Humidity and Spider Mites?

O

ogreballerina

Well-Known Member
Some say higher humidity retards their growth while others say the opposite....which is it ?

I'm fighting an outbreak ( infected clone from dispensary ) and have to finish this crop as I can't grow in the summer months ( due to heat even with AC running 24 / 7 just to keep me cool..much less a 1000 watt light )

So I need this harvest...

I've been using isopropyl alcohol and water ( 50 / 50 )...lady bugs ( useless ) and now am working on organic sprays...I know I can't kill them but I'm trying to hold them back till harvest...2 to 3 weeks.

I've found only a few small webs ( on branches..if I found webs on the buds I would toss them ) and I've been somewhat successful keeping their numbers down with organic sprays .

Yet I need to start lowering my RH for final budding...last thing I need is mold.

Right now temps are 70 to 80 lights on...low 70 to mid 60s lights off
RH is 60 to 70 lights off...50s lights on.

I usually finish my crops in the 30 RH range...

Never had mites before...

I'm going to nuke my grow room several times over the summer ( and bleach it ) and hope they die before my I start my next crop in Sept
 
bajafox

bajafox

Well-Known Member
Throw a couple of No Pest strips in there during lights off, turn off your ventilation completely. Do this every day for as many days as needed. Everything in there will be dead.

Good luck, I fought an infestation myself and No Pest strips treatments for 3 weeks cleared out everything for good.
 
BendBrewer

BendBrewer

Well-Known Member
I was told that I needed to get the RH over 80 to kill the bugs. Was told that they will actually explode in high humidity. I did a combination of things when I first noticed the mites to get rid of them including spraing and lowering the temp in the room to low 60s for a couple of weeks along with upping the humidity. Whatever it was, they didn't like it and either left or died.
 
sparkafire

sparkafire

Well-Known Member
bajafox said:
Throw a couple of No Pest strips in there during lights off, turn off your ventilation completely. Do this every day for as many days as needed. Everything in there will be dead.

Good luck, I fought an infestation myself and No Pest strips treatments for 3 weeks cleared out everything for good.
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Hey Fox could you post a link to what you are talking about please I have the preventive down I just want to learn about during late in flower. There are just some many ideas of how to do it safely and none I really believe so that would help.

Next time just use this http://cgi.ebay.com/FORBID-4F-MITICIDE-INSECTICIDE-10ML-FREE-SHIPPING-/170622335100?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item27b9e2387c or this http://cgi.ebay.com/2oz-Abamectin-E-Pro-/260764432377?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3cb6c577f9 right before flower and you will be good for the whole time.
 
sparkafire

sparkafire

Well-Known Member
RRLBT420 said:
humidity can slow mite populations down, but i would hardly consider it a control. it certainly won't kill them. there are several options for irradicating a mite population, just beware that it could be a year long battle in some cases. check out my old thread
Removing and Preventing Spider Mites
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You should include a chemical remedy as well . I know I had no intention fucking with them any longer than I had too and that meant going nuclear on them.
 
R

RRLBT420

Active Member
even chemical options can't guarantee to be rid of a mite population. the best way to ensure they won't be back is to water with neem oil. i use 1.5 tsp neem oil with 2 tsp castile soap per gallon once every 2 weeks to make the plant undesireable/uninhabitable during veg, but i stop watering with this after 2 weeks in flower.
 
BendBrewer

BendBrewer

Well-Known Member
Yeah I fought mine in Veg and used AzaMax with a drop of soap for a week or so along with the other steps. I had very few bugs and got on them right away though.
 
bajafox

bajafox

Well-Known Member
sparkafire said:
Hey Fox could you post a link to what you are talking about please I have the preventive down I just want to learn about during late in flower. There are just some many ideas of how to do it safely and none I really believe so that would help.

Next time just use this http://cgi.ebay.com/FORBID-4F-MITICIDE-INSECTICIDE-10ML-FREE-SHIPPING-/170622335100?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item27b9e2387c or this http://cgi.ebay.com/2oz-Abamectin-E-Pro-/260764432377?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3cb6c577f9 right before flower and you will be good for the whole time.
Click to expand...

