Spider Mites in Veg rm. It's frickin winter! BAttle Plan need some advice Please.

Being a noob grower I never thought I'd get spider mites in the winter especially when its been below freezing for at least 2 months and there's about 3 foot of snow on the ground. BUT I frickin got em and being a noob I didn't realize what it was till I saw webs... so I got em bad..

Heres the set up. Dual closet DWC tote grow, one side flower other side veg. The flower room has one tote with 3 beautiful Northern Lights that have about 2 to 3 wks till finished. These are what must be protected. The good news is I haven't seen any mites in the flower room. yet..

The veg room has 2 totes, one with clones from the NL and the other has 3 mature White Widow (about 14" tall and bushy as hell) that are infested. The clones also have a few but not nearly as bad as the WW. One of the WW is nearly dead from the bastards... I sprayed all the undersides of the clones leaves with water. The mites dissapeared but a few returned a couple hours later so they got another bath, Does the water kill the bastards or just mess them up for awhile? I also lowered the room temp to about 55 for a few hours let it climb back up to about 65 then lower it again. With all the sprayin the humidity is up around 60%

BATTLE PLAN
First off I'm broke as hell so buying anything is not an option for a few days. I do have iso alcohol and bleach.
Everything tells me to remove the WW tote and put it out in the snow bank BUT by removing the mites preferred source of food (the WW) will that guarantee an infestation of the NL clones and/or flower room... They can have the WW if they'll leave my NL alone.. lol

Since the veg room is infested would spraying it down with an alcohol water mix every day for a wk or so with a good bleach cleaning kill these bastards or a least keep their numbers down till the buds finish or will they just run on over to the flower side and invade my babies? I realize the flower room will eventually become infested I just want to slow it down as much as possible.

Everything I've read says to isolate the infected plant but I cant find anyone with this situation and I would hate to infest the flower room prematurely... I rambled on long enough if you've read this far I really appreciate it and sure need some advice. Peace!

First off bro, let me say I feel your pain.
I would very gently remove the ww that are infected. Be gentle...you dont want to shake off any mites. This is where most of the eggs are and the eggs are the bitch of it. Alcohol and water pretty much vaporizes the adults, but wont kill the eggs. Getting them out of there reduces the amount of rouge mites that you will have to kill.
Then begin to use the alchol and water twice a day, once at lights on and just before they go off. The alcohol will kill mites before they can lay more eggs and break the cycle if you keep up with it. That's what I'd do. As soon as you get a few dollars get some neem oil and start that regimen..........Hope this helps, good luck.
peace B

remove the largest most affected plants asap. w/ h20, carefully blast the underside of your flowering plants with a larger sprayer that has some kick (do not soak buds). no, h20 won't harm the mighty mite, but it will impede their progress slightly. you'll be fine w/ your flower because you're almost done.

discontinue introducing new cuttings (and mites) from outside sources until you have these healthy. or just start over w/ unaffected material or seeds. sanitize. cold temps may slow them down some, as well as your plants too. btw - i've seen them live through freezing temps overnight.

NEEM Products like Einstein Oil and a few drops of wetting agent should regularly be sprayed (1 or 2x/wk) on your veg for months! cover them, focus on the leaf underside. spray h2o the rest of the time (+maybe some peppermint/cinnamon oil). after a few apps they will shine w/ an oily gloss... "neem babies". don't get too carried away because this can stunt the growth of the plants. Neem will interrupt their reproduction cycle. other essential oils can be used to make your plants undesirable to critters. also cayenne and tobacco. discontinue neem towards beginning of flower. it's very difficult to get rid of mites. constant foliar apps will payoff and they will die-off eventually. go light, the oil will accumulate. good luck

LY,

The above recommendations may work, however, I didn't have the patience to go that route when I got those fuckers. And I got that "West-Coast Super Mite" from some clones I had shipped from a friend in Oregon. That particular variety of SM are notorious for having developed a resistance to typical treatments and the usual miticides (Azatrol, Avid, etc.) I would save yourself the headache and buy some Floramite. Its the only miticide readily available to the public right now that zaps those fuckers quickly. I type with such vitriol as to express my exceptional distaste for those "bud-sucking" vermin.

I won't pretend, that shit is EXPENSIVE; like $300 a quart. BUT, you can usually get it from some clever entrepreneurs on ebay that figured out that the average home grower only needs around an ounce of that shit to mix up enough batches to treat small indoor gardens (i.e. they buy a quart for $300, then sell 32 ounces @ $20 a pop and make $340 profit.) Long story short, everybody wins. They make money and small time hobby growers can kill those fucking bugs without having to invest in enough miticide to kill a cornfields worth.

I'm not plugging sales for anyone, but I did a search and found this one for you on ebay. Feel free to buy it anywhere you find it. Link to Floramite on Ebay

When I bought mine, it shipped out of So Cal, but I guess that guy's not doing it anymore because that state has a giant vadge for a government and it's illegal there now. No offense to any Cali residents

Also, if you are from Cali, you might be shit out of luck as far as getting the stuff because no one will ship there, again, for legal reasons. If you're not in Cali, then this is what I recommend.

