Coalition against Mites

If you have eradicated a mite infestation, give a short explanation on how it was done.

Infestation #1: limited to veg area. Used Doktor Doom (pyrethrin) fogger and then repeated 3 days later. Problem solved.

Infestation #2: In perpetual flower area. Can't fog so have been using a pyrethrin concentrate in a spray bottle. Been going on for about 4-5 months now. At first I was very conservative with the spray. Currently I've been doing semi daily drenches with the spray bottle, top and bottom of leaves. I've noticed the plants don't particularly like pyrethrin but damage doesn't seem to scale with use. The plants adapt. I stop doing the drench when flowers start to form and focus on the fan leaves, especially the lower ones. I think I am getting close to eradication. I have one set of plants that are showing mild signs but almost ready for harvest. At this point I'm spraying what I can and manually removing any leaves that are showing mite damage. I have learned they're easier to spot on the underside of leaves and remove those as well.

The floor is toxic with insecticide to prevent migration. I am hopeful these efforts will pay off and I can say I have no more mites soon.

If I begin to believe the drenches will not reduce the mite count to zero I'm thinking of switching to predatory mites. Just stock up on them and start releasing them every other day for several weeks. And if that doesn't work, I will have to clear the room for several weeks which would be a big loss. Someone tell me there's hope for getting rid of mites in a perpetual chamber

100% eradicated with citric acid and no toxic floor.

Also, mites can develop a resistance to pyrethroids so if you've been battling them for 4-5 months it's time you use something else.

"The twospotted spider mite (TSSM) is a plant-feeding mite that is an extremely widespread pest affecting nearly all crop plants (over 1000 plant species)."

"TSSM are resistant to most pyrethroids and in some cases certain chemicals can increase oviposition rates"

4-5 months? You need to deep clean that area when the current plants are done.
Then you can resume perpetuity.
If you keep putting new plants into the same environment, then the other perpetual thing you’ll have is mites.

There are only 8 billion people in the world, and 723,567,254,367,787,345,089,356,000,000,000 mites.

You may have won a battle, but you will never win the war!

xtsho said:

100% eradicated with citric acid and no toxic floor.

Also, mites can develop a resistance to pyrethroids so if you've been battling them for 4-5 months it's time you use something else.

"The twospotted spider mite (TSSM) is a plant-feeding mite that is an extremely widespread pest affecting nearly all crop plants (over 1000 plant species)."

"TSSM are resistant to most pyrethroids and in some cases certain chemicals can increase oviposition rates"

Two Spotted Spider Mite | Cooperative Extension | University of Delaware

The two spotted spider mite (TSSM) is a plant-feeding mite that is an extremely widespread pest affecting nearly all crop plants (over 1000 plant species). Damage from TSSM occurs when the mite pierces plant cells with its mouthparts and drains their contents. Once drained of its contents, the...

www.udel.edu

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Ahh, good to know. I feel like most of my gains have been in the last month after I started to drench in early flower. Hopefully once the mature plants are harvested that will be it. I've been treating the floor (using a mop) with stronger insecticide for several weeks.

I'll try citric acid if the problem is still an issue. Seems more cost effective than predatory mites.

I'm guessing buds don't react well to being sprayed with citric acid?

drsaltzman said:

4-5 months? You need to deep clean that area when the current plants are done.
Then you can resume perpetuity.
If you keep putting new plants into the same environment, then the other perpetual thing you’ll have is mites.

Click to expand...

I think the floor treatment is being helpful but you're right. I have managed this whole time to keep things under control and get good harvests but it's very difficult in this environment to eradicate them and I'm very tired of dealing with it. I may try another method, but a deep clean is the obvious guaranteed solution.

Rahz said:

I think the floor treatment is being helpful but you're right. I have managed this whole time to keep things under control and get good harvests but it's very difficult in this environment to eradicate them and I'm very tired of dealing with it. I may try another method, but a deep clean is the obvious guaranteed solution.

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And even then it’s not guaranteed.
These things have survived millennia.
But it’s your best chance of not having to deal with them anymore.
Good luck.

This is an old recipe and works very well......... obviously do not use on flowering plants. I use it on plants, walls, floor, pots, etc.

2 quarts warm water
1/4 cup Dr. Woods Tea Tree Oil
1/4 cup Dr. Woods Peppermint Oil
1 tablespoon Hydrogen Peroxide
1 cup 70% Alcohol

Mix well, and spray the shit everywhere.

One of the biggest mistakes I see people make is they treat the plant, but not the soil. Many mites often hang in the soil too, and after a while they search for the heat so up the plant they climb. Monterey Garden Insect Spray can be used as a soil drench- 3 3/4 cups per gallon. This has Spinosad in it and will kill off most mites.

I have used NEEM during the veg stage on relatively low numbers on isolated plants. So I caught them early and there was little webbing (2 spotted spider mites). They were brought inside in the fall months.

2 apps (foliar sprays) spaced about 10 days apart seemed to do it before a lot of webbing took place............

then I just started growing in the winter and they never reappeared................

the little varmints

Hello, I bought some Monterey Garden Insect Spray instead of Monterey Garden Insect Soil Drench. Can I use the "spray" product AS a soil drench??

Kimmybob said:

Hello, I bought some Monterey Garden Insect Spray instead of Monterey Garden Insect Soil Drench. Can I use the "spray" product AS a soil drench??

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Short answer...yes...read the label for drench application >Lawns, ornamentals, gardens>fire ants

Since this is a "Mites" thread, are you are trying to kill/prevent mites with a root drench of a systemic pesticide? Permethrin or azirdiractin would probably be a better choice. Imidicloprid not approved for cannabis due to concerns for toxic byproducts when burned, longer half life.

Spinosad drench will kill ants, soil mites, gnat larva, soil caterpillars and eathworms, but usually it's a foliar spray since it's effective on leaf surfaces, I don't know if it translocates far in a plant as a systemic.

Monterey Garden Insect Soil Drench
Active Ingredient: Imidicloprid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.235%
Imidacloprid is a synthetic systemic insecticide belonging to a class of chemicals called the neonicotinoids

Monterey Garden Insect Spray
Active Ingredient: Spinosad .........................................................................................0.5%
Spinosad is a natural substance made by a soil bacterium that can be toxic to insects. It is a mixture of two chemicals called spinosyn A and spinosyn D.