Mites and the aftermath

Well Sunday was a planned transplant day my veg room was wall to wall green pulling plants out for my production line approach to transplanting noticed some of my girls had tell tale spots on their leaves. Any experienced grower knows my thoughts and mood at that moment how bad is it? fricken little bastards how did you get in here? followed by out with the microscope which of the many nasty little buggers could you be?
After inspection my luck was apparent as they are mostly juveniles and not spotted having caught them early I worked my way down the list culled several heavier affected plants and started my offensive with DRDoom pyretrin spray knowing full well this will be my first offensive measure :smiling_imp: Also knowing full well pyrethrin will fry many of my leaves but the little bastards will not be given a beach head from which to begin their true invasion we all know they are the herpies of the grow room.
Today is day 3 and began my land battle scissors in one hand bag in the other defoliating 60-70% of every plant and culling anything that didn’t resist my pyrethrin assault which was 5 plants bringing the toll up to around 9 if I were a patient and forgiving person or very green to growing I wouldn’t consider this a win. Since I have no mercy for the little offending !@#$ers I refused to stop there I showered each remaining plant top to bottom above and below in Mighty-wash :smiling_imp: this is only the second wave of my zero tolerance war two days vigil followed by a rinse with mild soap mixture and Vasiline on all trunks.

For anyone unfamiliar with spider mites they are a bane they drink from your plant leaves and a mature female lays 20 eggs per day they are almost invisible when juvenile and typically by the time you notice them they have several generations going. Their life cycle is 40 days but they hatch in less than 8 days and are mature within a week pyrethrin will kill only adults and juveniles but some are immune and so to are their offspring. Un-checked they will take over a grow room in a few weeks they move from plant to plant and when they reach full adult and critical numbers they form webs getting rid of them takes a couple weeks since eggs hatch daily. For this reason an aggressive response is needed and fast 3 very different steps are a must to ensure eradication is success no one poison works so it is recommended to stagger treatments on 3 day rotation.

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I hate bugs…the long arm of mother nature.
A bug where you live in winter weather!

You control lights, temperature, nutrients, water…and a spider mite knocks you out.

Round one…mite
Round two…Donaldj, good luck!

Well this morning I enter the wash cycle phase wave 3 all pots will be bagged and my plants are going to get a dip in a 5 gallon bucket of water and detergent will let plants sit wet for several minutes then rinse them all in second bucket of fresh water. Built 3 new 15 gallon bubblers each to hold 2 plants so if my battle plan fails already prepared to do away with them and start fresh if they live will be cloning them and or starting fresh in hydro.

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DAMM THE TORPEDOES ,FULL BROADSIDE AND HOLD NOTHING BACK AGAIST the mitey spidermite

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It’ll be a week tomorrow since I started my war and at this point not a single little bastard moving though I will be doing follow up soap bath and cranking up the humidity this week but think I have them beat :slight_smile:

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That totally sucks! I’ve had and always lost my battles with mites… :frowning:

What I find most interesting is since 1995 when I quit indoor gardening till now, although so much has changed there doesn’t seem to have been much of an advance in controlling mites

there is a products which can be fed to plants to prevent and kill mites but they can’t be used in flower as well evolution dictates that for a species Mites to survive they must adapt. So though more is on the market to cope with them it is truly a war since they become resistant

A couple of things helped me. One I used peppermint extract oils and then garlic with dish washing liquid to top, and put in a mister and that got rid of most of them, then I read another method that is natural and works great is: The habaneros peppers. Take 10 and finely chop to minced and put in a quart of water in a sauce pan and simmer them for 25 minutes be careful not to boil. Then cool and pour through a screen and put in a mister and cover your mouth and hands with gloves and enjoy watching them die…I later followed up with Azamax and they are completely dead, I spray every 2-3 days for 2 weeks to make sure and spray your room or green house if indoors. Good luck

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I am currently shut down house hunting I have all my gear sanitized and will be starting fresh when I find a place but do like the idea and will be far more vigil on my next grow room

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Question if I take a pic of my plants issue can you or anyone possibly tell me what is wrong with my plants?

@Cloudypapa, Yes we can .take picts of both sides of the leaves .use the macro setting .and timer to get great still shots … then post them .and well find you a plan of action …Hammer .

Would they come from the soil ? Or could they be blown in from the air from the vent holes if you’re blowing a fan into it? how would that actually work or where could they come from I hope to never have them just curious where that would come from because I’m currently in the basement there’s crickets and spiders and shit down there but I have it on a table where it’s lifted up off the floor tarped off a spot

I used three different methods to find one that works, because I heard mites like the Borg develop resistances to methods after a while. So my first was, take 1-2 tbs each of garlic oil( I just use the store bought minced garlic which has oils and juices in it) and peppermint oil, and dishwashing liquid and put them in a spray bottle with water and spray away, be careful to not get in eyes, you will walk away smelling pepperminty (lol). The other is: buy habaneros at store about 3 cups worth. Chop very fine, put in small pot with 2-3 cups water, heat on medium heat for 20-30 minutes. it should not be boiling but very hot. When finished, strain through screen into a bowl and let cool, When cool pour in a spray bottle or sprayer. Wear protective eye wear, and cover your mouth and nose as this stuff burns. Spray until all is gone. Let it rest for a week or two. Check with magnifier for movement of bugs. A lot of the bugs will be gone as they dropped off or were washed off as they were killed. Then later use Azamax as a alternative spray and mix a strong mixture and douse plant with it. All these do not hurt the plants or buds. Then keep an eye on it every week for any return. I haven’t seen any at all anymore. The leaves have no more spots on them. This rids the mites, thrips and any other pests.

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…loved the Borg reference !
-live long and prosper :thumbsup:

Question if I let the plant stay and re-run will it still have the same
potency?

nunya

@Cloudypapa, In a word Yes .
Hammer

Did your plants look anything like this?


Before and after spraying, 6 days apart. Don’t think these were mites anymore.

yes and worse looks to me like you sprayed them with knockout or a strong bug killer most of them need to be rinsed off or your plant sucks them into stomata

I used a few green chilis, 3 garlic cloves, a sprinkle of cayenne and mixed the whole mess up in the blender with water and a bit of dishwashing soap. No chemicals. The plant was already showing signs of illness, maybe I just aggravated it worse. Damn! Now what?

Leave it alone for a while, let’s see how it does, you might want to raise the lights a little to give it a little rest for a day or two