Spotted what I think are russet mites...what do I do now?

Today I spotted what I suspect are russet mites on my largest most beautiful plant. Just wondering what approach I should take from here? My head is spinning with all these different miticides like venerate and grandeva and azamax and prf 97 and sulfur washes and iso-alcohol etc etc etc etc....also predatory mites.

What course of action should I take? (particularly for someone on a tight budget, what can be done cheaply).....Will predatory mites be effective at all at this point or are they more of a preventative measure? What miticide do ya'll suggest? Is Pyrethrum ok to use for a "knock out" to kill them?

And do any of you know where I can purchase small units of a miticide? Seems like everywhere I look they only come in 1 gallon and up with costs around $200+...I only have a few plants and I can't afford gallons of the stuff. I only need maybe a pint, even that will likely last me a while.



They seemed to have appeared "over night". I spend a good portion of time each day glancing over and observing these plants. Just yesterday I applied some spinosad and didn't see anything on this plant. But today while walking around and giving the plants a "look over" I noticed there were a few leaves with their edges curling inward just a tiny slight bit on this one. And on those leaves, with the naked eye and a weak 10x scope, I see what looks to be some orange-ish specs that appear cylindrical in shape that are more concentrated where the leaf attaches to the petiole. No other signs at all, the leaves still appear lush & green and don't have any marking on them.

I'm assuming these are russet mites? And thinking I've caught them relatively early? If so, how quickly are these things going to spread through out the plant?

Besides a few leaves with their edges curling the entire plant looks very healthy, this is happening on maybe 5% of the plant (about 6ft tall and 7ft wide canopy)....but is this plant completely fucked at this point?

They only appear to be on this one plant specifically and not on the plant right next to it/touching it....Out of my 6 other small plants only one appears to possibly have some mites on it (no visible damage and no leaf curl anywhere, but I think I've spotted some with my naked eye and a 10x scope).


I can't think of anything else that would make the edges of leaves curl inward like that. It has been super hot & dry in my area the past week, up around 110 for almost a week straight, but I assume all the leaves on a plant would have edges curling if it was heat stress and not just a few of them(?).


This is a huge bummer...being on a super tight budget and growing entirely for my own personal annual smoke, I'll be wrecked if these bastards take out my biggest/best looking plant or any of my plants.






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I'm no expert but I would prune those leafs carefully so they don't spread

Grandevo + pfr 97 + botaniguard 22 wp mixed together than 3 days later venerate xc

to save cash on Marrone versions (25%+ buy non cannabis version label aka non “cg” from real ag websites and not hydro stores

if If veg is would rotate with conserve sc ( you can even mix that with ethier grandevo mix too to make your kill combo a knock out ) and spray till 3-4th week but disadvantaged to conserve is limit cycle spraying (8 times per year )

I know you think this is costly by the shelf life is good and every garden needs a good ipm plan every year . Grandevo shelf life is 3+ years

rolandomota said:

I'm no expert but I would prune those leafs carefully so they don't spread

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I removed several entire branches yesterday.

I'm not sure how they actually spread. They're so tiny it seems like it'd take them literally several days to walk from one part of the plant to another.

ExoticsRus said:

Grandevo + pfr 97 + botaniguard 22 wp mixed together than 3 days later venerate xc

to save cash on Marrone versions (25%+ buy non cannabis version label aka non “cg” from real ag websites and not hydro stores

if If veg is would rotate with conserve sc ( you can even mix that with ethier grandevo mix too to make your kill combo a knock out ) and spray till 3-4th week but disadvantaged to conserve is limit cycle spraying (8 times per year )

I know you think this is costly by the shelf life is good and every garden needs a good ipm plan every year . Grandevo shelf life is 3+ years

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Thanks for the heads up.

If there was only one or two of those miticides that you could get, which would they be?

I can't afford all of those. I can get one of them, maybe two.



And my plants are in early flowering right now, if that matters at all. Just barely starting to form buds as of the past several days.







