Okay, I figured I would post my trials and tribulations with my white widow beginning grower problems, where I have two 8x4 foot tents going, one flowering my seven month old plants, and the other vegging my newer clones. Seems my clones got spider mites, but not the other tent, I sprayed with robert bergman insecticide both tents, but hey, I ended up with too many plants and ran out, so I had to use something I had used in the garden, a food safe product that kills fungus and in stronger amounts kills spider mites, so I used it, then I trimmed the plants five days later and re-sprayed. I blame myself in a way, I had not trimmed twenty two plants yet, they were too over grown, I had even put off too long repotting most of them, so who knows, maybe some looked in poor health, and maybe too much diseased leaves attracted bugs, …and then before I trimmed, I had found one larvae wrapped in a leave, of what bug, I don’t know, and in a leaf that seemed eaten previous by spider mites. All I can think of is that I left my newer 3.8 gallon pots outside waiting to be used in the shed, and I had left soil in a large galvanized pan too, probably got infested with something, but anyway, everything must be under control…I SPRAYED with a NEEM OIL based product, and I have a gallon of cold pressed(recommended cold pressed in the book) neem oil coming to make some more spray. Neem oil is mentioned in a cervantes book, and I figure I can maybe mix palmolive dish detergent as an emulsiphier(if I got the word right) to help it spread around, diluted in water of course, not straight.
I’ve used neem oil alot in the past, it seems to work well, but of course, I was buying a commercially made product, and it really cost some. I mean, I have too many plants, the exact amount I am allowed with my oregon medical marijuana license, which is thirty plants, ten large, the rest smaller. It really is too much work, and more plants than I think is doing me any good, but I am locked into it now, and giving some smaller ones away like I have done previous to another medical card holder, to make way for my super skunk clones once they are out of the “clone king” aeroponic cloner.
This pest thing, I sure don’t know why one tent only was affected, it scares me, I don’t know what I will do once flowering is in later stages and I get pests on the flowering plants, I mean, I have no idea if neem oil is toxic as a substance on bud, I believe it is non toxic for vegetables or edibles, for instance, but I would hate to relegate all my first grow to being made into edibles. I did read in the book to avoid spraying the last few days before harvest or a foul taste has been reported, …I just hope I can keep bugs away to the point of days before harvest, then I won’t have that worry.
Now, I bought something made locally to me, at a “grow shop”, where they cater to medical marijuana growers, it obviously has some sort of soap solution, rosemary, and cinnamon, and some other spices, interesting, a few others I don’t remember without reading it again, but it was like in a quart container and recommended for dilution only at 50/50, so I am saving it and studying it.
i wouldnt say it’s cheep but you use very little .