What's new
  • Please note members who been with us for more than 10 years have been upgraded to "Veteran" status and will receive exclusive benefits. If you wish to find out more about this or support IcMag and get same benefits, check this thread here.
  • Important notice: ICMag's T.O.U. has been updated. Please review it here. For your convenience, it is also available in the main forum menu, under 'Quick Links"!

Battling russet mites, spray advice

ballplayer 2

Active member
I am battling russet mites. I have bonide fruit and citrus (10% sulfur + 0.2 pyrethrin), venerate, grandevo, monterrey garden spray( 0.5% spinosad), azamax, and botanigard.

I am looking for a hard-core product to use on my mothers to keep them clean and then clone from them. The problem is I live in an apartment and have to spray in either my shower or tent. I'm considering either Pylon or Forbid. I've heard Avid is pretty gnarly stuff and don't want to use it in my living space. I'm leaning toward Pylon.

Does anyone have experience using either pylon or forbid? How safe is it to use in my living space?

Thank you for your time and help
 

Grapefruitroop

Active member
I would say they are like Avid.....you would need protections, wear gloves mask and waterproof vest..
Spinosad at 11.6 % concentration (Conserve SC not monterey spray) or more is very effective against BM....the spinosad Has very low toxicity to human and animals no toxicity to plants..
Also sulfur works but could cause plant damage and def stinks a lot for your living space....
I would soak em with spinosad and then get some predators if you dont wana go full chem....
 

Ganoderma

Hydronaut
Mentor
Veteran
You want to use sulfur. there are a couple different ways to apply it. one is a sulfur burner, two is a dustable or wettable sulfur.
 

Crooked8

Well-known member
Mentor
ICMag Donor
Veteran
If you want to go with a nuke, pylon. Its a fogger. I ran one years ago, never seen one mite since.
 
Double the recommended dosage of the botaniguard, like spend twice the amount of time you normally would getting under the leaves and all the surfaces and whatnot, and than do it like every other day for a week. Should slaughter them
 

eyesdownchronic

Active member
Wow, seems like the russets are really bad this year. I got hit hard by em too.

I was practically in the same boat as you, wanting to get rid of the fucks without using something overly toxic.
Started out using neem, to green cleaner, to spinosad, and pyrethrin. Was cleaning every few days. None of that worked s o I took the next step and tried using sulfur. I dont know if it was the wrong kind, or if I used too much (followed the instructions of 4 tbsps per gallon, i think) but the sulfur just precipitated out and clogged the sprayers. tried doing a dunk with what plants were small enough. This didnt seem to do shit either. I didnt wanna go any more toxic, so In the end ended up going the complete opposite direction and got some beneficial insects which ended up working.

Pretty sure the reason that sprays didnt work for me is that once the pest is completely innoculated, no matter what you spray on your plants there are still shit tons of eggs and mites all around your entire grow / place, so you need to clean thoroughly as well, and then you still probably miss some, so unless you spray repetitively the mites will just come back . I imagine this is why people have such success with foggers and those pest strips that are able to clear out the whole room, or S that is systematic, if you can get a thorough treatment. On the same note, beneficials once applied more or less do the work for you.

From what i gather, the way to go for russet mites if you find them is to first clean out your area. Take everything out if you can, Sweep out debris, wipe/ mop everything down, and the n spray some bleach water and let that sit. Put everything back and then treat with a knock down spray, whatever you feel comfortable using.Also go ahead and order some bennies, and by the time they arrive it should be fine to apply them and they can just act as a control.
 

green-genes77

Active member
Veteran
Use the bonide and forget about the rest. I always used plain wettable sulfur at 1 ounce per gallon. Do not spray sulfur products when it is or will be warmer than 90 degrees within several hours of spraying. Do not use within a week of oil based products. If you are concerned about residue clogging stomata hit them with a foliar rinse the following day. Spray three times in a 10 day period: day 1, day 5 and day 10.

I have used sulfur on every size of (vegging) plant and every scale of grow in indoor, outdoor and greenhouse environments. You can spray sulfur, come back as soon as it dries and put a sample leaf under a microscope and observe the dead mites. Just make sure you do the follow up sprays to catch new hatch-outs from eggs that are already there. The pyrethrins should only make it more effective.


After you've removed your plants from the grow space and treated them in the shower sanitize the space thoroughly, wash the clothes you are wearing and shower. Then sanitize the space some more. Then reintroduce the plants. Try to dwell at the bottom of the pyramid.

picture.php
 
Last edited:

Crooked8

Well-known member
Mentor
ICMag Donor
Veteran
Use the bonide and forget about the rest. I always used plain wettable sulfur at 1 ounce per gallon. Do not spray sulfur products when it is or will be warmer than 90 degrees within several hours of spraying. Do not use within a week of oil based products. If you are concerned about residue clogging stomata hit them with a foliar rinse the following day. Spray three times in a 10 day period: day 1, day 5 and day 10.

I have used sulfur on every size of (vegging) plant and every scale of grow in indoor, outdoor and greenhouse environments. You can spray sulfur, come back as soon as it dries and put a sample leaf under a microscope and observe the dead mites. Just make sure you do the follow up sprays to catch new hatch-outs from eggs that are already there. The pyrethrins should only make it more effective.


After you've removed your plants from the grow space and treated them in the shower sanitize the space thoroughly, wash the clothes you are wearing and shower. Then sanitize the space some more. Then reintroduce the plants. Try to dwell at the bottom of the pyramid.

