Broad Mite Infested Perpetual Medical Grow!

mrbubbles87

Well-Known Member
Sadly after over 3 years of success in my perpetual garden I have met my match....BROAD MITES!

In my time gardening I have battled many pests and diseases including spider mites but never have I been hit as hard as this little f*cker hits.

It all started with a new strain that I grew from seed. It seemed healthy but occasionally it threw a mutated or twisted leaf but showed no damage whatsoever. I scoped it with a cheapo 420 micro and found no bugs. The plant overall looked very good so I put it into flower with my normal rotation. In flower it produced PHENOMENAL buds with 0 damage. Yields were a little low but nothing alarming for a first run. It did continue to occasionally show a mutated leaf but still no damage.

Fast forward 4mos and 3 runs later with this strain; which is now my favorite flavor, and I'm starting to see the same leaf mutation on other strains in my garden.

I did my online research and everyone with similiar leaves are saying BM. At this point alarms are starting to go off. I'm asking myself what did I miss?! All my girls go through a rigorous IPM regimen (a lesson learned from my two spotted spider mites battle) where I cycle AZAMAX, insectial soap, neem oil, predator mites and compost teas.

Now this is where it gets scary. I'm doubling down my prevention efforts. I'm scoping, things are looking healthy for the most part and then all of the sudden a batch 4 weeks in flower comes to a screeching halt. The flowers look and smell amazing but there are a few tops that look like just the pistils were burned. The leafs have occasional spots and a few are clawing downwards.

Usually this tells me nute burn or nitro toxicity but I'm using half strength nutes with a lightly amended organic soil. I scope again up to 100x with the 420 scope and can't see anything. Out of desperation I grab my old 10x jewelers loupe and what do you know? I spot little milky sacs beneath the leaves. Paired with the burnt pistils and mutated leaves I'm convinced it's broadmites. I'd feel more comfortable identifying an actual mite on scope or if the plants showed more symptoms but I can't pin it on anything else.

So I've begun all out war and let me tell you guys for the first time in my growing career I'm scared sh*tless. I've spent hours and days online researching. Sometimes I stumbled into glimmers of hope but mostly it looks pretty bleak out there. I see a lot of guys shutting down shop or losing everything.

That cannot and will not happen to me! My family and friends depend on this medicine. I do not have the option of the shutting down shop, starting over or sending people elsewhere.

I began this journey to fight cancer and ironically this is happening on that anniversary. I believe all things happen for a reason so I am going to try and turn this horrible event into a learning experience.

I would like to share this with all of you as a journal. For better or worse I will photograph and document my experience as transparently as possible.

My strategy is to supercharge the health of my plants with teas/nutrients; combat the toxin with 325mg aspirin per gal; spray every 3 days with a rotation of Azamax, Neem Oil, and compost tea, drench with the same rotation; and finally to release massive amounts of predator mites.

Sorry for the huge story but details are important. I will follow up with pictures tonight and further reasoning of my methods.

Wish me luck and please pray for my girls!

(Note to administration thought journals would be OK but feel free to move to the infirmary if necessary.
 
Once you experience broad mites you'll pray for spider mites. I know I am lol. Thanks for the sub and the pos vibes shiggity! Should be an interesting show.

Ironically I just got a new phone with an awesome camera so I can post some really good shots of the damage.
 
My Methods Explained

I aspire to grow as organically as possible. I do use Chem nutes occasionally but for pests I've always been successful with organic methods. I always lived by the theory that healthy plants don't get bugs or illnesses and just need minor prevention.

When I got hit with spider mites the first time I got my real first intro into bug warfare. I'd never had a bug make it through my preliminary defenses and got caught with my pants down 6 weeks in flower. Through cold water sprays and climate control I was able to nearly decimate them. I finished them off with a set of predatory mites. Then I developed my current IPM rotation of Neem Oil/soap, compost tea, and azamax. This prevented any further issues. Looking back that was a breeze but at the time it seemed like hell.

During this battle I will strive to use organics only and will abstain from using any products that even seem remotely questionable to me. That includes avid, forbid, and spinosad. There are actually a few products I've heard of but there are so many contradictory experiences that it's hard to decide it's is "snake oil" or the real deal. For example OG biowar, mighty wash, Green clean, nukem.

I will not be able to heat the room to 120f either. I don't have the equipment to get the precise temp and time without potentially harming the plants more than helping.

Many people argue that broad mites cannot be eradicated without breaking out the heavy duty chemicals but I have also read many stories in the gardening community as a whole where organic products like neem oil and azamax have been successful in beating back the broad mite numbers to a range acceptable for introducing predator mites to finish them off.

