yes unfortunately nobody really knows where exactly they come from. if you keep a clean environment it helps to prevent them, but there's no 100% prevention method. and yes, you probably did get infested clones... happens a lot even in medical centers unfortunately. i recommend quarantining new clones for 2 or 3 weeks before introducing them into the garden. i got infested clones and learned this lesson the hard way. also you can dip them in a neem oil solution before you transplant as a reassurance as well. if you don't already have one, you can attach a dust filter to your intake vent as well. as an extra precaution, many people have separate clothes they use solely for gardening, as mites are very good at hitchhiking on clothes. keep pets out of the garden too, their fur is full of these guys and often other bugs.
Removing and Preventing Spider Mites
- Thread starter RRLBT420
- Start date
neem oil or azatrol are both safe and effective. azatrol is basically derived from one of the active chemicals in neem. if your willing to use it, i DON'T recommend it, but floramite is a very effective spray and will keep killing for 21 days. don't use floramite if you're already in flowering. i'm testing a spray called mite-rid, which claims it's organic and is effective for up to 7 days, but i haven't finished my test yet. i'll post the results as soon as i have them.
God's Balls
Active Member
Hahaha, here in Cali I tell people they live here for the same reason we do: It's goregeous! So it's just a matter of time before they hitch a ride on a cutting -- or just ride that intake fan breeze. Filters will help, but you gotta open the door sooner or later. Then there's your clothes, or the dog finally makes it into your hideout. Kinda like powdery mildew, our tomato plants got hammered this cool summer, right outside. Challenges occur naturally.
Maybe I missed someone else's post, but has anyone tried rosemary oil? There's a product, SNS-217, that works great against mites AND eggs. But expensive. It's just 2% rosemary oil and an emulsifier. You can bulk order the oil online, mix the ratio, and add a couple drops of dish soap. Same thing. I find it works great--and CHEAP!! Beyond that, start treating your cuttings and veg plants with neem/Azamax on the regular, whether you see mites or not. It sets up a good internal defense for down the line.
Best of luck. Spider mites are quite treatable. Like herpes, I'm told.
haven't heard of the rosemary oil, maybe that will be my next experiment. thanks for the tip!Hahaha, here in Cali I tell people they live here for the same reason we do: It's goregeous! So it's just a matter of time before they hitch a ride on a cutting -- or just ride that intake fan breeze. Filters will help, but you gotta open the door sooner or later. Then there's your clothes, or the dog finally makes it into your hideout. Kinda like powdery mildew, our tomato plants got hammered this cool summer, right outside. Challenges occur naturally.
Maybe I missed someone else's post, but has anyone tried rosemary oil? There's a product, SNS-217, that works great against mites AND eggs. But expensive. It's just 2% rosemary oil and an emulsifier. You can bulk order the oil online, mix the ratio, and add a couple drops of dish soap. Same thing. I find it works great--and CHEAP!! Beyond that, start treating your cuttings and veg plants with neem/Azamax on the regular, whether you see mites or not. It sets up a good internal defense for down the line.
Best of luck. Spider mites are quite treatable. Like herpes, I'm told.
lol i know the feelin. i'm young but i think i got my first grey hair in my beard during my first grow lol
God's Balls
Active Member
Soon, you'll look back and laaaauugh!
GoldenGanja13
Well-Known Member
Azatrol:
Azatrol is ecofriendly: you are doing mankind, the planet, and your plants a favor. Azatrol is OMRI certified,100% organic,
and it does not contain neem oil, neem bitters, and does not affect taste, aroma, or color. It works on bugs such as mites,
aphids, root aphids, thrips, fungus gnats, caterpillars, beatles, etc.
After ingesting Azatrol an insect can’t feed because they feel full all the time. The insects cannot shed their skin to molt,
and they cant form a pupae. Ultimately the insects end up becoming paralyzed and dying. After feeding on a plant that has
been treated with Azatrol, a female insect can’t lay any eggs. Because of the way Azatrol works, insects don’t gain resistance.
