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Spider mites AKA The Borg

Flowerman

Active member
Spider mites AKA The Borg

~Products I tested~
Bug Buster-O
Safer Insecticidal soap
Safer Houseplant insect killer
Safer BioNeem
Dyna-Grow Pure Neem Oil
Organocide
Hot shots No Pest strips
Predator mites (triple variety)
Hot Shots no pest strips
Doktor Doom release fogger

These are what I have tested so far, each one will work, but it depends on how they are used, and in what type of environment they are used in. These two things play a big role on how effective they will be.

I find the best way to get rid of spider mites, is prevention from the start, and a few simple practices to follow. I’m an avid grower of a lot of different things, not just cannabis, but it is one of my favorite plants to grow, and to watch from the start.

To start out with, it is essential to keep the grow room clean, if you’re not using predator mites, or don’t plan on using them, then a good bombing in between grows will also help to a degree. But keeping things clean is a great place to start. After this, I would suggest not mixing outdoor plants with the indoor plants, keep all pets out of the room, and never go directly into your grow room, if you’ve been working outdoors in the yard/garden, or for that matter, even playing sports out in the yard, or rolling around with a love one. Spider mites are notorious for hitch hiking, and it doesn’t take much, a simple stroll where a few might be, even a breeze can set one up for sail to catch a ride on your shirt/blouse. But the point of this is, is to be aware of what you are doing and your surroundings before you continue on to your next steps which might include you visiting your indoor grow.

After this, I would suggest making sure if you are going to use store bought medium, make sure that it has been sterilized. Also you can follow the same practices on your own preparation medium. If not, chances are it can contain spider mites, or any other number of pests. If you are using containers, I really like to use PAM cooking spray on the lower sides of the containers, this prevents any type of pest climbing up, and getting into your medium and onto your plant/plants where they can wreak havoc. Also keeping some space in between your plants is good, so the pest can’t easily get from one plant to the next, but this isn’t always ideal, especially for SOG grows, where closeness is part of the procedure.

So far, all is ok, but we still got to take it up a notch. I also suggest a once a week foliar spraying during veg, that consist of using some type of a neem oil product. This will help prevent spider mites from starting, as it is a bio-inhibitor. There are so many products that use neem oil, which one is better, that’s up to personal preference, and what works best for you. If you use the pure neem oil, you will have to dilute it with warm water, as it is very thick stuff. The BioNeem, is probably the easiest and cleanest to use, with a pleasant smell of lemons, but contains a lower percentage if the active ingredient, but even using water is a good thing. Definitely make sure the lights are off when ever misting/spraying your plants, and make sure they are dry before turning on the light/lights. But this is the one I found to like for this purpose, not overly strong, but good enough and not messy and has a pleasant odor. Very easy on plants, so a plus there.

Another thing I like to add is do a complete visual look over of all of your plants, at least once a week, if not more. This means look at the leaves, underneath and on top, inside/outside of the container, if you see any type of speckling, chances are, a mite was taking a plunge into a plant cell. One mite can punch a lot of holes by the way. The speckling can be spotted pretty easily, but most of the time goes unnoticed because we’re too busy doing other things, and not really taking the garden serious enough, even though one is getting pleasure out of growing it. Before you know it, you got webs, and webs are a good sign of a good infestation taking place, and this relatively means, the borg have set camp, and are multiplying at a phenomenal rate probably.

What can we do? Well first, don’t panic, and don’t toss your hard work/time away. Yea, they suck, and in more than one way, lol. (I’m a security buff, some people suggest taking young or old plants outside and shaking them off, well, it works to a degree, but not always 100% and most of the time, there are still plenty there, and the fact that you noticed them, chances are they got eggs, which don’t easily shake off. Not too mention the fact, if any neighbor sees you, your cover is blown right out the door, so I don’t suggest this, but to each their own). A doctor doom fogger will start the party in your favor, Also if you’re still in veg, a good spraying with Organocide would be my first choice, as this stuff works pretty good, and not only does it kill off the adults, but it also kills the larvae, nymphs and egg stages as well. You will have a slight fishy/lemony smell, but it doesn’t last for long, also when spraying, you might want to put some plastic under the plant (spray area), as this will prevent any chance of staining the cement, but it is only a slight chance. I’ve never experienced this problem as of yet using this product so far, I also suggest getting the concentrate, last longer, and you have more of it, but the spray bottles work great too. Secondly, try getting your temps down some, as this will slow down breeding to a degree, even if it’s only in your dark time, it truly is beneficial when trying to get a grip on them. If you have more than one area to keep your plants, I would suggest separating them, but this isn’t always feasible, so treat all the plants as if they had an infestation. The next thing to do, is to hit them again a few days later by spraying them, you must completely mist them, from top to bottom, from the top of the leaves to the underside, and this includes the top of the medium as well. And another good cleaning of the floors, and the equipment, and the area is definitely recommended.

