Virginia Growers Thread

Pungolian

Well-Known Member
@Pungolian - wow! you grew Trees!
Hahaha,yes, thanks, that wasnt the plan actually but just happy i made it through to have a nice harvest! It was fun and learned a lot and looking forward to growing outdoors again next year. i got to try a couple “test” buds i plucked last week to scope this morning and she has a really great clean sativa buzz already, Im sure she will taste great after cure (fingers crossed), like the last one I did indoors.
 

Hawk518

Well-Known Member
10/29/23 - Yet another beginner Q. This time it's SPIDER MITES!

I'm VERY close to harvest. Noticed a lot of leaves with issues. Trimmed them all off. While trimming I saw what must be spider mites on the top of one of the large colas. WTH?! I'd swear they weren't there yesterday!

Please give me advice on what my next steps are. I’ve now read everything from:
  • it’s no big deal if you’re close to harvest (which I am)
  • it will be ok if you wash the buds
  • OMG! Your harvest is destroyed. The End is nigh. Give up now.

GDP_THC Bomb__10_29_2023_02_MITES.jpgGDP_THC Bomb__10_27_2023_20a.jpg
 

VaSmile

Well-Known Member
I would do something about them or you could risk a lot of lose. Mites drink sap and kill your production, and damaged buds are more prone to rot illness and other infections/infestation.
Personally I typically only use need oil or a dawn solution wash. Garden safe soap is about as good and dose not have the neem asshole smell.

You got a pretty established infestation there and may need something a bit stronger. Any non carcinogenic pesticides will be citric acid based. There are few simple recipes in the bug section. Basically saute split pepper seed in olive oil and then cut it 90% with water.
If you need to go the last step to using carcinogenic chemicals the 100% wash your buds
I would hash the infested buds. Mites damage should not make anything unsafe in the buds, but you probably don't want to smoke dead mites trapped inside or know what pathogens they have.
 

Hawk518

Well-Known Member
I'd sprayed earlier for thrips with SNS-203. Guessing I didn't get all of the leaf bottoms! I know I can use this right up to harvest and will spray again today (unless I chop for harvest?). I THINK I must be very close to harvest? From the above loup pic of the trichomes, what do you think?

Should I spray regardless of when I harvest this?

What drives me crazy is that I've been looking thru a loup at the trichomes every day and never noticed the Spider Mites til yesterday w. the webbing!
 

Pungolian

Well-Known Member
10/29/23 - Yet another beginner Q. This time it's SPIDER MITES!

I'm VERY close to harvest. Noticed a lot of leaves with issues. Trimmed them all off. While trimming I saw what must be spider mites on the top of one of the large colas. WTH?! I'd swear they weren't there yesterday!

Please give me advice on what my next steps are. I’ve now read everything from:
  • it’s no big deal if you’re close to harvest (which I am)
  • it will be ok if you wash the buds
  • OMG! Your harvest is destroyed. The End is nigh. Give up now.

View attachment 5339852View attachment 5339853
Last infestation i had only on one top like you have shown, i hit it heavy with lost coast, (whole plant) bagged the infestated bud with a baggie and chopped the one top off and discarded it. Rest of the plant was good and went on with no further issues. Good luck!
 

FirstCavApache64

Well-Known Member
Citric acid powder at 1-3 tsp per quart of water will wipe our adults and dry up the eggs. Try the lower strength first as strong concentrations can burn some pistils. A pump sprayer with a very fine mist helps and be sure to really soak the undersides of leaves. A bud wash after harvest is a good idea to try and remove as many dead mites as possible. Good luck with your harvest, hope it works out for you.
 

JeffWix

Well-Known Member
I'd sprayed earlier for thrips with SNS-203. Guessing I didn't get all of the leaf bottoms! I know I can use this right up to harvest and will spray again today (unless I chop for harvest?). I THINK I must be very close to harvest? From the above loup pic of the trichomes, what do you think?

Should I spray regardless of when I harvest this?

What drives me crazy is that I've been looking thru a loup at the trichomes every day and never noticed the Spider Mites til yesterday w. the webbing!
They are prolific little bastards and can infiltrate overnight...they are the Borg...yeah, there is no smoking that bud now with webs on them...you'll have to make hash or edibles from that...perhaps the lower plant can be smoked if not infested...they usually go to the top of the plant...once there are webs you are infested bad...you need to clean everything from top to bottom and inside and put after this...I use some diluted liquid pool shock in a pump sprayer..it will burn everything up, then use a shop vac and wipe everything down again until clean.
I recently had a fungus gnats infestation that blew up the week I was gone...spinosad took care of them!
Had some other issues with some hot soil I made up and a few other things...but when I get my shit together I pull down some nice harvests here in the North Shenandoah Valley...indoor...I have a busy schedule and do things that draw me away from home even though I'm retired...I do things with horses and I like to go commercial rod n reel fishing...those are my biggest detractors from successful harvest...lolPXL_20230714_064119883.jpgPXL_20230714_064134903.jpgPXL_20230716_041002237.jpgPXL_20230714_064059413.jpgPXL_20230714_064109456.jpg
 

