Spider Mites! Help!

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DannyGreenEyes

Well-Known Member
You can use the suffocant sprays with the lady bugs, but I just leaned last night that the lady bugs don't do well with Neem Oil.

Predator Mites isn't a good solution at this point. Predator mites have to build a colony first and that takes time. Once their colony is bigger than the spider mites, then you'll start to see a difference. How long that takes depends on your infestation and how many predatory mites you buy.

I've heard of two other bugs called Mite Destroyers & Pirate Bugs that do very well as I'm told, and they don't need to build a colony, they just go right to work. If you're going to use insects at this point in the infestation I'd look into them. Your local grow store might have them.
 
JadeLeaf

JadeLeaf

Member
StonerPuppy69 said:
Hi JadeLeaf! Thanks for asking for some help =) Are your plants vegging or flowering? How far along is the infestation? If you;ve had to lose girls Im guessing that it's pretty bad. Depending on your stage of growth will determine what you'll use kind of. Things that will work at any stage are definately predators. I used ladybugs. My mites were pretty bad so they didn't quite work as fast as I needed them to. I had 1500 ladybugs for 5 plants that were 3 weeks into flowering. They could eat some but not keeping up with the mites. You can also get carnivorous mites that will only eat the spider mites and not your plants. Ive never used them but you can probably look into it. There's lots of sprays you can get. Most people say neem oil works quite well. I tried Mite X on my vegging girls and that worked for a while. You want to get anything that has oils in it because it sort of suffocates the mites. But don't use sprays if youre 3 weeks (at the latest) or after into flowering. It could create mold in the buds if you dont have proper ventilation and air movement. And if youre going to spray it on young buds do it in the dark because the light will burn the hairs. Since my infestation was so bad and nothing was really working I jumped right to the Hot Shot no-pest strips. Its like a yellow blob inside of a white plastic case and you can either hang it or just set it in there or put it in front of your fan. You can get them on ebay for like $15. Not too bad. But Ive heard they arent too good to breathe in. If your room is in your house make sure its sealed off and dont hang out in there if its in there. And if you have predators it will kill them off also. Youll want to keep the strip in there for a few days to kill off any new hatchlings also. Make sure you keep your room nice and clean too! It will prevent anything from even getting to the plants.

Any problem you encounter with growing always seems to be a good one (sounds crazy)..but it will help you learn and make your next harvest even better! Good luck! Let me know if you have any more questions :peace:
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I'm sad to say the little buggers have found there way into both the veg/cloning and flowering chambers. I've had to get rid of one plant in each chamber, so one flowering and one vegging. Three of my flowering plants are about 4 weeks in but have only a few mites that i can see. No webs, just finding them under the leaves. My vegging plants are the same story. Only the two that I got rid of showed signs of a bad infestation. Yesterday I tried the 50/50 alcohol/water spray on all plants, short and tall. I also hit one of my vegging plants with some store bought spray(pyrethrum). I also did my best to raise the humidity in the flowering chamber because I read that mites can't live in high humidity environments. Both chambers are located in my home so it sounds like the no pest strip isn't a viable option for me. So far the store bought spray seems to have worked well on the one plant I tried it on. I don't see any new webs and the plant doesn't seem to have been hurt by the spray.

In the flowering chamber I have three plants that are into their 4th week and two that are only into their 2nd week. So I guess I'm asking for advice on treating all stages of plant life lol. I've read the entire thread thus far and as I monitor the infestation I'll try the various methods described, but I always prefer first hand information hence me specifically asking for your help. ;-) And as disappointed as I am about the infestation, I'm thankful to live in a medical marijuana state so no matter what, I can get my hands on some. Anywho, thank you for getting back to me so promptly and for your detailed response.
 
