Should I worry about these late into flower?

On day 47 of flower, have had intermittent spider mite issues throughout the grow. I have 3 plants and one is looking pretty speckled on a few leaves, the other is just on a couple of colas. Been using Captain Jack's Dead Bug as well as a homemade spray with peppermint, rosemary and eucalyptus to combat it. I've heard these are ok to use up until harvest. Anyone have any observations or suggestions? Just want to make sure this doesn't ruin my first harvest.

I personally would never use any spinosad product. Peppermint, rosemary, and eucalyptus are fine for veg but I wouldn't spray those flavors on my buds this late in flower. Especially the eucalyptus. Plus those are more of a deterrent rather than a contact killer which is what you want. Citric acid would be my choice.

I wouldn’t spray anything on plants that far into flower
Time to accept that this run has some extra protein

That's a pretty heavy infestation. Kind of late to do anything, frankly. I would guess you have had this problem for a while.

xtsho said:

I personally would never use any spinosad product. Peppermint, rosemary, and eucalyptus are fine for veg but I wouldn't spray those flavors on my buds this late in flower. Especially the eucalyptus. Plus those are more of a deterrent rather than a contact killer which is what you want. Citric acid would be my choice.

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Hmm, I hope I didn't ruin the flavor by using that. How do you use citric acid to combat them? I have some, I believe it's in crystal or powder form.

If you're going to smoke that.... I can imagine you'll be smoking more than just plant material....

drgonzo2476 said:

Hmm, I hope I didn't ruin the flavor by using that. How do you use citric acid to combat them? I have some, I believe it's in crystal or powder form.

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2 tsp per quart. Spray with lights off and dry afterwards with a fan. That will kill the bugs as citric acid is a contact killer. The dead carcasses will still be there so plan on doing a bud wash at harvest drying the water off the buds quickly using fans and then dry as normal. Drying any spray or moisture off is critical. You don't want spots of wet weed which can lead to bud rot. Maybe just take the time to manually wipe down the most infected spots killing as many as you can without getting the buds saturated.

Good luck.

Also, you should plan on deeply cleaning and exterminating your tent and and area around it including carpet, walls etc. They are persistent and will return to ruin future grows. If you have houseplants or other cannabis plants in veg somewhere else, examine them for infestation. webbing, small spots. Those you can treat more aggressively or remove entirely. I don't know anyone who has ever triumphed against spider mites. Scorched earth is the best solution.

WOW! Thanks for sharing the pictures. I have battled fungus gnats once and prevailed but have never seen this before.

FWIW, I worked with a rep at Mammoth the other day and they gave me some CannControl but I have never used it. They swear it is fine all through flower. I personally wouldn't use it the last 1-2 weeks but would if it were an urgent need I would for sure.

Active ingredients:
55% Corn Oil
15% Thyme Oil

Inert:
30% Oliec Acid

Good luck and clean well after harvest.