Help with spider mites and starting over...

Ghost of Davy Jones

Ghost of Davy Jones

Well-Known Member
Hey friends....

I just had to chuck 5 plants because i had spider mites so bad. there was spider webs throughout the plant and buds. I thought it was a nute deficiency, or light burn at first so i wasn't treating the problem and it got out of control. I wanna sterilize the grow room and start over with new seeds but i'm afraid that if i buy new soil i will re-introduce the problem.

Is there any way I can water log the soil I have and kill any mites living in it? I read that Spider mites don't like water or moist soil. I've also read that spider mites are common in cannabis grows. If anybody knows how to rid their soil of these little devils please do tell..

Thanks All
 
SouthCross

SouthCross

Well-Known Member
Ghost of Davy Jones said:
I ordered Pyrethrin from amazon yesterday. Should I mix the concentrate with water and then drench the soil with it right? Just seems strange adding bug killer directly to the soil.
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Yes, mix it as directed. I mix Pyrethrin at 1ml to 1-1.5 liters of water. The instructions will say something like 3ml to a gallon. If you don't want to drench the soil. Spray the top soil down to about an inch deep. If you just spray the top soil. Add a teaspoon of cooking oil or mineral oil. Few drops of dish soap. Shake the hell out it. Pyrethrin mixes well with oil.

Pyrethrin breaks down fairly fast. Consider retreating in a week.
 
Ghost of Davy Jones

Ghost of Davy Jones

Well-Known Member
SouthCross said:
Yes, mix it as directed. I mix Pyrethrin at 1ml to 1-1.5 liters of water. The instructions will say something like 3ml to a gallon. If you don't want to drench the soil. Spray the top soil down to about an inch deep. If you just spray the top soil. Add a teaspoon of cooking oil or mineral oil. Few drops of dish soap. Shake the hell out it. Pyrethrin mixes well with oil.

Pyrethrin breaks down fairly fast. Consider retreating in a week.
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Okay got it. Thanks Southcross. Last question for ya if u dont mind... I have 1 more plant 2 weeks into flower that is just starting to show signs of mites. Should i give her a flush with the pyrethrin? I was planning on spraying her foliage, but you got me thinking i should flush her too...
 
SouthCross

SouthCross

Well-Known Member
Pyrethrin is supposed to organic but they add some other ingredient to boost the killing power. I wouldn't spray it on anything you're going to be smoking. Like buds. Leaves and stems are ok. Dirt don't hurt.

I can't attest to the safety if it's applied to the flowers. In small amounts Pyrethrin is low hazard. In higher concentrations it can cause problems leading to toxicity.

Don't spray the buds for the safety factor.
 
Ghost of Davy Jones

Ghost of Davy Jones

Well-Known Member
chemphlegm said:
I've used dump trucks of soil over the years composted outdoors and store bought and never seen a mite in my rooms.
they come from house plants and friends clones.
bleach your rooms top to bottom. mites die when bleached.
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Do u know how long mites can live in a basement bedroom with no house plants or no nothing? just an empty carpeted room? Will they make their way to my bed and shit?
 
Buba Blend

Buba Blend

Well-Known Member
I have made it a practice to not have any plants around my property that spider mites like. In the past any plants (usually weak) that they showed up on, I would get rid of and never have that type again. Check all of the plants and any small trees right outside your doors to make sure nothing outside is infested, that could cause problems too.
 
Ghost of Davy Jones

Ghost of Davy Jones

Well-Known Member
Buba Blend said:
I have made it a practice to not have any plants around my property that spider mites like. In the past any plants (usually weak) that they showed up on, I would get rid of and never have that type again. Check all of the plants and any small trees right outside your doors to make sure nothing outside is infested, that could cause problems too.
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Yeah, good info Buba. Thanks. At this point i might take a chainsaw to everything! lol
 
Ghost of Davy Jones

Ghost of Davy Jones

Well-Known Member
chemphlegm said:
I've used dump trucks of soil over the years composted outdoors and store bought and never seen a mite in my rooms.
they come from house plants and friends clones.
bleach your rooms top to bottom. mites die when bleached.
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I must have gotten the mites from outside. I used to put them out for some full sun during veg. My bad.
 
