i have crabs :(

[Hastings101]

well i was a member quite a while back but due some crazy and unexpected circumstances this first time grower had to bail on everything ~7 weeks into veg. Fast forward a while and I decided the coast was clear to try it again and less than 2 weeks into flower these little bastards appeared and have exploded in the past 3-4 days. I first noticed when I went to 16 lamps instead of all 4 under 6 T5HO's. I didn't know what it was at first until I looked under the leaves and something jumped out at me. upon further inspection the situation is a lot worse than expected which is one of the reasons I started a new account. Info below

growing in soil homemade soil.

4 plants (breed unknown)

2 plants per 8 t5HO's (4X6500 and 4X4000 lamps)

temps in room ~80*C and ~88*C under lamps. I have since lifted the lights to about 6" above the highest bud and removed 2 lamps in hopes of dropping temps.

humidity is as high as~60% during dark and as low as 30% during the day but usually a steady 40%.

no nuts given in the past 2 weeks.

noticed buds started browning and plants are noticeably not happy.

if you need an other info just ask and I will do my best to answer.

Now my question I think is pretty self explanatory.... How do I rid these pests? Is it to late for chemicals? I had a cabinet in which I stored all my supplies which I will have to move out this weekend and sterilize it all. I read soapy water but can you use it during flower? What type of soap if so?

Pics below:

Pic doesn't do justice. there is a lot more brown in about 25% of my buds.

 

[Marco61]

I don't see any pics.


By crabs are you referring to spider mites?

BTW if your temps were 88 C that would mean you'd be literally cooking your plants. That is converted to 190F.

 

[Hastings101]

sorry mate, I had album set to private. should be golden now.

Also found this and will update as much as I can:

SOIL: home brew. 3 parts home compost, 3 parts perlite, 1 part sand, 1 part peat moss.

How long has this problem been going on?
~1 week.

What was the establishing technique? (seed or clone?)
Clone

What is the age of your plants?
Germinated on: clones received in april ~8" tall.

How long have they been in the soil mixture they are in now?
10-11 weeks

Were they in the same mixture when they were seedlings/smaller plant? If not, what mixture were they in before?
dif, not sure what clones came in.

What PHASE (seedling, vegetative or flower) are the plants in?
Flower (less than 2 weeks)


What brand Nutrient's are you using?
No-Name 10-10-10

How much of each nutrient are you using with how much water? *Knowing the brand is very helpful*
half strength for indoor plants

How often are you feeding?
was every other watering, now none.

If flowering, when did you switch over to using Bloom nutrients?
stopped using nuts. straight water for now.


How often are you testing pH/ppm/EC/TDS?
pH tested every few feedings to make sure it's stable. test before and also run off.

What method of pH test was administered? Using Strips? pH pen?
strips

How often are you watering?
every third day

What size bulb are you using?
2 8 lamp t5HO (4x6500 and 4X4000 per fixture)

How old is your bulbs?
less than a 2 weeks

What is the distance to the canopy?
~was 2-3" Raised them to ~5-6" today

What is your RH Factor? (Relative Humidity)
Low: 30% (during day) High: 60% (at night) but typically a steady 38-44%

What is the canopy temperature?
88* during day at scrogg height and room temp at night.

What is the Day/Night Temp? (Include fluctuation range)
Day: 80-82 in room and 88 at bud height underlamp - Night: 68-72 in room.

Is the fan blowing directly at plants?
on a 45* from bottom to top corner. One small 6" fan per light set on lowest setting. just enough for minimal leaf movement.

Is the grow substrate constantly wet or moist?
Water when dry (lift test), or leaves start to wilt. I water about every third day.

Is your water HARD or SOFT?

no idea

What water are you using? Reverse Osmosis (RO)? Tap?
Bottled? Well water? Distilled? Mineral Water?
room temp, city water which has sat for min 24 hours and PH of 6.8

Are you using water from a water softener?
no, city tap water that has sat for at least 24 hours at room temp and is a stead 6.8PH

Has plant been recently pruned, cloned or pinched?
large fans are discoloring, I pinch only fan leaving covering bud sites.

 

[Marco61]

First thing first. You don't want to use a systemic pesticide for anything you plan on consuming. The plant will absorb it and it persists in the tissues of the plant. Second, once flowers start appearing it is highly recommended to avoid spraying anything since you won't be able to wash it away later. You might try spot treatment on the leaves with a spray, but they are probably within the flower structure as well already.

Some people recommend physically removing the spider mites by vacuuming them off or washing the underside of the leaves with a well aimed jet of water. You could attempt to use beneficial insects, but my experience with insects is they work better as a prevention than as a cure.

If you don't mind losing this crop and starting fresh, rip it down, sterilize everything. Make sure the cabinet is sealed better and that you don't work outside on the lawn or garden, then go straight into messing with your plants. The little buggers will hitch a ride on your shirt or even a hair on your forearm. One thing you can count on is that if left to their own, they'll suck the life out of your plant.

 

[Hastings101]

I was afraid of this. The little buggers have black bodies with little almost clear like legs and heads. Also found them in my other 2 clones vegging and house plants. NOT HAPPY. I guess I'll get out the shop vac this weekend and start sucking off the little bastards. I rinsed the 1' vegging plants and my house plant then hit them with soapy water. I will watch them close. I don't know how they got in there. I don't do any outdoor gardening.

 

[HidingInTheHaze]

I would just chop it and carefully throw it away. Fighting spider mites in flower is like shoveling shit against the tide.

They will multiply at a rapid pace and come back worse if you don't get rid of them.

 

[Marco61]

Anything still in veg can be washed with a miticide soap.

