deep freeze spidermites?

[burny downz]

Discovered an infestation on a couple of plants last night. Plants are close to finished (def finished now!) Cut plants and tossed in a trash bag and removed from house. Plants then sat in my truck overnight in temps under 0 degrees. In the morn I sat in the truck and statred clipping the bigger buds. I noticed LOTs of mites and eggs on certain leaves. None of them seemed to be alive, ie: not moving. Is it safe to assume they are dead or are they just dormant. Hows about the eggs?? Can the mites fall on my clothing and hitchike back indoors where they wake up again?? Also does anyone have any idea on how to quarintine the drying buds inside my house? For now they are in my truck in the freezing high country air but not sure I wanna bring them back inside.....any ideas?

 

[Noobian]

I would guess the majority are just dormant, insects are some resilient little beasties

 

[alamony2005]

Mites can and will hitch a ride back on your clothes and anything their body can stick to. It would be wise to change clothes.. if they are already in the flower room it is likely they are other places also. I would think they are unable to survive in such frigid temps as the rapid temp change from indoor flowering to sub 0 would shock them to death. I will look into that.

 

[Noobian]

Careful with your girls too, you basically just put them in the freezer for the night so all the trichs are going to be frozen and brittle as glass, making it easier for them to fall off. I'd handle them very gently

 

[alamony2005]

""The time from egg to adult depends on temperature
(Table 1) and to a lesser extent the stage of two-spotted mite
available. After hatching and mating, a female P. persimilis
takes 2 days at 20°C before she can lay eggs (pre-ovipositional
period) and then lays up to 4 eggs per day. She can lay
between 40 and 60 eggs in a life of 54 days at 20°C. At
20°C the time required for each juvenile stage is: egg, 3 days;
larva, 1.1 day; protonymph, 1.4 days; deutonymph, 1.6 days.
The optimum temperature range for egg laying is 17-28°C.
P. persimilis does not develop at temperatures below 7°C.
High mortality occurs when temperatures are in the mid to
upper 30s and when humidity is low""

http://www.crop.cri.nz/home/products-services/publications/broadsheets/113-Mite.pdf

IT is reasonable to assume death is imminent at anywhere lower than even 30F your temps of 0 or so are more then enough to spell death. They cannot hibernate in such conditions period. The eggs will not survive either. take them back inside, chop and process as you need.

 

[burny downz]

""The time from egg to adult depends on temperature
(Table 1) and to a lesser extent the stage of two-spotted mite
available. After hatching and mating, a female P. persimilis
takes 2 days at 20°C before she can lay eggs (pre-ovipositional
period) and then lays up to 4 eggs per day. She can lay
between 40 and 60 eggs in a life of 54 days at 20°C. At
20°C the time required for each juvenile stage is: egg, 3 days;
larva, 1.1 day; protonymph, 1.4 days; deutonymph, 1.6 days.
The optimum temperature range for egg laying is 17-28°C.
P. persimilis does not develop at temperatures below 7°C.
High mortality occurs when temperatures are in the mid to
upper 30s and when humidity is low""

http://www.crop.cri.nz/home/products-services/publications/broadsheets/113-Mite.pdf

IT is reasonable to assume death is imminent at anywhere lower than even 30F your temps of 0 or so are more then enough to spell death. They cannot hibernate in such conditions period. The eggs will not survive either. take them back inside, chop and process as you need.

Great news! I read on here somewhere that ice water sprayed on the plants is very effective in killing the little bastards also....

 

[alamony2005]

Great news! I read on here somewhere that ice water sprayed on the plants is very effective in killing the little bastards also....

I would be very cautious about spraying down your buds with ice water in flower as a common problem with that is bud rot if not done carefully.

There are multiple avenues you can take to slow their growth rate such as temperature changes and keeping humidity really low.

Ive heard of people using their shop vacs to suck them off the plants.. wow.. some people.

In short let us know what you want to do and we can give our best thoughts to help you achieve that.

 

[burny downz]

Now I am curious, how long could I possibly leave plants outside in frigid temps to kill the mites and then simply bring back into flower room? Anyone tried that?

 

[alamony2005]

I have heard of that before in concept but I dont think my friend actually tried it. The plant might also experience extreme shock. Sub zero temps would kill them. It sounds like an experiment is underway. The use of a fan to blow cold air over and trough the plant will aid in speeding the process up.

Here is an idea. Take a plant that you know has spider mites. Chop that limb off the main plant and take it outside and place a small fan of some blowing on it. Check the plant in 10 minuets to inspect for signs of movement under the leaves. Scratch that, take some fan leaves off the plant that is infested with them and place that outside to reduce crop damage and then scale up.

Keep the idea in mind that you intend to deep freeze them and not your plant. The water in their body can crystallize must faster than the plant tissues water. If you conclude the mites have been frozen, bring that back inside and let it warm up and re-inspect for life.

They can survive in 55F degree water with out problem, dipping to the 40's they have major reproductive problems and alot die. In the 0's they are toast =)

 

[alamony2005]

Floramite is the tactical nuclear bomb for use against Mites, you can find a tiny bottle on ebay for reasonable price.

