SpiderMites:

Types:

Tetranychus Urticae, often called the Red Spider Mite. This eight legged spider mite is usually a transluscent shade of green, cream or brown in color, only the older females reaching a red shade. Eggs are about 0.15mm long and laid on the underside of the leaves. Adults are about 0.4mm long and are also found on the underside of the leaves.

This little fellow is by far the most common form of spider mite, other forms are out there like Tetranychus Cinnabarinus, (plum red, same size) but are far less common and treated the same way.

LifeStyle:

The spider mite likes to eat your plant leaves, and live and breed on the underside of the leaves. They will generally look for a place away from oscillating fans or drafts of air and often start on the mid and upper sections of the plant where it's still quite hot and dry.

Once they start to take a hold (which can take as little as 5 to 10 days from first introduction) they will begin producing large amounts of webbing and will spread at a devastating rate as they look for new breeding and feeding grounds using the webbing as a transportation system. Because of the spider mites predominantly female population and their rapid breeding rate they can destroy whole crops in a matter of weeks.

BreedingRates:

An adult female can lay up to 100 eggs, the eggs take about 4 or more days to hatch dependent on conditions (they like it hot & dry). Once hatched they take about 4 days to reach adulthood although again this can be dependent on conditions.

To slow down their breeding rate, cool your growroom down, and raise the humidity until you have eliminated the problem or at least have it under control. (Keep temperatures below 30C, and humidity about 50%RH)

Identification/Damage:

Checking for tell tale signs of damage is easier than looking for the mite itself. The mites will suck the juice from the leaves leaving pin size white/colorless dots on the top surface of the leaf. These spots usually occur in clusters. If you see these spots then turn the leaf over and look for tiny mites or eggs whice may be hard to see.. To confirm you have mites mist the underside of suspected leaves with water and this should show any webbing. After a few days leaves will start to fade in color and large amounts of webbing will follow.

The Key: Prevention and Identification

The key to being mite free is a combination of preventative measures and early identification of any possible problem. The following guidelines should help with containing potential spider mite problems.

Clean Garden:

Cleanliness is the key to prevention. Growing enviornments should be enclosed and controlled. Floors should be clean and free from bits of soil, dirt, rubbish, and bacteria. You should clean your growroom on a regular basis and also keep pets away as well as other gardeners who may introduce bacteria or problems into your room. If you have been in an infected area or even out of the country, change clothes before entering the growroom.

Healthy Plants:

Ideal conditions for healthy plants are not ideal for spider mites. The hotter and drier it is in your growroom, the more your plants will struggle with health. If you have a mite infection under these conditions, the mites will reproduce 3 times faster than at cooler more humid conditions, thus compounding your problem.

Therefore in summer keep your light high, maybe use a heat shield, keep the air moving and try and keep 'LightsOn' temperatures down. This will not only keep your plants as healthy as possible during difficult hot weather, but will also keep the spread of any infection to a minimum until it is identified and eliminated.

If your room is clear and clean and your plants healthy then any kind of infection will hopefully be identified early and dealt with effectively.

Control:

Early identification and manual removal of infected leaves followed by three applications of a good spray like 'BuzzOff' with a few days inbetween applications is the best form of control. Predator mites can then be added after a few days if you wanted to be really thorough.

Make sure you adjust the environmental conditions in your favor as this will significantly slow the infection while you are treating it. Keep humidity above 50%, or if possible 60% - 80% while you are eliminating the mite. Keep the light up and temps down.

Recommended Action:

The best way in which you should deal with a spider mite problem depends on what stage in the growth cycle you are at. Below are precise directions on what you should do to eradicate your problem.

In Vegetative Stage:

Younger plants can be effectively treated with a good spray like 'BuzzOff'. You can follow with a course of predator mites if you want to be thorough, although it may not be needed.

If you have a bad problem then another option is to dunk the whole plants upside down in a bucket full of 'HotPepperWax' solution. Keep it submerged upside down for a few seconds, do not submerge the roots...

In Flowering Stage:

As spider mites are hard to control in 13 hours of light or less, it is important that any problem is identified and dealt with before you shorten your light cycle!

Once in flowering on short light cycles, the Phytoseiulius predator mite is much less effective and spraying large flowering plants is not a good idea.

Control your problem through removal of leaves, creation of environmental conditions to slow the spider mite down.

Elimination may have to wait until the room is empty, or until your growroom is full of smaller plants in more than 15 hours of light.

on a rampage, aren't we?

who pissed you off today goddess?

lol, reps for sure; did you write this? or did it come from outside?

kp

It seems about this time every year we are flooded with a lot of the same questions. Don't get me wrong they are valid questions. Any extremely important questions.

I just feel that sometimes it doesn't hurt to clean out FAQ and throw some info out there for all to see. And if I am lucky I might find out about a new product too.

gotcha

kp

now i've seen small white spots show up on some fan leaves occasionally, but on inspection... no pests i could see (though i sprayed anyways... can never be too safe i guess)

but is there anything else that might make small like pinhole spots on the leaves?

yeah freekin spider mites! I'm currently raging war against them. washing the plants down and spraying with neem oil has been pretty effective so far.

useful information though, thanks mogie

Astro, where did you get your neem oil?

__________________
I grow only tomatoes and for my personal use. Any inference otherwise from my posts is completely false.

Current grow: http://www.rollitup.org/grow-journal...rly-misty.html

My 1st grow: http://www.rollitup.org/newbie-centr...h-me-luck.html

i've gotten it at ace hardware hearmenow if you got one of those nearby...

Yeah, I do. Thanks for the tip. I'm conducting a similar battle and I am probably 2 weeks from harvesting. It sucks ass. Anyway, I am using an insecticidal soap from HD and it seems to be working. I am examining them every day to see if any return. I will apply again in another day or 2. The label says its safe to use on vegies and fruit right up until harvest time.

__________________
I grow only tomatoes and for my personal use. Any inference otherwise from my posts is completely false.

Current grow: http://www.rollitup.org/grow-journal...rly-misty.html

My 1st grow: http://www.rollitup.org/newbie-centr...h-me-luck.html

yeah... actually... i also got the ace brand insect spray for fruits and vegies (safe up until harvest also) just to compare (4 buck difference in price i think, some people must scrimp ya know)... read the label and was the exact same product -neem oil in the ace brand (secret ingredient in the name brand stuff)... but i have still gotten great results from the ace brand.... and see no reason to not consider it....

just some very stoned ramblings for ya in the morning=]=]=]