Dam white bugs are back again. +rep for help

I got started growing through a guy i know overseas, and he is very knowledgeable in growing. He's the type of guy with encyclopedias of information on growing, and all the biological processes within, down to the molecular levels. What I'm saying, is that i really trust the guy. He grew, ahem...professionally, for years, and had all the typical pest problems throughout that time, and like most people, only used chemical peticides when it was an emergency situation.

I saw neem oil mentioned earlier in this thread, and I'm going to recommend it again. This guy explained to me that neem is a natural enemy of mites, and should be part of every growers arsenal. It doesn't kill the mites directly, it renders them sterile so they can't reproduce. Also, it repels them, so if you spray your pots, stems, top of soil, etc....they won't climb through it to get to your plants. And, when you spray your plants with neem it's absorbed and becomes part of the plant, making them resistant to mite attack. Neem doesn't make the mites sterile immediately, I was told it could take a month or so to have that effect. So, neem is best used as protection again future attacks, rather than to eliminate an infestation.

It's cheap, easy to use, and definitely feels good to have a little bit of an insurance policy for your plants, against future mite attacks. Also, it's 100% natural and non-toxic to humans, and ladybugs.

jawbrodt said:

I got started growing through a guy i know overseas, and he is very knowledgeable in growing. He's the type of guy with encyclopedias of information on growing, and all the biological processes within, down to the molecular levels. What I'm saying, is that i really trust the guy. He grew, ahem...professionally, for years, and had all the typical pest problems throughout that time, and like most people, only used chemical peticides when it was an emergency situation.

I saw neem oil mentioned earlier in this thread, and I'm going to recommend it again. This guy explained to me that neem is a natural enemy of mites, and should be part of every growers arsenal. It doesn't kill the mites directly, it renders them sterile so they can't reproduce. Also, it repels them, so if you spray your pots, stems, top of soil, etc....they won't climb through it to get to your plants. And, when you spray your plants with neem it's absorbed and becomes part of the plant, making them resistant to mite attack. Neem doesn't make the mites sterile immediately, I was told it could take a month or so to have that effect. So, neem is best used as protection again future attacks, rather than to eliminate an infestation.

It's cheap, easy to use, and definitely feels good to have a little bit of an insurance policy for your plants, against future mite attacks. Also, it's 100% natural and non-toxic to humans, and ladybugs.

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Thanks for the help +rep

I hadn't heard about it making them sterile, that's some trick since mites can lay eggs that will hatch without being fertilized. I'll have to look into that.

But Neem being an oil is also a suffocant. The mite gets stuck in it and suffocates. I think all oils will have the same effect. The Mite X, another suffocant, uses clove, garlic, & cotton seed oils to suffocate, and Oleic, dodecanoic, and stearic acids to kill other pests (I think).

I saturated the plants, soil, pots, & run off trays twice and everything else in the room once and I haven't seen any since. But I'm sure there are eggs so I'm going to treat again this Friday and one more time next Friday to be sure.

But you're right about them not harming the Lady Bugs. I hope it didn't make them sterile though. At the rate they're dieing it's gonna be hard enough to keep their numbers up as it is.

I used a Neem concentrate last time. Next treatment will be with Mite X, and the last treatment will be with a Neem/Fungicide ready to use mix. I know how fast mites can become immune to insecticides and I didn't want to take any chances.

I also fed the lady bugs for the first time today so hopefully they'll start to see me as a food source and wont hesitate to kill off an infestation next time. I hope anyway.

That sounds like an excellent plan. Let us know if the little bastards come back.

