Organic Treatment for Spider Mites
Hello all,
I've been reading up for a while now on how to organically eliminate spider mites, but thought it wise to seek the opinions on this board.
The Problem -
Week 5 Flower and Blueberry plants are breaking out with a mild infestation of spider mites.
Since I'm new to gardening altogether, I've been looking at various options for spider mite removal. Surfing, I came across one author on the internet who claims that both Garlic Water for Plants and Hydrogen Peroxide for plants can be viable options for removal. I've been leaning towards the garlic foliage spray slightly because I'm worried about the potential harm from hydrogen peroxide. Has anyone ever used a garlic or hydrogen peroxide spray to treat for spider mites? Is it too close to harvest to administer a foliage spray? I'd really hate to mess things up
I appreciate the help.
Flower makes it very tricky you do not want to make buds moist or mold can occur. If you ahve a hydro shop locally that sells predators mites or mite destroyers go that route. Here is the disclaimer the destroyers take time to establish and it may be to late for that so predator mites may e able to help.
http://naturescontrol.com/mite.html#smd
All posts have been for entertainment value only. Nothing was actually intended to occur and anyone attempting such things should be aware it was only a hoax nothing more.
You can try the garlic, I doubt it works, but maybe. You may be smoking garlic flavored bud...
Either get some Lady Bugs or go for some insecticidal soap which doesnt work real well. Neem oil is another possibility.
Spider mites love plants that are in some kind of stress, they are just doing their job...
“President Obama’s first term worked out well for his donors who got special access and taxpayer money for their failed ventures. It hasn’t worked as well for the 23 million Americans struggling for work in the worst economic recovery our country has ever had.”
Azomax is excellent and organic. It actually greens my leaves up a bit cheap as well
^ best advise^
if your a ways from harvest garlic will work, wouldnt suggest you do it right before harvest. here is the mixture i use and have had good success. i use olive oil, garlic cloves(2-3), hot sauce, a few drops of dish soap, lemon juice and water. blend them all together and strain through cheese cloth. i spray my plants 2-3 times a week, until they are gone.
Wow,
Thanks for the quick replies. I think that before I try the garlic spray I'll try and make a run over the the hydroponics store for predatory insects. It might be already too late for the mites, but lady bugs should work fine right?
rollinbud - good point about the plants being stressed. It would be a really good idea to reevaluate watering, temperatures, nutrient levels, etc, just to make sure that I'm not causing extra stress. Would neem oil leave a terrible taste on the buds?
Monkeymonk840 - Since both you and Kushdog recommend Azomax, I'll have to try and locate it at the hydro store. How long does it normally take to eliminate the mites?
ndogg - Sounds like a good solution for mites. Do you rinse after each spray or keep the garlic solution on the plants?
sns217 is another organic option. the active ingredient is rosemary oil. works really well. hydro stores have it.
If your in a real jam, grab a CO2 tank, crank open the valve a little, then walk out and seal up the room/tent/closet/whatever.
CO concentrations higher than 10,000 ppm will nuke any living critter. At 15,000ppm it will make humans dizzy so be careful and stay out of the space for a night.
Originally Posted by Uber Newb
Does not work dude, they'll be there waiting for you with signs asking to fatten the buds up more for them like they were at a pearl jam concert or something...... Watched it on that show "weed wars". The guy had a spider mite infestation, brought in a monster C02 tank and blasted them for 24 hours or something. In the end the guy brought his buds in to have them scoped with a ???x scope on a computer screen and had all sorts or spider mite terds and bodies and all the remnants they leave as well as whatever damage they did. It did nada... dont waist your time or money on the long shot snake oil cures, there are things that work but an infestation is sounding like you waited to long to go after them, but shit happens, and it happens to everyone at some point.
Sierra natural science (sns203 and sns???) products are ok as well but but you have to buy a spidermite specific product I think, as there is a couple different products. Go to their website, google "sns203, sierra natural science" and email them and ask them for some free samples of their products. Tell them which products you want or what your pest problem is and they will send you a few bottles as well as mention "you heard on the interweb about free samples of their products", at least thats what I did. I got quarts of their products and a few smaller spray bottles, but I had those free samples on my plants in 3 days from the minute I pressed the send button, no bullshit. They shipped them 2nd day for me I think. Fuck I'll take that kind of bribe to say their shit works which it does, but its going to require more than one session of the product, but you'll get them knocked down as well as add some RO or distilled water and stretch it a little but not much.
Azamax is good stuff, I have used that before @ 1oz. per gallon of water for a soil drench as well as sprayed the leaves up on both sides same amount I think. However a foliar spray which is what you need isnt really an option but azamax is a good product to have on hand if you have to soil drench in veg or bloom but I would probably really have to think about using it after weeks 5-6 in bloom though. I always have a little to spread across my whole garden if I have to, but anymore than a few weeks in flower your playing with the notion of getting bud rot I'd imagine as you would with any other foliar application. You can spray the buds so the little bastards are going to just migrate to wherever you dont spray. GH says that it is suitable for organic use, not 100% certain if it has an OMRI label.
I've never had to use any kind of predator bugs, but I would say thats your best shot. If you cant do that your either going to have to take a shot with something like azamax or the SNS product, or something else. I've heard of people using bug bombs and shit but thats kinda scary to me, I may chop my crop early, drop the bomb and just sanitize the room and start over 2-3 weeks later if it came down to that but I know some folks cant do that, nor would I want to.
Good luck to the og poster, get after those little bastards man, treat them like they killed your kid or something because they are only going to multiply, and they dont need to go to the store to get supplies, they brought all their gear and plan to stay and continue to multiply till they die, so oblige them in the dying part..
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