Spider mites ending my growing career

Randm

Active Member
I too was close to just giving up and saying the hell with it over those evil creatures. I cleaned and sterilized my flower and grow rooms several times between runs , and they still came back with devistating force.
What I did:
Temps - I installed a swamp cooler onto my flower room ( not enough available power for an ac ) and set my lights out temps for 70 deg. ( It actually goes down to the high 60's ) Mites do not like cold. Lights on temps are mid 70's to low 80's ) previous to doing this the temps would stay in the 80's and reach the lower 90's with lights on.
Avid is what I treat any plant with that goes into the flower room with.
ALTERNATE insecticides. I spray every weekend. As I mentioned above, I use AVID when they first go into the flower room, then I alternate on the following weekend with an organic spray ( Organicide), then on the next weekend I use a different spray, and on and on, swapping with different killers. The theory behind this is that the mites build a tolerance to using the same insecticide to the point of becoming completely imune. In effect you would be creating super mites that are immune to whatever single poison is being used.
Keep it clean, simple to say, harder to do. It must be a religion to an indoor grower.
Try to find strains that have an inherent ability to survive mite attacks like g13 and strains with g13 in it.
Filters on ALL incomming air, I treat the filters with mitacide as well.

Believe me when I say I've tryed everything there is and sticking to the above regime works very well for me. The turning point was when I got a handle on the high temps which spidies love. Bringing the lights off temps down low works very well to dicourage them. I even let the temps get down into the mid 60's every once in a while ( just like in nature ) and have noticed an improvement just from doing that. Also the healthier your plants are, the more damage they can fight off and the more they can recover from.

Good luck on your battle. I feel your pain.
 

chuck estevez

Well-Known Member
Both, it should not matter in the least, unless you bring bugs in with clones from a sloppy source.
I think that was his point, if you bring in clones from whatever source that isn't you, you need to assume they have mites or mite eggs and treat for them or as I have learned, just don't bring anything in, make my own clones.
 

*BUDS

Well-Known Member
You just started the next grow without bleaching and miticides? well you deserve to have mites. Stop using fucking organic soaps and faggot lady bugs, you need miticide sprayed everywhere in there ,cracks ,creavices,pathways, anywhere in the room and around it then re applied 5 days later or you wont stop them. Wash all pots utensils etc in warm water with bleach.
This is usually a problem in rooms that are too hot so make sure its under 80 at all times.
 

thunderbay

Well-Known Member
Spider mites suck. I have felt the way you feel before. Fuck spider mites HARD! I haven't gotten them in years and i think it's because of a few extra precautions i always take:
1: ALWAYS wash your hands before working in your garden, up to the elbow.
2: Change your shirt before working in your garden
3: keep a very clean environment, clean walls, clean floors, clean everything.


Also, it's chemical, but check into "Hot shots no pest strips". They will kill your entire population of spider mites, but remove it quickly, because it is a really nasty poison.
I tried those "Hot shots no pest strips" killed every bug except those pesky lil critters. Opened the strip last Sun, this Sun I looked under the scope and there was a lil buggers waving at me.
 

Alexander Supertramp

Well-Known Member
When the going gets tough the tough get going leaving the weak in behind. Dont give up over a little mite. You must endeavor to persevere.......
 

thunderbay

Well-Known Member
There is actually a happy ending to this story. I moved everything outside and the spider mites couldn't seem to survive. There's a bunch of other flying insects around my plants attracted to the light, but they don't seem to harm the plants at all and the spider mites either high tailed it or were all eaten.
Lucky you, mine are in a GH and they are still there... #$%^#@^
 
I'm fighting those bastards now. Aphids and spider mites are a breeze compared to these guys. Go to home depot and get some of the Orcon or Bayer Advanced bug killer. They make one specifically for spider mites that can be used right up through flower. Give it a whack for a couple weeks and you'll be good.

spider mites are pussies, try getting broadmites. http://pogenetics.com/?page_id=389

in order to win this war, you need to be vigilante, you don't go to war with a pistol, you need an army.
 

BillyBobJoe

Active Member
Fuck predator mites I grid that once and they didn't work and I had sawdust all over my plants. I'm surprised no one mentioned forbid 4f. It's made by bayer and is available on eBay, at least in the states with the exception of california. That's how you know it's good, it's illegal in California. I had one of the worst mite problem, the little fuckers literally had super highways going from plant to plant. I sprayed them twice and they all died. The plant actually absorbs this stuff which in turn is consumed by the mite thus eliminating the need to cover every inch of plant or even the bottom of the leaves. You can actually mix with your water when you feed your plant. Here's a link...... http://item.mobileweb.ebay.com/viewitem?itemId=251180415792&index=8&nav=SEARCH&nid=24013443135
 

thecoolman

New Member
Lots of B.S comments here floramite will probably work as one person said. Avid and forbid 4f will also maybe better. you can get them on Ebay and you dont need much.
If you want to go nuclear rotate between a couple of these! Guaranteed no mites.
 

mackdown

Member
I overreacted, I'm not stopping growing. I can't. In addition to my love of getting high, growing provides a sense of purpose and satisfaction I can't seem to find with anything else. I was just really pissed after what happened to my plants and nearly just gave up. Anyway, the spider mites are gone and I discovered it was my own fault I had them in the first place. Our home was quite dusty so I went and thoroughly cleaned the entire upstairs where I grow. Luckily the heat spell is done and were back to monsoon here in Asia so the spider mites are history.
 

KushKrew

New Member
No don't give up! They're hardcore mofo's indeed, but perhaps there is an experienced grower in your area that can come into your room and help clean up? So many factors can combine into a major headache that it is damn near impossible to tell from far off how to solve the issue. To every problem there is a solution, and the good news is once you know how to kick their asses you'll always be mite-free.

What we did was to clean out the whole room, spray it down with peroxide, washed every pot and pump in peroxide, the clones we chucked out but moms were literally inverted and dipped into a Pyrethrum solution (our thinking was it might kill them, but the mites WILL kill them), they were not ready for cloning again yet so we only needed a 25l bucket for this. After 5 days in quarantine they could go back to the vegging room, and we got a wonderful 3 years worth of Diesel buds afterwards.

YOU WILL WIN. PERSEVERE MATE!!
 

KushKrew

New Member
The product we used is called Pyrol, it's totally organic, non-systemic and breaks down to harmless in about 3 days. Just watch for phytotoxicity it does tend to burn a little if you're over-zealous with it. But as with all sprays just test on one clone, it'll be about 12 hours before you see damage if there is any. Usually rinse with clean water about 2 hours afterwards and that seems to keep the burn in check.
 

~Dankster~420

Well-Known Member
Well, if anyone is still having "any" kind of issues with spider mites, or any other little critter, hit me up! I make my ow2n stuff to get rid of those pests, and it works within 2 treatments!! Just give me a pm.. ;)
 
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