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.