NOOOBIENOT
Well-Known Member
ok now that i have these little buggers how do i get rid of them ,i am a month in to flower
Bugs
- Thread starter NOOOBIENOT
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Looks like mites, your options are probably Neem or Azamax. You can also have a look at the products from our sponsor @Sierra Natural Science if they are available in your area. When you're trying to get rid of them in veg there's a lot more options... I've never battled them during flowering but someone else will help I'm sure. Cheers.
Oh no @NOOOBIENOT Yeiks spider mites.ok now that i have these little buggers how do i get rid of them ,i am a month in to flower
Great pic, sorry though.
How bad is it ?
Part of a plant cut it off.
1 plant in a crop put a bag over it and dump it asap.
Your whole crop?
Stay safe
Bill
Southerncough
Well-Known Member
There are many ways to deal with them. I've been battling them for a while using everything from ready made sprays, powders, ladybugs, systemic solutions, etc. and it seems the safest bet is to order some
predatory mites. I tried them before from a seller on amazon with little luck but recently ordered some from a more reputable company called Arbico Organics. Definitely contact them first and tell them your pest, temp, and humidity and they'll recommend a predator that should work best for your garden.
Also have read that if you're adding CO2 to your garden that you can jack up the levels so high that there's no oxygen in the garden and every crawly thing dies BUT you gotta be careful not to approach a zero oxygen area without passing out or worse
predatory mites. I tried them before from a seller on amazon with little luck but recently ordered some from a more reputable company called Arbico Organics. Definitely contact them first and tell them your pest, temp, and humidity and they'll recommend a predator that should work best for your garden.
Also have read that if you're adding CO2 to your garden that you can jack up the levels so high that there's no oxygen in the garden and every crawly thing dies BUT you gotta be careful not to approach a zero oxygen area without passing out or worse
Nothing worse than an attack by the Borg! At this point in flower, your best bet is to go for control rather than eradication. Predatory mites/wasps are good, diatomaceous earth is another (however the two are mutually exclusive). I dislike spraying oils in flower, soaps would be better, but plan on bud washing in any case.
Yikes! The Two Spotted Mite (a.k.a. "The Borg"). 
Not good.
@InTheShed has some strong views on what to use (and what not to use) when in flower. Perhaps he'll weigh in.
Not good.@InTheShed has some strong views on what to use (and what not to use) when in flower. Perhaps he'll weigh in.
I've not used them but my understanding of predatory mites is that they thrive in and like an environment exactly opposite to that preferred by spider mites and therefore don't necessarily work they way we would like.
These seem to be the most common of pest insects that are found on Marijuana plants. How to identify them, and the products to use to kill them off or to control their population numbers has to be one of the most discussed problems faced by growers, especially indoor growers and especially-especially for those of us with perpetual grows. I suggest a lot of research and reading. At this point, it is probably best to read up on the Bud Washing techniques.
At a month into flower you are about 1/2 way through the flower stage with another 4 to 6 weeks to go for the average strain. As I see it, by this time more than half of the mites on the plant are now living and hiding in the flower buds but most of the damage they are doing is still on the fan leaves. Closer to harvest time and their damage will be seen on every fan leaf and starting to show on many of the sugar leaves. Letting them remain out of control at this stage and their webs will be everywhere and often found completely covering the top buds.
Neem is organic and really inexpensive. It works great as a preventative before the plants start to flower and in the first couple of weeks of a flowering on a 12 & 12 hour light schedule. Once the buds start forming and getting large the Neem will still work but it does not seem to be as effective because it is harder to get into and in-between every sugar leaf and flower part. Some of the other sprays seem to work better by this time plus those sprays look like they get in between the parts of the flower better.
Predatory insects do the job naturally on outdoor plants but my experience and readings of a lot of discussions on mites indicates that the predators are not the best solution to the problem with indoor grows. It seems that they eat mites for a day and then wander off to look for something else, either water, larger groups of prey or someplace to lay their own eggs. Anyone else ever wonder what happens to the hundreds of Ladybugs they put on their plants one day which are nowhere to be found the next morning?
Look into the products from the sponsors as some have recommended. Or look into what is available at local gardening, hydro and grow stores. Just about anything that is 'natural' or 'certified organic' is usually safe for the flowers but it is still best to check. Select a couple of branches and spray those. Watch for two to three days looking for reactions such as leaves shriveling or flower pistils turning brown or burnt looking . If nothing bad seems to be happening then by the 3rd or 4th day spray a larger area and check again. Or, go for broke and just spray everything hoping for the best.