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this is stuff ive tried
you are in for a battle if you dont get ahead of em NOW
they are faster than you can possibly imagine
these things are stubborn and most spider mite solutions are not effective for russets
they , like the borg can build up tolerance for most single treatments within a 4-6 week period




if you are vegging and not a med provider/organic
just use the killdeath and be done

floramite f4
+
avid

in a 3-5 day rotation when in veg

plus scrubdown rooms, spray rooms - the whole shit - scrub and spray it
killdeath and be done

ONLY if its your headstash

and you are kool w it in your smoke
ONLY
I am a headstash farmer
ive done worse for what ive put in myself over the years , but others here could get all bent about pesticides so be warened

Ive had to use them once during the stretch, floramite and/or avid will knock shit down


its better to use the killdeath early than using neem or azamax or most anything thats a maybe

however avid and floramite are quite a weapon against spider mites too


if you are organic/medical :
ive tried
neem oil sprays/root drenches - really really burned my plants , no matter what strength and its not very long lasting
stickys everything up
sesame oil shit - nope
azamax - same deal

thing is , you need to treat them NOW
if they are not too big , ive made tubs for root ball soak/whole plant soak
this style with a full on scrubdown of the room is most effective

use landscape fabric cut to the size of container and transfer plant to the container carefully sliding the roots into the bucket/pot/container inside the lanscape fabric
now your rootball/whole plant drench is prepared

ive laid down entire plants, hangin out under a weaker solution than a spray for say 2-10 minutes Ive done this literally in my bathtub and in a 37gl tote ( first top then roots)

ive killed everything in about 5 minutes. except my girl. drain and measur runoff ph to make sure you havent knocked it out of range


ive tried other shit im just not remembering... but yeah
no

#1 time is importamt , they will cover your whole grow in less than a month
#2 organic stuff just doent work for long against them
#3 killdeath is what worked for me; floramite and avid in rotation - never seen a spider or russet mite since

In flower, you really shouldnt use anything after the stretch starts. theres some things like mightywash or greencleaner or procrop (cropplus? cant remember) thats safe till day of chop. most growshops will gladly sell you a gallon for a a small fortune
thing is spraying water on your buds starts introducing other problems

sucks but this is the breaks

as for sourcing this shit
i got some 4oz bottles (repackaged ) on ebay
this is not exactly legit because you dont really know if you are getting what your getting, just look for established accounts w good feedback...and u can prolly source it there

my grow shop has them in the 8oz or pint and i just didnt have so much $$ to spend for this stuff at the time 75-150$+

if you are american
you are in the area of a grow shop and
you are lucky they have either of these 2 in stock.
get at least one bottle like NOW
and get these things early or your entire growspaces will be overrun in less than 2 weeks

anecdotal evidence:
i know a comercial guy in canada runs huge 64 x 1k light rooms , grows organic in soil
and...
he uses this shit right after the the stripdown and flip of every round...as a preventative
ipm
doesnt tell anyone but those who watch his grows'

Micronized (Wettable) sulfur will kill them dead with the quickness if you are in veg. It's also extremely cheap but not sure if you want to spray it in early flower. If you arent seeing trichomes yet, you might be fine if you just rinse it off after a couple days.



I've used Grandevo and its more of a preventative with a much slower mode of action. With Sulfur they will be dead in 24 hours and you can repeat in a couple days to kill any newly hatched ones.



It's a good practice to do a couple applications of sulfur before flower for peace of mind. It helps keep PM away too. I do about 1 tbsp/gallon h20 and try to get every surface of the plant.


I've dealt with these bastards a few times in the past but now I dont even sweat them as long as I have a bottle of sulfur on hand.

Organilush said:

I removed several entire branches yesterday.

I'm not sure how they actually spread. They're so tiny it seems like it'd take them literally several days to walk from one part of the plant to another.

What’s the point of the stuff of many of the uses listed when you can’t spray bepypnd first week of flower or not allowed on cannabis (like floramite)













Thanks for the heads up.

