Russet mite treatments

Hi all, I was gifted some cuttings of some nice varieties, but unfortunately the
cuttings came with these nasty little fuckers "Hemp russet mites". I am trying to salvage a couple
of plants to take some cuttings from. I don't plan on using the mother plants
to harvest flower so I am open to full on chemical attack. I have already done
a couple rounds of hort oil and a couple rounds of Avid and I have some clean
new growth, but I want to make sure I have eliminated them. Any suggestions would
be appreciated. I tell you clones can be nice, but I have never had any pests from
seedlings. From clones I have gotten hemp aphids and now russet mites. I work
around many commercial plant growers so I can access small amounts of many
professional miticides. Thanks
I normally use no pesticides and would just trash an infested plant although I have
never had bad pest issues, now bud rot is a different story. Florida in the natural
flower season is tuff. I have been more successful with autos in dryer seasons

Citric acid mix then dunk the clones

But them suckers are hard to get gone

I also treat all new cuts with citric acid from day one.

Lizard0420 said:

But them suckers are hard to get gone

Click to expand...

Yeah, I figure the boys that gave me the clones must of
had some mite spray program that was keeping them down.
So just dunk cuttings in the citric acid mix? We use to take ornamental
cuttings from cental America and dunk them in a hort
oil solution. What is your citric acid recipe? Thanks

There is doctor zymes you can buy that's what I use

It's pricey but others have said you can just buy citrus acid and mix your self think they said 1 teaspoon per gal idk on that tho

fredfreddead said:

Yeah, I figure the boys that gave me the clones must of
had some mite spray program that was keeping them down.
So just dunk cuttings in the citric acid mix? We use to take ornamental
cuttings from cental America and dunk them in a hort
oil solution. What is your citric acid recipe? Thanks

Click to expand...

I can't imagine people knowingly spreading pests & disease to others grow rooms. Some people just suck!

2 tsp citric acid in 1 quart water..

DrDukePHD said:

I can't imagine people knowingly spreading pests & disease to others grow rooms. Some people just suck!

Click to expand...

Don't think so much that, but a lot of times spray programs keep pest levels
down, but low levels are still there and the minute you stop treating they
come back with a vengeance.

HydoDan said:

2 tsp citric acid in 1 quart water..

Click to expand...

That's what I use for a clone dip too. 1 tsp citric acid is very close to 5 grams, so 10 grams in 1 liter makes a 1% citric acid solution. This works well but can damage some leaves, seems to be plant specific, it's also on the high end concentration wise, but that's what you want for Russet mites. Citric acid is very effective in the .05% to 1% range with .05% being 500mg per liter (i think). So you see, you can treat it hard to get rid of the bad stuff, then lighten up for preventive IPM. You also need to treat it every 3 days for 10 days min to really get rid of them. I spray the soil surface with it as well, but to be sure that none are left lurking in the soil, I use a neem soil drench every time I apply the foliar citric. Nasty little buggers.

Fyi, there is a study that shows increased plant growth (among other things) with 300 mg citric acid/liter. So I started using that in my weekly Neem spray and the plants seem to love it. Citric acid as a PH down is also quite underrated-it has so much to offer beyond just ph manipulation.

fredfreddead said:

Don't think so much that, but a lot of times spray programs keep pest levels
down, but low levels are still there and the minute you stop treating they
come back with a vengeance.

Click to expand...

If they are spraying regurarly to keep levels down, they know handing out a cut is probably transferring pests. Like if I sprayed for bedbugs & gifted a free mattress to friends... smh lol

Anyways I feel bad for you, sucks this happened to you bud. Hope you get it fixed!

DrDukePHD said:

If they are spraying regurarly to keep levels down, they know handing out a cut is probably transferring pests. Like if I sprayed for bedbugs & gifted a free mattress to friends... smh lol

Anyways I feel bad for you, sucks this happened to you bud. Hope you get it fixed!

Click to expand...

