HELP - Do I have spider mites???

_EQ · Jul 7, 2021

Hey y’all,

So I’m pretty sure I have spider mites or some type of pest. I haven’t found any webbing yet nor have I found adult mites on the under sides of my leaves. The only remnants of spider mites I can find are these little cloudy dots under a pocket microscope. I’ve cut back on nutes to try and see if it’s related to overfeeding. Currently it’s been hot here in New England so my tent has a steady temperature of 80+ degrees, with humidity staying above 55%.

======================================
Lighting: Viparspectra p2500 + p2000
Medium: Coco/Perlite 70/30
Tent Size: 4x4x8
Nutrients: MegaCrop 2 Part

Tracker · Jul 7, 2021

_EQ said:
Hey y’all,

So I’m pretty sure I have spider mites or some type of pest. I haven’t found any webbing yet nor have I found adult mites on the under sides of my leaves. The only remnants of spider mites I can find are these little cloudy dots under a pocket microscope. I’ve cut back on nutes to try and see if it’s related to overfeeding. Currently it’s been hot here in New England so my tent has a steady temperature of 80+ degrees, with humidity staying above 55%.

======================================
Lighting: Viparspectra p2500 + p2000
Medium: Coco/Perlite 70/30
Tent Size: 4x4x8
Nutrients: MegaCrop 2 Part

It doesn't look immediately like spider mite damage. When I've had them before, the leaves get a faded/bleached out color. The mites look like teenie tiny orange/brown balls under the leaves. They leave a fine webbing under the leaves which eventually covers all over if they totally take over.

What's your feed/water schedule? ph and ppm/EC? Have you applied any foliar sprays of anything?

_EQ · Jul 8, 2021

Tracker said:
It doesn't look immediately like spider mite damage. When I've had them before, the leaves get a faded/bleached out color. The mites look like teenie tiny orange/brown balls under the leaves. They leave a fine webbing under the leaves which eventually covers all over if they totally take over.

What's your feed/water schedule? ph and ppm/EC? Have you applied any foliar sprays of anything?

So maybe I don’t have spider mites but I do have eggs of some sort and I do have tiny white specks albeit not many but they’re there. My feeding schedule is when the coco drys out (every other day or two) and my ppm I haven’t measured but I do feed always at 5.8-5.9 ph

Tracker · Jul 8, 2021

_EQ said:
So maybe I don’t have spider mites but I do have eggs of some sort and I do have tiny white specks albeit not many but they’re there. My feeding schedule is when the coco drys out (every other day or two) and my ppm I haven’t measured but I do feed always at 5.8-5.9 ph

I don't grow in coco, but I'm pretty sure you have to water/feed more frequently than that.

I use neem oil, spinosad, and bt for preventative pest maintenance weekly. Do not apply on buds. Do not apply with lights on. It will burn the leaves badly. If you want to bomb the plants, mix full strength neem and spinosad in the same batch. Bugs gone.

goofy81 · Jul 8, 2021

_EQ said:
So maybe I don’t have spider mites but I do have eggs of some sort and I do have tiny white specks albeit not many but they’re there. My feeding schedule is when the coco drys out (every other day or two) and my ppm I haven’t measured but I do feed always at 5.8-5.9 ph

To look for mites, its a lot easier to check under the leaf, they'll be like dark spots that have tiny legs.

Don't let the coco dry out fully, because that's how salt buildup happens.
If you really want to let it dry out, make sure you have a LOT of runoff on your feeds, measure the runoff but not too early! as the first part of the feed water will be channeling through your coco and not give you an accurate runoff EC.

This is my full assumption from the little facts I know.
You've been waiting for your coco to dry out before you feed.
Each time you've done this your salt level has risen, and i'm going to assume you didn't give enough runoff.
Now because your salt level has risen, this might have led to a pH problem which has caused the twisting leaves and nutrient deficiencies.

Check your runoff EC and pH and report back.

ALSO check this VPD chart on the bottom page of this link

Vapor Pressure Deficit - The Ultimate Guide - Dimlux Lighting - The Best Grow Lights

Simply put, Vapor Pressure Deficit measures the difference between the amount of drying power the atmosphere is exerting upon your plants. VPD is the key...

www.dimluxlighting.com

Running at 80+ with 55% humidity is actually not beneficial.
Either lower the temp or raise the humidity for more optimum growth.

_EQ · Jul 8, 2021

goofy81 said:
To look for mites, its a lot easier to check under the leaf, they'll be like dark spots that have tiny legs.

Don't let the coco dry out fully, because that's how salt buildup happens.
If you really want to let it dry out, make sure you have a LOT of runoff on your feeds, measure the runoff but not too early! as the first part of the feed water will be channeling through your coco and not give you an accurate runoff EC.

This is my full assumption from the little facts I know.
You've been waiting for your coco to dry out before you feed.
Each time you've done this your salt level has risen, and i'm going to assume you didn't give enough runoff.
Now because your salt level has risen, this might have led to a pH problem which has caused the twisting leaves and nutrient deficiencies.

Check your runoff EC and pH and report back.

ALSO check this VPD chart on the bottom page of this link

Vapor Pressure Deficit - The Ultimate Guide - Dimlux Lighting - The Best Grow Lights

Simply put, Vapor Pressure Deficit measures the difference between the amount of drying power the atmosphere is exerting upon your plants. VPD is the key...

www.dimluxlighting.com

Running at 80+ with 55% humidity is actually not beneficial.
Either lower the temp or raise the humidity for more optimum growth.

Thanks for the advice. Unfortunately it’s been so hot here it’s impossible for me to get the temps down without adding an air conditioner of some sort. I have plenty of fans but at this point their just pushing around hot air. I will check my rub off phs but the last time I checked they were within the 5.8 to 6.2 range. Also not sure if you saw the thing about the eggs on the under sides of the leaves I posted but I’m certain they’re some sort of egg.

Hook Daddy · Jul 8, 2021

I’m not an expert but it looks like a ph issue to me as well. I run a drip system with 50/50 coco/perlite and I water 3 times a day. From everything I’ve read you never want to let your coco dry out, and with the perlite there is very little chance of overwatering. There may be a bug issue as well, but the leaves curling and yellowing are what mine did when I was under watering and my ph was too high.

HELP - Do I have spider mites???

_EQ

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Vapor Pressure Deficit - The Ultimate Guide - Dimlux Lighting - The Best Grow Lights

_EQ

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Vapor Pressure Deficit - The Ultimate Guide - Dimlux Lighting - The Best Grow Lights

Hook Daddy

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