If there was only one or two of those miticides that you could get, which would they be?

I can't afford all of those. I can get one of them, maybe two.



And my plants are in early flowering right now, if that matters at all. Just barely starting to form buds as of the past several days.




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I would get grandevo and venerate xc and rotate every 3 days cause it’s accepted up to harvest and you can apply it unlimited times and it’s super cheap and also efficient on broad and russet mites but also per gallon ( as long as u get non “cg version “ ) cheap )

+ you can’t afford big ag spinosad aka conserve sc get captain jacks With Grandevo /venerate xc( conserve sc and that’s a great knockout for the battle and does wonders ) buy a $15 worth of captain jacks ( which is spinosad , just 22x less concentrated version and won’t last u no where as long , but will last u this round and kill off the pest )

spinosad can be applied up to 8 times in the season and before the 3/4th week of bloom and is very safe and can be mixed with ethier of Grandevo or venerate to make a super killer tea .

not sure if you know this but what Grandevo/venerate on how ‘they work” is they are heated fungi and the pest are attracted to the smells ( aka terps ) and then once ingested they die off . These biocontrol companies look at 1000’s of fungi’s/bennies and find the best of what will benefit towards the battle , it’s really cool and these kind of things vs oils can be used toward harvest and don’t hurt bee’s ( which is a huge thing in big ag and even small garden )

Here’s Marrone lab Marrone how they explain how everything is made and how it works + their lab and equipment and process .Very cool!

https://youtu.be/v2xoeT7ylmY

ExoticsRus said:

+ you can’t afford big ag spinosad aka conserve sc get captain jacks With Grandevo /venerate xc( conserve sc and that’s a great knockout for the battle and does wonders ) buy a $15 worth of captain jacks ( which is spinosad , just 22x less concentrated version and won’t last u no where as long , but will last u this round and kill off the pest )

spinosad can be applied up to 8 times in the season and before the 3/4th week of bloom and is very safe and can be mixed with ethier of Grandevo or venerate to make a super killer tea .

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So spinosad works for killing & dealing with russet mites too?

I didn't know that, this is the first time I've heard anything about spinosad being used for mites.

I do have some spinosad concentrate on hand and I applied it the day before I spotted the mites (I was using spinosad for potential caterpillars and thrips).





Thanks for the replies everyone...I intend on replying to a few other posts & things specifically I just don't have the time right now.




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Does spinosad fight russets = fuck yes

There is a sticky thread on THCF that is called “ russets mites” in outdoor growing , and the growing tried many products. Best products were for a Grandevo/venerate combo and spinosad as a knockout . I’ve been using this method against two spot or any nasty bug and i never have any issue. Thing is when you look at the rate for spider mites in spinosad vs reg stuff, it’s way higher ( like reg dosage of conserve sc 2.9ml vs mites is 5.9ml , key is to apply the mites dosage )

If you have a diff brand of spinosad , JSU’s do the math and mix even if they didn’t support mites if it’s the spinosad like captain jacks ( just 22x less concentrated vs conserve sc)

https://www.domyown.com/msds/Conserve_SC1_label.pdf


the people who made the russet mites thread were crying about the russets and love and praise what I’m sugggesting . These things are great IPM tools for so many soft bodied bugs and they won’t stress your plants as well ( look at azamax )

What’s your exact recipe for grandevo/venerate mix? Conserve SC recipe ?
How often you rotate ? Sorry if you already answered this.