I am a firm believer that many 'weed' growers do not spray properly. Either they do not do a complete and thorough spray or they take the easy way out and do not do more than a spray every couple of days and quit.
Spray the underside of every leaf and then spray the tops. Spray to the point that the liquid is dripping off just like it would after a steady hour long rain. I will spray like that for 3 days and then take a break for a day or two and then do another couple spraying sessions every afternoon. Then the spray schedule can be a session every third or fourth day. Then after awhile the spray schedule can settle on one complete spraying per week as a preventative.
No one said the life of a farmer was easy.
cleanest and 'safest' method for mite control in flower, imo, is safers soap or similar, and persistence ,,
there is no eradication at this point, as mentioned,, them little buggers fit in places that even spray does not
but, as mentioned already,, spray under and over,, preferably with the plant out in the open and not under the grow lights,, a good spray then let dry
and if possible,, ant the plant is good and mobile, cover the soil and give the plant a shower,, spray a ton of bugs right off
a bud wash after harvest is also a must, as mentioned as well
karma sent friend
there is no eradication at this point, as mentioned,, them little buggers fit in places that even spray does not
but, as mentioned already,, spray under and over,, preferably with the plant out in the open and not under the grow lights,, a good spray then let dry
and if possible,, ant the plant is good and mobile, cover the soil and give the plant a shower,, spray a ton of bugs right off
a bud wash after harvest is also a must, as mentioned as well
karma sent friend
gearhead66
420 Member
OK man, what I do for spider mites, because I grow in grow tents, is I go to Walmart and buy those "No Pest Strips",
that you can hang around in your garage, or storage building, ect. I use eight for an 8 x 8 grow tent. So if your tent
is smaller, you can use less. So at the end of your daily light cycle, hang the "No Pest Strips" in your tent. Put some
fans to blow on them to dispense the fumes that come off the Strips. And close your tent up as air tight as you can
get it. What your doing is making a gas chamber out of your tent. You're starting at the beginning of your dark cycle
so you can leave the Strips in your tent for 12 hours, giving the fumes plenty of time to work. Also, spider mites like
it hot and dry, so sitting in the cool dark with a higher humidity helps kill the spider mites. After 12 hours, open your
tent and turn on the lights, and most, if not all the live mites will be dead. BUT, there's always a but isn't there. The
eggs will still be un-hurt. All you've done is kill the adults. So in about 3 days, you've got to do this all over again, to
kill the new mites that have been born. It takes a week and a half of doing this every 3 days to permanently get rid
of all the spider mites. I usually do this 4 times. The good thing is, you can re-use the same "No Pest Strips".
If the no pest strips contain dichlorvos, (which most do) I would not use them. Dichlorvos is a carcinogen and leaves a residue on plants. It is not recommended for use on edible/smokable plants.
I agree. As effective as they may be, they leave toxic residue on your plants. Especially bad if this is a medical grow.
gearhead66
420 Member
So the carcinogens from the No Pest Strips are different than all the other
carcinogens you inhale when you
smoke pot?
Why increase your carcinogen load, perhaps exponentially! There’s a reason it is not recommended! Your body, do what you want.
This explanation of breaking the life cycle of the mites is great. One reason many growers have long term problems with mites is because they often figure that one dose of something will kill off all the adults and all the eggs and the problem is over.
Yes, a lot different. The No-Pest style strip gives off a man-made nerve agent that could have an effect on a human within a few days while the damage to a human's lungs from smoking pot might take as long as several decades of daily use to get to the same level.
I would use them in the garage or storage shed since we might go into those every couple of days or weeks. Used them in our back room many years ago but as the room was fixed up and we used it almost daily then the strips were no longer allowed.
Interesting analogy since the chemical was invented and developed as part of the gas warfare that took place during WW2.
cbdhemp808
Well-Known Member
I haven't needed to battle spider mites too much, but bugs is bugs. I use a solution of organic neem oil in water with Dr. Bronner's peppermint soap. Use enough soap to completely emulsify the oil – you can tell if you've used enough because there will be a little bit of foaming. I will also sometimes add a little pure food grade limonene (orange oil). Be careful with the limonene – it's a powerful insecticide, but too much will burn your leaves. For one gallon of spray, I will use 2 tbsp neem, 1 tbsp soap, and 10-20 drops of limonene. You can maybe go more on the limonene... I'm not sure, but best to be conservative. If your plants are getting close to harvest, and you want to spray on or near the buds, you could possibly make a variation of this solution and omit the neem.
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