I have 3 autos that are almost ready to harvest and 2 RegFems that have just started flower this past week. I noticed webbing on one of the regfems several days ago and now I have found mites on my autos when inspecting trichomes with a lupe.
First question is: Can I just harvest these and wash the mites out of them? Should I try to treat them even though I’ve already done my first flush? I don’t want traces of pesticides in my buds. Not sure how to go about treating the autos.
Second: I am looking to buy SNS 217 for the RegFems as well as SNS 203 for preventing other pests. Are these good enough or can you recommend something else? Thanks.
I have been periodically using the “Bug Blaster” that I got from ILGM with my seeds and nutrients but I guess it wasn’t enough.
Just saw a video about Diatomaceous Earth. I’m going to put a top layer of that on my soil but they also said not to put it directly onto flowering plants so I’m also going to get the SNS 217 for foliar application. Any thoughts or advice is greatly appreciated.
If you are close to harvest you can simply wash them off as for the 2 plants just added isolate them and treat before flower keep them vegging Spider mites hugely effect yield and an onset at start of flower gives them time to colonize and build numbers if they are already webbing they have been there a while. DE will work and simple insecticidal soap washing during veg can kill all but eggs with repeated washes over 2 weeks you can almost irradicate them during flower the method I am going to suggest is incredibly hard and stressful.
In Veg I simply buy a large tote big enough to submerge entire top of plants to the base I fill tote with water mixed with insecticidal soap place pot in a plastic bag tying it around trunk, I then take each plant and submerge entire top right to base. I shake it in soap making sure it gets in around every leaf nook and crany then I rinse thoroughly and shake drip dry before putting back into grow lights. I leave bag on pot only opening it to water and dust soil with DE then take some standard Vasoline and make bead around trunk as high bag was. I repeat this drill every 3 days for couple of weeks. Also cleaning entire grow space with bleach walls floors fans anything and everything.
Mites are the Herpies of a grow room they haunt you over and over again and seeming to disappear only to show up again at worst times.
For the autos that are almost done I will wash after harvest thoroughly and hope Im not smoking bugs.
I don’t know what you mean by “tote”. The 2 Regulars have begun flower about a week ago maybe ten days. They are starting to show pistils already. So there is no going back to veg for them.
Mites destroy plant tissue leafs and and suck nutrients out of tiny holes the make in leaves these holes don’t heal and they dry forcing mites to make new holes and so on during flower your plant starts it’s end cycle of life with a huge boom in growth followed by no new leafs. Since mites destroy leaves that are no longer being replaced and seek most nutrient rich area’s of plant they destroy sugar factories needed to produce heavy healthy buds and effect both yield and quality in enough numbers they can stall plant entirely.
They reproduce fast a single adult lays up to 40 eggs or more a day which hatch between 5-8 days very few things kill eggs and mites are mature in 3-5 days so within a couple weeks even a few mites can turn into hundreds
they actually would revert easily given simple topping and tote box Rubber made container since process would take couple weeks by then your ladies would be recovered from having tops and buds clipped and DE is only so effective trust me had entire room look like I blew up a bakery and little bastards still found nooks and crannies to live in and come back from the plants I flowered out with them there were less than half yield and popcorn buds everywhere but main Kola’s DE only kills adults and fans and humidity only make application effective for couple days if lucky
yep it most certainly is but hey getting free advise from someone that flowered out 40 plants during a mite invasion in a perpetual grow for 6 months. I would be less concerned about my run on sentences and more interested in how I managed to kill the little bastards? When I had plants week apart in all stages of flower plus clones and a full veg room.
I tried pyrethrin, DE, mighty wash, peroxide you name it and in the end the above method worked best and was cheapest
@dudeguy@Donaldj knows his stuff and I would definitely be lessening if you have a concern I just did my first wash on a plant ever yesterday I highly recommend following what @Donaldj has to say if not that’s cool but he will show you and tell you how to do it without pesticides in without having to worry that’s what a lot of us are on here for and that’s for helping people with questions I hope you take his advice and everything works out for you
I appreciate the advise everyone. Please notice the WINKING emoji and recognize it as an intent at expressing HUMOR. Bulletin boards get way too over serious IMO. I was just being friendly and FUN.
The 2 Regs are 3.5ft. tall. I don’t think I could get them into a “tote” bucket without damaging them. I bought some Azamax and some Green Cleaner. I already have some DE & Neem oil extract. I think once I harvest the 3 autos I will have more time to focus on the other 2 with several rounds of application for several weeks. I’d rather not have to revert them to veg since they are already so large. Though once the autos are done I will have more room for them so I may do that.
I wasn’t offended just short on time during post and felt no need to revisit unless there was a specific question? also wasn’t going to change suggestion or edit grammar. Without a question related to steps involved
The main reason I said to revert the 2 is isolated plants are easier to treat and transfer from flowering ladies is very real possiblity. Mites are one of the few pests that are well known to become resistant to insecticides
@Donaldj hey buddy- I’m dealing with spider mites also i never expected this but humidity been high and tent a little crowded and I thought it was some powdery mildew but looking under 60x see them and see webbing on fully ready plants- I of course freaked out and dusted with fist full of DE- the whole tent and room and trash can that i had been taking leaves to- ugh I’m going to do a bud wash but I am afraid to ask your thoughts on the DE - will the bud wash take it off the buds? or did i just ruin this whole giant Blue dream ? ugh I’m so dumb lol and this is def one for the worst mistakes list!
Make sure when you are doe this grow everything is sanitized get rid of old soil wash pots in super hot bleachy water clean entire space top to bottom they are incredibly hard to get rid of. The pricks seem to find places to hide in any crack so are likely inside your house and may come back to haunt you again sulfer burner works quite well at killing them off in your space. Just not during flower
since process would take couple weeks by then your ladies would be recovered from having tops and buds clipped and DE is only so effective trust me had entire room look like I blew up a bakery and little bastards still found nooks and crannies to live in and come back from the plants I flowered out with them there were less than half yield and popcorn buds everywhere but main Kola’s DE only kills adults and fans and humidity only make application effective for couple days if lucky
i never expected this but humidity been high and tent a little crowded and I thought it was some powdery mildew but looking under 60x see them and see webbing on fully ready plants- I of course freaked out and dusted with fist full of DE- the whole tent and room and trash can that i had been taking leaves to- ugh I’m going to do a bud wash but I am afraid to ask your thoughts on the DE - will the bud wash take it off the buds? or did i just ruin this whole giant Blue dream ? ugh I’m so dumb lol and this is def one for the worst mistakes list!