Spider mites - plan of action. Please comment

AloeRuss

Well-Known Member
Hi all
My girls are 4 weeks in vegge, just about a week away from being switched to flowering.
However, I detected an infestation of spider mites. All look nice and green otherwise.
Right now they are about 20 inches in leighnt.
After long research and deliberation here is what I decided to do.

Mix a tub with avid solution. Since it is their transplant time, I will submerge a plant into a solution. Let it sit it the tub for 5 seconds and plant it into its new home (5 gallon bucket). All of this action will be done under green light with the main lights being off. I will let them dry for about 9 hours and turn the main lights on.

What do you guys think. Please comment as I cannot afford to do a major errors in my garden right now.
Thank you
 

chernobe

Well-Known Member
I use azamax, 2-3 applications 2-3 days apart. In an extreme case ill use organicide wich has fish oil and can suffocate eggs.
 

colonuggs

Well-Known Member
In a 32 oz spray bottle of water.....add 7-8 drops of Avid & 3-4 drops Forbid..... spay your plants once is usually all you need

Set off a doctor doom spidermite bomb to clean your growroom itself

I spray all my plants during lights on..... no problems
 

dannyboy602

Well-Known Member
I shouldn't comment on products I know nothing about but I have a pesticide sprayers license in PA. It isn't easy to get and requires renewing every couple years and conferences (boring) to just keep the license. I know nothing about Avid. What's the active ingredient? I don't like bombs at all. Spider mite juveniles are easy to kill. They sit under the leaf and suck out the sap. You can use dish soap and water on juveniles. On adults you must bring out the big guns. Forbid and Floramite. Use them together. You can mix pesticides with no problem. One kills the mites, one kills the eggs. Together they are very effective. The rate to use is posted on the product label. If you're spraying in heat dont bother till night time or spray on a cooler day. I even used horticultural oil on mite juveniles. I think NEEM is a kind of Hort oil but its expensive compared to the 55gallon drums we buy. Hort oil is rated according to its degree of purity. Hort oil for pests is rated E3. Baby oil is basically the same thing. It's very pure and safe to use. I wouldnt use it however because of the high cost. The thing with mites is to spray in cooler temps and spray about weekly. Two or three applications should do it. On small plants i have wiped down the upper and lower sides of leaves with alcohol pads and it worked fine.
edit: there is a systemic product mixed with water and injected into the soil at about 1oz per inch of caliper or 1oz per foot of height. It works great on all piercing/sucking insects but studies by Penn State showed it to actually exacerbate the mite infestation. It's safe for food crops also and is gone once harvest time is near. Good luck...mites are some of the worst pests to get rid of.
 

DannyBlaze

Member
Like easy cheezy go with Hot Shot Pest Strips no need to spray anything just open and enjoy a pest free life after 2 or 3 days all bugs will be gone then put the strips back in a plastic bag and save them pull out once a week for 4 hours will keep you bug free just remember Humans Beings shouldn't breath the strips for more than 4 hours but they work GREAT~
 

70's natureboy

Well-Known Member
I only use Avid. I tried everything else before that and I don't have time for bs. I haven't had mites in almost 10 years; that's how old my Avid bottle is. Somehow I got some mites again. Early harvested those in salvage operation. I sprayed the veg crop with my 10 yr old Avid and and put up a Hotshot and haven't seen any more yet. I don't know why Avid isn't more popular because you are never in contact with it more than once or twice every few years or so; no prolonged exposure that some people are scared of. I think the dunking may be slight overkill but I like it. There will be no escaping mites for sure. I usually do a 2nd aplication 8-10 days later just to be sure. I hope I can go another 10 years without mites now.
 

Dibbsey

Well-Known Member
I am more interested in your comments on my plan to bath my plants other then spray them
Be very careful if you bath your plants. Like dannyboy said use dish soap and water and spray your plants, harmless to your plants completely safe and will help very well. Lots of organic pesticides main ingredients are water and normal soap. It does the job well and is very cheap if you make it yourself and not buy insecticidal soap. And washing your plants if done successfully might get rid of all the mites on the plants but you will get them again if you put them back in the same area where they had mites.
 

beansbeansbeans

Active Member
Be very careful if you bath your plants. Like dannyboy said use dish soap and water and spray your plants, harmless to your plants completely safe and will help very well. Lots of organic pesticides main ingredients are water and normal soap. It does the job well and is very cheap if you make it yourself and not buy insecticidal soap. And washing your plants if done successfully might get rid of all the mites on the plants but you will get them again if you put them back in the same area where they had mites.
I have mites too but I am almost done I've been spraying the leaves with neem oil every three days seems to be keeping them in check.

My question is well I only have the one spot in my house I can grow but even if I thoroughly clean the whole room and I put more up to flower I will stil get them? Hopefully not or I guess I'm done.
 

Dibbsey

Well-Known Member
Keep spraying with the oil insects hate that you should be fine add some chili peppers they hate that shit too. and never give up bro!
 

CLOSETGROWTH

Well-Known Member
I have had issues with them damn mites few times and here's what i did. I bought a 1 1/2 quart sprayer and added 1/2 teaspoon of azamax along with a 1/2 teaspoon of neem oil and a drop or two of liquid dishwashing soap to the spray bottle reservoir. Spray them well, especially under the leaves and a slight coat on top of the soil or hydroton. Do this every 3 days for a week... You'll be quite pleased with the results. Good luck :)
 

AloeRuss

Well-Known Member
I just finished with my garden. All plants took an avid bath. Already dried.
Today I will spray them with magic green and no spider mites.
 
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