View Image
An oz per gallon!!? Holy crap thats a lot compared to what I use. No expert at all but i was instructed to use 3 grams per gallon. An oz is sooo much more! I saw immediate results using the 3g and it still leaves visible residue, i cant imagine the residue using 10x the amount. No hate just an observation.
 

green-genes77

Active member
Veteran
An oz per gallon!!? Holy crap thats a lot compared to what I use. No expert at all but i was instructed to use 3 grams per gallon. An oz is sooo much more! I saw immediate results using the 3g and it still leaves visible residue, i cant imagine the residue using 10x the amount. No hate just an observation.

It's always great when you can use as few as possible inputs to achieve your desired outcome. Little things like that can really impact the bottom line. In the commercial facility where I developed that regimen we found that the best efficacy for us was between 20 and 30 ml/gal. After we figured out the dosing we solved our residue problem by letting the carrier settle out for a while before mixing. We then went back and did the dosage testing along with allowing the solids to settle and had the same dosage results.
 

AgentPothead

Just this guy, ya know?
Spinosad worked for me, cpt jack's dead bug brew. I think I had to spray that tent down for a month straight. Not even sure how the fuckers got in.
 

Scrappy-doo

Well-known member
We then went back and did the dosage testing along with allowing the solids to settle and had the same dosage results.

Wow that's great to know. I was told you need to keep stirring in between dips or shake while spraying so the solids don't settle. Gets real messy that way.
 

ballplayer 2

Active member
Thanks for all the input guys! These darn things have devastated me in flowering the last 6 months or so. Which natural bugs do you find to be most effective vs these bastards? I've got a very small garden so the shipping will likely cost almost as much as the bugs. Where do you order from? I'm in the Midwest.

If I did decide to use pylon or forbid would it be safe to spray in my tent (assuming I'm suited up and wearing a respirator)? There wouldn't be much of a chance for it to get into the hvac system of my building?

I'll likely try biological and the addition of conserve SC as that will actually be cheaper up front. I'll also still stick with sulfur, grandevo, and venerate.
 

Crooked8

Well-known member
Mentor
ICMag Donor
Veteran
It's always great when you can use as few as possible inputs to achieve your desired outcome. Little things like that can really impact the bottom line. In the commercial facility where I developed that regimen we found that the best efficacy for us was between 20 and 30 ml/gal. After we figured out the dosing we solved our residue problem by letting the carrier settle out for a while before mixing. We then went back and did the dosage testing along with allowing the solids to settle and had the same dosage results.

Are you using a liquid sulfur or wettable powder? As far as cc or ml of the powder that sounds more reasonable i was referring to actual weight in grams like weighed on a scale. If i imagine what 3grams were in cc/ml i imagine it closer to 20-30ml.
 

green-genes77

Active member
Veteran
Wow that's great to know. I was told you need to keep stirring in between dips or shake while spraying so the solids don't settle. Gets real messy that way.

What I have observed is that if you mix your total sulfur load into two cups of water, agitate it and allow to settle and then repeat that twice, you are left with something in the neighborhood of 10% your initial sulfur volume as sediment. This is consistent with the label on most wettable sulfur which specifies 90% sulfur content. I believe this to be mostly carrier gum or another similar substance. I have left micronized sulfur in water and agitated it daily for a week. There is always a fraction that will not dissolve. Leaving this fraction out by allowing it to settle and pouring off the liquid yielded the same results vs. russets as it did when we kept it agitated. And no more scouring your equipment to get that shit off!
 

green-genes77

Active member
Veteran
Are you using a liquid sulfur or wettable powder? As far as cc or ml of the powder that sounds more reasonable i was referring to actual weight in grams like weighed on a scale. If i imagine what 3grams were in cc/ml i imagine it closer to 20-30ml.

Ah, okay I see where I caused the confusion. Yes, 1 ounce by volume of the wettable sulfur which is pretty consistent with the label's recommendations.
 

green-genes77

Active member
Veteran
Thanks for all the input guys! These darn things have devastated me in flowering the last 6 months or so. Which natural bugs do you find to be most effective vs these bastards? I've got a very small garden so the shipping will likely cost almost as much as the bugs. Where do you order from? I'm in the Midwest.

If I did decide to use pylon or forbid would it be safe to spray in my tent (assuming I'm suited up and wearing a respirator)? There wouldn't be much of a chance for it to get into the hvac system of my building?

I'll likely try biological and the addition of conserve SC as that will actually be cheaper up front. I'll also still stick with sulfur, grandevo, and venerate.

There are a number of species you could use in flower after using sulfur during veg to prevent/kill russets. Arbico organics offers quite a few which vary mainly on their preferred environmental conditions:

https://www.arbico-organics.com/category/russet-mites-controls


Evergreen Grower's Supply is another good source for bennies.
 

eyesdownchronic

Active member
Thanks for all the input guys! These darn things have devastated me in flowering the last 6 months or so. Which natural bugs do you find to be most effective vs these bastards? I've got a very small garden so the shipping will likely cost almost as much as the bugs. Where do you order from? I'm in the Midwest.

If I did decide to use pylon or forbid would it be safe to spray in my tent (assuming I'm suited up and wearing a respirator)? There wouldn't be much of a chance for it to get into the hvac system of my building?

I'll likely try biological and the addition of conserve SC as that will actually be cheaper up front. I'll also still stick with sulfur, grandevo, and venerate.


Andersoni, fallacis, and californicus are your best bets. Cucumeris is also nice because its very cheap for the quantity you get. For andersoni go to evergreen grower becasue at arbico its like 150 bucks... I would also reccomend getting the sachets of andersoni becasue the rapid release i got from evergreen was pretty bunk. All the other bennies were good though. USing hypoasis miles also helps beacuse they can clear up any soil dwelling eggs.
 

Latest posts

Latest posts

Top