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Broad mites: ID and Organic Antidotes that work!

blueberrydrumz

Active member
ICMag Donor
I used to have a login here....been a looong time. Had to make a new one to say

THANKS FATHERTIME! Great thread. I learned a bit.

I am currently ending a war (I think) on Broad Mites.

I NEVER take clones from people. Got offered a Cup winning Headband clone....the rest is history. Certainly came with BM.

Took me awhile to figure out the problem. I don't ever apply pesticides, not even Neem, because everything runs clean clean clean. No visitors, no outside clones....blah blah blah.

I bought the following products:

AVID
Promis with Imidacloprid
Green Cleaner
Pylon Bombs
Attain Bombs
Azamax
Pyreth-It (had this kicking around. BEST pure form of Pyrethrin you can buy)

I tossed all plants I could afford to. Let the perpetual bloom room go empty. Pruned plants to being very short with minimal foliage.

Sprayed with AVID. Sprayed with AVID mixed with Azamax. Bleached hard. Threw shit out. Bought new shit. Dipped, dunked, sprayed. Bombed. Watered in the Imidcloprid.

Whew.

The just got their first nice lil veg feeding last night. Worst looking plants Ive ever owned. I know I went hard on the pesticides. But this down time is going to hurt.

Wish I had a sick microscope at home. Crappy 60-100x scopes they sell at the grow store arent worth a buck.

I'm convinced you will never see Broad Mites if you never take a clone from someone. Every time I have heard someone getting them, its always from visiting a grow room or taking a clone. I broke one of my own cardinal rules.

Broad mites SUCK!!!! I'll take spider mites any day.

Green Cleaner is a garbage product. FYI.

pls post pics of your plants now...
in case you have any before you started treating that be great too
:tiphat:
 
Threads like this make me with the entire industry used tissue culture. The spread of bugs and disease would be cut down significantly. I wish Dark Heart Nursery would lead the way.

@Fatherearth
I notice you recommend E-sent shield and PFR-97. Any other recommendations? I battled hemp russet mites this year, and I want to make sure it's my last.
 

mtntrogger

Member
Veteran
I also was wondering where to buy some e scent sheild . goggled it..... Some hunter anti stink stuff came up . LOL. Is it European ir Canadian or something ?
 

mtntrogger

Member
Veteran
I have many pics to post , from early treatments 2 months ago to now,.. I also borrowed ausb microscope that goes to 400x so I will hopefully have an idea of what's really going on soon... And will post pics when I get a Sec.
 

FatherEarth

Active member
Veteran
growbetterfood.com

contact them via email and request it. Its 29$ a gallon.
Ive got a formula that is working to stop russets and BM's I will be posting soon. Be careful with the E-scent shield it will burn your plants something fierce, if you try and do the math to calculate per gallon based on their per gallon/acre amount off the bottle.


FE
 
If you post that up sooner than later, I am doing an experiment in my greenhouse and would love to test some new approaches. I am harvesting, and I always leave 1/3 of the plant for extra ripening for my concentrates. One plant that I harvest the first 2/3, has a fair amount of BM's left on the remaining 1/3 of the plant. I can't use it for concentrates, so instead of just culling and burning, I am going to let the BM's take over the plant. Once this happens, I am going to spray with different organic miticides to evaluate effectiveness.

Earlier this year I dunked a branch for 5 min in a neem solution, and the mites didn't even slow down. Need to find a better preventive.

I noticed in the thread @FatherEarth, you recommend PFR-97 Biofungicide. I also notice you compared this to OG Biowar. I have had good success with holding back the mites with just OG Biowar during flowering, at almost double the recommended concentration. OG Biowar also has spinosad spores, which can help with mites also. Does the PFR-97 replace OG Biowar in your IPM program?
 

siftedunity

cant re Member
Veteran
Resistance to fungi penetrating the exoskeleton of insects is like growing body armor to stop knife wounds. It could happen in a super bug i suppose. Just like spiderman with radiation.

I love this thread..thank you father E! one thing everyone should note is that mites are not insects, they are closer to arachnids eg spiders etc so insecticides wont have the same effect on broad mites.
 

FatherEarth

Active member
Veteran
I do not buy OG biowar anymore because of the talc and I have found that PFR is just as effective if not better than OG biowar. I dont care to have Talc residue on my plants and its bad for your soil. The biggest part about beating these pests is staying on top of your application rotation and making sure you keep your plants healthy as possible with calcium, proper mineral nutrition including trace minerals. Never miss a watering and be proactive in all stages of growth. They wait for plant health to start to wane then you may see a resurgence of pest populations. Im not talking about strictly bm's but all pests... Root bound plants in exhausted soil are beacons for pest infestations. . .
 

