Help! Spider mites all over my buds!

I've been battling spider mites for some time now so I figured that with my new plants I'd do it right. When the plants were just clones, I dunked them in Safers Soap solution that I freshly mixed, all the way up to the roots. I then repeated this procedure two more times over the next two weeks until they were too big for me to do this anymore. From then on I just sprayed them down about once a week with the Safers Soap solution. I thought I had the problem licked because I didn't see a single mite for several weeks going into flower. Now that the buds have developed, the mite population has exploded very quickly. I have no idea where the hell they came from but I don't know what to do! I'm afraid to use anything on the plants at this stage as I only have a week or so before harvest. The little bastards are spinning webs all around the buds and cocooning them; it's like a damn horror movie.

What are my options? I'm at a loss for what to do. My only thought was spraying them with some diluted rubbing alcohol because it doesn't leave behind a chemical residue and evaporates rather quickly so it won't cause the buds to rot or be covered with pesticide, but I don't know if that's even a good idea.

HELP PLEASE!

Neem tree oil work well this close to harvest. Initial application and then every 3 days until harvest.

Do everything listed above + get some lady bugs. They should eat whatever the spray doesn't kill

I knew I was saving those No Pest strips for a rainy day! Only reason I never used em was that I was concerned about the fumes since my fan exhaust goes into my living room area rather than to the outside. But I'm willing to do it for a few days at this point. I didn't know you could directly spray buds with neem either - does that give them a horrendous smell/taste?

About all the webbing and stuff, is there any particular way I should deal with that? Or just pick it all off by hand as much as possible?

Little Tommy said:

Neem tree oil work well this close to harvest. Initial application and then every 3 days until harvest.

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you dont wanna spray neem oil on buds.thats a bad idea.

Why would you not use the neem tree oil. It is completely natural and biodegradable. I have been using as needed for years and cannot tell any difference in the quality of the final product.

maybe I'll test the neem on 1 or 2 buds just to see what happens. I'd hoped to avoid getting them wet and creating the potential for rot but I don't have much choice now, these things are making crazy webs. I also have the no pest strip hung amongst the plants at night when my fans and exhaust are off. Then during the day, I put it in a ziplock bag in the fridge as per your recommendation frmrboi.

Do you know approximately how long I will need the No Pest strip for before these things are toast?

Redoctober said:

Do you know approximately how long I will need the No Pest strip for before these things are toast?

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They'll die overnight but the they'll have eggs layed that will hatch out more, you gotta keep at 'em.
You can see them moveing around if they're still alive.

hi,
Those strips are a good idea.
I live near the equator and i get all kinds or molds, bugs,eggs on my buds and leaves.Ive also had little caterpillars that get inside the buds and make it rot from inside out.Because i live near jungle and theres few shops i use 3ml of 3% h2020 (hydrogen peroxide) to 1 litre,and crush about 2 cloves of garlic.This may sound basic but its what the locals do and it definately helps me.Cos your so close to harvest its a tricky one,if the buds look awfull and unsmokeable,try it ,if not smoke some webby weed!!(if you try, spray the mix all over every part of plant,even growing medium.kills unwanted soil life too.

frmrboi said:

http://www.epinions.com/reviews/Hot_Shot_No_Pest_Strips

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frmrboi,
I've heard these work. I'm gonna try em out. Sounds like they would be good for the last couple of weeks when I don't want to spray.
How close do they have to be? Will I have to put them above the canopy? or can they be a few feet away?

EvlMunkee said:

Will I have to put them above the canopy? or can they be a few feet away?

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either will work, as long as you aren't exhausting your room, and yes they do indeed work.

frmrboi said:

either will work, as long as you aren't exhausting your room, and yes they do indeed work.

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thanks
I exhaust 24/7 for odor control. All i can do is dial it down and maybe hang some extra strips.
I just read a 10 page thread on it and 95% of the people that used it loved it.
My problem is not severe yet but they are 2 wks from cutting so I just want to hold them at bay for a little while. After harvest, I'll go nuclear on their ass.

Redoctober said:

About all the webbing and stuff, is there any particular way I should deal with that? Or just pick it all off by hand as much as possible?

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Those little 12v car vacs do a good job of sucking off the webs. You can use a shop vac but it may suck off more than you want.

EcoSmart garden pesticide from home depot about 6 bucks. Check out the ingredients
Rosemary oil ( primary ingredient in sns217 at 60 a bottle yeah right)
clove oil
thyme oil
and dishsoap basically
works just as well as any other high priced and overhyped product and in conjuction with a hot shot nps my problems are under control , almost eradicated in just a few days

Get some Liquid Ladybug

I just sprayed a test patch of buds with a light dusting of a solution that I concocted made up of 1000mL water, 3 cloves garlic and a light dusting of ground cinnamon all mixed in a blender (inspired by buddha webb's suggestion). On top of that I sprayed another light second coat of a product that I had picked up at Home Depot called Organocide that had worked decently well for me in the past and is supposedly vary safe and all organic. The ingredients listed are:

active ingredient:
sesame oil 0.1%

inactive ingredients:
edible fish oil 1.84%
lecithin .06%
water 98%

(kinda sounds like the sort of thing you could make at home with some sesame oil and an omega 3 fish oil vitamin. I didn't know sesame oil kills mites; useful tip)

Hopefully this does something. Additionally, I am hanging the No Pest strip every night when I am not exhausting the room. So far the No Pest strip alone has not slowed them down at all, but it's only been 2 days and I only use it during the dark phase. I think for it to be more effective I'd have to not exhaust the room at all like frmrboi said, and leave it in there for a few weeks. At this point, that's not really feasable, but maybe for next time around that's what I'll do.

If you can move it by a wasp nest and levee for a few days. Had A plant that I was gone for 5 days and came back it was 1 big tent I put it out side to burn but the next day it was cover with wasps 5 day layer It was clean no mites no eggs just watter at night wasps do not fly at nigh are when it cold

heres my mite arsenal....i hate those fuckers
and just recently added Azamax
just keep at it and dont give up...when u dont see any for a while, give em' hell a little more

If you can move it by a wasp nest and levee for a few days. Had A plant that I was gone for 5 days and came back it was 1 big tent I put it out side to burn but the next day it was cover with wasps 5 day layer It was clean no mites no eggs just watter at night wasps do not fly at nigh are when it cold

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Wow, that's really cool! Too bad I dislike wasps. That's neat that they tore up the webs too. I've heard lacewing flies are also mite predators. There are several beetle species that are all close relatives of the ladybug that also eat mites. One new one on the market are known as "spider mite destroyers" and they are essentially small, black ladybugs that eat up all the mites. I think I'm gonna order some for next time. They're kinda pricy but I plan on keeping them as pets so that I always have a supply on hand when I need to deploy em.

heres my mite arsenal....i hate those fuckers

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haha, that looks almost identical to my shelf of pest control supplies!