chemphlegm

chemphlegm

Well-Known Member
Ghost of Davy Jones said:
I must have gotten the mites from outside. I used to put them out for some full sun during veg. My bad.
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maybe.
my room is built inside of a dirt floor barn. the door to my room is closed unless I'm working in there maybe, I dont worry about it.
In the barn I park my rototiller, lawnmower, wood working tools, lawn tractor, weed whips, used and new soil, root balls, garbage, dead plant material. the bay doors are open most daytime hours winter and summer and I dont dress up in tyvek when marijuanaing.
its warm in there often as this is where the ac exhausts to before being sucked out. I dont recall ever washing any of my lawn equipment before putting it away. I swat a few flies, have spiders, snakes around but never saw one mite in almost ten yrs.

I guess I'm daring mites around here, ...but still not seen one. I saw my first live mite when my wife brought it home on a meijer plant. I saw more when we c02's plastic bags with plants in them for a buddy. those mites died fast when the bag was filled and tied.

I never let a clone, another grower, garden plants into my grow room though, I figured thats where they come from.
hope you kill em all!
 
Buba Blend

Buba Blend

Well-Known Member
chemphlegm said:
maybe.
my room is built inside of a dirt floor barn. the door to my room is closed unless I'm working in there maybe, I dont worry about it.
In the barn I park my rototiller, lawnmower, wood working tools, lawn tractor, weed whips, used and new soil, root balls, garbage, dead plant material. the bay doors are open most daytime hours winter and summer and I dont dress up in tyvek when marijuanaing.
its warm in there often as this is where the ac exhausts to before being sucked out. I dont recall ever washing any of my lawn equipment before putting it away. I swat a few flies, have spiders, snakes around but never saw one mite in almost ten yrs.

I guess I'm daring mites around here, ...but still not seen one. I saw my first live mite when my wife brought it home on a meijer plant. I saw more when we c02's plastic bags with plants in them for a buddy. those mites died fast when the bag was filled and tied.

I never let a clone, another grower, garden plants into my grow room though, I figured thats where they come from.
hope you kill em all!
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That's funny, I'm the same way. I have my 33 gallons of soil cooking right next to my lawn mower and everything else. I haven't had them in over 10 years, only once, not here at this house, if I ever did get them just once I would get seriously careful to not get them again. I have 2 dogs and a cat and don't sweat it. I did have a small pine type tree near my front door that was invested and it got bagged and removed.
I did dread hearing you got them Davy, the time I had them I lost the battle also.
 
chemphlegm

chemphlegm

Well-Known Member
forgot to mention I'm surrounded by 100 ft pine trees 350 feet off the road in the forest, I have a jack russel who runs about with me in the grow room no worries. I know other growers who practice similar habits and have no mites. I suspect as always there is more to mites than meets the eye
 
stripesandmedals

stripesandmedals

Member
spider mites are actually an easy battle compared to other mites. take them outside and spray them down with cold water. hold them on their side or lay them down and fan them open or upside down if you can. then spray 50/50 iso and water mix every 3 days with a cold water rinse in between those days. it wont hurt your plant and will dry the mites out. every three days to get new hatchlings. no nee to throw away by any means. I like a couple drops of tea tree oil and dr bronners peppermint soap in the iso mix as well. good luck
 
L

led+cmh+hps#user

Member
Im going through this right now. my way around this is to spray them with a product called trounce then the day after water. I actually take mine into the shower hold them upside down and give them a damd good rinse. repeat this process 3 times with a day off after the shower. BUT as soon as you notice these bastards order some predator mites they eat the eggs put these on LAST and boom they're gone. empty your room Hoover even flea bomb it wipe the walks down with isoproply alcohol then put everything back. before I spray anything I do have a good defoliate this gets rid if a good chunk of them put them in a bucket of water.
 
hotrodharley

hotrodharley

Well-Known Member
chemphlegm said:
I've used dump trucks of soil over the years composted outdoors and store bought and never seen a mite in my rooms.
they come from house plants and friends clones.
bleach your rooms top to bottom. mites die when bleached.
Click to expand...
Thank you. I've used all kinds of bagged soils and never found a mite or anything else in them. Dirt you dig up outside is another matter. Spider mites are common pests and love the sides of roads.
 
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