Got bloody black spidermites!

[Tom]

Yeah, prevention is much more effective than cure.

[nouseforaname]

hey,

If you are worried about using pesticides you can always just wrap the substrate in cling wrap totally.. Work out some way to hang the plant in the shower... two bed slats cut short work fine, rest ontop of the tiles and then flip plant upside down and hang from wood... Spray with plain water if concerned just make sure its a strong sprayer to blast the bitches off... Can use mite rid or even neem oil aswell but needs to be final rinsed off otherwise it burns the leaves when back under hids... Main problem with mites is they hide everywhere....fans,duct,panda frame, balast racks etcetcetc... so a good idea is when the plants are out of the room spray it with an aerosol pyrethrum can or bug bomb even.....

[skankmaster]

I agree with Luke Sykwalker, some of that mite rid is very poisonous, and i certainly wouldn't use it without trying a few natural approaches.

Mel Franks top recipe for mites is: Mix half a cup of milk with four cups wheat flour, then add to 5 gallons water. When sprayed on the underside of the leaves it suffocates the mites and then flakes off as it dries.

Another is to grind a whole heap of garlic up and mix it in water with a little soap(which acts as a wetting agent), let it sit, then strain and dilute with some water.

I have read about lemon juice slightly diluted working well too.

You could always try your local hydro store for predator mites if your crop is not infested as yet.

After reading the few forums posted a while back on companion planting, i was just in time to give it a try. I planted 4 cloves which have grown pretty fast and have not seen one mite at all.

good luck with the little bastards...

death to mites

[skankmaster]

sorry, 4 cloves of garlic that is....

[Guest weekprik]

ah stuff all that ,

all u need is some neem spray, fly paper and as many lady beetles as you can find, breed the ladybugs in your grow room and you will never need to worry about mites ever again.

[Luke Skywalker]

I thought one of the main problems with using such predator bugs in an enclosed, hid room is that a lot of the population kills itself... flys into the light and pop! Course, never kept any predators cept spiders I have in the house and garden, they keep any populations in check long enough to spot....

 

Anything I grow, smoking or eating, I try to maintain organic pest control if poss... the only thing I have which I'd regard as synthetic pesticides is the mortein pest strips, and they're very safe indeed... People don't realise that a lot of these chemicals used to kill insects aren't just harmful to the insects involved, but you too... and the witholding periods listed on bottles is only going down to "safe" levels of toxins, not total disintegration... IMHO you should double any witholding period before consumption.

 

Are you actually using the ladybird breeding weekprik? I and many others would be most interested in your methods of breeding and maintaining populations of predators, maybe you could start a thread on the subject.

 

A clean, hygenic and well maintained grow, with good preventative measures and a keen eye should keep most pests at bay... Be careful what you put into your grow, and you should be ok...

[Mr Nice Guy]

Well I just got some Yates ready to use Scale gun.

It has - 20g/L Petroleum oil, 0.3g/L Pyrethrins, 1.2g/L Piperponyl butoxide.

 

Says it works on Scale, Ants, aphids, saterpillars, leaf hoppers, mealy bug. thrips. white fly. sooty mould and spider mites...

 

Its a ready to use spray but I am still a bit paranoid about spraying it on my plant.... So would it be worth diluting a bit in water?

 

I spray just before my light goes off don't i?

Should i spray it with water the day after to get all the poison and dead bodies off my girl?

 

This stuff contains white oil and pyrethrum.... Figured this was the best stuff as the rest only had either one not both....

 

Anyway thanks for any advice and alll the advice yo ualready given me

 

Also there is lots of white spots on my leaves is that just PH fluctuation?

 

And what strength nutes should I be giving my plant @ 3 weeks into flower

 

 

Thanks again

[Luke Skywalker]

Luke Skywalker Posted: Oct 12 2003, 09:00 PM 

But as to the main response, White oil... I've written this a few times, but I've used it for my herb, vege and mj garden plants, and they all respond excellently to it. The key to getting it to work is to apply it over a correct period... You should make one application one day, thoroughly soaking the whole plants foliage, undersides and tops. Now when you do this, it can be benificial indoors to raise the lights a bit, maybe 10-20 cm above normal, just to cool the plants whilst being treated as white oil can cause problems in high temps... And that applies to outdoor growers too. Then after five to 7 days, when the second generation of mites is coming thru from their eggs, the second application is made to eradicate these... by this time the first application should be worn away, but still discouraging feeding. This is repeated again in another 5-7 days, which should be just eliminating the last generations... which will be weak... This has usually eliminated mites for me, and if not, it's because I wasn't doing it right.

 

So three applications, 5 - 7 days apart... Don't forget, and don't assume because you can't see any after first spray they're all dead... they're not. Don't bother diluting, although you could consider a small test spray on a branch to see how the strain reacts.... Remember to raise the light, and if you have any way of reducing temps, do it... Get yourself some Mortein Pest Strips too, this will help keep them out... Check out the "prevention" thread in Taz's sig...

 

The white spots, if they're on the tops of the leaves where the mites are, is just the reaction of the plant... Spider mites and some other insects insert proboscis into the plants cell walls and suck out the contents... This makes a stippling effect of white dots on the surface, if you turn the leaf over you should see mites or mites nearby... this will not repair, you'll know they're all gone after treating because this stippling will not be apparent on the new growth.

 

Oh crap... you just told us a killer fact... 3 weeks into flower... How long is this strain supposed to go? Because you should be careful about spraying anything on plants in flowering.... hmm... if you had a pic this would be so much easier... I'm not sure man, you'll have to tell us how long she has to go, if she's an 9 or more week strain and the buds are small, you might get away with it, but if it's a shorter flowering strain...

 

Let's get some other opinions on this, eh?

[Mr Nice Guy]

Light is as high as it goes already

 

Yea what ill do is spray them at a few mins b4 light goes off and turn my fan up.

 

Yea man but the white spots have been there for weeks and I only seen the mites yesterday and i look everyday Any other ideas>

 

Yea I thought of this but she is pretty sativa dominnt (not sure what strain or how long it will take to flower coz its bagseed) But from picttures i have seen on the net of 7-8 week strains my plant looks like buds @ 2 weeks....

They are still just like loose hairs nad leaves so not too worred about it got atleast 5 weeks left til harvest.....

 

This stuff says you can spray it on citrus trees and just don't eat the fruit til a day later so im guessing it isn't dangerous.

 

I've been giving her half strength nutes should i kick it up to like 80% as I have noticed my plant is a lot lighter green then the clones i took of same plant.

 

Sorry if some shit i say is hard to read im a tad high

[Mr Nice Guy]

Well I sprayed my plant just before my light went off.... light just went back on and I had a look.... She got a bit burnt and the ends of the leaves are a bit curly but o well she will live....

 

Little black cunts aint moving anymore

 

Think I will re hit it in 5 days or so..... Should I spray plant with water sometime?