my garden is on a perpetual harvest every 10 days and therefore letting spider mites take hold would be devastating. not to say i don't have outbreaks, but they have to be controlled. i use a multi-facet approach to spider mites. my lights run at night, so during the day i use a photo-period safe green headlamp to tend my garden in lights off. my lights off work inculdes spraying the plants with my neem oil mix on mondays during lights off, on wednesdays i use co2 at 10,000 ppm for one hour, then fridays i use a cinnamon/clove oil spray. don't use the same control every time; they adapt far to easy for that. the reason you hear about "super mites" is because growers who use mixes that are less than lethal are not killing the mites, they're teaching the mites to adapt to the new environment. before getting to the controls, i would like to discuss the benefits to each method listed below.
NEEM OIL
so almost everybody knows this one. what some may not know is why it works. basically, neem oil is a natural combination of over 1000 chemicals or agents. obviously some of these make the awful bitter smell that we're all used to, but they serve many more purposes as well. many of the chemicals in neem oil are actually similar to hormones produced in many pests, mites included. neem oil doesn't directly cause death; it confuses the mites, and causes them to lose their desires to eat and mate and therefore greatly stunts population growth. it is ineffective against eggs, however it is absorbed/redistributed by the plant and can have some residual effects.
CINNAMON OIL
everybody knows it smells like the holidays lol, but its much more useful than meets the eye. cinnamon's chemical heat is a pretty big deal. it's a catalytic chemical reaction. when sprayed on pests, it weakens the exoskeleton, and dries the pest out. in addition, when mixed with other oils cinnamon acts as a catalyst and can make those oils more effective. it is an effective control for almost all pests, including thrips, whiteflies, and fungus gnats. in addition, cinnamon is also fungicidal and can control most mold/ mildew infestations with approximately 70% success rate. cinnamon oil is ineffective against eggs, and leaves no residual effects.
CLOVE OIL
you may have heard of "eugenol oils." that's exactly what clove oil is. they cause the exoskeleton to soften, and then dry out. clove is a contact killer, so it has to touch the pest to eliminate it. clove oil leaves no residual pesticidal effects, however the smell of clove is a deterant for pests.
CO2
obviously everybody knows plants need it to live, but not everybody knows how effective it can be killing mites. it's especially useful in the final stages of flowering when no other sprays are an option, and you don't want to use predator bugs for the "popping" and flavor. co2 doesn't directly kill the mites; it displaces oxygen, which mites require to live just like you or me, and they suffocate. this will also kill any other living thing except for your plants, SO DON'T BE IN THE ROOM WHEN YOU FUMIGATE WITH CO2. also, be sure to have a strong exhaust system to remove the CO2 after use. long periods of oxygen deprivation will kill your plants. co2 enriched gardens also experience fewer pest outbreaks.
PEPPERMINT CASTILE SOAP
most soaps will work, but this stuff is made from hemp oil and is 100% organic. it also serves 2 purposes. first, it acts as an emulsifier, so your oil doesn't simply sit on top of your water, but secondly, it is also an insecticidal soap in itself. peppermint will kill most insects. this isn't useful when your fighting mites, but it's nice if you don't know you have an insect problem lol.
SELTZER WATER
BE SURE IT'S SODIUM FREE. the salt can stress the plant out. this stuff is dirt cheap, and it's at every grocery store in the mixed drinks section. it isn't directly insect/miticidal. it helps with control by raising the humidity in the mite's home, making them feed and reproduce slower, and it has a mild amount of co2 which is good for the plant and not for the mites. it also provides many trace elements and can help prevent some nutrient deficiencies as well.
WIPING LEAVES
pretty obvious, this wipes off much of the webbing and also many eggs which are attached to it. this is one of the only safe controls for plants late in flowering, and will be useless if the little bastards make their way inside the bugs. when the web are missing, the mites have a harder time moving around the plant. also, mites can't lay eggs unless there's some webbing to attach them too. this puts most reproductive efforts on hold for at least a day or two while they rebuild they're webbing. in addition to the mite-killing benefits, when you spray the plant twice a week it can eventually clog the stomata on the bottoms of the leaves. these are how the plants breathe, so it's best to keep them clean. this is the only control i recommend during lights on, for obvious reasons.
