Spider mites 2 weeks from finish.

[Stayfoolish]

I have been battling these bastards for three weeks. I have Sucrashield, Pyganic, and mighty wash. Been using an atomizer and trying my best. I found a guy who sell ladybugs by the gallon. Should I infest my room with like 5 gallons of ladybugs since it is so close to finish. I was thinking crank up my Ac but I know it won't get cold enough. What about a heat treatment.? Figured ask you guys because it seems like organic growers really care about their plants and know more than the average Joe. Running all organics water only. Any help or hints would be appreciated.

 

[Granger2]

Stayfoolish,
I wouldn't worry TOO much with only 2 weeks to go. You don't need to wipe them out, just knock their numbers back so they cause insignificant damage. I'd stake them up well with bamboo or whatever, and dunk them in pH'd water or RO with Coco Wet at recommended strength. Cover the medium with a rag or cardboard or paper plate, turn them upside down and dunk them gently. I give them some mild movement and pull them out and let them drain. I'd do that twice 3-5 days apart. Then a 3rd time, plain water to get the soap off the buds for harvest.

If you can't manage dunking, use the same thing with a pump sprayer, spraying heavily with lots of flow. Ixnay on hard force spray. Don't want to beat up the trichomes. Use your Pyganic as an area spray-walls, floor, doors, outside and bottom of containers.

I got a great kill with Mighty Wash on White Flies. Haven't had mites for 3 years. But I like dunking best because it give 100% cover and rinses off many of the mites and eggs, and doesn't beat up the trichomes. Good luck. -granger

 

[VerdantGreen]

first off remove any leaves that are already infested, then i would spray with very dilute neem, maybe 1teaspoon per gallon properly emulsified with a blender/smoothie maker. if you are careful you can spay the leaves without getting too much on the buds. 1 application now would probably do it. DO IT AT LIGHTS OFF or pistils will get burnt by the lights.
its not ideal, ive done this on occasion in mid to late flower when ive had to - and never tasted or smelt anything odd on the buds when smoked.

VG

 

[Croptober]

Toss em, no one wants to smoke spidermites and I don't recommend spraying anything on them this late in flower. You could go with ladybugs but then you'll have ladybug shit all over your buds and thats not much better then where you are now.

 

[Stayfoolish]

Does pyganic break down over time? So I could spray till the end then cure for longer than normal. Would 3 gallons of ladybugs wipe out the infestation? I care about the end user so I want to do this the right way.

 

[DeoXy]

I sprayed my veg. plants with floramite one time 3 years ago and haven't seen a single one since.. they are really hard to get rid of 100%.. was the only thing that worked for me.. but you have to have like 4-6 weeks at least after treatment for the floramite to work it's way out of the plant (systemic).

Since your already deep in flower population control is your best option.. Look into pyrethrin spray and foggers.. they r safe to use close to harvest w/ no residual and provide a quick knockdown.

 

[Grass Lands]

Hot Shotz no pest strips...will knock the shit out of them and it does not affect the plant...been using them for years and no twitch here...depending on the room size ya may need more then one...

 

[drgr33nuk]

Pyrethrum is effective against the adults and safe to keep applying up until harvest. pyrethrum smoke bombs are good because you don't have to spray large plants and you can guarantee everything is getting a layer.

 

[AssSlinger]

I wouldn't spray anything 2 weeks before harvest, and definitely won't dunk the plants in water.
I rather smoke mites than mold.

Ladybugs would be my weapon of choice and I would use a LOT of them. 2 Gallons sounds more than sufficient.
It most likely won't kill them all but it will reduce their numbers by far and you won't smoke dead mites as they will be eaten rather than killed.

Ladybugs are hard to keep at one place, but once they settle they usually stay at the same place. Keep them at your room after harvest if possible.
I would also put quite a few in the veg area and in the cloners if present.
If you have leftovers put them in your garden :-D

 

[FreedomTRAIL]

I would not knowingly smoke a plant that had been infested with mites. I would make some bubble to screen out the mites and there poop. Ladybugs suck, they don't live very long and get every were as well as shitting all over your plants. Never seen them successfully rid a crop. Good luck

 

[CannaSavant]

I would not use neem at all. Ive seen people do that with a few weeks left and ruin the bud cause it all tasted like neem. id remove all the fans and infected leaves off the plant. get a shop vac and keep them at ba for last couple weeks. then clean everything in that room with a vengeance

 

[Croptober]

Not to mention anything you spray might make the buds taste different and then you run the risk of mold.

 

[Granger2]

Mold is a consideration, but my room has a dehumidifier, fans, AC, etc. and they would dry in little time. Vacuum cleaners suck off trichomes. No perfect way. I just hope I don't get them at the end.

