HLVd	Nursery, mother and QA staff	Collect traceable sample, place hold, trace daughters and execute positive response
Beneficial control	IPM team and receiving	Verify delivery, viability, release map, compatibility and establishment
Application, REI and PPE	Applicators, supervisors, QA/EHS	Calibrate, mix, apply, contain waste, post signs and release treated area
CAPA and batch impact	QA, cultivation management, IPM lead	Run mock event from containment through effectiveness check

Drill the ugly events

Run at least: HLVd-positive mother, Botrytis cluster in late flower, root disease on a shared circuit, unlawful input discovered after application, REI entry breach and a spill threatening a drain. A plan only earns trust after someone has tried to use it under pressure.

18 · Governance

Evidence and revision register

This blueprint is controlled guidance, not a frozen truth. Review the volatile parts before the static prose.
Claim class	Minimum evidence	Review trigger
NZ legal / regulatory	Current official Ministry, MPI, EPA, WorkSafe, Watercare or Auckland source	Any law/guidance revision, new product/organism, annual review
Pest/disease biology	Primary paper or strong technical review; species caveat	New diagnostic result, organism not behaving as assumed
Product/organism status	Current register/approval, label, SDS, supplier and site approval	Every purchase/use and any document revision
Facility threshold	Site history, risk rationale and quality approval	Trend miss, crop loss, false alarm, process or market change
Operational setpoint	Named facility SOP/validation and measured data	Equipment, cultivar, room, substrate or process change
Generated image	Final prompt, generation tool, human diagnostic review and disclosure	Morphology error, confusion in training or better verified reference

Implementation judgement

The resilient programme is the one that keeps unlawful inputs out, infected genetics out, water and air from becoming transport systems, staff movement legible, and release logic visible at the moment a control is chosen. Everything else is decoration.

