So I hate spider mites.. really hate them

I have been using Spinosad, I had some mites like a week ago, but as soon as I saw them, I sprayed them down with the Spinosad and the next day they were gone. Haven't seen them since. They were only on a few of the larger Fan leaves but it seemed to keep them at bay. Also when I first spotted them I went and got some Mighty Wash, havent had to use it yet but if and when I do I will be prepared.

F2H

Spider mites 0wned!

^^ Is that a paint sprayer? that is bad ass I would have never thought that you could use one that way. it would blow them fuckers clear off.

F2H

Favre2Harvin said:

^^ Is that a paint sprayer? that is bad ass I would have never thought that you could use one that way. it would blow them fuckers clear off.

F2H

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that is in fact a airless paint sprayer and I can attest they work very very well in this application.

1sttimeguy said:

Ladybugs...

Fight the little buggers with a predatory species

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Ladybugs are only good to get rid of aphids.
Nothing else..

I usually stop around 2 weeks before harvest at the latest in hopes the neem will be washed off. Through out the summer if I see them I just use neem to do maintenance spraying. If I notice the population is growing I use neem twice a week and if that doesn't do it then I switch it up with insecticidal soap. Spider mites are an issue because they can very easily overwhelm a plant. Since they are so small, people who are not familiar with them wont notice till the infestation has gotten to a point that its very obvious that the plant is being damaged, dropping leaves, very twisted growth and is stunted. Aphids (another monster) do some what the same thing but the difference is that mites are very hardy and build up resistances quickly to pesticides. That is why its recommended to rotate what you using to control them. Eventually they do go away but if not caught fast enough they can kill a whole grow and continue to cause issues down the road.

A friend of mine got mites last fall (which is normal where I live) he tried to control them but they came back with a vengeance so he had to scrap his grow. He thoroughly cleaned out his veg and flower room started back up a month later and boom they were back. So he scrapped another grow. He ended up having to pyrethrin bomb/fog his 2 grow rooms and parts of his house and grow room ventilation to hopefully knock them out completely. So far so good and I hope he has no more issues. His case was pretty bad and he thinks that they were some what resistant and that is why he had such an issue like that.



Once you have them and see the sheer destruction they can cause you will never forget to comb your plants by spot checking and looking under the leaves. The early signs of damage (very tiny white dots) on the leaves will become recognizable. If you start seeing webs then you know the mite colony has gown to a size that needs to be dealt with immediately. Honestly though we grow outside and mites seem to always be around and nature seems to keep them in check for the most part.

Here are some pics for an idea of what to look for (Mainly for people who might crawl to this post) _These are not my images

wow. Thanks for the run down dude. I mean its outdoors right? I kinda like the fact that there is an entire eco war going on all over my girls. I see daddy long legs, a really gnarly looking yellow spider, some iridescent blue bugs and tones of other insects having a great time. I sprayed some neem see how that goes and I'll definitely plan ahead next year. The only thing is I noticed a lot of my fan leaves yellowing a little too early into the flowering stage. I've chalked it up to general lack of nitrogen/natural plant cycle. Any chance it could be the little bastards gnawing away? Basically it starts at the bottom of the plant. Works its way to the top. There some pics here. Is that something that spidermites can do?
https://www.rollitup.org/outdoor-growing/559267-crimea-blue-outdoor-grow.html

Mighty wash !!!!

Bonide Pyrethrin concentrate. It is relatively cheap and sold at most grow shops. You can use it up until the day before harvest and it is an all natural, organic VERY effective pest killer that is pretty safe on plants. It doesn't kill eggs though so you have to spray once and then spray again 3 days later, this allows them to hatch and be killed before they are old enough to lay eggs. Then watch and see if you see any of them still moving, they should be dead assuming you sprayed them down well on the underside and top of the leaves. Spray all around them too, be generous with it. Don't let your sprayer run out and foam up though, the only burning or harm I've ever seen it do was in spots where that happened. Goodluck!