Spider Mite Panic

[Bandit]

I have spider mites. They are tiny little yellow ones.

I am late into bloom and do not have time for an organic option or for a pesticide that interferes with the life cycle of the mite. I need something that will KILL them DEAD.

Has anyone ever tried the Doktor Doom Fogers or Sprays. They use pyrethrins and say they are safe to use up to one day before harvest (obviously I am not planning on doing that).

Thanks for any help.

~bandit

 

[cres]

go to the store and buy one of these your mites will be dead in 12hrs... there in Ace hardware and other hardware stores... they kill instantly, but the eggs will hatch in 7-10 days so either leave it hanging or pull it and put it back up in 7 days for 3 days...

how long till harvest?

 

[slightlystoopid]

I personally would not want to put anything pyrethins in it on anything I smoke as it is a cancer causing carcinogen when you burn it that being said I had great success recently I was pretty late in tower and got some mites first I treated the top layer of the soil with diatomaceous earth , then I got two different mite sprays azamax , and liquid lady bug and alternate treatment and I put a fan on blowing right on them not under your lights to prevent any mold and they don't go back in the grow room till they are dry . I also went one step further and put live lady bugs in my room and the mites were gone within days hope this helps

 

[cres]

There is quite a bit of panic/ misunderstanding also about the No pest strips...

They are World War 1 mustard gas which of course killed millions of people... It is a vapor but it kills and after your room is dead it will air out and your grow can continue... Mites are bad news and fixes usually dont work or are a quick fix. With the No Pest you will not notice anything with the weed and 2- 24hrs treatments will kill them 100% dead. If you fuck around with alternative treatment and ordering sprays by the time they get to you your problems might be 10x... IMO treat now and put this behind you...

 

[Bandit]

Just figure I would post a quick update.

After all of my panic I managed to rid my plants of these pests (for now). There are still some eggs around even though I managed to rub most off with diluted alcohol. I hung a no pest strip in between the plants and sprayed them down with organic insecticidal soap. This morning the plants look great and I only can find motionless dead mite bodies.

I plan on leaving the strip up for a week or so and re-soaping again this evening just to be sure, and then one more soap application in five days to hopefully kill any hatchlings.

~bandit

 

[cres]

Your all set. No need to spray.

 

[Bandit]

Thanks cres!

I am glad I posted on here before I freaked out and chopped the ladies down.

Now for a question. I have wiped most of the leaves down with diluted alcohol to rid them of the little dead bodies. I plan to do this again this evening. Do the mites infest the buds as well, or just the leaves. If they do get in the buds Im guessing you cannot remove the dead ones. So do we just smoke the little bastards?

~bandit

 

[Muddy]

Yes, the little bastards will get into the buds. Probably no real harm in smoking them but you can always remove any infested buds, do a water cure on them to remove any contaminants, and use it to make oil. With my outdoor photos I always do weekly sprayings of insecticidal soap as a preventative. Even still I get a few infested buds here and there. I just separate those and use them for oil.

I think you got them early enough that it shouldn't be a problem for you.

 

[cres]

IMO don't wipe again... Believe me if you dont live on the west coast(only).... then the No pest strips will work 100% you need nothing else... In a week the eggs will hatch and they will be dead instantly...

Use this as a learning curve... know the early signs... look for the tell tale spots, weekly check the undersides of your leaves... Know that anytime you bring a plant out then in you will bring them on board...

Everytime I bring a plant inside I assume it has a population of "critters", therefore I treat right away with a No pest strip...

We all know the fastest way to get bugs off your veggies.... put them in water with just a touch of salt... bugs let go of plant and head for the surface.... not sure if that holds true with buds and mites but I wouldnt hesitate doing it if it worked. I have never had an outdoor mite problem.

 

[Bandit]

Thanks everyone!

Muddy- I too feel as though I caught this pretty early. I have had no major damage to the plant and I dont see any buds that appear to have any mites. Like I said previously, not all the leaves had them, only certain leaves and they were concentrated to three main areas.

I am glad to be working on getting this behind me....

~bandit