i am not a first time grower and i have had problems with spider mites in the past... but this time they are out of control! i've removed the plants that have been affected the most. i've neem oiled undersides, topsides, sidesides of the ones left (every 14 days or so).. and they still seem to be there!!! Neem oil usually works super, but not this time. maybe i should mix a stronger batch??? i've also fingered my girls more than i want, to try to pinch them to their hungary little deaths!!! the girls (bc god and kush) are on a rotating cycle so it's not just cut them down, clean it up, and done... Does anyone here have any other suggestions???
Pyrethrin foggers are a great way to deal with spider mites. Yopu can get them in aerosal cans that come in various sizes depending on size of the room. Doktor Doom pyrethrum Insecticides - Plantlighting Hydroponics & Grow Lights
I've just surrendered to managing them, I use Takedown once a week and that seemed to reduce them to the point where I really had to look for them, I tried going two weeks between Takedown applications, about day 10 I noticed they were on there way to out of control so now its every 7 days, I'm looking for something to cycle in with Takedown. I also buy Preying Mantas's from OSH, I pick up a carton of 2 egg's every week or so, they hatch when they want to so your on there time table, I like the effectivness when 200-300 hatch, but there never ready when I need them and sometimes the eggs never hatch and you can't use any poisins for a week or 2 before. And then if your using CO2 theres that trick of O.D.ing your plants out once a month for an hour, from what I read it is extrememly effective against many pests and shows no signs of injurying the plant. At least for me, Spidermites are like the gopher to Carl
agreed man, once spider mites are in your grow.... they don't go easily. I had them for four years in my grow. I'd use the hot shot no pest strips which would keep em at bay but as soon as it was time for a new one, the mites' numbers would surge up quickly.
I'm going to give that a try, do you prep your room/area, example remove the light to keep it from getting on the bulb or do you just pull the pin & toss it in when the light is off?
You can also use nicotine. I'm planning on using it myself tomorrow. All you do is collect 3 or 4 cig buds and leave them in 400 ml of water for 24 hours. The water should have a ice tea look to it. If it is too dark just add more water till it looks like ice tea. After it looks like ice tea you can poor it through a filter, i use a coffee filter. Then just poor the water into a spray bottle and spray every little corner of the plant.
I wouldn't position it to hit the reflector just in case it leaves any residue. Lights off would be the best time. The stuff is great. Just pull the trigger on a piece of cardboard, leave it for 6-12 hours (may say less but I give it 12 hours) and you should be all set for a while. They will probably creep back in just as they would with other prodducts but its easy and will give you a good chunk of mite free gardening
I read in another forum to do the co2 thing .... so i tried it today.. took a couple tries but it did work... on the other forum they said 20 min at 5000 ppm co2 I tried to do that to my whole room but the gas seemed to stay up towards the top of the room. So what i did was tape a garbage bag around the plant i wanted to treat and filled the bag up around the plant with co2 hose inside to feed it fresh every few minutes and left it for about and hour...u could probably do less but i wanted to make sure....(almost out of gas from the previous 3 attempts) At the end i used my magnifier to see if i could see of the little bastards moving and i couldnt find a single one alive on any of the leaves. if i could treat my whole room id be in the game but im happy with this small victory.. Also going to try some different kinds of predatory mites and green lacewings Peace out hope this helps
Hey u need to do a good thorough spray every 48 hours for a weekor 2 and spray your soil as well , get scented fly strips if that dont work, get ladybugs they will eat them quickly-if u release lots
Thanks!! i've heard about using ladybugs, that's the next thing i'm going to try. for now neem oil seems to be working.. i've also tried messing with humidity, lowering the temps, and changing the motion of my fans.. i've read in a horticulture book; spider mites don't thrive well when you mess with the environment and continue using neem oil. i've got to get rid of them!! it drives me crazy when i'm working in there and i see something so small attacking my girls. life's a garden, dig it!