I’ve got all these , but ratios for cannabis seem different when I’ve talked to supplier,

Thanks

ExoticsRus said:

Does spinosad fight russets = fuck yes

There is a sticky thread on THCF that is called “ russets mites” in outdoor growing , and the growing tried many products. Best products were for a Grandevo/venerate combo and spinosad as a knockout . I’ve been using this method against two spot or any nasty bug and i never have any issue. Thing is when you look at the rate for spider mites in spinosad vs reg stuff, it’s way higher ( like reg dosage of conserve sc 2.9ml vs mites is 5.9ml , key is to apply the mites dosage )

If you have a diff brand of spinosad , JSU’s do the math and mix even if they didn’t support mites if it’s the spinosad like captain jacks ( just 22x less concentrated vs conserve sc)

https://www.domyown.com/msds/Conserve_SC1_label.pdf


the people who made the russet mites thread were crying about the russets and love and praise what I’m sugggesting . These things are great IPM tools for so many soft bodied bugs and they won’t stress your plants as well ( look at azamax )

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as long as u get non “cg version “ ) cheap )

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What does "CG" stand for? What is the "non-CG version"?

you can’t afford big ag spinosad aka conserve sc get captain jacks With Grandevo /venerate xc( conserve sc and that’s a great knockout for the battle and does wonders ) buy a $15 worth of captain jacks ( which is spinosad , just 22x less concentrated version and won’t last u no where as long , but will last u this round and kill off the pest )

Click to expand...

Cool!

I do have a bottle of "Captain Jacks" Spinosad on hand. Are you saying this stuff is the same as "conserve sc" just much less concentrated? (actually I just looked on the labels of both products and just saw that's exactly the case, both are the same but Captain Jacks is just less concentrated). Thanks for giving me a heads up about this!

So I'll just be making and using a more concentrated solution of the Captain Jacks than I have been.



In simple/basic terms, what are the differences between spinosad, grandevo, & venerate? Do any of them kill on contact? Or does the mite/pest die after they've ate plant matter that has one of those miticides on it?

I understand the basics of spinosad & BT....I know they are a bacterium of sorts and when a pest eats plant material that has spinosad or BT on it they eventually die. Is this how grandevo/venerate work as well or do they have some sort of impact on the soft body of the mite that kills it on contact?



Thanks ExoticsRus!....Thanks for replying to my question and thanks a lot for the info and suggestions you've given me, I very much appreciate it! I've been stressing about this the past couple days and you've helped me feel a bit better about the situation lol.

Thanks to everyone else that's offered some advice & info as well....I just don't have the time to reply to everything I want to right now.





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Bugs are only a symptom of an underlying problem. A healthy plant with high brix levels will naturally keep bugs away. If I start to see bugs appear on my plants it tells me I'm over/ under watering or there is a nutrient defeciency. Fix that and the bugs will disappear. In my 35yrs of growing outdoors I have never needed a chemical spray. Just some straight water sprayed with some decent pressure will wash most of the mites away to bring them under control but your main mission is to find the weaknesses in the plant and cure that. Chemical sprays are only a bandaid for the underlying problem.

Great outdoors said:

Bugs are only a symptom of an underlying problem. A healthy plant with high brix levels will naturally keep bugs away. If I start to see bugs appear on my plants it tells me I'm over/ under watering or there is a nutrient defeciency. Fix that and the bugs will disappear. In my 35yrs of growing outdoors I have never needed a chemical spray. Just some straight water sprayed with some decent pressure will wash most of the mites away to bring them under control but your main mission is to find the weaknesses in the plant and cure that. Chemical sprays are only a bandaid for the underlying problem.

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My plants appear to be quite healthy and robust to me...I wouldn't even know where to start to find out the "underlying problem" or "weakness" .

My plants aren't showing signs of any deficiencies or excess, a couple of my plants were prob slightly low on N since they dropped a few of their lower/inner old leaves as they started to stretch and transition to flowering a couple weeks ago...but other than those few leaves that dropped on a couple plants during the stretch they are all quite healthy and not showing any symptoms of stress or issues. They don't appear to be over or under-watered to me, no signs of over or underwatering. I have a pretty good water cycle/pattern that allows the soil the dry out a bit between waterings.



My plants have nothing but lush green leaves that are all perked up pointing to the sky.

So if one's plants look very happy and healthy, if they're not displaying any signs of any deficiencies or excess or disease or any problems in anyway besides some mites on a few leaves, where does one start to find the "underlying problem"?

