Isopropyl alcohol and water mixture for spider mite control

[nivek]

Heya friends,, cheers to ya for reading this

I have a spider mite Issue

And I have yet to find an even mediocre solution

I have been reading up on all things spider mite control and as with everything info related these days,, the definitive info,, haha,, is all over the map

I am trying to stay away from the harshest methods whatever they may be,, as most of the harshest methods are not legal in Canada, I think

Anyway,, latest idea I am going to try is isopropyl alcohol and water.

I have read mixture ratios all the way from Strait 70 percent iso to ten percent iso / 90% water

I plan on trying this on flowering plants, as that is where my spider mite issue is

Any input would be appreciated on this matter

I plan on constructing a new flower room soon and the thot of infesting the new digs is kinda disheartening, indeed


Cheers to you

 

[Weaselcracker]

Hey Nivek. I did use iso/water once but can’t remember the ratio. Helpful eh?
My experience was that almost any type of spray will kill them. Even a brisk spray of plain water blasts them off the plant and sets them back a bunch. But unless you’re using a systemic pesticide of some sort Systemic Pesticides: Chemicals You Can’t Wash Off – Mother Earth News the next batches of eggs hatch out soon after and you have fresh new mites in a day or two.
You probably this spiel already- but...
The way I see it you have two choices.

1- treat them by continuing to spray regularly. Forever...

2- treat them with a systemic. You’ll still have to do this every couple weeks or so, forever, if your environment is such that new mites are in the yard and knocking at the door outside. Myself I don’t have wild mites, so once I got them out of the greenhouse, grow room and houseplants, that was the end of it.

I think that neem oil on its own is not a systemic unless tweaked a bit, but there are systemic made from neem, including the stuff that saved me which is called Mite-rid.
I’ve heard good things about something called Einstein oil. You can get it at Jon’s Plant Factory in Vancouver.

 

[TorturedSoul]

They are harmful to fish, but are far less toxic to mammals and birds than many synthetic insecticides and are not persistent, being biodegradable and also decompose easily on exposure to light. They are considered to be amongst the safest insecticides for use around food.

Pyrethrum - Wikipedia

Also mentions companion planting as a repellent.

They don't like being wet all the time. Neither do buds, lol - but you can knock a great many of them off and down the drain by spraying your plants with water, as in the water hose outside, the kitchen sink's "vegetable sprayer," your shower, etc; merely filling an old Windex bottle with water and pulling the trigger rapidly will just cause them to move around a bit, like they undoubtedly do when it rains outside. This isn't a solution, of course - but it probably wouldn't hurt to remove a big chunk of the population before applying some kind of treatment.

Also, you'll have eggs present, and most treatments don't bother those, so you'll want to repeat your treatment to catch them after they've hatched. It only takes about a week to reach adulthood, so don't wait too long to retreat or you'll be right back where you are now. I'd repeat every three days, for a total of three (possibly four) times.

Heat just speeds the little bastards up (for practical purposes - you can fry anything but, alas, that includes cannabis, lol).

Good luck in your battle against the Borg. And become paranoid... They would have ridden in on something. Usually, the "something" ends up being the gardener. Or the plants, themselves, if the gardener decides that they need a visit to the great outdoors on sunny days.

 

[Weaselcracker]

The mites I had were unquestionably immune to pyrethrum. No doubt they’d get immune to anything if subjected to it long enough- a good reason to have backup controls in place so you don’t have to spray so often. A moat, for example.

 

[TorturedSoul]

Yeah, it happens. We're going to end up with populations of insects that require mushroom cloud type solutions. We're practically there with some of the infections/etc. one can pick up in hospitals.

 

[MrSauga]

Hi Nivek,
if it's any help I use a 9:1 water/alcohol ratio. I've been playing with another mixture that someone led me on to with milk and water.
Read my post on it here as it had some good info that I mirrored from another source.
Sauga's First WW Indoor Grow, LED Style

 

[Calvados]

Are you growing indoors? If so,

* nematodes in the water to kill the larva and eggs (Doesn't hurt your plant. Sciarid fly killer from amazon).

