2 weeks into flower - spider mites have invaded.. help!

Hi folks,

I am growing 4 variations of kush under a single 800w hps in a 1.2m x 1.6m x 2m tent in soil. temperatures range between 25-29 degrees celcius and ~40% humidity.

Everything has been going so well for my first grow, I was thinking shit this isn't so tough! it all changed when the spider mite nation attacked.

It is not a full blown infestation and i believe I have caught it in the early stages as the mite presence seems limited to lower regions of the plants and by no means on every leaf. But already I can see how these can be nearly impossible to keep up with unless dealt with effectively.

I went out and bought some "Natrasoap" with potassium salts as an active ingredient which is supposedly designed for mites and aphids in vegetable gardens. Firstly, was this a good choice? I am extremely hesitant to smother the plant in the stuff as I don't exactly know what the effects on the newly forming buds will be (taste wise)

Any recommendations for my best course of action from here? any help appreciated.

Calbrowno said:

Hi folks,

I am growing 4 variations of kush under a single 800w hps in a 1.2m x 1.6m x 2m tent in soil. temperatures range between 25-29 degrees celcius and ~40% humidity.

Everything has been going so well for my first grow, I was thinking shit this isn't so tough! it all changed when the spider mite nation attacked.

It is not a full blown infestation and i believe I have caught it in the early stages as the mite presence seems limited to lower regions of the plants and by no means on every leaf. But already I can see how these can be nearly impossible to keep up with unless dealt with effectively.

I went out and bought some "Natrasoap" with potassium salts as an active ingredient which is supposedly designed for mites and aphids in vegetable gardens. Firstly, was this a good choice? I am extremely hesitant to smother the plant in the stuff as I don't exactly know what the effects on the newly forming buds will be (taste wise)

Any recommendations for my best course of action from here? any help appreciated.

Click to expand...

Hey buddy,

i do not want to stress/alarm you, but my experience kinda showed that once you have spider mites, you in for a constant battle. Good news is, with consistency comes results and you can actually go through to a nice harvest. Then wash the buds nicely with water mixed with baking soda and lemon juice.

I managed to eradicate red spider mites at very early stage on one of my plants this year - The other ones, i call them the normal 'die hard' ones are another story it seems. You basically need to keep doing what you doing every 48 hours. What i do is 1 teaspoon neem oil, + 1/2 teaspoon liquid soap (non detergent) + 1/2 teaspoon wetting agent in 1 litre of water. Thing is, If its flowering already then very careful with what you spray on the plant and only use it as a last resort - Better to kinda wet a cloth and wipe thoroughly all affected leaves individually without touching the flowers, neem oil has an extremely unpleasant smell/taste.

But your best friend in that case would be ladybugs...if you can manage to get 3 or 4 on your plant, then these greedy ladies will start raining hell on these mites until they are so scared that their soul will leave them bodies!

Good luck

Chemicals
One hit wipes them out. Also vacuum the around the grow room for a few days after that.