Giving my plants a little more or less water is not going to make the mites disappear.




What part of the world do you grow outdoors?








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The first step in pest control is identification of the pest. If you know for sure the pest is a russet mite then you have plenty of options already presented to you. Know what it is before you spray.

Organilush said:

My plants appear to be quite healthy and robust to me...I wouldn't even know where to start to find out the "underlying problem" or "weakness" .

My plants aren't showing signs of any deficiencies or excess, a couple of my plants were prob slightly low on N since they dropped a few of their lower/inner old leaves as they started to stretch and transition to flowering a couple weeks ago...but other than those few leaves that dropped on a couple plants during the stretch they are all quite healthy and not showing any symptoms of stress or issues. They don't appear to be over or under-watered to me, no signs of over or underwatering. I have a pretty good water cycle/pattern that allows the soil the dry out a bit between waterings.



My plants have nothing but lush green leaves that are all perked up pointing to the sky.

So if one's plants look very happy and healthy, if they're not displaying any signs of any deficiencies or excess or disease or any problems in anyway besides some mites on a few leaves, where does one start to find the "underlying problem"?

Giving my plants a little more or less water is not going to make the mites disappear.




What part of the world do you grow outdoors?




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I'm in BC.

I have seen mites in really dry summers, perhaps 2 to 3 months dry with little wind. Never enough to be an issue.
Hard to say on your plants, they sound right if they are always reaching for the sky. Brix levels are very dependent on the right nitrogen to phosphorus ratio. Are you using living soil? If so this balance will be natural if adequate amounts are available. If you are feeding ferts growing with promix, etc did you switch to bloom with the higher phosphorus?
If this grow is in your yard and you have access to a hose than the freshwater rinse is the way to go. If you give them a good pressure washing daily for a week or two you can pretty much eliminate those mites. I have managed to do this indoors where mites are truly an issue to deal with.

One other point. Are there other native plants growing around your plants or are they kinda on there own on barren ground?
Without native plants around the mites could be more of an issue.

Great outdoors said:

I'm in BC.

I have seen mites in really dry summers, perhaps 2 to 3 months dry with little wind. Never enough to be an issue.
Hard to say on your plants, they sound right if they are always reaching for the sky. Brix levels are very dependent on the right nitrogen to phosphorus ratio. Are you using living soil? If so this balance will be natural if adequate amounts are available. If you are feeding ferts growing with promix, etc did you switch to bloom with the higher phosphorus?
If this grow is in your yard and you have access to a hose than the freshwater rinse is the way to go. If you give them a good pressure washing daily for a week or two you can pretty much eliminate those mites. I have managed to do this indoors where mites are truly an issue to deal with.

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I am an organic/live soil grower. This is the 3rd year I've used the same soil and it seems better/more "alive" than ever.

And yea my plants are in my yard, I'll try to see what some water pressure from the hose does if it's effective at removing the mites off the leaves. I've used a hose/water pressure to get rid of aphids on my melon plants in the past and it worked, tho aphids are much bigger than mites, I almost feel like the mites might be too small to remove with water pressure but I'll find out in just a couple hours and I'll report back.



Thanks for your 2 cents & advice.





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What do you use for potassium amendments?
Do you grow really big plants?
Been hot and using a lot of water lately?

I’m pretty sure spraying water will not make a difference in a russet mite infestation without also damaging your plants. They like to congregate at the base of the leaves and also around the new growth/emerging bud sites and are really good at hiding in small nooks and crannies. I just really don't think spraying water on them will make a big enough difference in them to carry you till harvest. you need something that also kills them.

Wettable Sulfur will work in less than a week if you aren't seeing a lot of visible trichomes yet. About $10 for a bottle that will last you a while. Just make sure you don't use any oil based products 2 weeks before or after applying sulfur or it might have a phytotoxic reaction and make sure to rinse the plants down well a few days after application to get rid of the sulfur residue...it comes off easy.