Avid isnt a systemic. Avid has a very low warning rating as far as pesticides go. It has been accepted for use on vegetable and some fruit crops as well if you do the research such as UC Davis' extension page. I have used Avid professionally for over a decade. Oh and my offspring are perfectly healthy with no issues. Just be smart with your pesticide applications. Long sleaved shirt, pants, gloves, any respirator will do, I never use one. Put your clothes in the washer as soon as your done and shower. Dont smoke or eat when you apply it. Both floramite and avid have a little residual effect but very little. you need to hit the mites again after 5-7 days as the eggs will hatch and mites will be there still. Neither are ovacides or systemics. Both products are listed online with safety and spec sheets. Both are very benign as far as insecticides go.
Rm

Buying Floramite will end your problems.

 

[Rocky Mtn Squid]

Floramite is effective, no doubt, but it's also quite toxic to both your plants and you. AFAIK, it's main killing ingredient is fluoride. Once you introduce fluoride to a plant or animal, it's next to impossible to get rid of. All it does is accumulate the more you apply it. A plant will absorb fluoride once applied. After you harvest, you will end up smoking it.

Just my 2 cents worth.........

RMS

 

[alamony2005]

Floramite is effective, no doubt, but it's also quite toxic to both your plants and you. AFAIK, it's main killing ingredient is fluoride. Once you introduce fluoride to a plant or animal, it's next to impossible to get rid of. All it does is accumulate the more you apply it. A plant will absorb fluoride once applied. After you harvest, you will end up smoking it.

Just my 2 cents worth.........

RMS

Not to say your incorrect but rather thinking of something different?

Here is a link to the MSDS listed for Floramite SC
I cannot find anywhere that states Fluoride is anywhere in it. Nor does it state any effect after 28days from application. Meaning it becomes ineffective after that period of time.

http://www.cdms.net/ldat/mp5GE006.pdf


Here is also the the label.

http://www.ohp.com/Labels_MSDS/PDF/floramite_label.pdf

 

[Rocky Mtn Squid]

alamony2005...you could very well be correct. I didn't see anything in the content's that listed fluoride. I stand corrected on that.

It does seem to be some nasty toxic stuff though. I wouldn't want to be the one who has to spray it on your plant. Look at the manufacturer user protocols. Yikes.......

 

[Tripsick]

Now I am curious, how long could I possibly leave plants outside in frigid temps to kill the mites and then simply bring back into flower room? Anyone tried that?

Only if all the mites promise to only stay on the plants and nothing else in your area...

 

[Kindman69]

Those little fuckers are just taking a nab in the cold, don't fool yourself brothers. Thermal nuclear devices are required.

 

[alamony2005]

alamony2005...you could very well be correct. I didn't see anything in the content's that listed fluoride. I stand corrected on that.

It does seem to be some nasty toxic stuff though. I wouldn't want to be the one who has to spray it on your plant. Look at the manufacturer user protocols. Yikes.......

Thanks for not tearing my head off.. for all I know I could have been the one thinking incorrectly.. =)

Yes it can be rough on the body no doubt and thats why we have instructions to ensure safety to all who use their products correctly.

Lets all smoke one. Mites or not you still got some bud

 

[burny downz]

I have heard of that before in concept but I dont think my friend actually tried it. The plant might also experience extreme shock. Sub zero temps would kill them. It sounds like an experiment is underway. The use of a fan to blow cold air over and trough the plant will aid in speeding the process up.

Here is an idea. Take a plant that you know has spider mites. Chop that limb off the main plant and take it outside and place a small fan of some blowing on it. Check the plant in 10 minuets to inspect for signs of movement under the leaves. Scratch that, take some fan leaves off the plant that is infested with them and place that outside to reduce crop damage and then scale up.

Keep the idea in mind that you intend to deep freeze them and not your plant. The water in their body can crystallize must faster than the plant tissues water. If you conclude the mites have been frozen, bring that back inside and let it warm up and re-inspect for life.

They can survive in 55F degree water with out problem, dipping to the 40's they have major reproductive problems and alot die. In the 0's they are toast =)

Time for experiments for sure...theres a lot of cold air up here in the Rockies.

 

[alamony2005]

Time for experiments for sure...theres a lot of cold air up here in the Rockies.

Sounds like you could have some fun with this, just remember the main goal is eradication and that means quickly to not hamper your crop output. If its going to take you 3 weeks to clear the flower room, you might want to consider chopping down and making oil for personal use. The time you can save and gain in weight from a uninfected grow might outweigh trying to save the old crop.

Test on my friend =)

 

[burny downz]

Last night I put a finished (and slightly infected with SM) plant outside in the single digit mtn air. I let the plant sit outside for an hour. It was just starting to show signs of freezing at an hour so I took indoors. Sure enough I found a mite crawling on a leaf. It seems as though I'm gonna have to leave the plant outside for an hour and a half next time......the experiment continues.

 

[Greenheart]

Currently droping into single digits and below zero where I live. Just exposing them for less than a minute I had some negative results on the leaves and budsites. I think a person is better off with a solution of

Kirkland Environmentally Friendly dish soap- A plant based soap (dispersant)

Neem Oil- 10 dollars a Lowes (I use 1 capful in a gallon)

Vinegar- probably not needed but I use it.

Apply every 3 days for 2 weeks to get rid of mites then weekly to prevent garden problems. Worked for me both on fungal gnats and spider mites. I even water them with it. The plants look healthier using neem even without having pest problems.

Important: You must spray the Front and Back of EVERY LEAF.