References

New Zealand Ministry of Health. Pesticide use during cultivation of medicinal cannabis. Guidance under the Misuse of Drugs (Medicinal Cannabis) Regulations 2019; updated guidance effective from July 2024. (industry/manufacturer or non-journal source) https://www.health.govt.nz/regulation-legislation/medicinal-cannabis/information-for-industry/pesticide-use-during-cultivation
New Zealand Ministry of Health. Requirements for the medicinal cannabis minimum quality standard. Testing, validation, laboratory and pesticide requirements; page current in 2026. (industry/manufacturer or non-journal source) https://www.health.govt.nz/regulation-legislation/medicinal-cannabis/information-for-industry/working-with-medicinal-cannabis/requirements-for-the-minimum-quality-standard
New Zealand Ministry for Primary Industries. ACVMs exempt from registration: exemption classes, conditions and obligations under other legislation. (industry/manufacturer or non-journal source) https://www.mpi.govt.nz/agriculture/agricultural-compounds-vet-medicines/acvms-exempt-from-registration
New Zealand Ministry for Primary Industries. Steps to importing invertebrates: eligibility, import health standards, facilities, permits and EPA status determination. (industry/manufacturer or non-journal source) https://www.mpi.govt.nz/import/importing-live-animals/invertebrates/steps-to-importing-invertebrates
New Zealand Environmental Protection Authority. What hazardous-substance approvals are and how to find an approval, including SDS section 15 and current controls. (industry/manufacturer or non-journal source) https://www.epa.govt.nz/hazardous-substances/substance-approvals-and-group-standards/what-approvals-are-and-how-to-find-one-for-your-product/
WorkSafe New Zealand. Restricted entry intervals for pesticides - quick guide: labels/SDS, off-label risk assessment, indoor signs, access and PPE. (industry/manufacturer or non-journal source) https://www.worksafe.govt.nz/topic-and-industry/hazardous-substances/regulations/restricted-entry-intervals-for-pesticides/restricted-entry-intervals-for-pesticides-quick-guide/
WorkSafe New Zealand. Information, instruction, supervision and training for workers handling hazardous substances. (industry/manufacturer or non-journal source) https://www.worksafe.govt.nz/topic-and-industry/hazardous-substances/managing/information-instruction-supervision-training/
Watercare. Trade waste agreements: classification, controls, monitoring and management-plan requirements for Auckland businesses. (industry/manufacturer or non-journal source) https://www.watercare.co.nz/business/help-and-support/trade-waste/trade-waste-agreements
Auckland Council. Auckland Unitary Plan Operative in Part, E33 Industrial and trade activities: contaminant avoidance, onsite management, containment and lawful disposal. (industry/manufacturer or non-journal source) https://unitaryplan.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/Images/Auckland%20Unitary%20Plan%20Operative/Chapter%20E%20Auckland-wide/5.%20Environmental%20Risk/E33%20Industrial%20and%20trade%20activities.pdf
Athena Ag, Inc. (2026). IPM Guide for Cannabis, V15 digital edition. Commercial vendor guide supplied by the user; used only as a coverage benchmark. (industry/manufacturer or non-journal source)
Ahmed, M. Z., McKenzie, C. L., & Osborne, L. S. (2024). Arthropod and mollusk pests of hemp, Cannabis sativa (Rosales: Cannabaceae), and their indoor management plan in Florida. Journal of Integrated Pest Management, 15(1), 1. https://doi.org/10.1093/jipm/pmad028
Pulkoski, M. A., & Burrack, H. J. (2023). Assessing the impact of piercing-sucking pests on greenhouse-grown industrial hemp (Cannabis sativa L.). Environmental Entomology, 53(1), 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1093/ee/nvad044
Cranshaw, W., Halbert, S. E., Favret, C., Britt, K., & Miller, G. L. (2018). Phorodon cannabis Passerini (Hemiptera: Aphididae), a newly recognized pest in North America found on industrial hemp. Insecta Mundi, 0662, 1-12. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/insectamundi/1162/
Cranshaw, W., & Wainwright-Evans, S. (2020). Cannabis sativa as a host of rice root aphid (Hemiptera: Aphididae) in North America. Journal of Integrated Pest Management, 11(1), 15. https://doi.org/10.1093/jipm/pmaa008
Lopez, L. (2023). Meet Amblyseius swirskii (Acari: Phytoseiidae): a commonly used predatory mite in vegetable crops. Journal of Integrated Pest Management, 14(1), 20. https://doi.org/10.1093/jipm/pmad018
van Maanen, R., Vila, E., Sabelis, M. W., & Janssen, A. (2010). Biological control of broad mites (Polyphagotarsonemus latus) with the generalist predator Amblyseius swirskii. Experimental and Applied Acarology, 52(1), 29-34. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10493-010-9343-2
Cloyd, R. A. (2015). Ecology of fungus gnats (Bradysia spp.) in greenhouse production systems associated with disease-interactions and alternative management strategies. Insects, 6(2), 325-332. https://doi.org/10.3390/insects6020325
Effects of Selected Biopesticides on Two Arthropod Pests of Cannabis sativa L. in Northeastern Oregon. (2024). Crops, 4(4), 19. https://doi.org/10.3390/crops4040019
Punja, Z. K. (2021). Emerging diseases of Cannabis sativa and sustainable management. Pest Management Science, 77(9), 3857-3870. https://doi.org/10.1002/ps.6307
Scott, C., & Punja, Z. K. (2021). Evaluation of disease management approaches for powdery mildew on Cannabis sativa L. (marijuana) plants. Canadian Journal of Plant Pathology, 43(3), 394-412. https://doi.org/10.1080/07060661.2020.1836026
Mahmoud M, BenRejeb I, Punja ZK, Buirs L, Jabaji S. Understanding bud rot development, caused by Botrytis cinerea, on cannabis (Cannabis sativa L.) plants grown under greenhouse conditions. Botany. 2023;101(4):200-231. https://doi.org/10.1139/cjb-2022-0139
Punja, Z.K., Tirajoh, A., Collyer, D., & Ni, L. (2023). Biological control of Fusarium oxysporum causing damping-off and Pythium myriotylum causing root and crown rot on cannabis (Cannabis sativa L.) plants. Canadian Journal of Plant Pathology, 45(3), 245-264. https://doi.org/10.1080/07060661.2023.2172082
Sutton, J. C., Sopher, C. R., Owen-Going, T. N., Liu, W., Grodzinski, B., Hall, J. C., & Benchimol, R. L. (2006). Etiology and epidemiology of Pythium root rot in hydroponic crops: current knowledge and perspectives. Summa Phytopathologica, 32(4), 307-321. https://doi.org/10.1590/S0100-54052006000400001
Atallah OO et al. (2023). Hop latent viroid: a hidden threat to the cannabis industry. Viruses / PMC. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10053334/
Transmission, spread, longevity and management of hop latent viroid in cannabis in North America (2025). PMC. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11902214/
Mechanical transmission and management of Hop Latent Viroid (HLVd) in cannabis: spread via contaminated tools and cuttings; under experimental conditions linked cuttings can approach complete infection within weeks; controls include fresh gloves per plant, tool sterilisation and footbaths. Plants (MDPI) 2025, 14:830. https://www.mdpi.com/2223-7747/14/5/830
Rahnama M, Szarka D, Li H, Dixon E, Castlebury LA, Gauthier N (2021). Reemergence of Septoria leaf spot caused by Septoria cannabis on hemp in Kentucky, confirmed by sequence data. Plant Disease 105:2286-2289. https://doi.org/10.1094/PDIS-12-20-2620-SC
Ujata AH, Konishi S, Kato Y, Tonami H, Nakashima C (2024). Septoria cannabicola, a new species on Cannabis sativa from Japan. Mycoscience 65:92-95. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11369300/

