The spider mite mystery

Ok so i have been sitting here in another spider mite battle and have been loosing as I belive I have new super mites. I do the standard 3 days in a row doktor doom bombs ,actually did 9 bombs. I spray with miticide and then a good dip in neem and it seems to just annoy the mites and not kill them anymore so I wll now go biological warfare and introduce mite destroyers. My question is this. what is it in ganja that attracts spider mites? I mean I have outdoor gardens and plants and indoor veggies in the same areas but mites never ever touch those plants. Hell i never saw a spider mite until growing ganaj. So does anyone know why spider mites only live in ganja gardens and no where else??

sorry nothin to contribute but i really want to know ive fought them with allsorts from preds to carcinogens and they wont go. im going to shut down the op n bleach its the only thing i can think of left...

hope someone can help!

Would be nice to see any opinions and lets also add ways people fight these spider mites as I have done all the spraying and bombing. I have scrubbed bleached bombed pre sprayed dipped all new clones and plants and started spraying from day 1 but the last year they come back no matter what...so got some defense that is tried and true to rid and kill these guys post them up. I used to be able to do a 4 day assault and knock em out but now they just laugh and eat

You need to use (eek!) Avid when they are babies so you are not smoking toxins and use Neem and Asatrol(?) after that

Spidermites cant adapt very well to multiple agents

if you want to go natural destroyers mist your plants to get all the neem oil out of there... they will kill the good insects too...

anyways:

for spider mites:

Spider mite preds - small mites that only eat spider mites and their eggs. they breed twice as fast. each predator can kill 5 spider mites a day, or 20 eggs. do best in warm weather and high humidity.

Green Lacewings: look like tiny alligators, lacewing larvae attack any prey they can grab. during it's larval stage it can feed on up to 200 insect, or insect eggs, the adults feed on honeydew, nectar and pollen.

And of course the Praying Mantis will feed on any animal it can take on... having been seen eating small rodents and small lizards....

info gotten off urban garden magazine....

good luck

try an aerosol pyrethin spray. I used the Dr. Doom aerosol spray and mist my plants underneath the leaves. Also I was fairly successful using tobacco tea, I forgot the recipe but it's not hard to find.

Also avid is supposed to work really well, but it's expensive. It costs around 100 for 8 ounces.

Boil up some garlic, put it in a spray bottle and try that.
Seriously.

Tell me if it worked for you. I've got a buddy that uses this and I actually saw the spider mite damage before, and maybe a week later not a thing.

Good luck!

I am doing my best to avoid avid as its pretty bad stuff to ingest if any residue remains. They drink neem and doctor doom for breakfast have used both aerosal and room bombs from Doctor doom and PTO Pyrithyum bombs. i also did eistein and soap, mitecide, pepper water mix sprays, neem and neem plus. I am to the point of ordering some destroyer mites and some praying mantis eggs but I am curious what those insects eat if no mites are there. Like if I get the problem resolved then release the good guys before trouble happens what do they eat if no mites yet??

Yes Avid is very nasty stuff and I have never had any luck with predator mites

lately what has worked great for me is AzaMax

Hmmm dont know AzaMax guess its google time .Great suggestions lets keep those coming and if anyone finds info on why ganja attracts these jerk boyz so well post it up.

What I thought I remember hearing was there was somthing you could add to the res that then when taken in by the plants made them either toxic to mites or had something that they didnt like and would not eat the leaves ring any bells and internal repellant if you will??

The azamax looks like a promising new canidate. So now its off to find the lowest price on it...What kind of mix or ratio are we using with this stuff like say how much per spray bottle or per gallon or what not seems to be a good dosage??

