Controlling pests and ACTUALLY being organic

For years I've been involved in research, trials, and correspondence regarding controlling pests in marijuana, and I'm writing this post because I see the same problems again and again and I've seen methods that not only work without any chemicals but are also the most economical option. And, no pests.
I don't like to bash products but one thing is for sure, oils and soaps are really hard on the plant, stripping the natural wax off the plant and usually leaves them more vulnerable to pests. Pests seem to gravitate towards plants that have had soaps, sprays, or oils applied, because it is believed that the stressed plant releases stress pheromones which the pests can sense and are lured to. The other main issues with pesticides and chemicals is they rarely work due to resistances in the pests and they're also turning your climate into an unhealthy area, which is bad for you and the plant, and then you and your friends.

The other product I hate to love to bash is nematodes. They're a convenient product for producers, and a profitable one, because a) they can be stored in mass numbers on a shelf and b) they don't work and c) they don't survive in your soil so you need to buy them again next time, thus making it a more costly approach than even chemicals.

Let's list some common pests in this crop:
Fungus gnats - the adults/gnats are usually seen flying around. The adults themselves don't do any damage, but their offspring are currently eating your roots.
Thrips - usually you first detect the damage which is like spider mite damage except more straight lines as they scratch the leaves. You need a lot of thrips to do a lot of damage to your plant, so trapping goes a long way in keeping them in the annoying zone as opposed to the danger zone.
Spider mite - usually you first detect the damage and/or the webbing. Spider mite can quickly make a lot of ground on your plants and do a lot of damage.
Russet and broad mites - usually too small to see even with a hand lens, you'll first notice the damage which is often misdiagnosed as something else. Unfortunately, by the time you see the damage, you already have a huge population of these mites and its going to be expensive to correct it, which in most cases means its better just to take the infested plant and destroy it so they don't spread to other plants. But, they probably already have spread to other plants... which is why using beneficial insects early at a preventative rate is the most important step of natural (biological) pest control.

So those are the main ones. Now lets look at the best way to control them.
Fungus gnats - so easy. The predatory mite Stratiolaelaps scimitus (produced by most insectaries) applied to the soil as soon as you plant/seed. So typically if you're doing a big operation and you have a tray, 25 mites/sqft is plenty, which is 1ml of Stratiolaelaps. So, one 1L tube does 1000sqft. If you just have a few plants, I'd do a couple table spoons in each pot and then sprinkle the rest in around the grow area to tackle overwintering spider mites and other pests living in the floor and elsewhere. So, that's it for fungus gnats. If Stratiolaelaps is in, fungus gnats aren't seen again. You'll see Stratiolaelaps much more in this post because they really are the cornerstone of the biocontrol industry.
Thrips - can be tricky. Research indicates that Stratiolaelaps in the soil = 80% reduction of thrips population, because the Stratiolaelaps feed on the pupating thrips, breaking the cycle. The other biocontrol step is to use slow release Cucumeris sachets once every couple weeks or so (usually a dollar or so per sachet, produced by most insectaries) which slowly let out a predatory mite Cucumeris, which navigates the leaves and literally bites the heads off of emerging thrips instars. Lastly is trapping/luring the adults. Sticky traps, low in the crop because thrips are terrible flyers. You can also use a large shallow dish with water and a drop of soap in to break the surface tension. Put a lure of some sort like vanilla extract and you'll get a lot for almost no cost.. Thrips are rarely a dire problem, but if they have been an issue for you, using all three steps above will keep them under control. In my plants, I just use Stratiolaelaps and have sticky traps, never needed a mite on the leaves for thrips.
Spider mite - also super easy. Fallacis, fresh. Make sure you're getting fallacis and not californicus which is a useless predator. They're almost identical under a microscope, so make sure to make a point to your supplier that you know californicus isn't very good and that you need fallacis. Anyways, 0.2 fallacis mites per square foot, applied as soon as the first leaves come from a seedling, or as soon as a cutting is planted. A small bottle of 500 mites is good for 2500sqft. That should be it. Its such a good spider mite predator you shouldn't see any spider mites from then on. If the plants are super stressed, humidity is super dry, or you've used some chemical or oil that has repelled the fallacis, you can end up with areas where spider mite have taken hold. This is when Persimilis is there for the rescue. The only time Persimilis can't win a battle against even a severe spider mite infestation is when chemical residues are present, impairing or repelling the Persimilis. But, with a healthy crop, good watering and climate, and no chemical interference, one bottle of fallacis at the beginning will be all you need for that crop. I should also mention Stethorus, which is a spider mite-eating beetle which can FLY! But, I'd only recommend doing small introductions of Stethorus if you're growing in areas larger than 1 acre. Stethorus will fly and locate spider mite hot spots in large crops and take them out.
Broad and russet mites (eriophyid mites) -- these are tricky buggers because they can go unnoticed for so long until they're everywhere. But fortunately, if you have the above predators in the crop, Fallacis and Cucumeris both eat broad and russet mites. So if you do regular releases of Cucumeris or if you did your early inoculum of Fallacis, you won't have an issue with broad or russet mites.

Summary:
Ok, so if you want to follow my advice for controlling Fungus gnats, thrips, spider mites, and eriophyid mites, you need to introduce the following at the very start of new plants:
Stratiolaelaps scimitus (25/sqft)
Neoseiulus fallacis (0.2/sqft)
To make sure you have the upper hand on thrips, if thrips have been a common problem for your grow area,
Neoseiulus cucumeris (1 sachet/plant/2-3 weeks) Must have Stratiolaelaps in soil.
Other recommendations
Sticky Traps for monitoring what's flying around and also to catch adult thrips
If spider mites are found anywhere, Persimilis or Stethorus. Persimilis uses spider mite webbing as a highway. If you watch them under the scope it's pretty intense. The spider mite don't have a chance.
If pests are a common problem for you, introduce Dalotia coriaria once every 3 months. These guys will go down your drains and up to the vary top of your plant, eating almost all the pests. They're a good generalist predator to have around.
So, with the small release rates at the start of the life of the plant, this is a very affordable and cost effective method in controlling the most common pests. If the plants and climate are healthy and chemicals, soaps, and oils are kept away from the plants and room, the original Stratiolaelaps and Fallacis introductions should be all you need for the life of the crop.

One other note. A fabulous early detection method is to strategically plant bush beans amongst the crop. Bush beans are extremely attractive to thrips and spider mite, and the damage is easily seen on the leaves of the beans. So, if you have nice juicy green bush bean leaves with no damage, you don't have thrips or spider mite on your plants. If you notice thrips damage on the bush bean leaves, get cucumeris for the plants right away and make sure you're replacing your sticky traps when needed. If you notice spider mite damage, get some Stethorus or Persimilis in there.

Good luck, and please share your pest control or pest issues experiences below!
PS, the least economical method is IPM (using chemicals, soaps, oils alongside beneficial insects). It doesn't make sense if you think about it, does it? The good guys don't have resistances to the chemicals, but the bad guys do. A vicious, expensive cycle. You can do it all without chemicals.

And for the record, I am in the biocontrol production industry, which is how I learned most of this. I also take pride in being honest and not having biases. All this info is from decades of progress and feedback from professional growers and home growers. And I've seen a lot of success, and certainly a lot of momentum in more recent years with this approach to controlling pests in organic crops. Keep the chemicals out!

 

Hawaii?