Unfortunately, Floramite and such are out of the question, just because I'm doing this at a friend's house indoors, I don't want to poison her (even a little bit).
I'm probably gonna order the predator mites on monday (will arrive wed., soonest I can get them). My infestation is really small, though. I've found only a few leaves with recent damage and I cut them off. There are a couple I'm not sure about, and I left those but hit them with a good dose of ZT. Any chance the ladybugs could handle just a small infestation?
Also, is there some kind of food I could get for the predator mites and/or ladybugs to make them feel more at home?
That tip about the steam sounds pretty good, may definitely try that.
Well the lady bugs are handling my small infestation, but I can't make any guarantees. I just watered & checked on them, saw 3 leaves on one plant with evidence of spider mites with nothing living. I clipped the leaves anyway just in case there were still some eggs there. When I clip them I put them right into a cup of water so noting that I didn't see can escape.
To give you an idea of what you're looking at with the mites. I only found 6 leaves with mites when it started. I clipped those leaves and sprayed heavily with Mite X (organic - 3 oils, 3 acids, Sorbitol, Sucrose, Molasses, & water). So I depleted the population as much as possible before I released the Lady Bugs.
The Lady Bugs started on the plant and were roaming all over them for a couple of days. Then they moved to the carpet, and now they're roaming the wood beams that my lights hang from.
Today (3 or 4 days after releasing the Lady Bugs) I saw 3 more big fan leaves with evidence of mites. So even with the lady bugs present they tried to establish themselves again. I was also spraying the plants several times per day to make the lady bugs more active & to give them a drink. I'm sure this also helped kill off some of the mites.
And after all that, I'm still going out tommorow and buying another 1500 lady bugs just to be on the safe side. That's how fast those mites multiply. Stop paying attention for a day or two and you have a massive infestation on your hands. So be carefull, cut the mites population as much as you can before releasing lady bugs, take off any leaves with any mite evidence, start with 3000 lady bugs, and keep on top of it and you might be ok.
Remember not to release the predator mites and lady bugs at the same time. The lady bugs will eat them cutting down their numbers and distracting the lady bugs from the Spider Mites. If I were using both, I'd release the predatory mites first (after spraying & removing leaves) and 2 or 3 days later I'd release the lady bugs.
You don't feed the predatory mites, they'll die off after the spider mites are gone. That's all they'll eat, other mites.
To feed the lady bugs just cut some raisins in half and spray them down with water. Put them in a dish with dirt on the bottom, lady bugs like to walk on natural things. But don't feed them for a month to make sure they're hungry & will eat the mites. And only feed them about once a month for a day or two at the max, then remove the raisins.
Also, I found quiet a few dead lady bugs today. So I'm thinking that I'll probably have to add another 1500 every couple of months to replenish their numbers. But the prevention is more than worth it.
Also, get some screen from the hardware store and block off anywhere you don't want the lady bugs to get to. But don't cover your lights, it cuts down the lumens by about 50%.
If you have an air intake for ventilation, put a stocking in it immediately so you don't have anymore coming in while you try to kill them off. Mite Screens work better but I haven't been able to find any. Stockings work ok, and I suggest getting the knee hi ones, they're easier to put over duct work.
Humidity definately helps, but steam is too hot, I wouldn't use that. You can get humidifiers cheap at the thrift stores. Just remember though that you have buds to worry about. You don't want mold/mildew in your buds. So keep plenty of fans going and oscillating over your plants to prevent the mold/mildew. The lady bugs don't like it because they can't nest in the plants. But they'll get over it. lol
Oh, and the lady bugs will need a place or two to get a drink. Put a couple of bowls in there. Put paper towel in the bottom to keep the water from pooling, don't want the lady bugs to drowned. Then over the paper towel put some straw or wood shaving so they have stuff to climb on and can find some shade. Check the paper towel every day and make sure it stays wet, and a couple of time a day give the staw/wood chips a good spraying to keep them moist.
Good luck, and just in case keep some mite x or neem oil or some other natural mite killer near by.
Have a great holiday.
The neat thing about this is the temperature. The mites simply crumble and die as soon as the hot steam hits them! Again you HAVE to be careful or you'll cause more harm than good, but if you pay attention to what your doing, you can do this! After you have hit all areas thoroughly, let your ladies rest for 1-2 days then hit em again. The live mites die easily but the eggs may still hatch (nasty things). If you cannot control the mites after 3 steam treatments, you should abandon ship and chop em down, sorry.
Good luck and let us know how you faired in this time of crisis. 