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DannyGreenEyes

Well-Known Member
The humidity works good on Spider Mites. It slows them down and if it's high enough it will even kill some. But humidity doesn't work on all mites, like the Broad Mites that I'm dealing with. It's always best to identify the mite first, check out it's like & dislikes, suggested treatments, life cycle, etc... (know your enemy)

This is really a good site to book mark http://entomology.ifas.ufl.edu/creatures/main/search_common.htm It's an entomology site that's written by the university of S FL & the FL Dept of Agriculture. It lists several different types of mites and tells you how to indentify them and suggests ways to control them. I took a look just for the hell of it and learned something new. Petroleum products provide ovicidal activity (it kills the eggs). I had heard that in a rumor, but till now it was just a rumor. When I heard the rumor someone said that Home Depot carries a petroleum based spray for mites. It might be worth checking out. It also has a lot of info on insecticides for mites (the two links at the bottom). But be warned, mites can grow immunities to insecticides in as little as 1 generation, so you'll need more than 1. If you use a petroleum product, that should kill eggs 100% of the time though.

Personal experience..... I had a Broad Mite, Spider Mite, & Fungus Gnat infestation going on at the same time. I sprayed heavily with Mite X (can be used up until the day of harvest) and the next day I released 3,000 lady bugs for 7 plants. That whiped out the Spider Mites & Fungurs Gnats leaving just the Broad Mites to take care of. Unfortunately Lady Bugs wont kill off their food supply, so once the Spider Mites & Fungus Gnats were gone, they refused to kill off the Broad Mites completely. It was a roll of the dice though, not knowing which 2 they would kill off first.

I think you said you had too many plants for the lady bugs, so that's probably not a viable solution for you. But if you check the antimology site I'm sure it will help. And I'd get a petroleum based product if I were in your shoes.
 
StonerPuppy69

StonerPuppy69

Member
I feel for ya JadeLeaf! Having them really blows but don't be super discouraged cause you will win! As far as the flowering plants goes I would be very careful with sprays. Don't use alcohol on them because if it hits the buds it will burn them. And sprays that have oil will burn them with the light on. Sprays can also cause mold and you def don't want that. The alcohol/water mix works but you need to spray about 3 times a day for 3-5 days. And only on the vegging girls. My grow room is also located in my home but I hate the spider mites so much that I'm willing to take the risk. I only have the no-pest strips in there for a few hours a day with the door closed and it has helped 200%. Im not sure what the risks are of it but Im sure that prolonged exposure to it will damage your lungs or something. I've only heard a little about the health risks but I did research and couldn't find very much. The problem with mites is that their life cycle is really whack. I have a book by Jorge Cervantes and there's info in there about the spider mites, I just wanna share this part...

"After a single matting females are fertilized for life and reproduce about 75 percent female and 25 percent male eggs. Females lay about 100 eggs."

So if you think about it, one mite left can reproduce enough to start your infestation all over again. You really need to get every single mite out. Thats why an infestation can explode over night. It's kind of crazy but you gotta kill em all. DannyGreenEyes has a lot of good info about the mites so def make sure you read his posts really well! Oh, and if you live in an area where growing is popular the mites could already have immunities to a lot of different remedies. Then you might have to try a bunch of different things. But predators are really helpful because if you can get rid of the mites and get predators, then the mites wont nest with the threat of predators. Well good luck! If you find anything else that works let us know! :peace:
 
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DannyGreenEyes

Well-Known Member
StonerPuppy69 said:
I feel for ya JadeLeaf! Having them really blows but don't be super discouraged cause you will win! As far as the flowering plants goes I would be very careful with sprays. Don't use alcohol on them because if it hits the buds it will burn them. And sprays that have oil will burn them with the light on. Sprays can also cause mold and you def don't want that. The alcohol/water mix works but you need to spray about 3 times a day for 3-5 days. And only on the vegging girls. My grow room is also located in my home but I hate the spider mites so much that I'm willing to take the risk. I only have the no-pest strips in there for a few hours a day with the door closed and it has helped 200%. Im not sure what the risks are of it but Im sure that prolonged exposure to it will damage your lungs or something. I've only heard a little about the health risks but I did research and couldn't find very much. The problem with mites is that their life cycle is really whack. I have a book by Jorge Cervantes and there's info in there about the spider mites, I just wanna share this part...