I am curious how you feed lady bugs? I have a problem in the flower room with the lil white bastards and I have just been living with the fly traps and the cold at night keeps them slowed down a bit, I was interested in lady bugs just as a natural way to deal with them and if they make it even more bearable I can just try the play sand as well. I attempted to use all the perlite I had laying around to cover the top of the soil but I dont think its working as well as the sand. I was wondering how one feeds the lady bugs though

great solutions on here yall

super2200 said:

I am curious how you feed lady bugs? I have a problem in the flower room with the lil white bastards and I have just been living with the fly traps and the cold at night keeps them slowed down a bit, I was interested in lady bugs just as a natural way to deal with them and if they make it even more bearable I can just try the play sand as well. I attempted to use all the perlite I had laying around to cover the top of the soil but I dont think its working as well as the sand. I was wondering how one feeds the lady bugs though

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First off, are we talking about white flies or white mites, there's a big difference. If they're the size of a pin head and they don't fly, then they're mites. Also, white mites do damage to the leaves differently. Before they bite they release toxins which eat away at the leaves leaving them distorted and sometimes with chunks missing like something's been chewing on it.

Try to get one under a microscope just to be sure, unless you've seen them fly. Radio Shack has one for $10, the "Illuminated Microscope". If they're mites then they're too fast to look at one on a leaf or planter. Take a piece of masking tape (paper tape) and when you see one use the tape to trap it by just gently pressing the tape down on it. Then you can use the microscope to view it on the tape.

If you have white flies the lady bugs will all but whipe them out for you. They'll even go digging after the larvae. Just give them a week or so to get the population down for you, then spray with something organic so the lady bugs don't get killed.

If you have white mites, that's different. They'll keep the mites off your plants for the most part, but they'll be in the soil and on the planters. So you'll have to try to keep leaves off the planter rims or those leaves are fair game. Give the lady bugs 1 to 4 weeks depending on how bad the infestation is, then spray the hell out of the plants, soil, planters, & run off trays with a natural suffocant (oil based) like Neem Oil or Mite X or something of the kind. You'll also have to spray down everything else in the room. Also, you have to get enough lady bugs to do the job. I had 3 fairly small infestations starting and bought 3,000 lady bugs, and before I released them I sprayed real good.

So for mites, spray everything in the room with something like Mite X, then release the lady bugs. A week later spray again, and one more time a week later. To be on the safe side I'd use 3 different suffocants. For example.... Mite X, Neem Oil Concentrate, and Neem Oil/Fungicide ready to use spray.

Don't feed the lady bugs till they infestation is gone, you want to keep them hungry.

I was told to feed them raisins or something else like them with no citric acid. All I had was Craisins (dried & sweetened cranberries), not sure if that's gonna work.

Put them on something natural, like a bowl filled with soil. Then spray them with water before feeding, and a couple of times a day. After a couple of days remove it, then feed them again in a month or so.

You'll also want to make some bowls of water so they can drink daily. Put folded paper towel in the bottom of a bowl, then cotton balls, then something natural like hay, straw, or wood shavings. Pour water in the bottom of the bowl, but not too much. Just so there's a tiny bit of water showing. Then spray the rest with water a few times a day. And pour a little more water in as needed.

You might also spray down the mylar 1 or 2 times a day to give them somewhere else to drink. Or you can spray your plants when the lights go off, that's the best way because it helps keep them on your plants.

Also, lady bugs like to feed when the lights go off so if you're on a 24/0 schedule, try to change it. If it's in your flower room then you have no worries, but you may not want to spray your plants if they have buds on them.

That's all I found out so far. Oh, and lady bugs love to commit suicide. Try to cover everything they can get into with screen and tape all sides of your mylar so they can't get behind it. If you have an open hood then you can't protect your lights, screen cuts lumens by about 50%. And you'll find a few lady bugs fried on the bulb daily. You'll just want to buy another 1,500 for about $8 every now & then to keep their numbers up.

The best thing, once you get rid of your infestation the lady bugs should keep any more from starting. Mites & most other pests wont build a nest where predators are present. But they wont abandon a nest either once they've established one.

Ok, that's about all I know.

Good luck and may all your green girls grow up to be monsters.

smokebros said:

great solutions on here yall

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Thanks man, hope it helps.

