Officially defeated Broad/Cyclamen organically

Realshotgun

Member
Hello RIU,
This is my first post, hopefully it finds someone who needs it as badly as I did. I struggled for nearly 6 months trying to diagnose a myriad of issues among various strains. They never seemed to have issues is veg, only in bloom, but it was EVERY strain I had. Previously, I had successfully cultivated every one of these strains, with none of the issues I was experiencing, which ranged from PH problems, to nute burn among many other things. I had a 60x microscope and could never find anything moving, or anything that resembled a mite/aphid. I even used various pest control methods attempting to resolve the issue, never succeeding. It wasn't until one strain finally showed what appeared to be spider mite damage (yellow speckling dots everywhere) that I realized that there must be a pest that I couldn't identify.At this point, with the final batch before I got on top of this demon, I was in week 2 of flowering with 4 plants. I bought a better microscope (actual tabletop microscope) and at 100x I could see my nemesis. I've dealt with spider mites before, and the damage that the mites that I actually had cause was too severe to have been spider mites with no mites visible, even under 60x.

Once I figured out what they were I figured it was all over for my flowering crop. Turns out, it wasn't. Using Flying Skull first, then Grandevo and Venerate, I was able to defeat these demons, my product tastes as it should, and though I won't be giving it to any patients still, it did also pass lab tests for no pests or residue. I have now had a full grow without any pest damage, using Grandevo and Venerate alternating weekly. I stop all sprays the last 2 weeks of flowering just because, but all three products boast a zero day harvest period.

What I did:

Flushed my plants (Tupur Royal Gold, Emerald Harvest), which are in 3 gallon smart pots. I don't feed heavily, but it took me about 5 gallons of water per pot, allowing them to soak in the water to ensure that all the medium was fully saturated, then flushing with more water, until the difference in the run-off was less then 50ppm between what I was putting in and what was coming out. My input water was 23ppm and my output water was on average around 50 - 60 ppm when I called them flushed. On the final plant I got lazy and it measured at around 200 PPM and it burned the plant to the point that I harvested it two weeks early and added it to my new compost pile.

Flying Skull at 8oz per Gallon and a drop of dish soap, applied 3 times in a day, once product dries completely, re-apply. I also did a root drench at the normal application rate of 4oz per gallon. I did this with FULLY saturated root zones, and gave each plant a gallon of the root drench. I cleaned up the run off immediately, and and at the end of all three applications, I ran another gallon of plain water thru the roots. From experience I know that leaving it on CAN result in severe plant burn. I then sprayed the same as before, 3 days later. After the first day of using Flying Skull in this manner, I saw no new damage occur outside of the occasional burn spot from the spray itself (which was quite easily distinguishable from the other damage). I decided to do it again 3 days later because of the nightmare in which these things inflicted on me, I wanted to be sure they were gone.

Grandevo and Venerate were my "safe" alternative to using cycling products such as Avid, Floramite or Forbid. I waited a week after the final Flying Skull treatment before I started using them. I started with Grandevo (combined with another product called Oroboost which increases it's effectiveness twofold) at an application rate of 2TBSP/Gallon(it's a powder) and Oroboost at 5ml/gal. A week later I used Venerate at the same application rate and continued alternating them in this way, never to have had another pest issue since.

I would like to be able to say that simply using the Flying Skull in this manner got rid of the problem, as it most likely did. Because I continued to follow up treatment to this day with the other two products however, I don't feel comfortable making that claim.

TL;DR
Flush til under 50ppm
Flying Skull 4oz/Gallon root drench w/fully saturated medium.
Flying Skull 8oz/Gallon and a drop of soap or another wetting agent.
Spray and let dry x3
Flush out Flying Skull after several hours.
3 days later Flying Skull 8oz/Gallon and a drop of soap or another wetting agent.
Spray and let dry x3
Week Later Grandevo 2TBSP/Gallon
Week Later Venerate 2TBSP/Gallon

With hopes this helps at least one person from the nightmare that I went thru.
Realshotgun

PS: Only picture I could find of the damage my plants received when I finally got a better microscope. This was after treatment, before I stripped the plants of the affected leaves.
19114652_10158787942680321_1001068490_n.jpg
 

Realshotgun

Member
Well that's a really simple answer actually. Simply put, because it didn't work for me, just as it doesn't work for many others. It knocked them back but never eradicated them. Ive seen people claim effective eradication with all kinds of methods. After months of trying solutions from this site or others, this was the one that finally worked for me.

I agree, if it would have worked for me, it would have been much simpler, but it didn't. I know many people have posted about losing battles to these things, and I am far from the first person to use Neem oil and not have the magical pest killing effects that many others have experienced it to have. That isn't to say that I don't believe it works, I simply know that it didn't work for me. I made this post for those people who've used Neem, who've used other methods, and are fast running out of options. I've read grow journals of people who've permanently moved a grow, or quit growing entirely, because of the scourge of these creatures, and their ability to survive. Personally I wish this would have been available to me earlier, because it may have prevented some quack treatments that I tried, attempting to salvage something. Sure I could also have just pulled everything up, cleaned, and started again. I chose instead to learn, and see what methods were effective for me, then passed on the one that I used to find success.
 
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cannn

Well-Known Member
Fair enough. Ive been lucky enough to not have any major pest problems in all my grows, so i cant comment on the effectiveness of any of it. just always read neem oil was the shit. ill refer back to this when i unavoidably get spider mites from my compost i make outside lol
 

TherealMickey

Well-Known Member
I had the same issue and found the neem oil lacking also. I'm soil less and using 1/4 cup per gallon of regular h2o2 and it appears to be working.
 
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