"After a single matting females are fertilized for life and reproduce about 75 percent female and 25 percent male eggs. Females lay about 100 eggs."

So if you think about it, one mite left can reproduce enough to start your infestation all over again. You really need to get every single mite out. Thats why an infestation can explode over night. It's kind of crazy but you gotta kill em all. DannyGreenEyes has a lot of good info about the mites so def make sure you read his posts really well! Oh, and if you live in an area where growing is popular the mites could already have immunities to a lot of different remedies. Then you might have to try a bunch of different things. But predators are really helpful because if you can get rid of the mites and get predators, then the mites wont nest with the threat of predators. Well good luck! If you find anything else that works let us know! :peace:
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That's really not even the half of it. Just 1 unfertilized female can get the ball rolling all by herself.

Mites can lay unfertilized eggs, those eggs will be male 100% of the time. So an unfertilized famale can find her way into a grow room, lay some eggs, and 6 to 8 days later she has males to mate with & create more females.

I didn't know that she only has to be fertilized once though. +rep for good info.
 
MacGuyver4.2.0

MacGuyver4.2.0

Well-Known Member
NEVER surrender!
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Just regroup! :wink: Lot's of folks have been hit by the BORG of insects, Spidermites and feel your pain. Surrender IS NOT an option. Fight the lil beaties to the very end. Lots of good tips in this thread and my personal method has worked for me.

Spider Mite Control

Here's what I have used with good results!
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Spider mites SUCK! If you have them on one plant chances are they are on all of them. So very small and difficult to see unless you use a loupe or magnifier(at least for me anyways). I had one harvest *almost* get ruined by the critters and then I fought back with technology...and won! I did not want to use any chemicals on my ladies so close to harvest, and ended up using...STEAM!:fire:

Bought a Rowenta steamer from Bed Bath &Way Beyond and it worked like a charm! Best way is to do this somewhat *safely* is to water your plants, wait an hour and then hit the plants EVERYWHERE with the steam. You cannot concentrate the steam in any one area for too long or you'll cook the poor plant!:leaf: The neat thing about this is the temperature. The mites simply crumble and die as soon as the hot steam hits them! Again you HAVE to be careful or you'll cause more harm than good, but if you pay attention to what your doing, you can do this! After you have hit all areas thoroughly, let your ladies rest for 1-2 days then hit em again. The live mites die easily but the eggs may still hatch (nasty things). If you cannot control the mites after 3 steam treatments, you should abandon ship and chop em down, sorry.:sad: Good luck and let us know how you faired in this time of crisis. :wink:
 
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DannyGreenEyes

Well-Known Member
I found something good for you. Petroleum based products can kill the eggs, it's the only thing that can. I think I may have already mentioned that. But I found a petroleum based suffocant made by Bonide, here are some links.
http://www.bonideproducts.com/lbonide/b ... s/l214.pdf
http://www.arbico-organics.com/1274101.html
http://www.biconet.com/botanicals/ashdso.html
http://shop.horticultureguy.com/all-sea ... u-385.html
http://www.millernurseries.com/cart.php ... tail&p=672
http://www.arbico-organics.com/1274104.html
http://www.millernurseries.com/cart.php ... tail&p=671
http://www.plantitearth.com/pest-contro ... spray.aspx
http://www.gardeningthings.com/sm/cimpu ... id=1.21.54

If you call around your local nurseries you may be able to find it locally. And I've heard that Home Depot carries it, but I've never been able to confirm that.

Just add this to whatever else you're using when you treat and it should help you kill those little buggers off.

Be sure to remember to treat at least 3 or 4 times, and keep treatments 4 to 5 days apart and that should take care of your problem.

Hope you haven't lost any more plants.

Good luck.
 
