Man trichomes are turning Amber last three picks are from harvested cola on Saturday. I could not take good pics of trichomes on plant due to sunlight the trichomes are reflecting and shining
Any chemicals used must be applied so strong to be effective that it kills or heavily damages most of the leaves and ruins yield. NEVER cut early, will make you so so sad, and without any buzz to comfort you.
Nothing stunts a plant and limits yield like losing leaves early ! ! ! Do NOT spray it, unless you are growing so many you cannot inspect each plant every 2 days, or better every day. P R E C I S I O N - R E M O V A L is the best battle plan after prevention. Do not enter your grow room in street clothes, Take a shower and change clothes ! ! ! Do not grow so many plants that they all must touch each other. They can spread 10X faster that way. I had to enter my place walking under a tree that had Spider Mites floating on long webs as the breeze blows. This is how they get around. I hate these little suckers so much !
Mite Hunting Procedures:
-Use a Microscope Eyepiece backwards for ultra high magnification. Use a swing arm drafting lamp and a 100W Equal CFL Lamp. Get heights of everything comfortable, or fatigue will impede your success. BTW - Microscope Eyepieces are THE BEST tool to allow you to Photograph right into the open end of the upside down eye piece, because the rays there are all parallel, and do not converge or diverge. Your camera can be any distance away from the eye piece. Oh my God the super magnification possible. I'll try to photo something this way for you soon.
-Shine light through each and every leaf and scan then undersides, ANY shadows from top side, turn leaf over and investigate it; mites sometimes sense danger and run from bottom side to top side of leaves. The CAN crawl almost as fast as an Ant when they want to. They can climb a plant from bottom to top in an hour. You will never be able to detect Mites on the highway of stems and branches, so inspect leaves at levery 2 days to win this battle.
-IF you find an adult Mite, it will have 8 legs, no longer 6. It has laid eggs for sure. 1 in 3 Mites are hermorphidites and need no mate at all. TAKE that WHOLE Fan Leaf OFF. Same if you see any black spots of Mite Poop; take off that whole fan leaf. It has stayed there long enough to indicate extreme risk for that leaf. Do a Reflected light inspection for Clear Sphere Eggs that you cannot see with light shining through from top to bottom. Mark that location with a twist of green twist tie so you can focus on nearby leaves for the spread of Mites.
-IF you see a single younger mite, remove with IPA soaked Q-Tips. Try not to cut off leaves or blades you do not need to remove. Hurts yield and vigor much.
-Take notes for each plant. How many single mites did you find? How many legs did they have? How many multiples found on a single blade or single fan leaf, who probably mated? How many blades did you remove? How many whole Fan Leaves? Mark each risk indicated branch with a twist of green wire tie.
Note as buds develop, Mites are impossible to completely eradicate, but you CAN keep them under control so not to lose your harvest. Too many hiding places in the buds to get them all off your plants. So take out their orgies, and any multiples take that whole fan leaf off. Do not allow them to breed!
Plants can handle this kind of precision leaf removal veg loss far better than any treatment sprays I have tried.
Oh ya, I have sprayed plants with 90% IPA Top and bottom. Burn the leaves bad, and you should evaporate it right back off with a strong fan immediately if you have done this. Young leaves can endure much without damage. Mature leaves are prone to damage from anything. I have sprayed H2O2 for White Power Mold, and learned Mite Massacre 1/2 strength is 100% effective at eliminating White Powder Mold, and does not hurt even the older leaves.