Organics for mites

[heady blunts]

fuck. my og kush x brain's damage is 3.5 weeks into flower and i just noticed mite webs on a couple of the tops.

i pulled her out of the flower cab to avoid contaminating the others, and i'm thinking of trashing the whole thing, but she's rather glorious and if any of you think it's worth while i'd give a shot at saving her.

i think it boils down to weak genetics from amateur breeders. this plant has been suffering from PM as well.

i've smoked the finished product from the grower i got the cuts from (the other cut i got from him was also infected, but was showing webs very early and i trashed it), and it's not the greatest. mainly i was growing it out to see if i could get nicer looking nugs than him

oh well. i'm not too keen on endangering my soon-to-be-harvested crop. 61 days currently, hoping they'll be ready at the end of next week!

 

[PoisonedDart]

Mites are not a result of bad genetics, but I think you know that. She looks like a very promising pheno. It is all environmental for the BORG. I have won most battles with the BORG, but not all. I suggest a thorough cleaning first. I wash the hell out of any clones I get from someone else and I mean wash the hell out of them. Then treat them with ALL the soaps. I get years between mites, but it seems like they can't be avoided eventually.
I am going to try the lavender next as it keeps getting rave revues.
Hope it helps...hate to see a great pheno destroyed before you get her dialed in.

PD

 

[jaykush]

looks like they got some time to go still. lavender spray those fucking mites.

 

[heady blunts]

thanks PD!

i trashed that plant right after the photo. i've come to believe everything that the grower i got that cut from touches turns to shit.

i really only wanted to grow it out myself to figure out if his weed was crappy cause of the genetics or because he isn't that good.

anyway, since then i've been on round two, using lavender FPE with great success. check out the thread if you're interested (click the "cab" link in my sig).

 

[Scrappy4]

looks like they got some time to go still. lavender spray those fucking mites.

I'm finding all these methods we are talking about on this thread also work outdoors in my veggie garden. I have been alternating between neem/karanja sprays and lavender, once a week or so. So far whatever it is that likes to eat my bean leaves, has called it quits.......scrappy

 

[descivii]

I qwISOed the devastated plants and it was at least something but I am eager to try the lavendar but not so eager to actually have a reason to use it......ya know?!?!

J

 

[jaykush]

I'm finding all these methods we are talking about on this thread also work outdoors in my veggie garden. I have been alternating between neem/karanja sprays and lavender, once a week or so. So far whatever it is that likes to eat my bean leaves, has called it quits.......scrappy

universal solutions are the best solutions. it grows great trees too.

I qwISOed the devastated plants and it was at least something but I am eager to try the lavendar but not so eager to actually have a reason to use it......ya know?!?!

why not? even if you dont have mites its a great foliar spray for your plants. plants just love it.

 

[xmobotx]

for a small but advanced infestation of mites, i used about 1 TBS dried lavender flowers in a shot glass (1 oz) of water after 1 day of letting it "ferment" i used about 1/2 tsp 1/2 & 1/2 w/ water in my spray bottle - which was effective, the next day i followed only using a tiny bit @ probably 20 parts h20 to 1 part of the extract (from the shot glass)

TOTALLY EFFECTIVE - water and dried lavender flowers (of unknown but significant age - stored in a closed jar) ONLY

my second application may have been a bit strong... leaves took on a "greasy" appearance and the smell of the lavender lingered - but, w/ no adverse effects

lavender works

 

[flotationdevice]

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[SilverSurfer_OG]

This tanglefoot thing is like a sticky trap right?

What could we replace this with... maybe honey or mollassess spread liberally around the base of the stem?

I have been thinking about my small but persistant mite infestation.

I am going to spray as follows

1. Plain water from the hose on mist setting. (If the plants can be moved outside)
2. Lavender spray
3 days later: Kelp spray (Seasol for us Aussies)
3 days later: Neem oil emulsion at around 2.5mls per litre with drop of aloe vera soap as surfactant/sticker

Repeat as necessary.