MONDAYS: NEEM OIL SPRAY
mix 1 oz. neem oil per gallon WARM water. add 1-2 teaspoons DR. BRONNERS PEPPERMINT CASTILE SOAP as an emulsifier. stir until the neem oil has broken up into the water. allow mixture to cool to room temperature, AND BE SURE TO USE OR DISPOSE OF THE MIX WITHIN A FEW HOURS. as soon as neem is mixed it begins breaking down. it cannot be used the next day, so only mix what you'll use.
after mixture has cooled to room temperature, begin to spray all plants up to 3 weeks into flowering. as with all spider mite sprays, be sure to get all leaf surfaces including the underside. after 2 hours, spray all plants with sodium free seltzer water. this will provide additional control to the mites due to the humidity and the mild co2 in the water, but more than anything its good foliar food and it will also wash away some of the residue from the spray. do not leave any residues of any sort of the plant longer than you have to.
WEDNESDAY: CO2 FUMIGATING
find an online co2 calculator for this one. BE 100% SURE YOUR ROOM IS SEALED BEFORE ATTEMPTING THIS STEP!!! CO2 AT THESE LEVELS WILL KILL EVERYTHING IN THE HOUSE AND YOU WILL ONLY FEEL TIRED FIRST. HEED ALL WARNINGS WHEN USING CO2!!!!! i take my room to 10,000 ppm co2 for approx. 1 hour. after the hour is up, i run a 2 hour exhaust cycle to ensure proper co2 levels are returned. again, i spray all plants up to 3 weeks in flowering with sodium free seltzer water. co2 won't leave a residue, but i feel better knowing the little bastards may be drowning.
FRIDAY: CINNAMON AND CLOVE OIL SPRAY
mix 1/4 tsp. cinnamon oil, 1/2 tsp clove oil, and 1/4-1/2 tsp dr. bronners peppermint castile soap. add 16 oz. plain warm water and shake around till it looks milky and well dissolved. THIS IS A POTENT SPRAY. CINNAMON OIL WILL TORCH YOUR PLANT DURING LIGHTS ON SO NEVER USE DURING YOUR PLANTS "DAY" CYCLE. IT IS ALSO RECOMMENDED TO SPRAY ANY NEW SPRAY ON A FEW TEST LEAVES AND WAITING A COUPLE DAYS TO SEE SIGNS OF STRESS SO YOUR PLANT DOESN'T DIE. after the mixture has returned to room temperature, spray all plants through weeks 3 of flowering on all leaf surfaces. THIS IS A CONTACT KILLER SO YOU MUST TOUCH THE BASTARDS TO KILL THEM.
Again, wait 2 hours and spray all plants with sodium free seltzer water
ADDITIONAL CARE AND PREVENTION:
On a daily basis you MUST sweep the floor, clean up dead leaves etc. don't give the little fuckers a hiding spot. i also recommend spraying all plants through weeks 3 of flowering with cold water 1-3 times per day during lights on to raise humidity in the spider mite zones under the leaves and slow they're feeding/reproducing.
to disrupt the hatching and egg laying processes, i take a soft cotton cloth and damp it with plain water and proceed to GENTLY wipe the undersides of all leaves, including all flowering plants. this is a very long and painstaking process, however it is a physical approach to removing/ killing them but the greatest benefit is that you're disrupting their webbing, which will take at least a day or 2 to rebuild.
if your room exchanges air from outside, attach a fine dust filter to your intake vent and spray it with a good miticide once per week.
you may also run a humidifier during veg to keep the humidity around 60%, which will greatly slow the mite reproduction rates.
if you regularly have spider mites and you grow in soil, i recommend at least giving hydro a try. i run switched from coco to dwc and my breakouts dropped in half. they get constant water in dwc and they don't get stressed as easy.
INVEST IN TEMPERATURE CONTROL. plants like cooler temperatures, 70-77 is almost perfect for cannabis, and spider mites like it 80+. basically, if the plants happy, chances are the spider mites aren't.
once per week, i spray all surfaces in the entire room with the cinnamon/clove oil spray, including the floor, walls, ceiling, tables, the outside of buckets, ducting, everything. i let it sit for an hour, then i mop with the peppermint castile soap and spray peroxide on all surfaces. this 3 step cleaning kills fungus, bacteria, and insects, and i believe it is essential in preventing many plant diseases. IF YOU USE PEROXIDE, DO NOT USE AMMONIA OR BLEACH IN CONJUNCTION.
I hope this helps some people! this is my first post so feedback is appreciated!