Interesting side note, this beauveria bassiana fungus is used as a biopesticide and is great for things like fungus gnats, AND it will completely eliminate a bed bug infestation without dangerous chemicals! https://www.arbico-organics.com/product/botanigard-22wp-beauveria-bassiana-mycoinsecticide/biopesticides-biological-pest-control

Rurumo said:

That's what I use for a clone dip too. 1 tsp citric acid is very close to 5 grams, so 10 grams in 1 liter makes a 1% citric acid solution. This works well but can damage some leaves, seems to be plant specific, it's also on the high end concentration wise, but that's what you want for Russet mites. Citric acid is very effective in the .05% to 1% range with .05% being 500mg per liter (i think). So you see, you can treat it hard to get rid of the bad stuff, then lighten up for preventive IPM. You also need to treat it every 3 days for 10 days min to really get rid of them. I spray the soil surface with it as well, but to be sure that none are left lurking in the soil, I use a neem soil drench every time I apply the foliar citric. Nasty little buggers.

Fyi, there is a study that shows increased plant growth (among other things) with 300 mg citric acid/liter. So I started using that in my weekly Neem spray and the plants seem to love it. Citric acid as a PH down is also quite underrated-it has so much to offer beyond just ph manipulation.

Click to expand...

Okay, thanks for the info. So just plain citric acid from Amazon? seems cheap enough and organic. Have you tried sulfur at all? I have not had any issues besides botrytis so I normally don't spray. Working on crop timing with autos to avoid bud rot, and late planting regular seedlings. Thanks

I heard sulfur works

Micronized Sulfur is hands down the best treatment for Russets in Veg. This bottle will last you years. You dont need any nuclear treatments like Avid, etc. It's almost comical how easy Russets are to eradicate in veg with sulfur.

waterproof808 said:

Micronized Sulfur is hands down the best treatment for Russets in Veg. This bottle will last you years. You dont need any nuclear treatments like Avid, etc. It's almost comical how easy Russets are to eradicate in veg with sulfur.

View attachment 5179183

Click to expand...

Thanks. Do you use it as a spray or dust?

I mix ~1tbsp with some water in a 32 oz bottle and spray. Try to get 100% coverage of the plant. It doesnt behave well with hort oils, so you may want to wait a week or two if youve applied oils recently.

waterproof808 said:

I mix ~1tbsp with some water in a 32 oz bottle and spray. Try to get 100% coverage of the plant. It doesnt behave well with hort oils, so you may want to wait a week or two if youve applied oils recently.

Click to expand...

Yeah, I was reading about it and oil. Good to know. Got to have that coverage when killing mites. I've been killing two spotted mite for years on ornamentals and it's a challenge. Lucky It's only a hand full of small plants, but hopefully I can salvage the GDP/purple urkle and a sativa I was gifted. Thanks

I also use micronized sulfur to eradicate mites. My garden was being destroyed by them because I thought at first it was a deficiency or PH issue and they were way out of hand when I finally realized what it was. I tried several products to no avail and only resorted to sulfur out of desperation. I had heard it would make my bud stink and ruin it, so I didn't use it until I had no other choice. When I finally gave in and used it, I went very light with it. Just two teaspoons per gallon of water, mixed with some spinosad. And you know what? One week and boom they were fucking dead. All of them. I sprayed three times in one week, and it was over. And because I went so dilute with it, 2 teaspoons instead of the recommended 2 tablespoons, there was no discernible smell or taste when I finally harvested some of my surviving bud. In fact, my friends who smoked with me complimented me on the taste of the bud. Said I outdid myself. I did one follow up spray the next two weeks, once per week, but I didn't really need to. It was over and done with that very first week. I still do an IPM spray every now and then, but haven't had issues with mites since. Mostly just spray my plants in veg now, and give them a good final spray when I shift them into flower. The sulfur stays on the leaves and armors your plants most of the way through flower, so no need to spray bud with it after that first initial infestation is over with.