 

[Hastings101]

can I get this miticide soap at any garden shop? I would suck to loose everything this far in! I think I know where they came from. I brought in about a gallon of fresh compost from my outdoor pile, and added it to the tops of each plant before flowering because their roots where showing. Next time I will have to sterilize it. I'm not going to give up on these plants. We have been threw to much!

 

[Mountaindragon]

I read another thread on here recently where people have been using C02 to combat these crawly little bastards. I don't remember the exact details but essentially they purged their grow space of oxygen by flooding it with a fairly high concentration of C02 on and off over a period of time.....suffocating the nasty buggers in the process.
I will see if i can't find the thread again and point you to it.

 

[Azhden]

Try finding "Garden Safe" brand Insecticide Soap, I seem to find that most places sell it, even some "Super Grocers" like King Soopers have it by the Flower Department. Was at China-mart the other day and they had it for ~3$ a bottle, Lowes, Home Depot, etc. all sell similar items also. But I have used it (Garden Safe Ins. Soap) to help battle random bugs/mites I get in my gardens, then I found Diatomaceous Earth and all pests have stopped visiting my indoor garden. For ~15$ for 10 pounds shipped, it was a great buy.

 

[Hastings101]

thinking of grabbing this? Also Scotts has one as well but most forums state that it's best for precautionary measure and control, not a complete solution. I have been looking for the strips as a last ditch effect (in my case the sooner the better), but can't seem to locate them. I'm going to give the soap a try and also vacuum off as many bastards as I can. Only problem is for some reason my canopy is thicker than a 1970's porn stars bush.

 

[Hastings101]

sorry pic didn't load:

 

[floralheart]

stop fuckin with those hookers, and grow from seed. I dunno. You want to read up on mighty wash. I've scrapped gardens for less.

 

[Granger2]

Scrapping your crop is bad advice. Doing what you are planning should result in at least some respectably good stash. You may end up with a crop that is quite good if you stay on the mites. You're bigger than they are.

I would make sure the plants are well supported like with stakes, and dunk them in a bucket of Safer's [or other commercially available Insecticide soap] Insecticide Soapy water. Cover the root ball while container is upsidownards. Then dunk them in plain water, or a mild foliar feed to rinse soap off. Do this near lights out. Dunking them gives full coverage, and washes off many mites and eggs. Do this every 36 hours 3-4 times. At the same time spray walls, floor, doors, containers including bottoms. Every 36 hours keeps hitting hatchlings before they can mature enough to lay more eggs. Good luck. -granger

 

[canna woop!]

just don't put them under direct light after dunking... this baptism of soap that actually sounds like a good recommendation.

What do you spray on walls etc.?

 

[HidingInTheHaze]

Scrapping your crop is bad advice.

I think the ppl that think its a bad idea to scrap a grow don't understand spider mites very well.

 

[Hastings101]

well my little clones are in a separate closet now. I only had 2. I picked up 3 bottles of the green earth Insecticidal Soap today, removed everything from the grow room, tossed everything not needed in the trash, sprayed everything ceiling floor, tools, mats scroog with with soap, wiped it down then hit it again. Next was slowly remove the plants covered the pots and due to size I couldn't dip them but was able to run warm water over and over them into my wash tub, then hit them hard with the soap. They are now in a seperate room sitting at 73*F and have a dehumidifier running to lower humidity. Will do it allllllllll again in 2 days time.

 

[headband 707]

You have mites .. I don't see crabs lol but they look like mites on your leaf. That is mite damage.. I got this stuff called Might Mite which says you can spray up to 2 weeks before harvest . WHich means you can spray on a flowering plant. So unless you have CO2 then I would start working on my plants. Every clone I have picked up for many years now has mite!!!! I have not met one grower that doesn't have this problem. headband 707

 

[Hastings101]

the place I shopped at also had a actual pesticide which said it needs only 2 days to burn off but thought I'd try the soap first.

 

[Gdood9]

I've been there done this. At least you don't have any tenting yet. All you can do for the flowering plants is just control the population. You have more options for veg.

Anything that's in flower can be sprayed with Mighty Wash, Water, Safer Soap, or Liquid Ladybug. I wouldn't use anything else in flower, not even neem. You're gonna have to stay on top of this by alternating what you're spraying every three days. Mites develop immunities pretty quickly as they reproduce very quickly. Every 8 hours you have eggs hatching. You're gonna have to keep spraying every three days for 2-3 weeks to really knock them back. Mites don't like being disturbed either so keep a fan going so you have a lot of air circulation.

CO2 doesn't work and you're more likely to fuck up your plants. You'd have to have a very well sealed room too just to get co2 levels up high enough.

In veg you can get much more aggressive. You can look into AVID, Bayer, Azamax or Azatrol, Forbid, Floramite. I would suggest something more organic and less harsh but to be honest with you I've tried everything and you have to get aggressive with mites. You also have to alternate these sprays but I would only spray twice a week and switch it up between the harsh stuff and lighter stuff. Like Spray with Avid, then three days later Mighty Wash, then 3-4 days later Azamax, then go back to something strong. Do this for 2-4 weeks also and you'll knock them out but your plants are gonna look kinda shitty at first. This is a hardcore program but it will absolutely knock your problem out. Get a pyth bomb or two and throw them somewhere in the schedule. DO NOT USE THE SAME PESTICIDE EVERYTIME. The mites will become immune and then you'll have mites like in Cali where sometimes a extreme program like this won't even work. Only use these pesticides in veg and don't flower out these plants, just use them as moms.

You also have to bleach all of your equipment after you're done flowering and do the same for your veg equipment every week until you knock them out. Mites are not easy to get rid of but it's definitely possible as long as you're diligent. I used to also stick my moms in the shower and blast them with water. Get a multi-directional sprayer too. You really have to get the under sides of the leaves as that's where the mites mostly are.