* insecticide for the leaves and top soil

* cover the soil with a layer of diatomacious earth or sand to keep anything from crawling out.

* yellow fly paper to grab anything that is flying.

They go in a cycle (generally weekly). They will greatly reduce through each cycle. After the 3rd cycle you should have gotten rid of them. If you do it perfectly, they will go away after one. That's pretty impossible if like me you have the plastic airpots with holes in the side, so expect some rapidly reproducing survivors. I did get them under control eventually. I'm going to treat the medium with sciarid fly killer before I plant them this time. Do not want to deal with that again.

If you are using pesticide, you should consider bud washing before you dry. I do it anyway. I found it makes the final product much nicer to smoke.

I

 

[nivek]

Hey Nivek. I did use iso/water once but can’t temember the ratio. Helpful eh?
My experience was that almost any type of spray will kill them. Even a brisk spray of plain water blasts them off the plant and sets them back a bunch. But unless you’re using a systemic pesticide of some sort Systemic Pesticides: Chemicals You Can’t Wash Off – Mother Earth News the next batches of eggs hatch out soon after and you have fresh new mites in a day or two.
You probably this spiel already- but...
The way I see it you have two choices.

1- treat them by continuing to spray regularly. Forever...

2- treat them with a systemic. You’ll still have to do this every couple weeks or so, forever, if your environment is such that new mites are in the yard and knocking at the door outside. Myself I don’t have wild mites, so once I got them out of the greenhouse, grow room and houseplants, that was the end of it.

I think that neem oil on its own is not a systemic unless tweaked a bit, but there are systemic made from neem, including the stuff that saved me which is called Mite-rid.
I’ve heard good things about something called Einstein oil. You can get it at Jon’s Plant Factory in Vancouver.

cheers weaseley,, thanks for chimmin in friend,,

yes, you nailed the key component of the issue,, do i want to kill the bugs or do i want the plants to kill the bugs??

i said to my wife not so very long ago,, wife,, i want to give the plants something so they can kill the bugs themselves.

i said those very words,, cept i called her by her real name

and i thot i did want to do that, but i have resisted doing that up till now, for some internal reason, or i could not buy neem oil,, one or the other reasons, or, perhaps both

and i had come to some truce with the bugs, so i thot,, they broke the truce i think

i have tried rotating, regularly, three different defence agents,, pyrethrins among them,, as a fogger,, plus safers soap,, and i used sm 90 as well,, it was sold to me as useful,, jury out still,, just back in,, guilty

i looked up einstein oil,, basically neem oil, but, perhaps available in canada as you state,,

i may go that route,, yet,, this so tickin and mitin me off

cheers friend,

 

[nivek]

Pyrethrum - Wikipedia

Also mentions companion planting as a repellent.

They don't like being wet all the time. Neither do buds, lol - but you can knock a great many of them off and down the drain by spraying your plants with water, as in the water hose outside, the kitchen sink's "vegetable sprayer," your shower, etc; merely filling an old Windex bottle with water and pulling the trigger rapidly will just cause them to move around a bit, like they undoubtedly do when it rains outside. This isn't a solution, of course - but it probably wouldn't hurt to remove a big chunk of the population before applying some kind of treatment.

Also, you'll have eggs present, and most treatments don't bother those, so you'll want to repeat your treatment to catch them after they've hatched. It only takes about a week to reach adulthood, so don't wait too long to retreat or you'll be right back where you are now. I'd repeat every three days, for a total of three (possibly four) times.

Heat just speeds the little bastards up (for practical purposes - you can fry anything but, alas, that includes cannabis, lol).

Good luck in your battle against the Borg. And become paranoid... They would have ridden in on something. Usually, the "something" ends up being the gardener. