Tiny & fast white bugs, +rep for help in identifying

Silky Shagsalot said:

if there are springtails, and they are deep in the medium, look in the run-off for them. they can't hide, but they're very small.

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That wont work. I put a piece of newspaper in the bottom of the pots covering the holes so I didn't get dirt all over when I moved the pots. I'm sure the paper towel would keep the spring tails from coming out the bottom.

As long as the sprintails don't mess with the plants I'm not real worried about them anyway. Mites, gnats, and white flies are mostly my concern.

Some of the lady bugs have been digging in the dirt though. Not sure if they're looking for water, shade, or food.

I'm a realy happy puppy btw, I just watered and looked over the plants real good. Only 3 leaves had any signs of spider mites and I didn't see anything alive. I clipped the leaves and put them right into a cup of water just in case. I also didn't see any strange and unidentified damage that I think were from gnat larvae. And I didn't see any more white fly shit, although I now have lady bug shit all over the plants. lol

The lady bugs have also moved off the plants for the most part. They were in the carpet for a while and now they're on the beams that the lights hang from and they've found a new fascination with the metal chains that the lights use to hang. I'm guessing there's still some pests up there, probably mites. But I don't think mites lay eggs off the plants, so I'm a happy puppy.

I'm still adding another 1500 lady bugs tommorow just in case. The rooms pretty big, I'm only using a small part of it.

One new problem though, kind of off subject. Some of the leaves, especially new leaves had the tips starting to curl under. No discoloration, just tips curling under.

I figure it's gotta be heat, light, or underwatering. I don't think it's heat since it's 70 degrees at the tops of the planters under the lights. It could be light (I have two 400w HIDs about 28" above the tops of the plants) and it could be underwatering (I usually wait till I see the leaves start to droop before watering).

Anyone know which one it probably is, or if there's something else it can be?

Hey everyone, the white bugs are back. I used a piece of tape to get one trapped so I can look at it under a microscope and it's mites, white mites http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarsonemidae .

I have 3,000 lady bugs in there right now and even though the lady bugs show no interest in them, I think they're still keeping the mites off the plants for the most part. I did have some leaf damage on a leaf that was resting on the planter rim which is where I'm seeing the mites. So I think the mites see the lady bugs as a predator and wont climb up the trunk of the plant, but I'm not really sure.

Either way, I want to get rid of them before I flower, but I don't want to have to clean up 3,000 dead lady bugs. Can anyone suggest pesticides that will kill white mites without killing the lady bugs? (I figure I need at least 2 pesticides to be sure)

+rep for help

No one has had any experience with White Mites? Or know of a pesticide that wont bother Lady Bugs?

So are predatory mites the only way to go in this situation?

If I have to use predatory mites, should I transplant first, or wait till after I release the predatory mites?

as always, +rep for help

I think I finally identified the Mite, it's a Broad Mite http://entomology.ifas.ufl.edu/creatures/orn/cyclamen_mite.htm

I just got off the phone with the only nursery that's not shut down for the season, and they don't carry predatory mites so pesicides are probably my only hope.

Does anyone know of a pesticide that will kill Mites and is safe for Lady Bugs?

DannyGreenEyes said:

I think I finally identified the Mite, it's a Broad Mite http://entomology.ifas.ufl.edu/creatures/orn/cyclamen_mite.htm

I just got off the phone with the only nursery that's not shut down for the season, and they don't carry predatory mites so pesicides are probably my only hope.

Does anyone know of a pesticide that will kill Mites and is safe for Lady Bugs?

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neem oil, scratch that!

Silky Shagsalot said:

neem oil, sm-90...

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Thanks for the help. +rep.

I treated with Neem Oil last night & I have Mite X ready to go for the treatment next week. Both are suffocants which I hope mites can't become immune to, and the lady bugs don't seem to mind them.

What's sm-90?