No Pest strips on amazon.com
http://www.amazon.com/Hot-Shot-5580-Unscented-Repellent/dp/B0019BK8AG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1305749798&sr=8-1

They are around $7 at my local Home Depot. I throw 2 in my flower tent (4' x 4') during lights off for at least 6 hours a day with the ventilation off (very important) then when I remove them before lights on, I make sure the ventilation is back on. I let my grow room ventilate for at least an hour before going in. Inhaling fumes from a No Pest Strip for a long period of time can be harmful and NO PETS near the fumes, none. My first treatment was a full 24 hour shut down, lights and ventilation with the NP strips in there for all 24 hours. After that I'd stick them in for at least 4 to 6 hours every day until they were all finally gone for good. It took about 2 weeks but I did it for 3 just in case and still throw them in every once in a while for preventative maintenance. All of my plants were in mid to late flower so it stunted my growth but none hermied. I should have chopped 3 yesterday but the shut down seemed to have added another 5 to 7 days of flowering, not bad considering I saved my whole crop.

Good luck :leaf:
 
O

ogreballerina

Well-Known Member
Update :

A friend is going to pick up a Hotshot No Pest Strip for me tonight. And if that fails I'll ask another friend to take me to get it tomorrow.

They will also have to place it for me as I am deathly sick and most chems are poisonous to me. ( Come over in the morning and place it in the CEA when the lights are off and pick it up before they come on )

Even Pine Sol and certain dishwashing liquids ( laundry soap etc ) can cause me me to be gravely ill.

I was even hospitalized after touching a dog who had a flea collar on...
 
sparkafire

sparkafire

Well-Known Member
ogreballerina said:
Update :

A friend is going to pick up a Hotshot No Pest Strip for me tonight. And if that fails I'll ask another friend to take me to get it tomorrow.

They will also have to place it for me as I am deathly sick and most chems are poisonous to me. ( Come over in the morning and place it in the CEA when the lights are off and pick it up before they come on )

Even Pine Sol and certain dishwashing liquids ( laundry soap etc ) can cause me me to be gravely ill.

I was even hospitalized after touching a dog who had a flea collar on...
Click to expand...
Damn man that sucks Hope you get better and get this problem behind you.
 
G

Guilt

Active Member
In that late of flowering I would not spray alcohol, although, I understand where you are coming from. On your next run, do as previously suggested and soak the plants daily with neem and enough organic dish soap to get the water bubbly, get the under sides of the leaves and remove any highly infested leaves you do find. Spray the plants early, while they are at week 1 of veg or earlier if possible. If you can spare the extra change, $20-$40 at any utility store for a pest sprayer will work wonders.

If you can possibly run sealed, and again, spare a little money, CO2 poisoning should get their #'s down. Your setup may not allow for it, and unless you can vent directly outside you may also not want to include it as an option.
 
B

b3Nj1989

Member
Another way to combat them (without use of chemicals) is to suffocate the hell out of them with alot of CO2. I used dry ice hanging over the plants (because CO2 is more dense and will for the most part flow down before it dissipates) and then sealed the grow tent.
 
M

MyConcreteGuy

New Member
The active ingredient in a no-pest-strip would be detected , by a certified testing lab, in the flowers of a plant exposed to the strip. In Washington state's new medical market for Cannibas, such flowers testing positive would have to be destroyed. The same for Forbid.

Some of these pesticides are okay to use use on fruit and vegetables, but should not be used on cannabis that could see temperatures over 500 + degrees. Thats when some of the pesticides turn in to a highly carcinogenic gas.. there is a list of pesticides that licensed producers in Washington can use. The PICOL list. Google it and learn how to use the listing from Youtube and grow clean Cannabis.
 
explosive82

explosive82

Well-Known Member
MyConcreteGuy said:
The active ingredient in a no-pest-strip would be detected , by a certified testing lab, in the flowers of a plant exposed to the strip. In Washington state's new medical market for Cannibas, such flowers testing positive would have to be destroyed. The same for Forbid.

