Greetings all..hoping for some expert advice/suggestions on my spider mite problem. I'm 4 weeks into flowering. Indoor hydroponic (specifically bubbleponic) 10 gallon undercurrent system with 2 plants in this crop. Everything looked great, no major signs of any problems, except maybe the tips of the fan leaves were a little brown. Didn't think much of it initially. Buds look good...growing nicely with lots o' crystals. Ph is regulated daily to 5.6. PPM runs around 1800 with botanicare nutes. The other day I was looking at the trichomes under a microscope...just for fun...and a spider mite jetted across the field of view....ahhh..what the hell!!! I immediately began inspecting the plants more thoroughly. Pulled some fan leaves and looked underneath...sure enough black dots. No major signs of webbing...but I did see one or two uppon a deep inspection. Inspection of the black dots and more of the fan leaves under microscope reveals more spider mites. All different colors. Black...green...clear....grrrrrrr. Alright...because I'm already into flowering, a pesticide was not ideal. So I went to may local shop and bought some 1500 Lady Bugs. Let those mothers go to work. Its been about 3 days with the lady bugs on the clock. The floor of the room is now littered with lady bugs..some dead...some just hanging out probably waiting to die. An inspection of a leaf still shows mites. Alive and kicking. Here's my question....should I remove all the fan leaves? I'm thinking this will drastically reduce the "feeding area" of the mites, reduce their population and help the ladys erradicate. or is this Lady Bug attempt a fools errand and I need to use a pesticide? Thoughts? Here are some pics.
By all means stay Organic, use NEEM OIL, but not so close to harvest as is an acquired taste Never remove any leaves whilst the plant is alive, see ladybugs as a great deterrent, but lousy defense
Spray the underside of leaves with WATER in a garden sprayer at the highest pressure you can pump it to. Use these. (These should not be in a room occupied by humans or pets for more than 4 hours.) http://www.amazon.com/Hot-Shot-5580-Unscented-Repellent/dp/B0019BK8AG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1371853647&sr=8-1&keywords=hot+shot+pest
DO NOT USE PEST STRIPS!!! Those things are DANGEROUS and made with a "first cousin" to nerve gas! Why the heck do you think a living being should not be in the same room with them for more than 4 hours? Some titles from PubMed about Dichlorvos /DDVP, the active ingredient in the pest strips- Alterations in gene expression in Caenorhabditis elegans associated with organophosphate pesticide intoxication and recovery. (DDVP messes with genes) Risk assessment of mouse gastric tissue cancer induced by dichlorvos and dimethoate. ("mouse gastric tissue, exposed in the long-term to low doses of dichlorvos and dimethoate, has the potential to become cancerous". "Long term low doses", maybe like you would get smoking contaminated pot?) The pesticide dichlorvos disrupts mitotic division by delocalizing the kinesin Kif2a from centrosomes. (DDVP screws up cell division!) Do you need more? PubMed has well over 1000 studies on DDVP! For a SAFER way to kill mites, try Dr. Bronner's Peppermint Soap (your health food store will have it). A $5 bottle will treat 100s of plants and it rinses off easily with tepid water! No poisonous residues or nasty neem flavor! http://voices.yahoo.com/how-rid-spider-mites-houseplants-2826829.html Granny
@Spid3r mite: Thanks for the reply...but I'm gonna stay away from the strips. @vostok: What is considerred "too close to harvest?" @Storm Crow: Thanks. Peppermint soap....hmmmm...ok. I'll see if I can find some.
Thank You for the heads up of Hotshot, Storm, (rerthophosphate) but fail to call Neem Oil a 'nasty' flavor, but more of an 'acquired' taste, I recommend that you don't use Neem within the last 2 weeks of harvest, and I'd advise you to do the same with the ever flavorsome Peppermint soap too !!!