Citations marked in-text as [n] map to this list. Primary literature and official guidance except where noted. Cannabis tissue culture is strongly genotype-dependent, verify dilutions, hormone doses and local regulations against the primary sources before relying on them.

Integrated pest management blueprint for indoor medicinal cannabis in AucklandIntegrated pest management blueprint for indoor medicinal cannabis in Auckland

Purpose and scope

Definitions

Evidence and limitations

IPM principles, control layers and feedback loop

Legal eligibility of IPM controls in New Zealand

Clean-stock controls in IPM

Facility contamination pathways

Cultural and environmental controls

Biological control programmes

Input selection and application

Arthropod identification

1. Rice root aphid (Rhopalosiphum rufiabdominale)

2. Fungus gnats (Bradysia species)

3. Thrips (Frankliniella occidentalis and other thrips species)

4. Two-spotted spider mite (Tetranychus urticae)

5. Broad mite (Polyphagotarsonemus latus)

6. Hemp russet mite (Aculops cannabicola)

7. Whiteflies (Trialeurodes vaporariorum, Bemisia tabaci complex and related species)

8. Foliar aphids (Phorodon cannabis, Myzus persicae, Macrosiphum euphorbiae and others)

9. Budworms and caterpillars (Lepidopteran larvae; species confirmation required)

Disease diagnosis and sampling

1. Powdery mildew (Golovinomyces and related powdery-mildew fungi on cannabis)

2. Botrytis bud rot (Botrytis cinerea)

3. Pythium root, crown rot and damping-off (Pythium species (oomycetes))

4. Fusarium wilt, root and crown disease (Fusarium species complexes)

5. Hop latent viroid disease (Hop latent viroid (HLVd))

6. Septoria leaf spot (Septoria cannabis, S. neocannabina, S. cannabicola and related diagnoses)

Diagnostic lookalikes

Building the weekly IPM programme

Control-strategy decision worksheet

Dated intervention and beneficial-release planner

Target-by-approved-tool matrix

Crop-cycle IPM operations

Containment, investigation and CAPA

Controlled IPM tools

Facility approval sheet

Weekly scouting record

Quarantine and clean-to-dirty movement log

Beneficial release and establishment record

Spray / application quality checklist

Outbreak, batch-impact and CAPA record

Population-trend dashboard worksheet

Spill and waste control

Competency-based training

Evidence and revision register

References

Integrated pest management blueprint for indoor medicinal cannabis in Auckland