When I used this shit, they were ALL DEAD in two weeks - adults, eggs, larva - every one.
Twenty bucks and you only have to spray like twice or dunk in a 5 gallon bucket (which I prefer to ensure total coverage) if your plants are small enough. Also, pull all of the plants out of the veg room and give every surface a good spray down of this stuff. And heres the kicker, you DO NOT have to get rid of any of your plants, except that WW if you have other copies and you think its almost dead. This way you aren't loosing any of your favorite strains to bugs. If they do make their way over to the flowering closet, then Safer Bio-Neem is a good route to stifle an infestation, but avoid spraying the buds at all cost.


A few notes on safety:
DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES USE THIS STUFF ON FLOWERING PLANTS!!!

And rinse plants well after mites are gone. Wait 1-2 weeks before flowering them.
Wear gloves, safety glasses and multiple long sleeve layers when applying. You might wear a poncho if you got one. And don't plan on using any of the stuff again, (i.e. gloves, bucket, spray bottle) This shit is TOXIC!!! But it works and you wont be in your veg room spraying neem everyday and picking off bugs for three hours a day for the next three months

If Neem and insecticidal soap = Diplomacy with spidermites, then Floramite = The A-Bomb



CM

I like FORBID better than Floramite (I use both), but Forbid was already illegal there since late last year.

Nothing works better than these 2, nothing.

Sorry for you guys in Ca.

Wet

Wetdog said:

I like FORBID better than Floramite (I use both), but Forbid was already illegal there since late last year.

Nothing works better than these 2, nothing.

Sorry for you guys in Ca.

Wet

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If you have a bad mites problem, spend $8 and get a Hot Shot No-Pest Strip. Put it in your grow box with the extraction fan Off.

Don't EAT the No-pest Strip, don't sleep with it next to you.

It kills Mites.

Thanks for the replies they are greatly appreciated. For now the garden is in my bedroom so the pest strips aren't an option. The WW will be gently removed today, I think I can get a big garbage bag to go right over the tote and all. Seal em in before I move them. I haven't cut any clones from it yet due to the number of plants I can legally posses in Mi (12). It's a bummer to have to lose them but the borg got to go. After about an hours search with my loupe I did find 4 borg on the flowering NL Killed em with fingers but I'm sure there's more. I have been smoking since the late 70's so I'm sure I've smoked a couple pounds of mites already but I never knew it... This sucks to know my beautiful babies are being sucked of their vital juices as I type!!!

Called the hydro store and they carry Azamax (sp?) They claim to have had great success with it but ya know how that goes. They would order the Floramite for me but I was just fishin for prices till I get some coin saved up. The azamax w/ wetting agent is around 25 bucks. For now good ole water and iso will have to surfice. Eventually I will order some floramite, probably from ebay.

As for the NL clones I have got to try and save them. I got the sativa pheno of the NL and they are very hardy plants. I started them w/ the WW and they dominated and were much easier to grow. Haven't tried the smoke yet but the buds look like it should be really good. The clones are small enough that I'm hoping I can get rid of the borg. When the NL is finished I'll move the clones to another location and give both rooms a through cleaning maybe even bomb the place.

My goal in growing is to eventually have it perpetual where I can harvest about every 2 wks. I'm sure glad I'm not at that stage right now cause I could see how these mother fckers could mess that all up. What a nightmare and with my limited experience I would have probably gave up. But now I know and this will definitely be a learning experience. A mite prevention regimen will also be a major part of my gardening from now on.

You can cover your plants with garbage bags and inject C02 into the bags. It will kill the spider mites.

Good Luck

Get that bug killer for plants they sell at hydroshops.. And give your plants a nice foliar feed of poison..

Yeah Co2 can work w/ the small stuff if u can find a tank. Those other chemicals mentioned are rather harsh. Pyrethrum (chrysanthemum) sprayed into a sealed garbage bag containing small plants will take most of em out. still, thats is nasty stuff. yes it can burn your plants so be careful. then still, every little critter remaining will find its way back to your foliage.

Azamax (neem-ish product) should get you back into shape in about 3 wks. I doubt that you've actually smoked many mites... when you hang your flowers upside down those suckers immediately go toward the top of the plant again even if its only the stem... then run off into your home. try to hang stuff far away. also consider wiping some goo onto the stem, like heavy vaseline, and they will get stuck and collect there.

I would snag the Forbid over the Floramite first. It is just easier to use. Like I said, I have both to alternate treatments, but after 1 treatment of Forbid, there have been no mites. Period!

Cost is the same and don't trash your plant. 99.9% the rest of them are infected also, but no big deal to treat in veg and no multiple treatments necessary, just one.

