Honeydew is the excess sugary sap that phloem-feeding insects excrete. UC IPM lists aphids, leafhoppers, mealybugs, soft scales and whiteflies as common producers, with both immatures and adults producing it. On cannabis it shows as shiny, sticky leaf tops beneath a colony.
In practice
Honeydew is a diagnostic clue: sticky leaves point to a sap feeder above, not to a mite. It grows black sooty mould that cuts light, and ants that farm honeydew defend aphids and mealybugs from their natural enemies. Washing it off treats the symptom; the colony is the problem.
Don't confuse with
- Sticky (slang): resinous buds, nothing to do with pests.
- Guttation droplets: water from leaf margins, not sugar.
Integrated pest management: preventing and controlling pests by combining monitoring, prevention, cultural, biological and, as a last resort, chemical tools against set action thresholds.Small soft-bodied sap-sucking insects of the family Aphididae that cluster on stems and leaf undersides, excrete sticky honeydew and multiply rapidly by live birth.Small wedge-shaped jumping insects of the family Cicadellidae that suck plant sap; the beet leafhopper (Circulifer tenellus) spreads beet curly top virus to hemp.Soft-bodied sap-sucking insects of the family Pseudococcidae, covered in white waxy filaments, that hide in stem joints and roots and excrete honeydew.Small white-winged sap-sucking insects of the family Aleyrodidae, mainly Trialeurodes vaporariorum and Bemisia tabaci, that fly up when disturbed and coat leaves in honeydew.Top shelf is the highest price tier of flower in a shop, used as slang for any premium-looking cannabis; it reflects pricing and appearance, not verified quality.A black, soot-like fungal film that grows on the honeydew left by sap-feeding insects; it does not infect the plant but blocks light and signals an aphid, whitefly, mealybug or scale problem.Using living natural enemies, such as predators, parasitoids, nematodes and microbes, to suppress pests and diseases instead of, or before, chemical sprays.