Azatrol is a growth inhibitor, a reproductive inhibitor and it works to interrupts an insect’s brain and neurotransmitters.
If insects do make it to adulthood, they are going to be super messed up and not able to do much harm.
The active indgredient is:
Azadirachtin
Use some Organocide (Sesame oil and edible fish oil, kills eggs) along with the azatrol. Works better than anything I have used in the last 3 years.
Azatrol is ecofriendly: you are doing mankind, the planet, and your plants a favor. Azatrol is OMRI certified,100% organic,
and it does not contain neem oil, neem bitters, and does not affect taste, aroma, or color. It works on bugs such as mites,
aphids, root aphids, thrips, fungus gnats, caterpillars, beatles, etc.
After ingesting Azatrol an insect can’t feed because they feel full all the time. The insects cannot shed their skin to molt,
and they cant form a pupae. Ultimately the insects end up becoming paralyzed and dying. After feeding on a plant that has
been treated with Azatrol, a female insect can’t lay any eggs. Because of the way Azatrol works, insects don’t gain resistance.
Azatrol is a growth inhibitor, a reproductive inhibitor and it works to interrupts an insect’s brain and neurotransmitters.
If insects do make it to adulthood, they are going to be super messed up and not able to do much harm.
The active indgredient is:
Azadirachtin
Use some Organocide (Sesame oil and edible fish oil, kills eggs) along with the azatrol. Works better than anything I have used in the last 3 years.
"Azadirachtin is a chemical compound belonging to the limonoids. IT IS THE SECOND METABOLITE IN THE NEEM TREE SEEDS. Azadirachtin is a highly oxidised tetranortriterpenoid which boasts a plethora of oxygen functionality, comprising an enol ether, acetal, hemiacetal, and tetra-substituted oxirane as well as a variety of carboxylic esters." from wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azadirachtin
I believe you misunderstood what i was saying. FLORAMITE is not good for the environment. i have nothing against the use of azatrol.
aeviaanah
Well-Known Member
I noticed a small patch of spider mites on a hydroponically grown deep purple. I used azatrol at 2 tbsp per gallon mixed with 1 oz of pest out by safer gro (cottonseed oil, clove oil, garlic oil). Mixed the two and treated whole plant and grow area. During this time i also removed lower growth on plant- a mistake. The plant should have been able to take this harsh treatment alone but with the branch removal she didnt settle to well.
Be sure when mixing insecticides/miticides plant is in full health and is not stressed through any other means.
*always test EVERY spray on small areas of the plant*
aeviaanah
Well-Known Member
good idea. i did more damage than the spider mites would have done in weeks. its ok tho i just harvested and this was just an extra weight plant.
guappy17
Member
it depends what kind of mites you have there are like a dozen...some over-winter as eggs and the two-spotted spider mite over-winters only as the pregnant female...no males, no fertilized females, and no eggs, she just goes dormant and then when the conditions are right again, she starts back up laying eggs and eating. also, perfectly healthy plants can get any insect or disease, nature does not deal with them on her own. that's why you need to take responsibility to baby those little ladies of yours to make sure they don't get insects or diseases.
i'm interested to hear about this euro product...as for eggs right now i just try to throw in a product that is systemic so when the eggs hatch and begin feeding they take in whatever i used when they eat because it's in the system of the plant itself...would be nice to just kill the eggs right off, however i'm sure that requires direct contact to each mite and egg which gets really hard with hundreds of big plants. let us know when you can what it is cause i'm sure you can get it on the internet someplace.
guappy17
Member
there are a LOT of ways they can come in...i know it's been mentioned in this thread already but it can always be said again. be clean! you bring them in on your clothes all the time. on un-washed hands. on pets, never let animals near your plants! they come in on infected clones. and they most definitely do come in your vents. they travel by letting a little web out of themselves that catches the wind like a sail and they ride the current where ever it goes. so put filters on your intake air if you can.
guappy17
Member
just a little FYI for everyone. last night i was studying my clone tent found a few mites cause i noticed some ladybugs wandering through my clones so i knew they were looking for food. so as i was wiping each and every clone there were a few things i noticed in the mites patterns and life cycles.
