Spider mites?

jcdws602 said:

It is a fungicide and helps prevent mold that plants can get when exposed to high humidity environments.

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The humidity outside will often reach 90%+ and the dehumidifiers have a hard time keeping up. Mold is my worst enemy, but I hate the taste of lavender. Will the taste and smell come thru in the cured product?

No it wont taste and smell like lavender....just don't spray it the week you harvest lol...........

I just realized I got a spider mite infestation, mostly in my soil based plants, but now also starting on the Hydro plants I got!
I never did any preventive spraying as I haven't found the ingredients needed. So far I got Cilantro and Mint leaves from the market, as well as limes from the garden, but no Lavender oil or Neem oil - where does one get something like that I wonder. It will take me a few weeks to get anything commercial from an online supplier and as I'm in the 3rd world that is often the only way.

I was looking at this article and its recipe:
Home Kitchen Bug Killers
For pest prevention, we use neem seed oil (usually found in the health and beauty aisle), as well as a spray made from fresh organic cilantro, mint, lemon rinds and hot peppers, combined in a food processor with a little water, organic rosemary and lavender essential oils, plus a drop or two of Dr. Bronner’s soap. The oil and soap work as a spreading agent to cover your plants evenly with the water-based mixture (which would otherwise bead up), and they also help the active ingredients in the herbs penetrate the exoskeletons of pests. A lot of the high-priced pesticides you find in grow stores use the exact same com- pounds found in these and other common herbs, seeds, barks and so on.

Growing for Maximum Flavor
By Mitch Shenassa · Fri Oct 17, 2014

I figure I'll use my cilantro and mint, maybe with the habanero sauce and some chopped chillies, but I haven't got any Lavender, Rosemary or Neem oil and so far no clue as to where one could get that here, so either no oil or a bit of extra virgin olive oil maybe?

Fucking Spider Mites...

You would have to order online from amazon or ebay .Here in the states, in my region, I purchase lavender oil at GNC.

The habanero will work if made right, the mint I've only used in liquid soap form from bronners and I did not have great results.My suggestion would be to use what you have for now and order some lavender oil online.

You can get rid of them don't get discouraged.Learn and start taking preventative measure to ensure you deter pest before they become a problem.

jcdws602 said:

You would have to order online from amazon or ebay .Here in the states, in my region, I purchase lavender oil at GNC.
The habanero will work if made right, the mint I've only used in liquid soap form from bronners and I did not have great results.My suggestion would be to use what you have for now and order some lavender oil online.
You can get rid of them don't get discouraged.Learn and start taking preventative measure to ensure you deter pest before they become a problem.

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Garden Boss said:

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What are the best prevenative measures? Floramite/forbid for mites, eagle 20 for mold/p.m.

Anything else that should be added in a prevenative routine? IMID maybe?

Best of luck to OP! Hope you got it under control bro.

I tried Cilantro, Mint with habanero sauce, but for sure I didn't have enough - didn't seem to bother them.
Next day in the day time I tried simply dish washing detergent, even though I know it's chemical. First time around didn't do much, but second time around I really put a lot of dishwashing detergent in there and that did the trick though I think my OGK is suffering from it, as it is rapidly loosing leaves after they turn brown and crisp in the middle, then the whole leave turnscrisp. Other plants seem to suffer from this a bit too, like soil bound OGK I got, but the C+ Hydro looks OK...
Anyways, would NOT recommend this method. The little black mites were still there the day after, but would smear when you touch them, suggesting they turned to mush. Not sure how many plants will survive just yet though and I also showered the plants in the shower around 3-4 hours after the dish washing detergent spray . . .

Good news is that I found both Lavender Oil and Rosemary Oil, both at 40$ for 100ml and 175$ for 1Ltr.
Should I get both or is one better than the other for spider mites?
I'm going to start a weekly preventative spraying of everything, using the oil or a bit of both plus cilantro and mint. I was also thinking of adding sea weed juice to that, but not sure. . .
Pro-Tekt makes sense, but haven't got any just yet . . .

A little anecdotal and no help for the flowering stage, BUT I had a major aphid infestation in my tomato container garden this spring and the way I killed them off the plant and out of the soil was by sprinkling Diatomaceous Earth (DE) over the entire plant and soil surface. The plants looked like Scarface at his cokiest for a week, but it worked! I would not recommend this for flowering plants as the DE would definately get trapped and probably dissolve in the sticky buds and create a harsh smoke. I had to top up the layer of DE on the soil as it does breakdown when wet. The DE works on the principle of desiccation and it is an organic product of Mother Earth, so everytime you use it a dragonfly gets it's wings

its my understanding mites are too small to see, that if they are black and big enough to see they are aphids. Could be wrong.
regardless, I alternate between azamax and another organic spray I get at my local gs.

remember, once you think their gone and you let your guard down, they come back.

Spider mites are big enough to be seen, though you need to have good eye sight, as otherwise they're just little spots at best.

