mellokitty
Moderatrix of Journals
"the light.... it's so beautiful.... i can't help myself....." *BZZT*
20,000 Watt Medical Grow Op Construction
- Thread starter collective gardener
- Start date
collective gardener
Well-Known Member
Kitty is correct. There is a biological for just about everything. The problem with bios, I'm learning, is you have to trust them. My mites will get a little worse before they get better. I cannot spray. All I can do is HOPE that they will perform as advertised. If they do not, I'll lose this entire crop. By the time I realize that they are not working, it will be really bad. For this reason, we're getting 10,000 more on Monday. We're commited to these fellas.
TheLastWood
Well-Known Member
I'm sure they will work. If u buy mass qty like that they will pwn the mites. They gotta eat. Its actually probably one of the best ways to go considering plant safety. Letting em out in a warehouse is a little different than letting out 15000 bugs in your house.
Sr. Verde
Well-Known Member
I'm positive your crop will be fine man.
I mean, those predator mites have got to eat... That's every animals first priority.
No doubt if you have enough they will seek out all the spider mites and eggs and eat eat eat.
incognegro999
Well-Known Member
When they run out of food do they eat each other?
Wolverine97
Well-Known Member
I'm pretty sure they only eat the live ones, not the eggs. That's why you have to keep reintroducing them.
incognegro999
Well-Known Member
According to these guys some of em eat the eggs, but I dunno a damn thing about pred mites so take it with a grain of salt haha. Never heard of em b4 after seeing em on heredecided to read a little bit. http://www.hydro-gardens.com/spidermite.htm
Wolverine97
Well-Known Member
Yeah, on this I'm only going by what I've read. I can't claim certainty either.
NorthernLights#5
Active Member
I have used predators before and I got what the place called a tripple threat and some ate eggs some didnt, and the reason for reintroduction is the same as sprays to make sure you got everything.(IMO)
hellraizer30
Rebel From The North
what is a tripple threat? is that three different types in one or a specail?
NorthernLights#5
Active Member
Its three different types of predator mites
hellraizer30
Rebel From The North
ok cool, so each one feeds on the different stages of mite development?
NorthernLights#5
Active Member
Yeah that was my understanding of it, and they lay there own eggs so they are around for a bit until all mites are gone atleast they worked for me when I had a big break out in the 7th week of flower and I didnt want to use Azamax again.(after they got chopped I pulled everything out of the room and cleaned everything with Bleach)
hellraizer30
Rebel From The North
thanks for the info
collective gardener
Well-Known Member
Here's what I've learned about predatory mites over the last week. All of this info was given to me by the boys at Rincon Vitova Insectaries:
The mites will not eat each other. For this reason, they must be moved quickly to the grow room, lest they starve.
The "triple threat" offered by Tip Top Bio is three strains of mites. Persimillis is the most voracious predator and can consume 20 eggs, or 5 adult mites/day. It needs 60% humidity to flourish. The Californicus only eats 5 eggs/day, but can tolerate lower humidity levels and will live much longer without a food source. I'm not sure on the 3rd. What Tip Top Bio doesn't tell you is that Californicus will eat Persimillis eggs! Not only do you lose any breeding benefit, but the Californicus eats less bad mite eggs because it has Persimillis eggs to feed on. This may be the reason that many people do not like using bio controls. Tip Top Bio advertises heavily and most people buy the Triple Threat.
The bottom line is, unless you're willing to increase your humidity to AT LEAST 60%, go with the Califonicus. It may not eat as much, but it will definately survive and breed heavily.
Predators can outbreed 2 spotted mites 2/1. The females lay 3 eggs/day and live for about 20 days. We were told of a test done where a single pregnant female was placed in a 1/4 acre greenhouse infested with mites. It took several months, but the predators eventually out-populated and wiped out the mites. The standard application rate is 1-2 predators/sq ft of grow space. Infested grows require higher rates. We released 40 mites/sq ft.
We chose the Californicus to start because it will live and breed for sure in our 40% RH bloom room. I didn't want to raise the RH to 60% and trade mites for Powdery Mildew. Many of my plants are in the later stages of bloom and I've already had to cut off a couple buds with PM. These were most likely buds that got a splash of water while Helper D watered. Everytime I have raised RH above 40%, I've regretted it. If these bad boys can eat 5 eggs/day...that's 25,000 eggs per day!
On Monday we'll add 5000 more Californicus.
We will contine to add predator mites every week until I see no signs of any spider mites. We will probably add 1000 Californicus every month as a preventative. They only cost $25 for 1000. Once we go biological, we cannot use sprays. So, we'll also add ladybugs and a thrip predator as a prevention measure. If this regime works, I'll be thrilled. It's way easier than spraying and sooooo easy on the plants. We're lucky to have Rinco Vitova, a huge insect lab with lab geeks available to answer questions, a couple miles away. They have a huge catelog with every possible bio control you can think of.
The mites will not eat each other. For this reason, they must be moved quickly to the grow room, lest they starve.
The "triple threat" offered by Tip Top Bio is three strains of mites. Persimillis is the most voracious predator and can consume 20 eggs, or 5 adult mites/day. It needs 60% humidity to flourish. The Californicus only eats 5 eggs/day, but can tolerate lower humidity levels and will live much longer without a food source. I'm not sure on the 3rd. What Tip Top Bio doesn't tell you is that Californicus will eat Persimillis eggs! Not only do you lose any breeding benefit, but the Californicus eats less bad mite eggs because it has Persimillis eggs to feed on. This may be the reason that many people do not like using bio controls. Tip Top Bio advertises heavily and most people buy the Triple Threat.
