Spider mites won’t die!

[flylowgethigh]

I found the little bastids trying to set up shop on my NL5H. Nuked them with "green Clean" and will hit the undersides this evening. Another spary in 2 days.

They are all over outside, so I think I need to use HEPA filtration on the tent air intakes. I probably track them in.

 

[imiubu]

Simple and extremely effective for soft shelled garden vampires (esp. aphids, thrips & spider mites):

32oz. spray bottle. I prefer the 360 degree turn nozzle.
.5t oil
1T 91% ISO
2T 3% H202
Fill bottle w/ warm water, shake (shake occasionally during treatment also).

Spray (I saturate til dripping) just before lights out; under the leaves then top side.
Can use this treatment up to the last 2wks. of flower.
Drys very quickly.
Once done spraying, get out your loupe and take a peek... bugs and eggs be dead.
They look like they've exploded. Seriously.

Repeat treatment every 3-5 days... or as needed till there is no longer pest activity.

I personally rinse under/ over with clean water in between each spraying to slough off the dead critters.

Same treatment sched as above but a varied recipe (that also works as well the recipe above):

1qt. warm water
15ml. 90% ISO
30ml. 60% H202
2ml. dish soap (I use doc bronners or ivory)

Adjust recipes to garden/ sprayer vessel & %'s etc.


I've been using both of these treatments for several years now with !00% success.
Rarely have I needed to treat for a 3rd. time.
Those rare occurrences were when I rushed the spraying and didn't get all the nooks and crannies were those bastids tuck n hide.

Keep in mind... I am a small hobby/ personal med. gardener so I have less over all to treat.
Those w/ larger gardens may need to be more diligent w/ frequency and duration of treatment.

These recipes have lent this gal a sense of gardening calm overall. Now, if/ when I see any interlopers... no need to FREAK out! YAY!
No effin reason (in imi's world anyway) to "nuke" the fukkers w/ poison.

Thanks to the person who posted these recipes some years back, some where on the internets.
Sure made gardening less stressful as I also use one or the other on my food/ houseplants when necessary.

 

[Cuddles]

what happens if you spray them with an iso solution, guys? I mean spray, wait and then rinse off. I´ve never tried it and the idea just now popped up in my head , so
I ´m just asking...
could this possibly work without destroying the plants?

 

[imiubu]

I've never heard/ read of anyone using only ISO.
I have a few thoughts as to why but have no experience nor research to link that supports my notions though.

ISO alone IMO would dry too quickly to be effective. IME the ISO + other ingredients have not harmed my plants.
That said... my opinion is that; no... using ISO on it's own likely will not harm plants either.

Soaps and oils are used for a couple of similar reasons IIRC.
Soap cuts the waxy(?) outer layer on the insects allowing the remaining ingredients to do their work.
Surfactants: https://www.biolinscientific.com/blog/what-are-surfactants-and-how-do-they-work.

Oils help adherence and perhaps in suffocation of insects?

 

[f-e]

Unfortunately, spiders mites have learned to form an air bubble on their backs, from where they breathe, so as not to drown. A violent shower would be better, otherwise, the best thing would be to launch phytoseiulus persimilis, you can buy them online.

Greetings...

Yes, they rely on surface tension to form this bubble. Tension which a wetting agent breaks.
You can fill a glass till the water is higher than the brim, without loosing a drop. Generally the water can be a couple of mm higher than the lip, and still rather stay in the glass than flow over. This relies on surface tension. Put a drop of soap in the glass, and the water pours over. The surface tension has been broken.

It's interesting how many remedies use a wetting agent to carry oil. From olive oil, to neem. With reports the bugs and importantly the eggs can't resist taking it on.

Things like hand creams use h2o2 in their blends to keep them sterile. I imagine commercial blends for us are using it to extend shelf life. The alcohol content interests me.

 

[bushed]

There are 100's species of spider mites, what works for one won't for others. No one likes to hear this but if it's the borg the most sensible option is to tare down completely. Bleach everything, remove all plant matter. Leave it 2 weeks - a month. Clean again.

You can easily waste 6 months almost killing and building even more resistant mites, especially if like me your at a stage of life that your grow can't be first priority.