JeffWix

Well-Known Member
Second infestation in the same grow means your environment is fundamentally attractive to insects. Fix this or you will keep having issues.
He could be unknowingly bringing them in to his grow area as well...man...when I'm in flower...I don't go anywhere near the grow room until I have showered and put on clean clothes and no outdoor shoes...you can bring things into your environment on your clothes or body or hair...hell they might be lured in there off of smell alone...they will get there somehow no matter your protocols but having good hygiene for the growroom can only help.
It's tough to pull down successful grows one after another without any problems...can it be done? Hell yes!...but it is not simple and you will not learn without experiencing problems...if everyone or anyone could do it...then weed would not be sold!
 

VaSmile

Well-Known Member
This seems as good a place as any for my quarterly rant about the VA climate.
The average Virginian will experience 22 distinct season in their life time and an average of 9-13 any given year. Sometimes as many as 4 in a single day. A season can be as long as 75 days or as short as 1. Traditional fall this year was yesterday, mostly we are jumping straight from Indian summer into false winter.
In a typical year the seasonal calendar gose something like this
Winter: can start as early as Thanksgiving and as late as March 1st
False spring: can start as early as xmass normally late febuary
2nd winter: mid feb- late april
Spring: valentines day-mid june
False summer: mid may-june
Tstorms: june/july
Sweat season: late june- early September
False fall: august/September
Indian summer: late August- thanksgiving
Traditional fall: late September-xmass
False winter: Halloween- thanksgiving
Fog season:mid October-newyears
 

MtRainDog

Well-Known Member
This seems as good a place as any for my quarterly rant about the VA climate.
The average Virginian will experience 22 distinct season in their life time and an average of 9-13 any given year. Sometimes as many as 4 in a single day. A season can be as long as 75 days or as short as 1. Traditional fall this year was yesterday, mostly we are jumping straight from Indian summer into false winter.
In a typical year the seasonal calendar gose something like this
Winter: can start as early as Thanksgiving and as late as March 1st
False spring: can start as early as xmass normally late febuary
2nd winter: mid feb- late april
Spring: valentines day-mid june
False summer: mid may-june
Tstorms: june/july
Sweat season: late june- early September
False fall: august/September
Indian summer: late August- thanksgiving
Traditional fall: late September-xmass
False winter: Halloween- thanksgiving
Fog season:mid October-newyears
I swear us indoor guys get two seasons in VA, jungle humidity (May-Oct) and desert humidity (Nov-Apr)
 

VaSmile

Well-Known Member
I swear us indoor guys get two seasons in VA, jungle humidity (May-Oct) and desert humidity (Nov-Apr)
My grows that start in April and May will be auto grows, my grows that start in June and July will stay in veg until the heat brakes sometime in September. Trying to bloom big girls inside when you need a commercial sized dehumidifier is just asking for trouble
 

Hawk518

Well-Known Member
Second infestation in the same grow means your environment is fundamentally attractive to insects. Fix this or you will keep having issues.
This was an outdoors grow, so extremely attractive to insects. Only brought it into the garage because it got too cold / rainy and wanted to prevent additional bud rot. All I can think of is that I didn't hit ALL the leaf undersides when sprayed SNS-203 and insects pounced!

Thinking of just cutting all leaves off and then chopping to dry. Still need to figure out exactly when to do a bud wash! And, who knows, this one just might be a goner already w. nothing left to salvage...
 

JeffWix

Well-Known Member
Yeah...I pretty much do not use Rt66 or I95... I495 etc...I am retired now and those are the roads to bad ju ju...I am done with the traffic, construction and all around bullshit that comes with travelling on those roads...if I do however find the necessity...I usually go late at night...then it's the construction usually...or the rando that cannot control their vehicle...but in general, I leave those roads to the members of the Rat Race.
 

VaSmile

Well-Known Member
Yeah...I pretty much do not use Rt66 or I95... I495 etc...I am retired now and those are the roads to bad ju ju...I am done with the traffic, construction and all around bullshit that comes with travelling on those roads...if I do however find the necessity...I usually go late at night...then it's the construction usually...or the rando that cannot control their vehicle...but in general, I leave those roads to the members of the Rat Race.
Before I took this job, I would joke that I need a meal, a blow job, and a check if you wanted me to travel north of the 140 exit.... I have not had a route yet south of 161.
Ez pass make a big difference in stress levels.
So do blunts
 
Top