At this stage, I still find it crucial to inject them with another treatment of something else. It’s a change in the recipe, and is the knockout blow to them, as they are pretty determined little creatures, and are very strong, but will be in a weakened state because of the first two doses of spray. This is like a 1, 2 knock out blow. If one used some type of soap to begin with, then I would suggest using some type of pyrethrins. Since we used Organocide, one could use several types, pyrethrins, neem oil, even hot shots no pest strips, but if one is going to use the pest strips, you got to take into account your environment, if you are ventilating the air in your grow area out, this will have little effect on the mites, as the main ingredient needs to accumulate in the air for awhile to be effective. Even if you are recycling the air through a carbon filter, this will also weaken the outcome. But turning off the exhaust fans if you can, for at least 6 hours out of a 24 hour period, then this has a chance of doing what it does best, and that’s knocking them out. But definitely a one, two punch is a great way to go, when combating these little creatures, that we all like to call the borg, but what a crafty little creature they are. Also since we used Organocide, we could now incorporate predator mites, but make sure at least a week or two has went by before introducing them since you sprayed. They are truly a wonderful and big help to combating these borg. But you must not use any other type of treatment while they are being deployed, and it does take some time, depending on infestation levels. You should also mist the plants a few times before deploying them, and right before you release them if you plan on using them. With predator mites, you shouldn’t worry about keeping temps cool, as they breed better and faster when it’s warmer, but there are stipulations when using them, they do like a more humid environment, unlike the spider mites, and your cannabis plants. So a daily misting is required, or a humidifier, but keep an eye out on mold/mildew, also the dead mites if a lot die in one area, they can really turn the buds into rot quickly. Also it is best to start predators when the spider mite colony is low, as they would be overwhelmed and could not keep up in the numbers race, so almost pointless to a degree then, but by using the Organocide first, safer soap, this will help dwindle the numbers down considerably. They also require a longer light period, so when introduced in flowering, they will not breed efficiently, and can go into dormant. But if used in the vegetative stage, they will provide enough assistance to finish out the grow, and or, will have killed off the spider mites if given enough time, which is over 4 weeks for most cases, but it depends on the amount used and how bad the infestation was. A rule of thumb, always go with a little more than what you think you need.;)

If you didn’t use predator mites, it is probably a good thing to give it a third dosing a week later of the Organocide, to make sure the ones that hatched are killed.

The Bug Buster-O works pretty fast, but you must use a mild formula on the plants, as it uses a petroleum product and if not measured correctly, will kill off leaf after leaf, you’ll notice it by it turning dark brown then to black, basically the same shit happened when I tried the PAM, lol, gotta test, but the weird shit was, after growth took off again, the one sprayed with PAM actually never had to be treated again for mites, lol, but it did look like shit for about two weeks. Used correctly, the product does what it says, but the smell isn’t too pleasant. But it contains a high amount of pyrethrins, compared to the other products that I tried that contained it as well. Would definitely recommend this one as well, not the PAM for plants;).

Safer Houseplant insect killer, well a great concept anyway, almost like a true aerosol, and not messy in anyway. The problem I have with this, it’s not cost effective, it would be great if you only had 2 plants, but anything more, you need to really stock up on this, like spray paint, never enough to finish a project, for you go through it pretty quickly. I wouldn’t use this product as a stand alone, not powerful enough IMHO, but it does have power when it is combined with using something else. It says its main ingredient is pyrethrins derived from chrysanthemum, as is the other product that I tried Bug Buster-O, but this didn’t have the knock out power at all as one would think. Though a great concept, just needs more power for the use that it is intended for.