StonerPuppy69

StonerPuppy69

Member
Hey guys! I have a question...this is unrelated to spider mites but I was wondering how the titles work. Like, Im a stranger and other people are like learning how to roll, etc. How do you bump up? More posts? And whats the +rep about? I guess Im still getting used to the site =)
 
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DannyGreenEyes

Well-Known Member
There are 2 tittles under your name. The one on the bottom is determined by the number of posts you make. The one on top is determined mostly by the +reps you get.

+reps are generally given when someone gives you a piece of info that you need and it's to show appreciation for their effort. To +rep someone you clcik the scales in the top right corner of one of that person's post. The scales is right between the post # & the ! triangle. That will take you to another screen. You can write a short message if you like, then just click the "add to reputation" button at the bottom and you just +rep'd someone.

Once you +rep someone you have to +rep other people (15 I think) before you can +rep that person again. That's about it.

Welcome to the community, and good luck with all your grows.
 
StonerPuppy69

StonerPuppy69

Member
Hey JadeLeaf! I've heard good things about pyrethrum being a natural miticide. You should apply 2-3 applications at fice to ten day intervals. Also make sure you're room and tools and everything are clean. Since eggs hatch every 5-10 days, the second spraying will kill new hatchlings and left over adults. The third spraying will cover remaining adults. Sometimes it's also good to have another spray if thats the route you're taking . Mites build up a resistance so switch it up once in a while. I good choice would be Mite X. But don't spray with the lights on. You can use it through out vegging and probably 2 weeks into flowering with proper ventilation.

Sorry it took so long to write back! Good luck! :peace:
 
MacGuyver4.2.0

MacGuyver4.2.0

Well-Known Member
StonerPuppy69 said:
Hey JadeLeaf! I've heard good things about pyrethrum being a natural miticide. You should apply 2-3 applications at fice to ten day intervals. Also make sure you're room and tools and everything are clean. Since eggs hatch every 5-10 days, the second spraying will kill new hatchlings and left over adults. The third spraying will cover remaining adults. Sometimes it's also good to have another spray if thats the route you're taking . Mites build up a resistance so switch it up once in a while. I good choice would be Mite X. But don't spray with the lights on. You can use it through out vegging and probably 2 weeks into flowering with proper ventilation.

Sorry it took so long to write back! Good luck! :peace:
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According the University of California Integrated Pest Management website some ingredients in chemical insecticides actually INCREASE their populations. Oops.

From the website:
Chemicals

Spider mites frequently become a problem after the application of insecticides. Such outbreaks are commonly a result of the insecticide killing off the natural enemies of the mites, but also occur when certain insecticides stimulate mite reproduction. For example, spider mites exposed to carbaryl (Sevin) in the laboratory have been shown to reproduce faster than untreated populations. Carbaryl, some organophosphates, and some pyrethroids apparently also favor spider mites by increasing the level of nitrogen in leaves. Insecticides applied during hot weather usually appear to have the greatest effect on mites, causing dramatic outbreaks within a few days.
If a treatment for mites is necessary, use selective materials, preferably insecticidal soap or insecticidal oil. Petroleum-based horticultural oils or neem oils are both acceptable. Do not use soaps or oils on water-stressed plants or when temperatures exceed 90°F. These materials may be phytotoxic to some plants, so check labels and/or test them out on a portion of the foliage several days before applying a full treatment. Oils and soaps must contact mites to kill them so excellent coverage, especially on the undersides of leaves, is essential and repeat applications may be required. Sulfur dust or spray can be used on some vegetables, but will burn cucurbits. Do not use sulfur dust if temperatures exceed 90°F and do not apply sulfur within 30 days of an oil spray. Sulfur dusts are skin irritants and eye and respiratory hazards. Always wear appropriate protective clothing.

http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7405.html
 
StonerPuppy69

StonerPuppy69

Member
MacGuyver4.2.0 said:
According the University of California Integrated Pest Management website some ingredients in chemical insecticides actually INCREASE their populations. Oops.