I didn't notice them till I saw ants running to one plant and then I checked that plant more thoroughly and found spider mite damage and rather a lot of it - didn't know all those little white spots on the leave came from spider mite bites.
Before I had anything to help kill them, they had done a LOT of damage...

Extacie said:

What are the best prevenative measures? Floramite/forbid for mites, eagle 20 for mold/p.m.

Anything else that should be added in a prevenative routine? IMID maybe?

Best of luck to OP! Hope you got it under control bro.

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Lavender oil......it is fairly inexpensive.....1 ounce $8.50 at gnc in the states.....kills mites and eggs and great for a preventative......also lavender oil is a fungicide which helps prevent mold/p.m.So 2 in 1, can't beat that and has no residual chemical effects.

I also alternate with neem oil and rosemary oil, all way cheaper than forbid & eagle 20.

AlcoholicO said:

I tried Cilantro, Mint with habanero sauce, but for sure I didn't have enough - didn't seem to bother them.
Next day in the day time I tried simply dish washing detergent, even though I know it's chemical. First time around didn't do much, but second time around I really put a lot of dishwashing detergent in there and that did the trick though I think my OGK is suffering from it, as it is rapidly loosing leaves after they turn brown and crisp in the middle, then the whole leave turnscrisp. Other plants seem to suffer from this a bit too, like soil bound OGK I got, but the C+ Hydro looks OK...
Anyways, would NOT recommend this method. The little black mites were still there the day after, but would smear when you touch them, suggesting they turned to mush. Not sure how many plants will survive just yet though and I also showered the plants in the shower around 3-4 hours after the dish washing detergent spray . . .

Good news is that I found both Lavender Oil and Rosemary Oil, both at 40$ for 100ml and 175$ for 1Ltr.
Should I get both or is one better than the other for spider mites?
I'm going to start a weekly preventative spraying of everything, using the oil or a bit of both plus cilantro and mint. I was also thinking of adding sea weed juice to that, but not sure. . .
Pro-Tekt makes sense, but haven't got any just yet . . .

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I would stick with the lavender for now as it is more effective for spider mites.Those 100ml should make about 4 gallons worth of useable spray.Which should treat an ample amount of plants.

I also add aloe to my sprays every or every other week just remember to filter the pulp.The mint and cilantro will be beneficial as well.

I'm on the verge of giving up.
The infestation never really went away, though it looked like it was in retreat, but now it's insane - I've never seen that many small shit fucks in such a small space!
I've sprayed them on every available surface before nightfall more than once, using Cilantro, Mint and 5ml Lavender Oil per liter + a few drops dish washing soap . . .
I will likely repeat tonight and try doing it daily? That's just such a f...... hassle though...
I'm now also on the lookout for the following products:
Baccillus Thurengensis (Dipel, Thuricide)
Rotenone
Neem Oil/Products (Azidactrin, Azadirachta Indica
Pyrethrum Oil/Products
Diatomaceous Earth

Not sure about Azamax, Floramite and Avid, but then they're probably not available here...

I should just move my grows in doors and never see the sun again...

Are you emulsifying the lavender oil with dish soap before adding to water??? It wont work right if not......

Put the lavender oil and dish soap in a container by themselves first, mix thoroughly....you'll know you did it right when the solution turns a cloudy whitish color...then add to water,shake well before spraying.........also try 8ml per liter, 5 is more for preventative.Also keep adding dish soap if the solution doesn't turn cloudy white and still looks oily.

take a look at the vid on how to emulsify,it's hard to understand their english but the video is self explanatory....in the vid they use neem but it's the same for any oil.

jcdws602 said:

Are you emulsifying the lavender oil with dish soap before adding to water??? It wont work right if not......

Put the lavender oil and dish soap in a container by themselves first, mix thoroughly....you'll know you did it right when the solution turns a cloudy whitish color...then add to water,shake well before spraying.........also try 8ml per liter, 5 is more for preventative.Also keep adding dish soap if the solution doesn't turn cloudy white and still looks oily.

take a look at the vid on how to emulsify,it's hard to understand their english but the video is self explanatory....in the vid they use neem but it's the same for any oil.

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Heh - nopes, did not do that . . .
To me it looks like 2/5 liquid soap and 3/5 neem oil.
I'll try 10ml with 2ml dish washing detergent, put it in the blender, once it's white and foamy even, I'll add a liter of water, which gas been standing over night with blended mint and cilantro.

Thing is - when I've done it before, I added the soap (dish washing detergent) in the end, but in the blender and it did get kind of white and foamy, though that would go away once I stopped blending . . .
Not sure if it would've emulsified properly or at all in that manner, but the concoction DID kill the mites when applied . . .

Still emulsify first as it will be more effective and does not damage your plants like oily water will.You say it is killing them so all you have to do is spray until you break the breeding cycle.Just keep spraying.I know it is hard work but that's better than infested plants.Good luck to you