 

[Greenheart]

For what it's worth I had a colony of ladybirds in my bloom room for a few years when I was battling the root aphids. imo Predatory controls only slow but not eliminate a pest problem.

With mites or thrips I can't stress enough how important it is to get 100% complete and total coverage. Any time I had issues with them I would defoliate to new growth and apply treatments daily or at least every other day until eradication. I'm sure other products are effective if coverage is complete. Neem oil always worked for me and the plants also seem to like it pests or not.

If you don't have one try and get a 1-2 gallon pump style sprayer and use it on a fine mist setting.

 

[imiubu]

Quote isn't working it seems.

bushed

If you wouldn't mind; could you help me to understand this advise?

I have repeatedly read over the years that bleach is the go to cleaner for grow rooms.
I do not however understand why this is repeated so very often and treated as gospel.
Might you (or anyone) explain why persons should be inclined to use such a caustic poison in a room they grow herb to be consumed?
How does bleaching the room(s) have anything to do with insect irradiation?

Also, culling the mothers I've held for years due to a few insects seems rather harsh.
I'm not culling my moms just to rid my plants of a few thrips.

Thank you for your time.

 

[Ralph W. Llama]

The soap-alcohol-oil combo is more of a physical barrier, mites are unlikely to build immunity to it. It drowns them. Hard to evolve to breathe different stuff. No need to chop everything and a good cleaning regimen is important to cultivate, even using bleach sometimes.

 

[bushed]

I use the term to bleach to give a strong clean rather than to use pure bleach. Why use such a strong cleaner or poison as you refer to it as? To make sure it works, rinsing well and leaving to settle will not result in any residue that can effect plant's to my knowledge? I would be interested in any information that suggests otherwise?

As for starting over, it really depends if it's the borg it's not just a few insects it's indestructible insects that aggressively ruin plant's. Mother plant's can be replaced time fucking around, ruined harvest can't. I personally wasted this time so that's why I give this perspective. I agree that it is extreme but it solves the issue.

 

[Greenheart]

Mother plant's can be replaced time fucking around, ruined harvest can't. I personally wasted this time so that's why I give this perspective. I agree that it is extreme but it solves the issue.

I get both sides of it.

The root aphids were the biggest pest bane I ever encountered. I battled the RA for years without victory before I took my hiatus.

I also took a P.M. infected clone once. Yes I used bleach, then used rubbing alcohol, then soap and water, then let it sit for a month. I tossed everything as soon as I saw it. Even a grafted mum with such things as northern lights, stawberry cough, bubblegum, white widow, djs blueberry, ak47k, AK48, apple jack, and my favorite la con cross...You can't always replace them. I took 2 years building frankenmomma. That was a lot of time lost as well.

If it's time to restart it's time. Only the person facing the tough choice can really make that call. Is restarting even an option? Is there more plants to be had?

I knew a guy that purposely let the borg munch on his plants and he kept breeding the ones that they didn't like or the ones that plowed thru it despite the stress. His intention was to increase his plants genetic resistance to them. He was going to be moving anyway so he just worked on seedstock and home brewed cayenne pepper type sprays.

I'm pretty sure he was the one I picked up the outbreak from when it happened to me. His grow was too large to fight successfully. Mine was smaller and within a week they were eliminated. I fought them off twice before I learned to start taking off my shoes and change my clothes before entering my sanctuary. I don't take a shower first anymore but it definitely helps if you keep things clean and take a few precautions before entering it.

I do wish you the best of luck in your fight ILS420.

edit: On the bleach thing. Poison or necessity of life? Interesting ponder. Hospitals use a lot of bleach. So do restaurants. Can it be deadly poisonous? For certain. Don't store powdered bleach next to sugar. I personally believe if sanitization is your goal bleach is an affordable means and method. Will it cause all you plants to be toxic radiation clouds like mercury fillings? I don't believe so. You have more dangers to worry about from a florescent bulb breaking than from cleaning your grow room up with a sanitizer bucket of bleach imo.

Is it effective against insects? For sure. Not only will a strong bleach solution likely kill them it will destroy any chemical trails they left for their buddies to follow. Vinegar is probably effective. Windex. Simple green. For sure there is a means for everyone that they can likely live with..

