FYI Found Hemp Russet Mites. Thanks
@hyroot for helping identify. EASY to mistake thier damage for deficiency but there are a few signs I missed that would signal them. Here is what I missed:
-tacoing leaves (this is where microscopic eggs are left.)
-if the "deficiency" works from bottom up it IS russet mites
-dulling of the color of the main stem.
-leaves yellowing and not responding to nutrients. even using salts (SURE fire sign. if you feed liquid nutrients and do not see the deficiency get m
I mistook it for calcium deficiency or bud end rot. I have checked my notes. Here is what I found. November in the first two weeks of flower I noticed a "deficiency" getting bad. I sprayed really well for a few weeks. No pesticide just labs and some other goodies and soap, yucca extract. The "deficiency" went away and left just lowers damaged. I thoughts it was just from the spray. fast forward to coming back from Christmas vacation in AZ. plants are near finished and it looks like the "deficiency" had taken hold a bit again on the lowers. It cut my over all yield in half. I kept thinking it was something I did wrong in mixing my soil. (ive mixed the same way for over two years with consistent results).
Long story short here I am. I hit them last night with a deadly mix twice. I scoped samples from all of them and no movement. I will be continuing the heavy battle with them in the coming days. Here is what is in store:
-Every day will load spray with water and spray them down heavily to start with.
-I will alternate between 3-4 products over the next two weeks.
-Take down spray (canola and pyrithren)
-Habanero and garlic water
-Dr Zymes Eliminator (its an enzyme that digests the outer skeleton of mites)
-Method-1
-Also be using peppermint and Eucalyptus oil in my mixes with Dawn soap.
Ill let you know how it goes. Probably going to release 6000 or so predator mites onto my property this year also as a preventative. From my reading. These are relatively "new" and have been gaining steam in CA and OR over the past few seasons. The one article I read says these russets will become more of a prevalent problem than spider mites ever were.
What strains are you running this time? I can only read a few of your labels