Between grows, Doktor Doom foggers work great, and can be used at all stages of growth, unlike other type of foggers, this ones main ingredient is also pyrethrins derived from chrysanthemum, and is formulated to work with mites, and is a natural pyrethrin. Again, I find it best to avoid letting the stage build up in the first place, but noticing them early is your second best line of defense, so you can combat them during the veg stage, and not have too worry about them in the flowering stage. It did its job, but had to spray afterwards on this grow to take care of the eggs, and the ones that hatched. So not so much a stand alone product, unless it’s being used from the get go, when one is cleaning out the grow room.

(A side note, using Floramite is probably one of the best things for mites {I’ve heard}, but it is very expensive, though cost effective, I personally have never used it though, and as why I left it out.)

(I also don’t use the No Pest Strips while in the flowering stage, this is just my personal choice.)

Just a few photos I took during one stage, letting them build up in large numbers. They love to gather together at certain times of the light cycle, pretty wild, almost like a group orgy then the die down some, and later on, come back together.


 

Flowerman

Active member
Just wanted to update this thread, I finally gotten around to testing two other products for spider mites and the results were great. These two products working together are the best thing I’ve found so far. The first one, as already praised by most people is Floramite, the second one is safergro pest out.

Applied floramite on infestation, covered the entire plant, at around 7 days I then applied pestout, at approximately 2 weeks, infestation/eggs were wiped the **** out. Over the next 2 months, I did notice that there were a few here and there, and when sprayed with the pest out, were gone within the same day. Needless to say, running a garden without a break in between can be havoc if these critters/borg get in, but after using these two products, simply amazing stuff all the way.

Again, floramite is suppose to stay working for 30 days, but it’s always good to use at least two different products, this way the mites have a harder time building up a resistance.

Also by using this, I could throw away those no pest strips. And a one time purchase of the floramite will last a grower years upon years. Again, thank you everyone who recommended the floramite!;)
 

MynameStitch

Dr. Doolittle
Mentor
Veteran
Definatly needs to be stickyed! Great Job flower :tup:

I would pm 10k and ask him to review this and see if he thinks it is as good as I think it is... he may sticky it :)
 

DIGITALHIPPY

Active member
Veteran
Flowerman said:
...Applied floramite on infestation, covered the entire plant, at around 7 days I then applied pestout, at approximately 2 weeks, infestation/eggs were wiped the **** out. Over the next 2 months, I did notice that there were a few here and there, and when sprayed with the pest out, were gone within the same day. Needless to say, running a garden without a break in between can be havoc if these critters/borg get in, but after using these two products, simply amazing stuff all the way.

Again, floramite is suppose to stay working for 30 days, but it’s always good to use at least two different products, this way the mites have a harder time building up a resistance.

Also by using this, I could throw away those no pest strips. And a one time purchase of the floramite will last a grower years upon years. Again, thank you everyone who recommended the floramite!;)

floromite is the best!!!
its systemic and stays int he plant so when more bugs bit and eat they get poisen and die.
i find that its the best, the 3-in-1 is great aswell as safers bugsoap.
but avid/floromite is the best.
i even spray my veg plants pre-emptivly. and dont have problems.

azitrol is supposed to be good aswell, and works on multiple bugs. not just mites.
 

MynameStitch

Dr. Doolittle
Mentor
Veteran
Thought so :D
Yup, really is a great thread flower congrats :tup:

Another way it's good is when people fight spider mites they always end up using just one method to rid of them..... it's not working like that and has not been for quite some time.. always gotta have an arsenal to rid them little bas!@!@*!&@
 
T

terran2

yep , still have my 1qrt of Floramite and it does seem to have a long shelf life ....i discovered it a few yrs before most grow stores had it in stock . It was advertised on the biggest international Rose growing site down in tennessee as the one solution to the mite problem.


Had spent so many nights before spraying with ineffective solutions till
arms fell off , lol...nice thing is it doesn't kill beneficial insects only targets the bad critters.
 