 

[007grow]

green lace wings every month... haven't had crop damage since

 

[Douglas.Curtis]

The solution through nutrition was already posted here.

To treat infestations, the cleanest (most effective) and least harmful method is the one recommending iso and water with a surfactant, 5 sprays 3 days apart. I would add to cover the roots as the iso will destroy them. I've never used the h2o2 and have still enjoyed 100% success. Please be sure to locate and eliminate the original source of infection.

 

[Morcheeba*]

...using ISO on it's own likely will not harm plants either.

Agreed, but many years ago i used a 50/50 of iso/h2o and a bit of soap as a way to kill spider mites on vegging plants and I accidentally got too much iso any the only down side is it stripped the waxy layer off the leaves. they had a different feel to the leaves but other than that they were fine.



ilovesluts420,
I just got done getting rid of the 2 spotted spider mite after trying to kill them for over a year. I tried beneficial insects, 3 different kinds with my order, and they were chosen based off the pest im dealing with as well as my RH and they didnt work. I ended up using Forbid 4f as a foliar once to kill most of the population and then alternated foliar spraying with Green Cleaner then some No-Fly WP, a myco insecticide. I also sprayed the Forbid 4f all around my house and daily sprayed my entire grow room down with a horticulture oil and No Fly WP. Its been over 9 months and i havent seen any signs of mite damage.

The myco insecticides are a great implementation into my garden to foliar as a preventative. No Fly WP is a specific strain of myco that is effective against many pests but its not the only myco insecticide.

The No Fly WP was purchased to get rid of fungus gnats in my indoor no till soil beds and it did the job with just a few foliar sprays onto the surface of my soil. It worked so well on gnats i incorporated it into my IPM program.

Good luck and dont get complacent when cleaning your room. Its not an over exaggeration from us about a thorough cleaning and the need to keep on top of a preventative spray weekly, do this any you will win this battle.


peace

 

[Creeperpark]

Iso can be harmful to breathing and cause skin irritation. Isopropyl alcohol and rubbing alcohol are not the same things.
Isopropyl alcohol is pure alcohol and there are no other ingredients in a bottle of isopropyl alcohol.

Rubbing alcohol contains isopropyl alcohol among other ingredients, such as water. Most rubbing alcohol brands contain 70% isopropyl alcohol. Very inexpensive diluted.

What do you use and what is the mix ratio for killing spider mites DC?

 

[Douglas.Curtis]

Iso can be harmful to breathing and cause skin irritation. Isopropyl alcohol and rubbing alcohol are not the same things.
Isopropyl alcohol is pure alcohol and there are no other ingredients in a bottle of isopropyl alcohol.

Rubbing alcohol contains isopropyl alcohol among other ingredients, such as water. Most rubbing alcohol brands contain 70% isopropyl alcohol. Very inexpensive diluted.

What do you use and what is the mix ratio for killing spider mites DC?

Always 70%+ and I prefer 91%+. In 51 years I have never bought
rubbing alcohol for anything. As you mentioned, iso is not good for lungs or skin and should not be used for 'rubbing.' lol Use plenty of ventilation with iso and ethanol for your quick washes.

When I get mites (not for years now, but it will happen again), use 1 oz of 91% iso to a gallon of water and a surfactant. Usually yucca.

 

[Creeperpark]

I’ve tried Dr Zymes and Plant therapy and these full grown mites will not die. I feel like the combination of my spraying and the mites are making my plants so unhealthy. I’m still vegging but I don’t know what to do. What will happen if I try to flower and the mites don’t die? Do mites affect the plants that much to where it will affect the final product?

Who likes smoking bug shit? Mites turn weed into nasty trash.

 

[Creeperpark]

I see this happen a lot with hydro setups. If you are having a mite problem with every growing cycle you may need to change the way you grow.

 

[exploziv]

I still don't get what is the problem with bleach, tho. I sometimes use it and only to clean spaces and accesories when not in use and no plants around. Since you guys seem to say it's not ok to use, please recomend another one.

 

[Douglas.Curtis]

I have no issues with bleach around no plants. Scratching my head why everyone is still chasing options I used before finding iso and water.

Find the source and eliminate it. Spray every 3 days, do it 5 times. Done.