FatherEarth

Active member
Veteran
I work with growers in my area who have been battling russets all season. I have to say that russets are harder to kill than broad mites. Russets will def take over a plant and you can lose it before it makes it to harvest..FYI, PFR doesnt work on russets...Heavy applications of Bronners, E scent shield and silicates and Sea Shield in combination are working. Just have to keep applying.. Also releasing Swirskis in droves on a monthly basis. Do not worry about killing off your predators, just spray as usual just not directly after a release. You cant kill them all, just like you cant kill all the unwanted pests with spraying. What you miss hopefully will find each other, if you get what I mean...

Fucked up news about California dept of transportation using BM's, russets and Fusarium to control roadside weeds eh? Surprising since California is such a big Ag state, but maybe not so much if understand the bigger picture. . .
 

heady blunts

prescription blunts
Veteran
cali too? i saw the oregon one on dragonflyearthmedicine's IG. probably the whole US lets be honest.

makes me so mad! farmers should be suing those motherfuckers.

FE any leads on where to source the PFR in the US? i get my insects from biobest but they don't sell their PFR product (they call it preferal) in north america it seems...
 
I keep saying broad mites, but I have Russets.

When they first attacked, I noticed right away. I am sure they were there for a while, but as soon as signs showed, I noticed. I took a brix and sap test right away. 6.3 ph and brix of 18......WTF...... I have been studying John Kempt for quite some time now, and have attended seminars, and watched almost every webinar and even talked with him in person several times. I totally subscribe to his methods, but russets don't play by those rules. I used to preach organic solutions, but they didn't work IME. That is why I am wondering your methods, because I am going to be experimenting soon.

Thanks for the response.
 

The Admiral

New member
Unfortuantely, I have no pics. Life permits little time. I can say I have 4 plants that look awful lol. They were hit hard with an array of pesticides. But I see the newest apical tips looking good. They have plenty of hope.

The rest of my lil veg plants look well. I watered with PROMIS (imidacloprid) at 30 mls per gal mixed with Fasilitor at the recommended .6 ml per gal rate ph'd to 6.3.

The idea of mixing Imid with Fasilitor was in hopes to would be transported to cells while strengthening them in the meantime to make the leaves harder to penetrate by BMs lil mouths.

I reapplied a final (hopefully) mix of Azamax and Avid, ph'd to 6.3, this am. Hoping the Azamax will suffocate any eggs while the Avid works the crawlers.

I will spray with Dok Doom (green can) in a day or so. And hope its all over.

Its been such a pain in my ass.
 

The Admiral

New member
I don't know if they are beaten. This is wearing on my mental. I just might be going crazy.

So after a barrage of pesticides....I was donated 9 lil clones all potted up in ProMix on Friday. Im lookin at em this am. Again, I might just be insane from this war, but I think I see apical tips slightly yellowing. I can NOT see how they could have survived this war.

I can not find the PFM or whatever FatherEarth has stated he loves. I called around today in hopes to get some Forbid/Judo. OMG is an 8oz bottle insanely priced. $373 ouch. I thought Avid was pricey.

I think I have a buddy who will just let me get some of his Forbid. I just like to have my own stuff. But not at that price.

Anyone have wonderful results with Forbid?

This can not continue. Ive never had such a problem. The cut that these lil devils came in on was a prized cut. I am wondering how many circles its polluted and how resistant they have become. I found two BMs on a plant yesterday but under magnification they appeared dead. I stared for 5 min. No movement. I can only think the Imid is on my side as a systemic. Fuck.

How long do plants exhibit symptoms of the BM toxin after they have no more BMs?
 

MrBelvedere

Well-known member
ICMag Donor
What has always been bulletproof for us is is to simply order various predators on a recurring basis, even if there are no bad bugs yet. Distribute them properly throughout the grow.

Some good bugs will die off from starvation, which is a fine thing. That's the whole point of it.

More predators arrive in the mail to replenish the predators population. No need for any sprays that will deter the predators.

Obviously this method doesn't work at all if the bad bugs have already taken serious hold and are reproducing quickly. The predators mail ordering need to be started *way before* any infestation.

The pros who sell these predators are a great source of information and help with scheduling delivery. If they are knowledgeable they will understand your current environment and advise how to keep the temperature and humidity so the predators will thrive. Order from the closest pro, so they arrive fresh.

This works well for indoor and houses where the predators can be contained. Completely outdoors they may run away quickly in search of food. No experience with that.

Good luck.
 
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a bit more than a day or two for sure

No, a day or two. Period.

Spray some aspirin and see how fast they recover normal growth. What slows down growth is the toxin they inject into the plant to break down plant tissue. Without that toxin, plants go back to growing 100% fine, right away. You will visually see the difference in 2 days.
 

mtntrogger

Member
Veteran
No, a day or two. Period.

Spray some aspirin and see how fast they recover normal growth. What slows down growth is the toxin they inject into the plant to break down plant tissue. Without that toxin, plants go back to growing 100% fine, right away. You will visually see the difference in 2 days.

I noticed asprin help as well, however from what I have read the toxin and damage both remain for quite some time after mites are gone. I have yet to see a mite damaged leaf recover. Removal is inevitable.
 
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