DannyGreenEyes said:

I'm not sure what diatemecous earth is...

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Diatomaceous Earth isn't poison. It's fossilized algae; very natural stuff. There's a pest control grade and a food grade for human consumption. *IF* you got it, you would want the pest control grade. It's basically ground-up algae fossils that, on a microscopic level, will cut open any soft-bodied pest like a razor blade. When the bug wades around in it a little, it gets into their blood stream and basically dehydrates them to death.

It's very effective, and I would've recommended it myself, but IT WILL KILL YOUR LADYBUGS!!! Which is why I didn't suggest it, because I actually read the part that you didn't want to kill the ladybugs. So don't get it.

FireCoral said:

Diatomaceous Earth isn't poison. It's fossilized algae; very natural stuff. There's a pest control grade and a food grade for human consumption. *IF* you got it, you would want the pest control grade. It's basically ground-up algae fossils that, on a microscopic level, will cut open any soft-bodied pest like a razor blade. When the bug wades around in it a little, it gets into their blood stream and basically dehydrates them to death.

It's very effective, and I would've recommended it myself, but IT WILL KILL YOUR LADYBUGS!!! Which is why I didn't suggest it, because I actually read the part that you didn't want to kill the ladybugs. So don't get it.

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Thanks, but I might be onto something else.

I found a site run by the University of S FL Agricultural Sciences and the FL Dept of Agriculture. It lists a lot of the pest insects, their likes, dislikes, live span, control methods, etc....

For Broad Mites it suggests a 30 minute dip in 110 degree water. I don't think I'm about to do that, even if I wasn't in 10 gallon containers.

But when I was reading up on spider mites I read that petroleum based insecticides provide some ovicidal activity (kills the eggs). I'm guessing if it works against spider mite eggs, it may also work against Broad Mite eggs. So tommorow I'm going to start searching for a petroleum based suffocant. That plus the lady bugs would kick the crap out of any mite with a quickness.

If I can't find a suffocant, then I'm going to find a good source for a good petroleum based insecticide in case of emergencies.

Even without it, I think I just have to treat a couple more times with a suffocant. I just treated last night and only saw about 10 mites. Then I released another 3,000 lady bugs. So in 5 days (now that I know their life cycle) I'll treat again, and then again 5 days later and that should be the end of it. (then I can flower )

Here's the web site. You may want to book mark it. It's great for finding info on your enemy, and that's half the battle.

http://entomology.ifas.ufl.edu/creatures/main/search_common.htm

Wow! Grassy-ass! I bookmarked it for future reference--now let's hope I never have to use it!

And you're right, knowing is half the battle

FireCoral said:

Wow! Grassy-ass! I bookmarked it for future reference--now let's hope I never have to use it!

And you're right, knowing is half the battle

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No problem. I'll return to searching for a petroleum based suffocant next week & I'll post a link if I find anything. Please be sure to do the same. 2 heads are better than 1.

Found something, a petroleum based suffocant, and it's made by Bonide which is a name I trust. They make the Mite X, so I'm sure it's safe to use on plants. To be on the safe side, I'll just spray a leaf first & see if there's any damage. You should also treat with the lights off since it's an oil.

Here are some links, but I'm sure you can find it locally if you call enough nurseries. I also heard you can get it at Home Depot, but it's not listed on their site so I can't confirm that.

http://www.bonideproducts.com/lbonide/b ... s/l214.pdf
http://www.arbico-organics.com/1274101.html
http://www.biconet.com/botanicals/ashdso.html
http://shop.horticultureguy.com/all-sea ... u-385.html
http://www.millernurseries.com/cart.php ... tail&p=672
http://www.arbico-organics.com/1274104.html
http://www.millernurseries.com/cart.php ... tail&p=671
http://www.plantitearth.com/pest-contro ... spray.aspx
http://www.gardeningthings.com/sm/cimpu ... id=1.21.54

Good luck