The
Habanera Pepper (sometimes pronounced Habenero) is the key ingredient in pepper spray. Once you make a batch of CALICLEAN you'll see why. One may buy habanera peppers in any vegetable section for about 6 dollars a pound. The peppers are light orange to dark red, and are about the size of a bic lighter when fully mature, most are half that size. Go buy a pound, now!!! If you have mites, time is of the essence.
Doesn't work on mites. Doesn't kill all of the mites and doesn't kill ANY of the eggs. You would think that it burns up all of the crawlers, but a few always seem to get away when a contact treatment is used.
Doesn't work on mites. It doesn't even kill all of the crawlers. I've tried Neem in various concentrations (when I used to have mites) and it was a waste of time.
HERE IS WHAT TO DO
Making the Calicleaner
Not effective since it only kills crawlers.
None of the methods mentioned above kill the eggs. That means reinfestation over and over again. You have to break the cycle or the problem won't go away. I will throw Azamax in with the methods mentioned above since nobody else mentioned it. It doesn't work. I have tried it before.
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There are only two truly effective ways to get rid of mites. One involves chemicals and the other does not.
1) Chemical method. Purchase a small amount of Avid and Forbid. Make a cocktail with 1.5-2.0 ml of each per gallon of water. Spray your plants or dip them in the solution. One kills the crawlers and the other kills the eggs. Cycle broken. Problem solved. Do not use on plants that are more than 2 weeks into flowering and use extreme caution to avoid exposing yourself to this shit (long sleeves, shoes pants, gloves etc.) I do not recommend this method since I'm not a fan of harsh chemicals, but it WORKS.There is also something called Floramite that can be substituted for one of the chemicals that I mentioned above, but I have never used it and can't comment on it.
2) Nuclear option. Get rid of ALL of your plants. Thoroughly clean the grow area and EVERYTHING that comes into direct contact with plants. If you use bamboo stakes throw them all away and buy new ones. They're cheap and using them again after a mite infestation is not worth the risk. Even if you wash them the eggs can hide inside the crevices. I have seen spider mites infiltrate a garden when eggs hatched on bamboo stakes that had been used previously. If you use twist ties I would just throw them away and buy new ones as well. Again, they're cheap and not worth the risk.
Now, to keep your area from getting reinfested.....
1) If you have friends who also grow keep them away from your room/garden. People in general, really. You don't know where they have been and what's stuck to the bottom of their shoe.
2) If you have been working outside or walking around in the bushes take the time to change your clothes and shoes before going near your plants.
3) Quarantine all new clones/plants coming into your garden for at least one month. This is SUPER IMPORTANT. This is usually the cause of mite infestation/reinfestation. Even plants that "look" clean might be carrying eggs. Do not trust clubs. Yes, their clones are usually free of mites, but I have heard of exceptions. Clones from clubs often have powdery mildew as well, but that's another discussion.
4) If you're growing inside DO NOT grow on top of a carpeted floor. Roll up the carpet and put it somewhere else. If you're renting and you don't want to fuck up a house that isn't yours lay some cheap faux hardwood flooring on top of the carpet AND put down some 4 mil clear plastic on top of it. Even if you're growing on cement you should lay down some plastic to promote overall cleanliness and make cleanup easier at the end of a grow cycle.
I have battled with mites several times in my 28 years of growing. I got rid of them for good in 2013 using the nuclear option and I have not had any since.
this is prolly why i got em. This is only a corner of my deck. Lots of stuff! Thanks again Good people!