I use about 10 drops a quart and lightly spray the plants every week, seems to do the trick so far

I've been using Worryfree brand mixed and ready to go soap spray, with good luck, and no visible harm to the plants and also Monterey Garden Insect Spray
Worry Free® Insecticidal Soap

24 fl oz
Ready-to-use

• Kills listed insects and mites on roses, flowers, fruits, vegetables and houseplants
• Suitable for Organic Gardening
• OMRI Listed
• Does not persist in the environment
• Contains specially selected soaps (potassium salts of fatty acids, a soap derived from plants)
• Fast-acting, for use indoors-outdoors

Monterey Garden Insect Spray

View Product Label

• Contains spinosad, produced by fermentation
• New chemistry for insect control
• B.t. replacement, more effective pest control
• Can be used on vegetable & fruit crops, ornamentals, and turf
• Controls caterpillars as well as beetles, leafminers, thrips, beetles and more!
• Available in Pint, Pint RTS, Quart, Gallon

I've been spraying with Worryfree every other day and then off days using the Monterey Garden Insect Spray , Will do this for 4-7 days wait a few days and start again if see signs of mites. Seems after about the first week of hitting them hard pretty much eliminates the problem

Burn on!

hmmm havent tried that particular soap but have tried 3 soaps with neem oil in them and I think I just gave the mites a bath as they didnt let up. I did complet plant dunks in buckets submerging them but just made them move alot more lol.

Came across this http://mite-rid.com/index.shtml yesterday . . . looks real promising, IF it's for real.

Basically, we all try and provide the perfect enviroment for our beloved ganga plants and in doing so, provide a lovely environment for the mites as well. Do you grow anything else other than ganga in a perfectly tuned environment? I know I don't. But if you did, those plants would get mites too. I bet ya.

With regard to fighting them. I think I have a good trick for you to try. It worked for me and my mites have not come back this grow, yet (touch wood), for the first time in ages. I would normally be seeing mite damage by now.

This method will only work if you can have a days downtime in your room with no plants.........it may not work for your area, I don't know how your setup exactly......but here's what I did......

Remove plants
Clean room and equipment very well, don't bother with foggers or bombs. They are NASTY and don't kill mite eggs, as you have discovered.
Turn off all fans and ventilation
Turn on HPS lights
Spray 'Techno Spray' (an ethanol based eco household cleaner) all over your floor, walls, trays, anything in the room that isn't electrical....close up your room and leave it!

It will get VERY hot and VERY humid. My room was something like 60 deg C 80% RH. Mite eggs will POP! Check back an hour later, most of the spray will have evaporated and the RH will be going down. Spray again, all over. Shut room and leave it again. Check back an hour later. When the 2nd batch has evaporated, turn off your lights and turn on you ventialtion again to remove the heat. I think you will find your spider mite eggs will be dead now.

Continue with your Neem treatment going into your next grow for precatuionary measures. Until first few weeks flowering. That's where I am now, just stopped the Neem about a week ago. No mites or any other bugs/pests in my room.

This method was recommended to me by my local hyrdro shop. I went to buy a fogger and asked if they were good for mite........they said no! Don't buy it......do the above!

If you check out my journal, you will see me describe all this in detail with pics. And you will also see the state of my room pre cleansing!

Good luck though man!



oh...I also fitted a particle intake filter on my inline fan this grow too. I'm sure that is helping a lot as well!

Well I have some herb and veggies growing in same manor as the ganja right next to them in other tents but those never get mites even if I left the flaps open the mites dont go to the veggies. Out doors gardens never get mites but put a ganja outside and in a week it will be filled so i was wondering if there is some hormone or something of that sort ganja secrets that attracts them yeah your right I wont be able to do your way as I have like 6 tents and few rooms and all are full with flood tables and aero setups so cant move them around. The PTO and doktor doom bombs were great for few years but new super mites eat rat poison for snacks

yeah man....I don't know about hormones and stuff. Maybe they just have good taste....LOL

Seems your mites have evolved somewhat!!

I know this method won't work for all. But it has been so effective for me I had to recommend it.

Sounds like a good one glad you posted it. I do room cleans before and after grows i mean i scrub spray sterilize but like I said last almost year these new spider mites just dont give. i saw one last night in the kitchen makin a turkey and ham sub with mustard. mayo and a diet coke..I hate these mites