Wet

Azamax (neem-ish product) should get you back into shape in about 3 wks. I doubt that you've actually smoked many mites... when you hang your flowers upside down those suckers immediately go toward the top of the plant again even if its only the stem... then run off into your home. try to hang stuff far away. also consider wiping some goo onto the stem, like heavy vaseline, and they will get stuck and collect there.

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Thanks for the info. glad to know they leave once the plant is harvested/dead. I have heard this, always good to hear it from others IS it best to hang the whole plant or can you manicure and hang the buds?

I destroyed the WW Once I carefully got them to the garage I cut em down and torched the bastards in the wood stove. Made a 50/50 mix of iso and water with a couple drops of dish soap and sprayed the clones. After first spray almost all were gone. After 20 minutes I hit em again... 20 minutes I couldn't find a one.... That was last night, Today I only found 4 after about an hours search. Hit them again with the alcohol water mix. Plants did OK from the alcohol mix, one larger shade leave appears to have gotten burnt but all in all they handled it well. I sprayed the hell out of em.

EDIT.... I missed Wets post...

I would snag the Forbid over the Floramite first. It is just easier to use. Like I said, I have both to alternate treatments, but after 1 treatment of Forbid, there have been no mites. Period!

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I do plan on getting some if not both. The WW was so infested the plants were almost dead. At first I thought it was a water problem cause I never figured I could get mites in the winter, rookie mistake! With the Forbid do you have to spray the undersides of each leaf or is it even a spray? lol... The reason I ask is the WW was so bushey it would have been near impossible to spray the undersides of every leaf.

One of the nice things about the Forbid is that it will translocate to the bottom of the leaf. So just hitting the tops will suffice. You also don't have to pH the water.

You get much less for the same $$$ compared to the Floramite, but 1/4oz makes 12 gallons of solution. I only make up at qt at the time (~4 DROPS) and that is enough for 2 moms and ~15 clones. The normal mix is 1/8 tsp/gallon of water. First application is 1/4 tsp/gallon. STRONG STUFF!!!!!!

I hit clones a couple days before 12/12 and have never had mites in flower.

Wet

Neem, neem, neem, aza max is like a concentrate but I was told that if you dont kill 100% of the fuckers they will develop a resistance to it, has any one had this problem? Also mites favor the same conditions as buds do, very dry air and warm temps, spraying water impedes them yes, also promotes bud mold, its a catch 22! Has anyone tried that Ed Rosenthal organic pesticide, it smell like a greek salad, I dont know the full effectiveness yet though? Oh and I've tried lady bugs too, they arent 100% as most of em are chasing pussy instead of eating mites, but they definately knocked the mites numbers down, and I liked the thought of tiny carniverous beetles hell bent on eating small parasites, works great on flowering plants where you dont really want to spray anything that would affect the flavor of your buds, just dont use pesticide and ladybugs at the same time!

i definitely recommended azamax if you cant get floramite or Forbid. it and azatrol (both azadirachtin) were developed to combat the Mendo mite. the mendo mite, west coast mite, or super mite evolved from the use of avid (abamectin).

Yes, you MUST vary your treatments or the mites will build a resistance in no time flat. Any one thing will become useless if you keep using it and nothing else. Or, if you over use something, like too strong a mix, or more often than called for. Both of these are typical noob mistakes and will just make your borg problem worse by breeding resistant mites.

Both the Forbid and Floramite have a ~28 day residual effect. The biggest noob mistakes with these are making them too strong and worse, applying something else (usually the other mitacide) during this 28 day period. Doing this is just shooting yourself in the foot.

BTW, in another life, long ago, I was a Licensed Applicator and know a little about working with this stuff.

Wet

Those are good reminders to avoid the super-mite that i've heard about in Holland and Cali..
above post gets me thinking how those super-mites came into existence. great tips.

Also Yoop- you may want to hang em whole for a bit even if it takes more time to dry (may help you in winter w low humid). The mites will run up the stem of your upside-down plant and this gives you a chance to collect them. they really don't "leave". they run up and off the plant hanging, then make their way back to any other plants that you have. try the vaseline thing. cut-off fan leaf and dispose because that's where your largest remaining population will exist.

damn, wish i had all this info when i first started. peace

Where are you in MI?
I can hook you up with some neem, and pyrethrin I know what its like being a broke grower.

A neem coating wont kill the mites but it makes it so they can't reproduce. Once the mites die off, there eggs will hatch and eat the neem and never lay eggs. You have to be meticulous though and cover every leaf.

pyrethrin will kill the mites and is natural.

Yes. Spider mites. I've had them. Easy to get rid of. Use TAKE DOWN (4 tsp per lt), NEEM OIL (1 tsp per lt) and a tsp of fragrance-free liquid soap. Spray on leaves- ESPECIALLY under leaves. Do this every three days for two weeks. End of story.

if youre in metro detroit ive got neem, floramite sc, and pyrethrins. you can also make tobacco tea which is very cheap, and very toxic to the mite. be careful, nicotine is bad shit...

http://www.ehow.com/how_5930481_make-tea-ground-soil-pests.html


also, got plenty of azamax.