Lifecycle of the Mite

[Gascanastan]

Most importantly...know your enemy. Once you see how the overlapping generations sustain themselves through sprays encased in eggs...and developing resistance through offspring to your concoctions,you'll understand the fight you are in for...and win it.

 

[vonforne]

Post #4523 the stand alone Sticky

Post #4523 the stand alone Sticky

Here ya go Coot......you wish is my command.

 

[Sideways]

Soooo, spray every 8 days to be safe?

 

[Neo 420]

I think the point he is trying to make is spraying intervals and changing your concoction to not induce resistance within offspring or generations.....

 

[ClackamasCootz]

Soooo, spray every 8 days to be safe?

Sideways

That's a good program for maintenance - the ol' Integrated Pest Management (IPM) paradigm.

Spray every 3rd day for 4 applications for eradication. Look at Gascanastan's chart again on the adult-egg-larva cycle and the 72 hour spacing will get you where you want to be.

CC

 

[c-ray]

and like all cannapests their MO is to search and destroy low brix plants..

 

[ClackamasCootz]

low brix plants...

What does that even mean?

 

[c-ray]

plants with low brix sap.. ie unhealthy plants, not ideal for human consumption

 

[Gascanastan]

I think the point he is trying to make is spraying intervals and changing your concoction to not induce resistance within offspring or generations.....

Yes sir..

The graphic shows the life cycle of a plant sucking mite. It just happens to be a good graphic of a food crop mite life cycle,which will attack your plants just the same as our good old buddies the 'two-spotted' mite Tetranychus urticae. Apparently someone didn't like the graphic...whatev~ There are many types,but they are all arachnids that go through a series of moults.

The females lay eggs every day...so right there we have several breeding females laying down wave after wave of eggs,probably on an hourly basis in some gardens where the temps are high and the air is dry. Populations can explode up to 70X in as little as 6-10 days.

To knock down the visible population spray every 3 to 4 days for a couple months solid with a wide range of ORGANIC based sprays that you can switch up every third or second spraying. Use LIGHTLY mixed ratios with plant based sprays and you won't cause damage to the plant tissue from spraying every 3 days.

Karanja oil,neem,oil,organic plant based sprays. Also,lets not forget about plain old Dr Bronner's soap too. There is an array of concoctions for organic gardeners to use.

After you knock down the visible population,continue spraying on a weekly basis as a preventive.

Here's some info on our little buddies and what professional large scale food crop chemi-farmers are doing as far as spray scheduling.
http://www.soybeans.umn.edu/crop/insects/spider_mites.htm




.

 

[BlueJayWay]

Is that really a greenish irradescence spotted on their backs? I thought that's what I saw when I was viewing the little f*ucker through a 100x - saw the little eggs, what looked like sloughed off skin, baby mites that are almost clear to light amber, and a couple fatty adults that were dark with that irradescence......weird

 

[ClackamasCootz]

BlueJayWay

I have a mite issue I'm cleaning up and tomorrow night will be the last of 4 sprays. They went like this:

Spinosad
Neem
Neem
Spinosad

That should take care of business for the long term with some frozen Mint extracts (Peppermint) on hand for any clean-up if necessary

CC

 

[c-ray]

anyone try proteleic enzymes + yucca as another 'cide in the rotation?

 

[Chunkypigs]

how much Dr Bronners per gallon as a stand alone spray?

 

[pokearound]

Good information, always wanting to learn more and stay preventative in this damned fight. Thanks.

 

[Gascanastan]

how much Dr Bronners per gallon as a stand alone spray?

1 teasppon per gallon. I use the plain for many applications where a surfactant is needed. I use the peppermint and lavender for the mite sprays. ALSO try Dr. Bronner's Sal-Suds...this is made w/spruce oil and the ph is more acid.

 

[Aotf]

Seems like if your soil was on lock-down, you wouldn't need SO much mite resistance. Especially in organic gardening? Are you using any synthetic chemical ferts?

 

[Neo 420]

Seems like if your soil was on lock-down, you wouldn't need SO much mite resistance. Especially in organic gardening? Are you using any synthetic chemical ferts?

I think the overall subject matter was in relations to pest management but the current talking points happen to be on mites.

As for soil being "locked down" I don't think anyone is totally "bug" proof specifically in living soils because "bugs" are a fundamental part of the living soil (You know soil web thingy?). A common issue for indoor gardeners is the "lack of diversity of insects". A balanced garden "insect" wise would balance itself. The predator to your plants is prey to another.

I have mites in my garden but they are acceptable. They are of the organic decomposer's type. I also regularly foilar my plants as a preventative measure which helps deter some of them bad insect critters and diseases

Point is, it is not just about the "lock down" soil when is come to pests. It about soil, preventive measures, environment, beneficial insects. etc..etc..

Synthetic chemical ferts?? Whats that??

 

[ClackamasCootz]

I'm lost on this one.....

 

[c-ray]

here let me help you...I think what Aotf means to say is if the soil and nutrient regimen is balanced in way that it promotes high brix sap in the plants that grow in it, then the typical cannapests will not even consider those plants as food, as they will not even be able to digest the sap at such a high level of sugar/solids concentration..

 

[Neo 420]

I understand C-Ray but this is a thread on stopping cycles of insect infestation (A sticky at that). Everyone does not have their soil "dialed on' with this high brix arrangement. If Aotf would create a thread on how he creates high brix plants that would be appropriate. (Get that information out there if ya got it)