It seems like the trick is coverage with your foliar sprays and soil drenches. Covering every single spot with a foliar treatment on an entire plant even on a small scale like my operation is still a daunting task when the bug is so microscopic. I have a decent 2 gal pump sprayer but I don't have the funds for a proper atomizer. Instead I'm relying on redundancy. I spray the living sh*t out of each plant and follow up with a second spray the next day. Then I wait 3 days and do the same thing again.

There was a ton of conflicting information on soil drenches. I decided to go with 2 different drenches. One is neem oil, Castille soap, and silika. The other is Azamax. I used the azamax drench on the girls furthest along hoping the lesser smell equals less chance of ruining my flavor. I use these same mixes at lesser dosages for foliar sprays.

Between drenches I plan to water with Aspirin and also do their weekly scheduled feedings.

I still have residual predatory mites. I can actually see them in my wood chips and may be able to photograph some later. I've read conflicting information on how my sprays/drenches will affect my existing predatory mites. I'm leaning towards will kill some but planning for them all getting killed. Hoping for a vigorous spray schedule over the next week. Will rinse them with water after and then release the new predatories.

That's the current game plan. Should have some pics up shortly.

Until then...DIE MITES! DIE! .
 
Thanks for the enlightenment shiggity.

I stand corrected and educated. I did research spinosad a bit more and confirmed it is approved for organics. I did find a big difference is price between products like conserve sc and captains jack from bonide. I could certainly see captains jack as being an affordable inclusion to my IPM regimen but 123$ for conserve sc is too much imo.

I didn't find anything specific on using it for broad mites but I haven't researched it too long either. Also a side note it appears to be very bad for bees which makes me dislike it on a different level.
 
I agree on the anti bee aspect not being great. That means it should not be used in outdoor gardens. Inside it should be fine as it has a short half life and will degrade in the room it is sprayed. Though spinosad is more for thrips and whiteflies.

In reading different places on the web it seems like the nuke Em product works which is citric acid based and also high heat treatment 111-120F in the room for 15 minutes.
 
I know what you mean about being used indoors vs outdoors but I read a lot of spinosad products that can be used outdoors at certain times. I feel like there shouldn't be a product available to the public that kills honey bees when they are so vital to our food supply.

I've seen lots of varying reviews on Nuk'em. One guy said he could make it himself for 5$ a gal and it didn't do anything for his BM. Another guy thought it was the end all for BM.

I shy away from products like these because they seem like hyped up old school homemade organic sprays that are being copyrighted and sold for a huge profit.

Not saying that's the case here but I'm looking for a product that doesn't cause me to second guess at all. I trust Azamax and Neem Oil because it showed up in most non biased reviews that were done by agricultural professionals vs forum members like myself who aren't really performing accurate scientific testing or applications.

I've read tons on the different products available but my goal is to treat these bugs with what I have on hand which is the neem oil and azamax.

In the future I may break down and buy another product. I really like the sound of og biowar but just as skeptical as the nuk'em. I'm hoping I will be able to take these guys out with diligent foliar sprays and drenches.

I'm not able to get my 5 individual tents to maintain 115f. I may be able to reach that temp but it would take so long the plants would suffer more than I think it would help.

I definitely appreciate your insight though. I've reresesearched the products you mentioned and did learn a few things.
 
I went ahead and ordered 2000 predator mites. I'm planning to hit the girls with another mild neem oil foliar spray today. Then tomorrow when the predators arrive I will rinse the plants with water before I apply them. My hope is that the systemic drenches and sprays I've used over the last week have lowered the BM populations to a range the predators can manage.

TBH I'm not sure if I'm correct. Last night I noticed a lot more pistils burned back on my girls in the largest flowering tent. I hope it's a burn from my foliar sprays vs a sign of the infestation spreading.

Without a proper microscope I'm really shooting in the dark. I can't even confirm 100% that I have BM which makes it very difficult to treat because I'm not sure if my treatments are effective or not. Overall the plants all look very healthy and I sometimes wonder if I'm creating this infestation in my head.

In addition to the foliar sprays I'll also be adding aspirin into their feedings today as I've read that can help with the toxins the BMs are infecting my plants with.

What is real is the overwhelming feeling of despair I have anytime I even enter the room anymore. It's either spend a couple hundred on a micrscope to verify my problem or to keep treating it. With limited funds I'm directing my efforts towards treatment because I'd rather be safe then sorry.

