10 years with spider mites and how I finally got rid of them.

Dutchieman420

Well-Known Member
Cool. I have also been doing some experimenting with essential oils. Supposedly Lavender may be the best followed by Rosemary. Then followed Peppermint.

This RIU member used Rosemary, Peppermint, LemonGrass and Thyme.
https://www.rollitup.org/t/experiments-in-organic-pest-control-spider-mites.860679/

I love the smell of LemonGrass oil.
Right now I am looking into getting a nice distillation kit for when my tobacco and flowers come to fruition I will have alot more options for alchemy
I recommend anyone who has a passion for botany and chemstry to get a proper distillation unit opens up many different option. Like making r own nutes and pesties
Soaps, scented oils options are endless really
 

Dutchieman420

Well-Known Member
Thanks. My ex-guru was a Forbid and rotate to FloraMite guy. Avid and Forbid sound like a better combo because FloraMite is pretty nasty to spray with. I am testing Big Time Exterminator which is pretty mild.

Somehow they use yeast enzymes for killing and controlling spider and russet mites. You can also add tiny amount when watering for soil gnats,.
Des t work well with the gnats?
 

MMJ Dreaming 99

Well-Known Member
Des t work well with the gnats?
It seems to. Pretty safe and low toxic ingredients. Big Time Exterminator has a web site and have a 15% off coupon. I had to call them and got a quart shipped for $40. One of the few things you can spray til harvest that supposedly can kill russet mites. I think it is also good for PM too. Nice guys too.

You still probably need yellow stickies for the flying gnats. It kills the ones in the soil but flying ones never give up. It requires just a tiny bot like 2 ml per gallon for your soil drench.

I had also bought BotaniCare Maxx which is new and uses Pyrethian and spores. The newer mite sprays seem to use enzymes, spores and fungi like older Spinosad. The spores seem to creep me out a little so I have not used it yet. Big Time Exterminators yeast enzymes seemed a bit safer.
 

Dutchieman420

Well-Known Member
It seems to. Pretty safe and low toxic ingredients. Big Time Exterminator has a web site and have a 15% off coupon. I had to call them and got a quart shipped for $40. One of the few things you can spray til harvest that supposedly can kill russet mites. I think it is also good for PM too. Nice guys too.

You still probably need yellow stickies for the flying gnats. It kills the ones in the soil but flying ones never give up. It requires just a tiny bot like 2 ml per gallon for your soil drench.

I had also bought BotaniCare Maxx which is new and uses Pyrethian and spores. The newer mite sprays seem to use enzymes, spores and fungi like older Spinosad. The spores seem to creep me out a little so I have not used it yet. Big Time Exterminators yeast enzymes seemed a bit safer.
I don't have a big problem with em or anything I was going to try some hydrogen peroxide tonight
 

coldrain

Well-Known Member
I don't have a big problem with em or anything I was going to try some hydrogen peroxide tonight
I used to get fungus gnats in a previous grow room and used Mosquito Bits to get rid of them. Nontoxic and effective. Also inexpensive and easy to find. Gnats can be a major problem in certain situations and I don't like them around. They can't do much to an established plant, but if you are maintaining moms and making clones with starter plugs made of organic material you had better watch out. Gnats will fly into the hole where the cutting is and crap out larvae that will eat the stems and any young roots that might already be there. Even with a humidity dome the little fuckers can get in there and do damage. They also fly into maturing buds and get stuck. I would zap them asap.

http://www.summitchemical.com/mosquito/mosquito-bits/
 

Dutchieman420

Well-Known Member
I used to get fungus gnats in a previous grow room and used Mosquito Bits to get rid of them. Nontoxic and effective. Also inexpensive and easy to find. Gnats can be a major problem in certain situations and I don't like them around. They can't do much to an established plant, but if you are maintaining moms and making clones with starter plugs made of organic material you had better watch out. Gnats will fly into the hole where the cutting is and crap out larvae that will eat the stems and any young roots that might already be there. Even with a humidity dome the little fuckers can get in there and do damage. They also fly into maturing buds and get stuck. I would zap them asap.

