Fricking BUGS, especially spider mites, white flies and whatever other type of aphids!
There are two things I use, and I tell you why and especially HOW you need to use them for the best effect. There is no reason to buy hundreds of $$$ on insecticides since those two products can handle almost ALL the common bugs which piss us off so much.
1) Insecticidal soap, also called potassium soap or Castille soap. Kills the critters on contact and is extremely safe. It actually turns to ferilizer (potash) when it decomposes.
2) A good Neem oil (or Karanja oil, same thing essentially) product, like Aza-XYZ. A lot of those products are made w/ 3.2% azadirachtin which is the substance in Neem oil that kills bugs. This is a growth inhibitor which prevents them from coming back and kills them slowly.
Don't make the rookie mistake I made last year and think you can just mix Neem oil (Azamax/trol/etc.) with water since you can't!
For pretty much any Neem oil product you need to first make an emulsion, and this is why you want insecticidal soap.
For your emulsion you should use soft water, so bottled water or distilled or RO - don't use hard tap water. Hard tap water will not cover and stick to leaves properly when you spray.
Make an emulsion with luke warm water and add the recommended dosage, usually 2% of insecticidal soap. Stir, let it dissolve.
Now check your Neem oil product, common dosage is 0.1%-0.125%, in my case would be 1.25ml/L. With a syringe or droppr put the Neem oil in your emulsion. Again, stir.
Now, a lot of Neem product makers say that you SHOULD ph your spraying solution to 4-6. So, as a last step ph it with lemon juice until it's 6 or 5. Especially if you use insecticidal soap since the ph of soapy water is sky-high, like 11. (I didn't have problems spraying like this in the past, however I think it makes sense to ph it!)
Spray your plants well from the underside and upper-side of leaves but don't let too much drip down into your substrate.
Spray right before lights off and do not spray in direct sun or heat, it can burn your plants plus the neem will degrade under light! A good idea is to spray early in the morning or in the evening.
When you spray, keep shaking your sprayer and don't let the emulsion settle.
Get yourself a decent manual pressure sprayer, it makes a BIG difference compared to some dinky hand sprayer. Take my word for it. The best $15 I ever spent is my 5L pressure sprayer
Tips:
*** Bugs like mites are a total bitch because many times you are not aware you have them, you might think you have nute problems or whatever UNLESS you check your plants with a microscope.
** If you can you should not spray on buds during flowering. If you really HAVE to because of a severe infestation, try to just spray leaves and no buds. While neither insecticidal soap or Neem would be harmful when smoked it can spoil the taste and effect. I would recommend that you Wash your Buds if you sprayed, for whatever reason, during flowering.
** If you have a severe infestation, spray one day and then wait 3-4 days and spray again. Wait another 4 days and spray again.
** It doesn't hurt at all, in-fact I highly recommend that you do spray preventatively especially if you grow outdoors or semi-outdoors like in a greenhouse. I see the insecticidal soap and the Neem as so safe that it's way better to spray rather than give the bugs a chance to multiply. I could slap myself that I didn't recognize the mites early this time around - I wasted a lot of time thinking about nutes and overwatering, many problems I could have avoided just spraying, say, once every month or two.
Prevention is always better than damage control!
** Natural Insecticidial (Potassium) soap + Neem oil/Azadiractin == 99% of your bug problems (spider mites, white flies etc.) will be gone! That's all you need! For the rest, say, Caterpillars which can also be a bitch later in flowering, especially outdoors, get a Bacterium Thurengiensis product. You should also use this preventatively before any Caterpillar even shows up, so apply
this once you start to flower, eg. when you switch light cycles, don't wait until you see those rotting holes in your buds!
** If you grow semi-outside, greenhouse etc... REST ASSURED bugs *will come*, mites, white flies, caterpillars etc..just waiting to get to your plants, always. Don't wait until you see damage, just assume they will come because they will
This basically should cover all your bases.
There are two things I use, and I tell you why and especially HOW you need to use them for the best effect. There is no reason to buy hundreds of $$$ on insecticides since those two products can handle almost ALL the common bugs which piss us off so much.
1) Insecticidal soap, also called potassium soap or Castille soap. Kills the critters on contact and is extremely safe. It actually turns to ferilizer (potash) when it decomposes.
2) A good Neem oil (or Karanja oil, same thing essentially) product, like Aza-XYZ. A lot of those products are made w/ 3.2% azadirachtin which is the substance in Neem oil that kills bugs. This is a growth inhibitor which prevents them from coming back and kills them slowly.
Don't make the rookie mistake I made last year and think you can just mix Neem oil (Azamax/trol/etc.) with water since you can't!
For pretty much any Neem oil product you need to first make an emulsion, and this is why you want insecticidal soap.
For your emulsion you should use soft water, so bottled water or distilled or RO - don't use hard tap water. Hard tap water will not cover and stick to leaves properly when you spray.
Make an emulsion with luke warm water and add the recommended dosage, usually 2% of insecticidal soap. Stir, let it dissolve.
Now check your Neem oil product, common dosage is 0.1%-0.125%, in my case would be 1.25ml/L. With a syringe or droppr put the Neem oil in your emulsion. Again, stir.
Now, a lot of Neem product makers say that you SHOULD ph your spraying solution to 4-6. So, as a last step ph it with lemon juice until it's 6 or 5. Especially if you use insecticidal soap since the ph of soapy water is sky-high, like 11. (I didn't have problems spraying like this in the past, however I think it makes sense to ph it!)
Spray your plants well from the underside and upper-side of leaves but don't let too much drip down into your substrate.
Spray right before lights off and do not spray in direct sun or heat, it can burn your plants plus the neem will degrade under light! A good idea is to spray early in the morning or in the evening.
When you spray, keep shaking your sprayer and don't let the emulsion settle.
Get yourself a decent manual pressure sprayer, it makes a BIG difference compared to some dinky hand sprayer. Take my word for it. The best $15 I ever spent is my 5L pressure sprayer
Tips:
*** Bugs like mites are a total bitch because many times you are not aware you have them, you might think you have nute problems or whatever UNLESS you check your plants with a microscope.
** If you can you should not spray on buds during flowering. If you really HAVE to because of a severe infestation, try to just spray leaves and no buds. While neither insecticidal soap or Neem would be harmful when smoked it can spoil the taste and effect. I would recommend that you Wash your Buds if you sprayed, for whatever reason, during flowering.
** If you have a severe infestation, spray one day and then wait 3-4 days and spray again. Wait another 4 days and spray again.
** It doesn't hurt at all, in-fact I highly recommend that you do spray preventatively especially if you grow outdoors or semi-outdoors like in a greenhouse. I see the insecticidal soap and the Neem as so safe that it's way better to spray rather than give the bugs a chance to multiply. I could slap myself that I didn't recognize the mites early this time around - I wasted a lot of time thinking about nutes and overwatering, many problems I could have avoided just spraying, say, once every month or two.
Prevention is always better than damage control!
** Natural Insecticidial (Potassium) soap + Neem oil/Azadiractin == 99% of your bug problems (spider mites, white flies etc.) will be gone! That's all you need! For the rest, say, Caterpillars which can also be a bitch later in flowering, especially outdoors, get a Bacterium Thurengiensis product. You should also use this preventatively before any Caterpillar even shows up, so apply
this once you start to flower, eg. when you switch light cycles, don't wait until you see those rotting holes in your buds!
** If you grow semi-outside, greenhouse etc... REST ASSURED bugs *will come*, mites, white flies, caterpillars etc..just waiting to get to your plants, always. Don't wait until you see damage, just assume they will come because they will
This basically should cover all your bases.
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