1. they tend to lay their eggs close to the veins of the leaves...this makes the eggs hard to wipe off cause the vein is raised offering protection because it's hard to wipe in the little crook where the vein meets the leaf surface. however, the leaves are resilient and can be manipulated a little in order to get your fingers (clean hands only!) in there to wipe off the eggs as well as the mites.
2. it seems that the mites are some what territorial? i'm not sure if that's actually the case but what i noticed is that in an early detection scenario there is only one mite on each leaf or each small clone. i believe that when the eggs laid by said mite begin to hatch is when there are several mites on one leaf surface and then they begin to spread to their own leaves.
3. another observation is that when those hatched eggs have eaten and begin to search for their own territory i noticed that they go to the top of the plants and lay eggs on the new growth nodes. then by the time that leave starts to enlarge those eggs are beginning to hatch and eat and the cycle multiplies till you have mites everywhere (a couple hundred eggs per mite makes for really fast population growth...kill them quick). it is really hard to wipe the eggs of these new little leaves in the growth node because they the most fragile leaves and the veins are huge comparatively to the rest of the leaf surface making it hard to wipe them out.
hope that helps a few people. early detection is the key to control. if you have webs, they have already taken hold.
----also, DR FEVER, if i were you i would also check the surrounding plants for mite damage...look for those spots. they travel fast and are hard to spot early. be diligent in your study cause if you miss even one, you will soon have webs again on other plants. they are easy to overlook especially in large gardens. use good lighting and a 30x scope if you need to. i am able to see the eggs with my bare eyes now that i know what i'm looking at. train yourself what to look for. i myself don't bother with isolation, instead i usually treat ALL of my plants, just to be sure, if i notice that they are on the second generation (more than one mite on the same leaf, or several mites on the same plant) then the whole garden is sprayed.
PROPS TO RRLBT420 for starting this great post.
1. they tend to lay their eggs close to the veins of the leaves...this makes the eggs hard to wipe off cause the vein is raised offering protection because it's hard to wipe in the little crook where the vein meets the leaf surface. however, the leaves are resilient and can be manipulated a little in order to get your fingers (clean hands only!) in there to wipe off the eggs as well as the mites.
2. it seems that the mites are some what territorial? i'm not sure if that's actually the case but what i noticed is that in an early detection scenario there is only one mite on each leaf or each small clone. i believe that when the eggs laid by said mite begin to hatch is when there are several mites on one leaf surface and then they begin to spread to their own leaves.
3. another observation is that when those hatched eggs have eaten and begin to search for their own territory i noticed that they go to the top of the plants and lay eggs on the new growth nodes. then by the time that leave starts to enlarge those eggs are beginning to hatch and eat and the cycle multiplies till you have mites everywhere (a couple hundred eggs per mite makes for really fast population growth...kill them quick). it is really hard to wipe the eggs of these new little leaves in the growth node because they the most fragile leaves and the veins are huge comparatively to the rest of the leaf surface making it hard to wipe them out.
hope that helps a few people. early detection is the key to control. if you have webs, they have already taken hold.
----also, DR FEVER, if i were you i would also check the surrounding plants for mite damage...look for those spots. they travel fast and are hard to spot early. be diligent in your study cause if you miss even one, you will soon have webs again on other plants. they are easy to overlook especially in large gardens. use good lighting and a 30x scope if you need to. i am able to see the eggs with my bare eyes now that i know what i'm looking at. train yourself what to look for. i myself don't bother with isolation, instead i usually treat ALL of my plants, just to be sure, if i notice that they are on the second generation (more than one mite on the same leaf, or several mites on the same plant) then the whole garden is sprayed.
PROPS TO RRLBT420 for starting this great post.
DrFever
New Member
thanks yea its gettin pretty cold out side at nights so thinkin they came in clones.I WILL BE puttin filters in my vents ASAP
got the neem oil SO will deal with them lil fckers when lights off.
On my light cycle now so will mix it up an hit them bout 3 hrs after lights off runnin 18 6 cycle