I hope none of you ever experience this horrible pests. I wish I have the two spotted spider mites again. At least I could see those.
 
I won't be any help, as I am new to this. But I like your style and wish the best for you and your medicine. DIE MITES!
May the force be with you.
Thanks for stopping by! I appreciate your words of inspiration. I hope the force is with me on this battle.
 
Finally have a few pics. I've really been struggling to upload pics onto the site from my phone lately. I have to upload 1 pic at at time which takes FOREVER.

The first picture is a mutated leaf. Based on my research this deformity is caused by the toxins the BMs inject into the plant when they bite it. I'm hoping to boost the plants natural immune system by adding 325mg of aspirin per 1 gal of water with each of their feedings.

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These next pictures show slight yellowing on the tips of new growth and slight twisting. I've read that BMs like the tips because it's the highest humidity. Normally I would see this and assume a nutrient burn but this only shows on new growth.
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Same issue with the next photo except the leaf appears to be eaten back vs deformed. When you look very closely you can tell the leaf just grew this way from the infection.
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I'm afraid that's all the pics I have for now. These pics are all plants in veg showing very early signs of BM. Tonight I should be able to get pics of the girls in flower. That's where you can really see the damage and how scary these little f*ckers really are.
 
The ones in flower seem the most obvious to me. What's confusing is initially it was only a few buds in the entire tent and then only 3 days later almost every plant has burnt pistils on every main cola top. I'm worried my overzealous foliar sprays of Azamax and Neem Oil may have burned the pistils.

I finally gritted my teeth and spent some more cash. In addition to my predator mites I also have ordered biowar og and a usb microscope.

I'm going to treat with the predatory mites right away tomorrow on all of my plants in veg and flower. Approximately 1 week later I'm going to hit everything with biowar consistently. Once I feel things are under control I'm going to order some sachets of swirskii mites for longterm management.

I don't believe I'll ever get rid of them all completely but I'm hoping to keep them down with continuous IPM.

I think I slipped up using Azamax and Neem Oil because they are very similiar which leads me to believe these mites have built immunity to them.
 
Yeah that does make sense about the smilarity of azamax and neem as pesticides. As you know but for the benefit of those here that don't know azamax (azadirachtin) is extracted from neem... I have been reading as much as I can find on these little buggers. I think I would actually invest in the conserve sc. I know its pricey at $137 but it is 11.5% spinosad and all the other products are 20 bucks for 0.5%. So basically it is 6.5 times the price but 23 times the strength. In one of the threads I am reading the conserve sc was used to great effect and killed the broad mites on contact.

I think I am going to invest in some of the conserve sc myself and use it in IPM.
 
Hoping to have good luck with the biowar as I've read some promising things. A higher end product like conserve sc may be the next line for me.

Really looking forward to getting a new micrscope so I can actually confirm they are BM. I think they're so tough to eliminate because they're so difficult to spot.

Couldn't afford much so I just spent $35 on a digital usb one that goes up to 200x. At the very least I can get some photos of the eggs. In the future I want to get a high end stereo microscope. Spotted a few I liked for around $700.

I also slipped up by not doing soil drenches preventatively with neem or azamax. I think they still absorb them systemically either way but I think drenching saturates them more.
 
Hoping to have good luck with the biowar as I've read some promising things. A higher end product like conserve sc may be the next line for me.

Really looking forward to getting a new micrscope so I can actually confirm they are BM. I think they're so tough to eliminate because they're so difficult to spot.

Couldn't afford much so I just spent $35 on a digital usb one that goes up to 200x. At the very least I can get some photos of the eggs. In the future I want to get a high end stereo microscope. Spotted a few I liked for around $700.

I also slipped up by not doing soil drenches preventatively with neem or azamax. I think they still absorb them systemically either way but I think drenching saturates them more.

The only worry I have with neem drenches is that the oils will coat the roots and prevent proper absorption. That being said I still did one this last grow when I feared root aphids and saw no ill effects.
 
That was my concern also. When I researched it 50% of people said yes and 50% said no. I saw a guy with a recipe calling for 250ml of Neem Oil per 5gal!

The other contradiction is Castille soap. It's what I use along with dyna tek silica to emulsify the oil. Some people say it's bad for roots and others say no.

I did a low dosage drench with probably 2tblspn of Neem Oil per 3gal along with 2tblspn of Castille soap and 2tblspn dyna pro tekt.

I have literally found ever single remedy and read cases of success or failure for each one. It's very frustrating. Most forum posts related to it end up in huge arguments over what works and what doesn't.
 
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