ok I am on my second soil grow, and once again I am getting insects, spider mites just showed up, only found one, and a couple of spotted leaves,
my previous crop got aphids at the very end,
both times in FFOF
I used to grow in flood drain years ago and i never got bugs
question, do you get bugs in your hydro set ups?
or do they come from the soil?
depends on the bugs, like fungus gnats obviously don't bother much with rockwool.
but spider mites, from what I've read are generally from other plants.
I have very limited experience in hydroponics though, I can safely say that bugs don't come from soil, I've had many many bug free soil grows.
Mites are a picky bunch man. They are similar to mold spores, meaning they are tiny as hell, and they are everywhere, the key is to keep them from finding a place where they can reproduce safely.
For me, I treat insects/mites as a preventative type thing, spray whether you have them or not.
I treat ALL my flowering plants with three sprays before flipping to 12/12, whether they have issues or not. Plus it's a good way to add silica as a foliar spray too.
Other things I've used are aerated compost teas (works better than you'd guess), comfrey/dandelion fermented spray.
If you get russets... you'll probably have to bust out the NON organic stuff... but whatever you use, research very thoroughly on them, and how they (miticides) work, as well as the chemical used, etc, etc.
russets are NOT the same as spider-mites.... totally different