The bottom line is, unless you're willing to increase your humidity to AT LEAST 60%, go with the Califonicus. It may not eat as much, but it will definately survive and breed heavily.
Predators can outbreed 2 spotted mites 2/1. The females lay 3 eggs/day and live for about 20 days. We were told of a test done where a single pregnant female was placed in a 1/4 acre greenhouse infested with mites. It took several months, but the predators eventually out-populated and wiped out the mites. The standard application rate is 1-2 predators/sq ft of grow space. Infested grows require higher rates. We released 40 mites/sq ft.
We chose the Californicus to start because it will live and breed for sure in our 40% RH bloom room. I didn't want to raise the RH to 60% and trade mites for Powdery Mildew. Many of my plants are in the later stages of bloom and I've already had to cut off a couple buds with PM. These were most likely buds that got a splash of water while Helper D watered. Everytime I have raised RH above 40%, I've regretted it. If these bad boys can eat 5 eggs/day...that's 25,000 eggs per day!
On Monday we'll add 5000 more Californicus.
We will contine to add predator mites every week until I see no signs of any spider mites. We will probably add 1000 Californicus every month as a preventative. They only cost $25 for 1000. Once we go biological, we cannot use sprays. So, we'll also add ladybugs and a thrip predator as a prevention measure. If this regime works, I'll be thrilled. It's way easier than spraying and sooooo easy on the plants. We're lucky to have Rinco Vitova, a huge insect lab with lab geeks available to answer questions, a couple miles away. They have a huge catelog with every possible bio control you can think of.
Wolverine97
Well-Known Member
I learn something new every day. Huh.
hellraizer30
Rebel From The North
thats killer info
collective gardener
Well-Known Member
While I was ordering our new bugs, one of the big wigs at my bug supplier asked us to come down and meet with him. They are aware of what we grow. They have asked us to assist them in developing a protocol for bio controls in an indoor cannabis grow room. We, of course, happily agreed. He convinced us how important it is to up our RH to help the predators do their job. I convinced jim how important it is to keep RH down to ward off Powdery Mildew. The solution is, they carry a bacteria that controls powdery mildew. It is mixed with water and sprayed on the plants. The spray is applied prior to applying a round of predators. The new insects can then stick to the leaves when applied with a salt shaker. Anyways, this was just one of several topics we discussed on the cannabis grower's specific needs. They want to start providing several protocols for cannabis growers. These would be for infestation control and prevention of most bio hazards in the grow room.
We toured the facility, which was amazing. These people know bugs! There are dozens of rooms, each with a specific environment. Some hot, some cold, some ultra humid, some dry. Each room houses a specific insect in a specific developement stage. Some insects are raised only as food for the insects to be sold. Given the amount of insects they carry, I now believe that sprays can be a thing of the past.
They gave us some Lacewing larvae. We put some on the plant's leaves and the little bastards went right under the leaf and started eating mite larvae within seconds. A single Lacewing larvae can consume 10,000 mites and/or eggs in its 3 week lifespan. The downside is that they do not reproduce well in the grow room. BUT, the larvae are only $35 for 500, and 5000 eggs can be had for $25. The lacewing will also eat aphids and thrips. Basically, it will eat everything it comes across. This also means predator's eggs (the adults are too fast). Because of this, they should only be used on plants heavily infested as a one time use.
I'll keep passing on the info as I get it. Rincon Vitova should have a complete cannabis grow room bio control protocol within a month or so. I'll post it here.
On another note. We are looking for finacially challenged critically ill cancer and AIDS patients to donate meds to free of charge. If anyone knows of someone or someplace I can contact to set up donations in So Cal, please PM me. Maybe some sort of outreach center, or something? Thank you all for trying.
We toured the facility, which was amazing. These people know bugs! There are dozens of rooms, each with a specific environment. Some hot, some cold, some ultra humid, some dry. Each room houses a specific insect in a specific developement stage. Some insects are raised only as food for the insects to be sold. Given the amount of insects they carry, I now believe that sprays can be a thing of the past.
They gave us some Lacewing larvae. We put some on the plant's leaves and the little bastards went right under the leaf and started eating mite larvae within seconds. A single Lacewing larvae can consume 10,000 mites and/or eggs in its 3 week lifespan. The downside is that they do not reproduce well in the grow room. BUT, the larvae are only $35 for 500, and 5000 eggs can be had for $25. The lacewing will also eat aphids and thrips. Basically, it will eat everything it comes across. This also means predator's eggs (the adults are too fast). Because of this, they should only be used on plants heavily infested as a one time use.
I'll keep passing on the info as I get it. Rincon Vitova should have a complete cannabis grow room bio control protocol within a month or so. I'll post it here.
On another note. We are looking for finacially challenged critically ill cancer and AIDS patients to donate meds to free of charge. If anyone knows of someone or someplace I can contact to set up donations in So Cal, please PM me. Maybe some sort of outreach center, or something? Thank you all for trying.
TheLastWood
Well-Known Member
Cg, ur the shit.
Keep up the amazing work man!
Keep up the amazing work man!