From the website:
Chemicals

Spider mites frequently become a problem after the application of insecticides. Such outbreaks are commonly a result of the insecticide killing off the natural enemies of the mites, but also occur when certain insecticides stimulate mite reproduction. For example, spider mites exposed to carbaryl (Sevin) in the laboratory have been shown to reproduce faster than untreated populations. Carbaryl, some organophosphates, and some pyrethroids apparently also favor spider mites by increasing the level of nitrogen in leaves. Insecticides applied during hot weather usually appear to have the greatest effect on mites, causing dramatic outbreaks within a few days.
If a treatment for mites is necessary, use selective materials, preferably insecticidal soap or insecticidal oil. Petroleum-based horticultural oils or neem oils are both acceptable. Do not use soaps or oils on water-stressed plants or when temperatures exceed 90°F. These materials may be phytotoxic to some plants, so check labels and/or test them out on a portion of the foliage several days before applying a full treatment. Oils and soaps must contact mites to kill them so excellent coverage, especially on the undersides of leaves, is essential and repeat applications may be required. Sulfur dust or spray can be used on some vegetables, but will burn cucurbits. Do not use sulfur dust if temperatures exceed 90°F and do not apply sulfur within 30 days of an oil spray. Sulfur dusts are skin irritants and eye and respiratory hazards. Always wear appropriate protective clothing.

http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7405.html
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Ok well, pyrethrum is a natural remedy and used with another kind of mite killer should do the trick. And JadeLeaf, considering you already have the pyrethrum I would give it a try. If you're growing indoors there's a good chance there are no natural predators. I would suggest using your spray and getting everything under control, and then purchase some predators. Ladybugs are great! If you don't live near any grow shops or nurseries you can get them online. Mites won't nest if the ladybugs are present. Im pretty sure I mentioned this before but don't use any sprays when your lights are on. The oil magnifies the light and burns the leaves. Definately spray the underside of leaves and on the stems. I think if you already have the pyrethrum then use it. Lots of people have used it before with success! :leaf:
 
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123gandolfi

Active Member
Hi You can find a chemical called dynamex you spray it on two or three sets of leafs and and in 72 hours the plant is protected for six weeks anything that bites it dies you can use this up to 4 weeks in flower .Its A GOD SEND i treat everything with it .
:bigjoint:Hard to find though
 
JadeLeaf

JadeLeaf

Member
First and foremost, thank all of you for your helpful suggestions. I used the pyrethrum on my clones hoping whatever chemical residue there may be would be gone by the time they are full grown. I then used the alcohol/water mix on the vegging plants. And finally in the flowering chamber, I cranked up the humidity and put fans on the plants during their 12 hours of light.

The pyrethrum worked great on the clones with no ill effects, at least so far. The vegging plants are still showing some signs of infestation but it hasn't gotten worse so it must be doing something. The flowering chamber has been my greatest victory thus far. After three days of high humidity and constant wind there isn't a single mite that I can find. And my prevention methods(neem oil and no pest strips) will be arriving in the mail tomorrow so I'm very hopeful at this point. I'll keep you all updated. Thank you again to everyone who added their two cents. Happy growing!
 
StonerPuppy69

StonerPuppy69

Member
Victory is going to taste sooo sweet JadeLeaf! The no pest strips will help you 100%. If you're still battling with the vegging plants then I would set the strip in the dirt with the plants. Stand it up right and make sure you keep your fan on. You'll notice a difference immediately! I would also suggest removing leaves that have a lot of eggs. If there's a lot of eggs than that leaf will hurt your plant rather than help it. As soon as I removed bad leaves and added in the no pest strips my vegging girls started growing at phenomenal speeds! If you're still early into flowering you can still use the no pest strips and that will kill em! Make sure you check really closely on the underside of your leaves. The eggs are hard to see but they look like little white crystals in bunches. And if youre worried about any kind of build up on the leaves all you have to do is rinse them with cool plain water a few times and that should take care of any residue. I just harvested my girls that were infested up until about 3 weeks ago. They look pretty good considering they were battling the mites their whole lives. I think I might have yielded about an ounce per plant. This is only my second harvest but I already improved soo much. Hopefully my next harvest will be killer! Give your girls some extra lovin!! ;-)
 