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chaingmai

Member
I was gonna use floramite but deiced to stick with more natural remedies first . Anyone worried about the chemical aspect of floramite. I don't think it is approved for edible crops . Just asking because i really am considering using it still if i have Too. Great thread by the way very informative.
 

killa-bud

Active member
Veteran
i heavyly mist my plant every day with plain water since i first noticed signs of mites ...seems to keep them under control,but now the plant is flowering..i'am worried about mold,its still in early flower,so i still spray it,but i don't know if it's wise to continue doing this.....
 
Hey Flowerman, great thread!!!

I just started flowering, Im about 6-7 days in and I wanted to use Floramite for preventive measures... Do you guys think thats safe or should I use something else to be safe?? thanks
 

NorCal

Member
Veteran
anyone know if avid can be applied to the rez? the instructions say to not add it to any irrigation system but a couple people have told me theyve done it and it becomes systemic, so when the mites bite theyre gone!

just got done with my last application of azatrol and so far so good, pretty expensive however....
 
G

Guest

I used soap followed with pytherins and have zero mites now. These were red and two spotted mites.i rinsed the plants with a mister several times. The pytherins degrade after a short daylight period. so dusk seemed the proper time to apply. DDT is not for sale now.
 

Goyakla

Member
Boil some tobacco in water.. to get the Nicotin out... rest for a day and spray
daily. Nicotin is EXTREMLY deadly in VERY small doses 2.mg pure will kill u at once... the borgs REAL dont survive that treatment.
KILL THEM ALL
peace
 
T

terran2

chaingmai said:
I was gonna use floramite but deiced to stick with more natural remedies first . Anyone worried about the chemical aspect of floramite. I don't think it is approved for edible crops . Just asking because i really am considering using it still if i have Too. Great thread by the way very informative.

Good clean grow rooms , clean plants to install and trimming techniques early on , is the best preventive methid for controling mites . When a mite problem occurs eventually it hopefully gets spotted early when plants are still small enough to be easily treated with the rest of their growing /flowering days ahead . But when you go any route for treating mites the best approach is total irradication by removal of all infected (lower) leaves then a spray with something that really controls/kills most all mites in the 1rst application)
(or second app if heavy infested ...but should never let mites get that far but if they do then go for total eradication by the 2nd app of miticide )

Since floramite is one of the only known relatively harmless mite~larvacides that targets only the bad mites with usually a 1/4tsp per/Qrt with a soap~surficant will destroy almost 99.99% . I generally always rinse my plants too after sufficient time elapse ( 1/2-1 hr or so ) after any foliar application anyways , to minimize any residue effect and plants like a nice shower too ;o)

*Though bottle recommends 1/4 tsp/gal , never noticed any harm to plants going with the above and the kill rate of both mites & eggs is almost total ...which is what you want ! Plus the residule kill rate of 21days too so keep your rooms clean after dealing the mites this lethal blow & don't use any more mited clones or plants again!

The residual effect of Flora Mite when used early on or even into mid flower shouldn't be a worry imo , as its not considered a great toxic threat to begin with . I believe they are now in the process of applying for certified use on tomatoe crops in Calif .

FloraMite is the Bomb Dizzle Shizzle for mite control !!

bar none ...but keep your rooms clean too !!!!
 
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T.Baggins

Member
floramite

floramite

ahhhh god bless floramite!!! spray all your cuttings after they have roots and are in pots......then again about two weeks into flower and you will have a lot less stress in life. if you spray them right when you start to flower than they could come back towards the end of flowering, and that sucks...i have tried it in a reservoir as well as using it in a watering can and it absolutely didn't work..... has anyone ever had problems using the no pest strips in combination with pytherins spray? the reason i ask is i tried it my plants got real sick and lost almost half their leaves.
 

The_Leader

Non-Hilocentric
I've found petroleum jelly a Very helpful tool in preventing mites.

I should charge for this advice, but I'm feeling charitable:)

SO Easy to....


Make sure leaves Never hit soil

Coat 1/2 inch of stalk 1/2 an inch above the soil. Check every 7-1O days to make sure it's still sticky, or just wipe and replace. I Had mites along time ago. Dammed hnats bother me, but they don't hurt small or single grows...imho
 
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