Breeding for resistance to spider mites?

I recently got spidermites for the first time ever in my growing career.
Got it real bad, and was all completely my own fault.

Spidermites or even russet mites seem to be a really serious pest if it gets out of control.

I've read that you get plants with resistance to powdery mildew and all other kinds of pests.
Would it be possible to breed for resistance to spider mites or would that be impossible?

Interesting question... spider mites suck sap out of the plants, and they enjoy similar conditions to cannabis plants.
I guess you could try and breed cannabis that had tougher leaves to make it harder for the mites to get into them... or cannabis that tolerated more extreme conditions of humidity or temperature that the mites wouldn't be able to handle so well....


But i think it would be difficult, and probably better to look at your plants more often and more closely. Mites aren't that hard to control if you catch them early enough.


VG

Yeah I think mites is almost like an STD.
Preventing it is easy, but once you get it and neglected preventing it then
there isn't really a solution.

i have some plants that are so called resistant ,,mites will leave them alone but i wonder if its simply because the prefer the other strains and there is no resistance at play,,as the little buggers do seem to like populer strains an cuts so maybe when a plant appears weak to spider mite s in resitance it could just have a medicine/food they prefer ,,this makes me hesitant to attempt to breed for resistance

if in a group of plants , mites favor one type or variety over another , resistance is at play.
The plant they do not infect has something about it that is less desireable to the mites.
In my garden the mites gravitate to certain plants and easily establish or favor that plant/variety. Gorilla Bubble and others using that sour line seem to be mite magnets whereas the biker kush growing right amongst them are untouched. So I would say the Biker line , or expressions in the line, are more mite resistant that other plants in my garden.
Now If I remove all plants but the biker line , will the mites still infect the line or will they choose to vacate my greenhouse in search of more desireable plants?
I can answer that question next season as I plan to run a whole greenhouse full of my favorite Biker V1 cut (karma genetics)

That'll be interesting... my guess is that they'll munch on the Biker Line if that's all is on offer.
True though, mites prefer some plants to others. Not sure if i would call that resistance or preference

Bugs don't mess with Bikers.

They won't get to the Prospect status.

Tynehead Tom said:

if in a group of plants , mites favor one type or variety over another , resistance is at play.
The plant they do not infect has something about it that is less desireable to the mites.
In my garden the mites gravitate to certain plants and easily establish or favor that plant/variety. Gorilla Bubble and others using that sour line seem to be mite magnets whereas the biker kush growing right amongst them are untouched. So I would say the Biker line , or expressions in the line, are more mite resistant that other plants in my garden.
Now If I remove all plants but the biker line , will the mites still infect the line or will they choose to vacate my greenhouse in search of more desireable plants?
I can answer that question next season as I plan to run a whole greenhouse full of my favorite Biker V1 cut (karma genetics)

Click to expand...

Wow this sounds like a really cool experiment, that being said I hope you don't get spidermites in your greenhouse bro

Just so you all know breeding for any type of resistance will involve high plant numbers to find the few that are good
if it's possible at all. Every plant would have to be infested manually to see which one make it. Just because the bugs
didn't find a specific plant doesn't mean it's resistant. So you have to infect them all manually to make sure.

For spider mites, it may just be easier to make sure all plant are quarantined before moving them
into your grow area than trying to find a unicorn. Too many trade clones without any quarantine
and are upset when things go wrong.

But breed away, if you think you can find what you're looking for.

I’ve noticed that cannabis plants with a high resistance to mites tend to also be high in terpinolene.
The same is true of other plant species.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24349880/

An effective way of eradicating mites is to use essential oil from plants other than cannabis that are grown and stream distilled in large quantities. Just turn off the extraction for an hour and use a diffuser at dusk.
Tea tree, peppermint, and rosemary are a good combination.

I would start with a variety of 3-10 different lines(strains), at least 5 plants per line, possibly with some landraces in the mix. Then i would infect them all with different kinds of pests and keep only the most vigorous and resistent, then cross them and repeat the test with the progeny for 2-4 cycles. The outcome should be resistent but the hard part would be to keep the good terpene and cannabinoid production within the survivors.



Cheers

My previous post regarding terpinolene was based on the assumption that you are growing indoors? It is lethal to mites so could be advantageous in an indoor situation, but outdoors I would also consider breeding for beta ocimene, it’s your plants way of calling in the cavalry.

https://www.mdpi.com/1420-3049/22/7/1148/htm

troutman said:

Just so you all know breeding for any type of resistance will involve high plant numbers to find the few that are good
if it's possible at all. Every plant would have to be infested manually to see which one make it. Just because the bugs
didn't find a specific plant doesn't mean it's resistant. So you have to infect them all manually to make sure.