JadeLeaf

JadeLeaf

Member
StonerPuppy69 said:
Victory is going to taste sooo sweet JadeLeaf! The no pest strips will help you 100%. If you're still battling with the vegging plants then I would set the strip in the dirt with the plants. Stand it up right and make sure you keep your fan on. You'll notice a difference immediately! I would also suggest removing leaves that have a lot of eggs. If there's a lot of eggs than that leaf will hurt your plant rather than help it. As soon as I removed bad leaves and added in the no pest strips my vegging girls started growing at phenomenal speeds! If you're still early into flowering you can still use the no pest strips and that will kill em! Make sure you check really closely on the underside of your leaves. The eggs are hard to see but they look like little white crystals in bunches. And if youre worried about any kind of build up on the leaves all you have to do is rinse them with cool plain water a few times and that should take care of any residue. I just harvested my girls that were infested up until about 3 weeks ago. They look pretty good considering they were battling the mites their whole lives. I think I might have yielded about an ounce per plant. This is only my second harvest but I already improved soo much. Hopefully my next harvest will be killer! Give your girls some extra lovin!! ;-)
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Thanks for the tips. I've already been removing damaged/heavily infested leaves and spraying the rest with the water/alcohol mixture. I've been checking each plant daily, sometimes even twice daily. To help keep the humidity high in the flowering chamber I've been misting the plants heavily with plain water just before the lights/exhaust go off for the night, so I'm not too worried about alcohol/chemical build up. When the lights/exhaust come on I put the fan on which brings the humidity back down to around 30-40% which has kept any mold from forming. I also gave the vegging plants some nutrients today to keep them strong:lol:. On another note, glad to hear you made it to harvest despite the infestation!
 
statik

statik

Well-Known Member
I recently found this stuff by General Hydroponics. Its called Azamax: http://www.generalhydroponics.com/genhydro_US/azamax.html

Botanical Insecticide, Miticide, and Nematicide

AzaMax is a natural product with a broad spectrum of pest control and broad plant applications. AzaMax is made from special Azadirachtin Technical extracted using patented extraction technology from Neem, a tree known for it’s innumerable benefits. AzaMax contains Azadirachtin A&B as active ingredients and more than 100 limonoids from it’s special technology. The special feature of AzaMax is that it does not use hard chemical solvents and uses food grade formulation ingredients. AzaMax is licensed in all 50 states. AzaMax is an antifeedant and insect growth regulator and controls pests through starvation and growth disruption. AzaMax effectively controls spider mites, thrips, fungus gnats, aphids, whiteflies, leaf miners, worms, beetles, leafhoppers, scales, mealy bugs, nematodes and other soil borne pests. Best of all, AzaMax can be applied up to the time or day of harvest. The product is exempted from residue tolerance, thus there is no harmful residue on veggies, fruits, herbs and flowers etc. Truly, AzaMax is a product of Nature in tune with Technology.
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I guess it can be used right up to before harvest (in watering application of course) and after 3 treatments bugs will just leave your plants the hell alone. Comes from natural ingredients much like pyrethrum. Stuff knocks out about any bug you could possibly have.
 
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DannyGreenEyes

Well-Known Member
No matter what else you're using, I'd suggest adding petroleum oil to it. I just treated my plants with All Seasons Spray Oil (98% petroleum oil in concentrate) and my leaves have never been softer. It's like putting a moisturiser on your plants.

Also, petroleum oil is a suffocant, mites can't become immune to it. Plus it's the only thing known to kill the eggs, and in your fight agains mites that's huge.

It's made by Bonide, you can look up your local dealer or order direct here www.bonide.com

You can use it right up until the day of harvest, it's all natural. Don't spray the buds directly of course. And don't stop using whatever else you've been using, this is a helper but multiple methods should always be used when fighting Mites.

I'm glad to hear about your flower room, but don't expect the humidity to do it alone. It won't kill all of them though it will kill some, possibly even most. But humidity needs help too.

Good luck.
 
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