The smell of a lavender fresh grow room is divine

The biggest problem i have with neem oil and also pyrethrum is they cause leaf curl. Its always the repeat dose at 3-4 days that does the most damage.

By spacing it out like this and rotating the different sprays i am hoping to eliminate my mites forever.

I always think i have em and then a week later notice them elsewhere...

No more!!!

 

[Shcrews]

pyrethrum is the shit, i will spray it up to 5 days before harvest

 

[flotationdevice]

.

 

[rafe]

how do you make the lavender spray? I have a little bit growing and I'll go buy some if it is a effective bug killer.

 

[SilverSurfer_OG]

Yessir, it is a very sticky trap. the ingredients are listed as 25% natural gum resins and 75% Castor oil and Carnauba wax. I suppose that honey or the like could work, but it might dry out or attract other pests. This stuff does not dry out, it just keeps on working. A 15 oz tub of the stuff lasts quite a while (Had it for 6 months and im not even halfway through) and should cost less than 15 USD.

I too had a minor but persistant mite problem. If i ignored it for too long, it could get out of hand very quickly. I was always thinking about where the mites could possibly be coming from. Then I noticed a few of the buggers crawling on the stems, and I realized that wherever they were coming from, they were crawling up and into the plants. It wasn't that I had a super-mite village setting up camp in the plants , they just kept sending in reinforcements.

I put on the tanglefoot, sprayed every 2 days, and within 2 weeks the mite population was gone.

Your spray schedule sounds good. Different things being sprayed each time is optimal IMO.

I found that neem burned some of my more sensitive plants, and I replaced it with something called Organicide. If you don't mind the fishy smell (it's mostly fish oil) it works in a similar way. The oil coats the leaves and the mites can't penetrate the protective layer.

Don't give the mites a way to get to your plants and you will save a lot of time spraying.

Best of luck!

PS: If you have a smaller garden, inspect every single leaf (top and bottom) as well as the stems on the days that you don't spray. Find every mite that you can and crush them between your fingers. Doing this will help to break the reproductive cycle faster, and it's organic!

Cool i will have a look around some Aussie websites and see if its available.

I always just take the leaves off that have the mites and dispose of them.

I also recently bought a good 5 litre sprayer with a long wand that has made spraying soooooo muchh easier!

Lavender spray is easy. Just soak the flowers in water for a couple days, strain and dilute to around 50:1. You can use stronger if you wish no worries.

 

[Scrappy4]

how do you make the lavender spray? I have a little bit growing and I'll go buy some if it is a effective bug killer.

I mix up a 1/4 to 1/2 cup of dried flowers in a quart jar of water let it sit 48 hours, maybe shake it a couple of times then dilute it into a gallon of water. I mix in a tsp liquid silica and a tsp of dr bronners soap, but you could use dish soap or yucca, aloe vera instead of soap. And like all my bug sprays i spray at lights out....scrappy

edit-- I strain off the flowers and add them as a mulch

 

[soil margin]

edit-- I strain off the flowers and add them as a mulch

I feel stupid for never thinking of it before but this should likely be a part of every organic growers routine. Using plants that are natural insecticides as mulch is genius and could kill multiple birds with a single stone.

 

[heady blunts]

I feel stupid for never thinking of it before but this should likely be a part of every organic growers routine. Using plants that are natural insecticides as mulch is genius and could kill multiple birds with a single stone.

mulching with seaweed and kelp discourages slugs from what i've heard.

 

[3rdEye]

I mix up a 1/4 to 1/2 cup of dried flowers in a quart jar of water let it sit 48 hours, maybe shake it a couple of times then dilute it into a gallon of water. I mix in a tsp liquid silica and a tsp of dr bronners soap, but you could use dish soap or yucca, aloe vera instead of soap. And like all my bug sprays i spray at lights out....scrappy

edit-- I strain off the flowers and add them as a mulch

That's pretty much what i do Scrappy. Sometimes i'll add neem oil to the mix as well. Haven't tried to aloe vera or yucca yet.

 

[flotationdevice]

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[Scrappy4]

Flotation, sorry my fat thumb neg repped you on my I-pad, sorry man