[BenitoCereno]

I wans't going to complain about my latest problem...THRIPS! But I had to.

O.K. I am 33 days in flower. It is a 56 day strain. I've got predatory mites on the way...the investation is fairly bad, all fan leaves.

What should I do in the 48 hours or so it will take for my predators to get to my door? Or am I far enough along in flower that I should leave all chems ans stuff alone and just wait for my evil fuckin' aliens to get here(predator mites?)

Good Morning, Benito,

Please be sure what you ordered was a Thrip-specific predator.
The latin name for the Thrips Predator is Amblyseius cucumeris

if you got "predatory mites" they may be spider mite specific..
Spider mite predators, if i am not mistaken, only eat spidermites and when they run out of food, they simply die.. while the Thrips Predator feeds on pollen and spidermites once IT'S food source is deplenished...

also, the thrips predator males eat 2-3 thrips larvae per day, females supposedly lay 2-3 eggs per dayat the underside of the leaves.. the nymphs will hatch and begin feeding on pest eggs and the smallest thrips..

as my father always told me, and in this sport find myself saying to myself ALL the time,
[b]always use the right tool for the job.....[b]

As far as what to do until then,

Get yer bum to the nearest "Big-Box" Home store's Garden/Extermination aisle and pick up some Hot-shots no pest strips.. Please refer to a post in the cannabis infirmary (its current) authored by "4H" entitled "I got mites PLEASE HELP".. in this thread IM BOggled outlines the different brand-names for the strips, use a couple at soil level and hang them around the plants (safely out of the heat of the light, and out of the footprint) with the supplied hooks from your OP's ceiling or even hang them off the plants if they are sturdy enough using a lightly tied hemp twine or jute or nylon just make sure you dont tie too tight, a loop so it's hanging off the lateral branches is ideal..

i use a combination of these and the yellow sticky traps as well as neem seed oil applied in the vegetative stage and up until the 2nd week of flower and it pretty much keeps things at bay.

if you see the bugs creeping in your garden/greenhous, the best treatment is to "hand pick" whenever possible. Hand picking can be accomplished very easily bro, take a spray bottle and adjust the nozzle to squirt a sharp stream.. fill the bottle with warm water and a small dash of plain dishsoap.. (make sure you shake the vessel of the sprayer with your finger covering the hole with the sprayer part OFF to evenly distribute the soap in the warm water, the soap smothers the bugs eventually killing them)
test a shot in the sink to see if the sprayer is on a relatively hard stream, enough to knock them out cold,
get that trigger finger ready and blast the suckers as you see them with this solution...

an alternative i use is 70% isopropyl alchohol in a spray bottle used the exact same way, kills them instantly just be sure not to soak the soil with the iso ..not the best thing but it does not hurt the plant one bit when it gets on leaves, i have used this (iso in the sprayer) to treat mite-infected clones from friends and to treat infestations of mites at first sign, keep it next to the plants at all times and whenever you see a creepycrawler of their larvae in the soil give them a shot of the iso they will never see the light of day again.

hope this helps

be well, Benito and good luck with everything bro

cj

Why dont you try the chili spray mixture.
It is the most effective, cheapest, organic method to eliminate mites and thrips. Use it daily for about a week or even less until your mite problem is solved.
I use it every time and it works.
REALLY,

Get 5 of the MOST hottest chilli peppers (long green or red ones) blend with 2 cups warm water and then strain the mixture into a spray bottle.

Spray the plants leaves, and buds- YES YOU CAN ALSO SPRAY THE BUDS WITH OUT HARMING THEM OR THE PLANT.
Even young seedlings can be sprayed and will not get burnt or suffer.

WARNING: Becareful of gettiing the chili spray in your eyes.
and also onto your hands- as it burns the skin. wear gloves or cover your hands with a plastic bag while spraying.
Also spray in an open area.

[brightside]

Capt Jack is right - get the correct preditor for thrips Amblyseius cucumeris (no common name as far as i know) - normaly I would recommend use of an organic 'knock down' spray ('soft soap' 'Eradicote(tm)' or the chilli spray ronley recommends) whilst you are waiting for the preditors to arrive - however at 33 days in flower I probably would not - its your call.

A nice thing about Amblyseius cucumeris is that when they have eaten all of the thrips they may move on to RSM eggs - if they can find any

I had an outbreak about a month ago - sprayed Eradicote immediatly to slow the bastards up then introduced the preditor when it arrived - I dont know for sure that my room is totaly clear now - but I have not found any new damage recently - so good luck

I am constantly battling these lil bastards. They will end a grow very fast. Once they get set in you will notice the fan leafs turning yellow and falling off. I use neem oil but you have to pound them almost every day. Also when you think they are gone, they are not. They will come back. Haven't tried the chili spray yet but I have heard that it works well. I have also heard that they don't like Garlic sprays.

Good Luck.

Mo,

Honesly, PLEASE!!!
Just use the chili spray. its really WORKS!!!!
Does no harm to your buds/plants/ seedlings/ It is organic, and kills the mites, and thrips. Its cheap and easily come by.

After a week of use the mites are dead and stay dead....

[BenitoCereno]

You guys rule...Thank you all for the very detailed answers.
Yes I got the Amblyseius cucumeris...I had to check.

I will try the chili spray thing when I get home from work tonight. Wow, it is really O.K. to use on Buds?

Oh, also. I use hydro DWC is it Ok if any of the shit gets in the rez...I mean a little, I woul be spraying the plant not dumping in the rez?

[quote=BenitoCereno]I will try the chili spray thing when I get home from work tonight. Wow, it is really O.K. to use on Buds?
QUOTE]

I promise that its ok to spray this chili spray on/or near to the buds,
I spray the leaves and I do try not to actually spray them, obviously as I am spraying vigourously the buds also get some of the pepper onto it.
I would asume that if I was going to be making space cakes then the cakes will turn out hot and spicey.

Thrips can be a real pain for hydro systems. Thrips will move from the plant to the medium to survive. I have found hydrotron to be the worst for thrips as they crawl around the clay ball and lay egg's, when these hatch they move to the plant, but have learned to hide out in the medium.

Preventive measures is how I keep them out of the garden. Most all times they come through the fresh air vent's. I simply put a piece of thrip screen over the intake to keep them out, that and I hang a pest no strip there also to help keep all pests away.

General cleaning of the room, complete cleaning, is also very helpful in keeping pest problems away.

Stay safe and enjoy the grow.

realhigh.

[Verite]

rh is right, thrips have two lifecycle stages in the soil so sprays wont hit them there. I have found them underneath an infested 5 gallon bucket so they go well below the first few inches of soil. Beneficial nematodes will get them in the soil. Adult thrips have a full set of functional wings so travel for them is pretty easy.