On the subject of predators, Lady Bugs are good for a lot of things, but for mites you need,
http://www.buglogical.com/Triple%20Blend%20Spider%20Mite%20Predators
or
http://www.buglogical.com/green-lacewing/green-lacewing-chrysoperia-carnea/

Don't get lacewing larvae with predator mites. The lacewing larvae will eat them too. I've had good luck with both, but not at the same time. Good luck. -granger

 

[CoastalKind]

Don't spray them with anything! At least not anything like neem or spinosad or something. It will ruin your smoke this close to harvest. Neem soaks into the bud and the flowers will taste like neem and be harsh. If you want to spray them with something, go with something gentler like a tea of worm casting, rosemary, onion, or garlic. Also if this is an indoor room than all of those lady bugs are just going to fly into your lights and it will smell like burnt hair in there. Some people say you can use pyrithrin this close to harvest but I wouldn't use anything that could leave a residue personally.

 

[VerdantGreen]

like granger says there is no perfect way. you dont want buds that were infested with mites either!

the thing about neem is that it still works at very low concentrations, 1 teaspoon per gallon is incredibly dilute but it will still do its thing.

spray carefully from below and you get the underside of the leaves without really getting the buds wet.

i wouldnt recommend something unless i'd done it myself without a problem.

VG

p.s. obviously the best thing would have been to have an IPM program and make sure your plants and grow is clear of mites before you start flowering!

 

[Microbeman]

If you get a vial or two (3000 each) of persimilis on granules, they will eliminate the spider mites. Maybe more if you have lots of plants.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sn3AiGn5uKw

 

[Mikell]

Sounds like granger is one of the few blessed with proper air flow/control... XD

Though I love bio-control, between ordering and colonization time delays, I'd think he would be chopping down while the predators are ramping up.

An interesting link re: spinosad as a systemic root treatment against mites.

 

[Stayfoolish]

Per advice I went through and removed any infested or damaged leaf. Thinned plants down a bit. Did a spray of sucrashield, pyganic, greeclean and Spinosad all mixed up. Had dehumidifier running full blast and maxed airflow in the room while shutting off extractions. Per advice I sprayed thoroughly and all the walls and floors. Cleaned all plant material out and am waiting to see how it looks tonight. A person in Oroville said they could mail me 3 gallons of ladybugs but it's through his craigslist and I don't want to get burnt. Really appreciate the help. I plan to go through with low pressure pump sprayers and wash things off a bit. I tried beneficial bugs before and I think they made the issue worse. Maybe it was a shit company.

 

[Microbeman]

If you get the persimilis in high density in granules and look to see they are active with a magnifying glass, etc. they will absolutely do the job. I have done this a number of times. Now that you have sprayed Spinosad, you cannot use predator mites for 4 weeks anyway. I do not know how it effects lady beetles. Spinosad on its own should do the job.

I've used it with instant results.

You should not have mixed various insecticides together. I sure hope this 'product' is for your consumption only and that none of the potentially mutated mites get out to spread around.

 

[xxxstr8edgexxx]

dont trip. its not that big a deal. mites are not something you want but.....you got em. its ok especially considering theres only 2 weeks left. itll be ok.lord knows there is tons of "good" herb on the market that has bugs hidden in there. id be less concerned about some bugs than i wold about a bunch of treatments whether organic or not. how bad could it get in two weeks? i would finish them no treatment and bag it up and call it good. in the mean time treat your veg plants with something that will kill the bugs. mighty wash is a joke. if you are wanting something chill this is what i use when staying away from chems.

my organic mite treatment prevention ipm goes like this. i mix a mild to medium strength dilution from the bottle instruction of all these three ingredients.
in a pump sprayer. i usually make a gallon.

azadactrin product (azamax or azatrol)

pyganic.

spinosad.
( they dont list it for mites but i have had better results with it than without and it kills thrips they may be secretly hanging out.)

to this i add enough soap to emulsify the oils. i like peppermint dr. bs.
discard unused always make fresh.

i spray this every three days every singly plant in veg room underside and tops of all leaves.

i time it so that as the round in flower hsrvests and the veg plant go in theyve had three treatments and are now due the fourth. when they get rotated in they recieve thier 4th and final treatment. this ensures any lingering mites from the flowering round (yeah right) get an overlapping treatment. then no more sprays for these plants.

ive never had this not work. ive never had a spider mite issue get to the point of a problem. ive had them come in on clones and this always eradicated them or at least controlled them to the point of unnoticeable.

i like this approach because it utilizes 3 different modes of control.
neem pyrethrin and soapy water (very mild if at all) . these products are safe leave no residuals by harvest time and are completely undetectable in final product when used on this timeline.

i wamt to add that these should be rotated with a fine mist spraying of h20 between treatment applications for two reasons. it washes of previous application so that plants can breath. spidermites hate water.
hope this helps. i have seriously never had this not work.

go mild on the pyg, and aza products they work well in mild concentrations and the plants will get a little hungover from it if its too strong. it gives em a transpiration oil cloggy kind of stress. wash em off 24 hours after every spraying. i swear this works. it would probably work well with 3 times 3 days apart. but i always 4 times 3 days apart.. but 3 days would cover thier entire life cycle so it should work.

hope this helps.

ive not had a spidermites get out of hand or even get to be noticesble beyond a few speckling fan leaves at the end of flower (rarely ever) since i started this in 2008.