http://www.summitchemical.com/mosquito/mosquito-bits/
For real those little bastards like to die right on the top of the nicest of buds. Arrogant little fucks, it's like they pic a nice serene burial plot
 

brittney*bliss

New Member
I know what you're thinking.... "How dumb do you have to be to have spider mites for so long?" Let me start by saying that I didn't have spider mites the WHOLE time, just that it was an ongoing problem for the past 10 years and I would keep getting them. I used to insist on natural treatments and that's a lot of the reason why I would never fully get rid of the little fuckers. NATURAL TREATMENTS DON'T SOLVE THE PROBLEM. They only kill the adults and juveniles, not the eggs, and that's if you do everything 100% correctly. There are lot of ways to get crawlers off your plants, but if you don't wipe out the eggs it's all for nothing. I've tried everything. Zero Tolerance- doesn't work. Total waste of money. Home made habanero pepper spray- you need protective gear when applying it... oh, and it doesn't work. It won't kill the eggs. Pyrethrum TR- doesn't work as some strains of mites have built up an immunity. Regardless, it will usually kill crawlers, but not eggs. Attain TR- more toxic than Pyrethrum TR and you need to use great care when applying it. It does a good job of killing the crawlers, but it doesn't kill the eggs and in a couple of weeks you will have mites all over again. Azamax- It works on crawlers, but it's very labor intensive to apply as a spray. 100% coverage is required and, once again, it doesn't kill the eggs.

The best way to get rid of mites is to completely clean out your room and start over. That means getting rid of your plants among other things. If you have an easy time getting new strains, fine. With my situation it's hit and miss. I have spent many years tracking down and acquiring the best genetics around, and if I throw them all away I'm screwing myself because I won't be able to reacquire. I need to work with what I already have, so tossing all of my strains is not an option. Containers and other equipment also need to be removed, cleaned thoroughly, and in some cases thrown away altogether. You need to wipe everything down right down to the power cord on your socket assembly. Mites can drop eggs anywhere. Doing what I described above can be a massive undertaking for some, and unless your are really thorough your grow could get infested all over again.

So, I finally went with the nuclear option. I didn't want to resort to this, but I'm sick of having mites and nothing else works. I used a cocktail of 2 ml. of Avid and 1 ml. of Forbid. This not only wiped out the crawlers, but the Forbid is an ovacide which will prevent eggs from hatching. Another bonus here is that since these miticides penetrate the tissue you don't even need to achieve 100% coverage when spraying. I was still pretty thorough, but I feel confident that the problem is now taken care of once and for all. I've heard a lot of people freak out about Avid/Forbid, but if you apply them in a PROPER manner you shouldn't have to worry about any contamination.... skin contact or residual. 1) Make sure you wear protective gear (long sleeves, long pants, eye protection, plastic gloves and a dust mask) and be mindful of where you spray. I laid down some plastic, laid each plant on the plastic, and proceeded to spray so I wouldn't contaminate my grow room with this evil poison. 2) NEVER spray this stuff when the plants are in a 12/12 cycle. It doesn't even matter if no buds have formed yet. Consider any leaves that you spray to be contaminated and assume that they will stay that way. If you are 3 weeks into flowering and you spray this stuff, there will be residue present when you harvest and some of it could make it's way into final product. Your buds are supposed to smell good and get you high, not poison you or others. 3) If at all possible, only subject small clones to this treatment. It will take care of the problem and keep any residue off the new growth at the same time. Small clones can easily be dipped as well vs. sprayed. This is the best way to go. 4) If your plants are bigger and close to being switched to 12/12, it might be wise to wait a bit longer to flip them so the active ingredient that the plants absorbed can have time to dissipate. 75 days is the rule of thumb if you want to be on the safe side. 5) NEVER spray this stuff in your house or in any kind of a living space. If you are using a bedroom as a grow room, take the plants outside and spray. If you use great care and are not a fucking idiot you can safely use Avid and Forbid. A lot of the "information" I hear about these miticides in grow forums is based on paranoia, misinformation, or someone was dumb and got it on their skin.

Again, I recommend cleaning out your grow room and starting over when it comes to getting rid of mites as I don't like to use poison as a first line of defense, but if that's not an option you can do what I suggested above.


Thank you = )
 

DirtyEyeball696

Well-Known Member
10 yrs with spider mites? I sure hope you weren’t smoking that. Let me guess you were the mighty wash guy. If you just found out how to get rid of mites I’m sure you have other problems also. Maybe I can help


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