Spidermites in 6th week of flower

carlow

Member
ok so about 15 mins ago ive found mites noticed white spots on the leaves and seen the eggs and the mites themselfs shit 6th week of flower what do i do and can they do lots of damage with 3 weeks to go.im worried:cry:
 

Serapis

Well-Known Member
I hope you caught them in time. The following is taken from Marijuana Garden Saver Handbook for Healthy Plants...

Spider mites are by far the worst pest to have, because they are the hardest to kill and can literally kill any plant. They are by far more active in warmer climates than cold ones, they also suck sup from the leaves leaving tiny white spots on the leaves from where they suck on. The damage they do is just like thrips, but with spider mites they pierce the surface of the leaves and can show tiny holesor white speckling damage, unlike with thirps they eat the surface of the chlorophyll. You can tell when you have infestation of spider mites, because you will have distorted growth, shortened internodes and petioles.

When you have bad infestation you will see webbing with larva in them. You get spider mites from either store bought soil mostly when your soil is not sterilized. Most brands do not state weather or not they are, chances are if you buy cheap soil, you have a less likely chance of the soil being sterile. Also, bringing outdoor plants indoors, or getting plants from someone else who was infected with spider mites.

Spider mites live on the plant itself and are under the leaves most of the time and are usually are so tiny you can’t see them with the naked eye. In order to get rid of spider mites one of the best ways to start to get rid of them is to use NO-Pest strips. NO-Pest strips work well and should always be used with other methods. Neem oil helps get rid of them as well. Also by raising the humidity in your grow room a lot will kill the spider mites off, by them absorbing to much humidity and will burst. You can use soap solution like Safer Insecticidal Soap to get rid of most aphid problems. Use some tobacco juice and chili pepper powder added to this for mites. (see below how to make tobacco juice)

Pyrethrum should only be used in extreme circumstances directly on plants, It starts to breaks down around a week and is easily washed away with clear water or. If your plants are in flowering and you have spider mites, using safer chemicals is your best bet. The tobacco and pepper soap solution works well and should be used daily, spraying on the underside and top leaves and later the whole plant. Since spider mites are very residual to common products, you have to find or try any number of ones until you get rid of them.

Make absolutely sure you retreat as stated, other wise you will get resistant spider mites and then you have a bigger battle on your hands. Also do not allow pets that go outside a lot to be around indoor plants, mites have been known to be carried in from pets to plants. PLEASE NOTE, below are ways to get rid of spider mites, but no 2 mite infestations are identical, you almost always have to use different products to get rid of them, also make a habit to check for at least a whole month after thinking you got rid of them, that way your chances of the spider mites that became resistant breeding and then having a bigger problem. Make sure you spray your plant down very good and enough and on time. Here are some more products that may help get rid of spider mites:

Chemicals Hot Pepper Wax, Safer Yard & Garden Insecticide (which can be used right to the day of harvest),GNATROL( used in hydro in the water as well as soil), Doc's Neem Pest Soap, Safer Sticky Stakes,TR-11000 Pyrethrum. Anything that says dicofol on the back. (should be used in vegging or early flowering)

Tobacco Juice recipe
* Take 3 strong ciggeretes soak them over night in water
* Boil it for 2 to 3 miniutes, let it cool off and spray the plants 3 to 4 times a week.
* You can add safer soap if you like to the mixture.

(make absolutly sure you use gloves/face protection while handling and spraying) Neem oil works very well too!!
 

carlow

Member
thanks for quick repley i just found a guy who sells praying mantius near me does anyone no if this works and how many i need for 7 plants
 

Serapis

Well-Known Member
to handle an infestation of spider mites? I'd say 3-5 per plant depending on their size. See if he sells lady bugs instead and get about 300 of them. they'll do a much better job.
 

ramie808

Active Member
to handle an infestation of spider mites? I'd say 3-5 per plant depending on their size. See if he sells lady bugs instead and get about 300 of them. they'll do a much better job.
ladybugs do the job well. good to use late in flowering so you dont have to spray anything on your buds
 

carlow

Member
in the morning i plan to clean them with soap water let the dry and add about 15 manutis and can they destroy my crop in 3 weeks.
 

Serapis

Well-Known Member
The mere presence of spider mites means trouble if you don't take appropriate action. I'm not sure a mantis will even bother with something as tiny as a spider mite.
 
Im also looking into a solution for my spider mite problem that I just discovered in week 6. Ladybugs are pretty hard to come by these days. LMK if you come up with any where that has them in stock.
 

carlow

Member
sprayed with soapy water and then rinsed with cold water last nite and still there there cant find ladybugs either just going to try slow them down till harvest
 

dragonpuff

Member
carlow and honest bob- buy azamax or anything with the active ingredient being 'azadirachtin'. its a liminoid from the neem seed and is terribly toxic to insects (15micrograms/gram), but to mammals its pretty much nothing (3,450 mg/kilograms). it works by making it so they can't eat or grow. it also completely breaks down in 96 hours with regular exposure to light/air. my buddy had webs everywhere and 2 applications of this took care of them. also you might want to try and vacuum your plant if there's webs and bugs, just be careful to not let the vacuum tear em up, gl
 

CrazyBudz

Active Member
The thing with spider mites is they reproduce fast, so you have to get them under control quick...

Nothing really kills the eggs so you have to basically wait for them to hatch then spray them, thats why you have to spray them everyday for 1-1.5 weeks, because you might have a few generations of eggs that hatch say every couple days so only spraying them once or twice in most cases will kill the living mites but the eggs still hatch and they reproduce again...
What ever you decide to spray on them you should use 2 different products..Use the first one everyday for like 3-4 days, then use the other product for 3-4 days ect..
Using the same product every time, the spider mites will adapt to the spray and it wont be affective anymore..!

If your growing indoor i would try to raise the humidity or burn solfur before spraying them with anything...

If your growing outdoor I would foliar feed them with normal nutes at night for a couple days hoping to kind of drown them while the colder night weather not freezes them but makes them colder...

I had spider mites about 1.5 months ago, outdoors, i caught them pretty early...I sprayed them with floramite 2 days in a row at night then foliar fed them with house and gardens magic green for 2 days and that did it..killed them off 100%

I got pretty lucky to kill them off that fast, i caught them early and the nights were colder than usual that week...

FLORAMITE works VERY good, its a USDA aproved bug spray, its active for only 24 hours, but very toxic in those 24 hours. If you use floramite you need to wear a resperator,saftey glasses, rubber gloves and a tyvek suit. Works best if sprayed from an atomizer.
 

dragonpuff

Member
as i said stick with azamax,its not dangerous, and you are not supposed to use floramite in flowering....the breakdown period is a lot longer than 24 hours, please don't use it.
 
Okay man I've been in your situation and its killer. They ate the hell out of my plants ><

I used Doctor Doom Spider mite knock out and the DR Doom Fogger, for when things took a turn for the worst. I also made a spray with 1/2 TSP of Neem Oil, and a few drops of dishsoap diluted into 1 liter of water.

I always sprayed about an hour after lights turned off. First with the Knockout, and wait 3-4 days, then spray with neem mix and wait again. Eggs can still be present so one more cycle should do it. Remember to spray under the leaves too.

I hope this makes sense, cuz' Imsohighnolie
 

carlow

Member
thanks guys im still battling started 2 week flush today and actually they have slowed down ive been spraying the leaves with just water no chems and the cold weather is getting to about 60 lights off and on my next grow im am going to be making sure this doesnt happen again hopefully.
 
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