Some of these pesticides are okay to use use on fruit and vegetables, but should not be used on cannabis that could see temperatures over 500 + degrees. Thats when some of the pesticides turn in to a highly carcinogenic gas.. there is a list of pesticides that licensed producers in Washington can use. The PICOL list. Google it and learn how to use the listing from Youtube and grow clean Cannabis.
Click to expand...
They don't test for it in oregon so i doubt this is true can you link me to where it says washington labs test for this?
 
M

MA MED Grower

Well-Known Member
Guilt said:
.

If you can possibly run sealed, and again, spare a little money, CO2 poisoning should get their #'s down. Your setup may not allow for it, and unless you can vent directly outside you may also not want to include it as an option.
Click to expand...

How high PPMs for co2 is needed to kill them off? I've bombed my room bleached it and bombed a few more times. I can dump a 20 lb co2 container if needed just in case
 
greasemonkeymann

greasemonkeymann

Well-Known Member
ogreballerina said:
Update :

A friend is going to pick up a Hotshot No Pest Strip for me tonight. And if that fails I'll ask another friend to take me to get it tomorrow.



I was even hospitalized after touching a dog who had a flea collar on...
Click to expand...
DO NOT GET THE PEST STRIP!!!!!
it's made of dichlorvos, the EXACT SAME INGREDIENT in the flea collar
oh fuck me..
this thread is 5 yrs old...
 
greasemonkeymann

greasemonkeymann

Well-Known Member
ogreballerina said:
Some say higher humidity retards their growth while others say the opposite....which is it ?

I'm fighting an outbreak ( infected clone from dispensary ) and have to finish this crop as I can't grow in the summer months ( due to heat even with AC running 24 / 7 just to keep me cool..much less a 1000 watt light )

So I need this harvest...

I've been using isopropyl alcohol and water ( 50 / 50 )...lady bugs ( useless ) and now am working on organic sprays...I know I can't kill them but I'm trying to hold them back till harvest...2 to 3 weeks.

I've found only a few small webs ( on branches..if I found webs on the buds I would toss them ) and I've been somewhat successful keeping their numbers down with organic sprays .

Yet I need to start lowering my RH for final budding...last thing I need is mold.

Right now temps are 70 to 80 lights on...low 70 to mid 60s lights off
RH is 60 to 70 lights off...50s lights on.

I usually finish my crops in the 30 RH range...

Never had mites before...

I'm going to nuke my grow room several times over the summer ( and bleach it ) and hope they die before my I start my next crop in Sept
Click to expand...
I highly recommend predator spider mites, they will within 2-3 days get the population under control, and the mites will have full control within 10 days.
no spray, no chemical.
besides pest strips are only useful for a lil bit, and then your resulting mites are resistant to it (don't ask me how I know)
dichlorvos also ISNT recommended during the last two months
 
420rollitup

420rollitup

Member
Humidity will cause bud rot and powdery mildew, and if you have mite also and are going for something all natural and organic than you will want to make sure that you can use something that is good through harvest, especially since you are in the late stages. Also make sure when you do spray dim down the lights or turn most of them off. I use Onyx organic spider mite spray throughout my harvest most runs to prevent anything from happening, check it out sounds like it might be exactly what your looking for.
 
hyroot

hyroot

Well-Known Member
Mites don't like humid environments I don't know if it doesn't anything to them. But they prefer hot dry climates. 4-5 years ago I moved to the desert. For the first time I was battling mites. An uphill battle too. The climate here is very dry. Once I added a humidifier to the room and kept the rh at 50% they eventually disappeared and never returned. Prior I'd kill them all off organically. Then a couple weeks later they would be back. It would start all over. The humidity definitely helped. Just make sure you have oscillating fans and an exhaust fan going so you have plenty of airflow .
 
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