For spider mites, it may just be easier to make sure all plant are quarantined before moving them
into your grow area than trying to find a unicorn. Too many trade clones without any quarantine
and are upset when things go wrong.

But breed away, if you think you can find what you're looking for.

Click to expand...

Thanks, where can I learn more about this? I've always been wanting to learn how to run a clone nursery, but don't know where I can find info on this.

If you look at tissue culturing techniques you can clean a clone by dipping it in bleach and then there are even other techniques that they have that would be very useful for this reason that you mentioned.

H e d g e said:

My previous post regarding terpinolene was based on the assumption that you are growing indoors? It is lethal to mites so could be advantageous in an indoor situation, but outdoors I would also consider breeding for beta ocimene, it’s your plants way of calling in the cavalry.

https://www.mdpi.com/1420-3049/22/7/1148/htm

Click to expand...

Wow this is cool thanks for sharing.

No weed plant is bug resistant it's best to companion plant attract predators and you go spider hunting with a brush and neem oil spray after at night top and bottom of leaf or just kill the food source if it's really bad kill those plants carefully because those things are tiny you don't want the falling on healthy plants

The main thing is to find the source of the problem look for spider webs on nearby plants to your grow I most likely brought them from outside infestation of trees my dogs probably brought them in they love to chew up and tear up a couple of trees those skinny tall trees people use in landscape they have webs or had I also think letting my dogs sniff those trees with webs at others houses while on walks
Whiteflies are coming from my watermelon and cantaloupe plants so now I'm trying to get rid of them at the source and keep my back door closed because they keep trying to re-establish their colonies

You would need to purposely infest your plants to see your results. I couldn't do that lol.

rolandomota said:

No weed plant is bug resistant it's best to companion plant attract predators ...

Click to expand...

I agree. buy a basil plant from the supermarket and put that in your grow. The mites will prefer it. make sure there are none on it first though !

I have purposefully exposed plants to bug infestations in a controlled setting, both with Thrips and with mites. I have been doing these experiments with goals in mind.

Mites and Thrips are highly active in my outdoor environment during the short season that is our summer. These two are always present and strict IPM has to be followed to maintain a bug free room as summer turns to fall. I have found several lines that seem to have a very high resistance to the spider mites and these are being kept for my winter indoor runs. Biker Kush V1, Grandma's Hashplant , HA OG (BC cut), Long Valley Royal and P98 Bubba Kush (BC cut? AKA Bubba D). So far , these are cuts that even in a room where mites have reached tenting stage, the mites will not colonize even after weeks of exposure in the controlled setting.
I devoted my entire winter growing time this past winter to exposure testing for both thrips and mites. It wasn't planned at first, but I had enough bud to last till spring so rolled with it. Coming out of it, I know exactly what plants my first garden indoors this fall/winter will be so those insects do not try and enter the grow rooms as the cold weather outside drives them to seek refuge.

edit to add..... I don't grow indoors in summer (july to november) except for keeping mother clone stock at a friends clean indoor space.
My greenhouse is simple and not sealed very well so bug enter at will. I noticed a few years ago that for every pest, there are several active predators. Encarsaria wasps and mite/thrip eating leafhoppers exist in heavy numbers that seem to keep the pests from doing any noticeable harm. There are a few plants I grow that mites seem to just love so for those I have sprays or dunks that are simple mixtures. I keep spinosad on hand in case the thrips make it inside but otherwise..... 20mls everclear alcohol, 18mls 29% Hydrogen Peroxide, 20mls Bug B Gon Canola, 2 mils dawn dishsoap , Per Liter is my go mixture if I have to spray my plants.

You can use pesticides systemically where the plants absorb the poison and spreads it to the plant but you can't use them late in flower it takes a month for the plant to process it I don't know if I would use it but apparently neem oil and imidacloprid can be used and you get a plant with bug resistant sap because the poison is spread In the plant. I think it's better to mix and apply at the start of flowers at the latest
The stuff you top dress with might last longer and be in the bud at harvest just be careful when you use imidacloprid or neem oil to drench the roots
Spray enough neem oil and it gets on the soil and when you water it goes to the roots then the plant the oil has aziradachtin I think it's called
I'm not sure how imidacloprid works it's also for water the roots I'm lazy right now go look it up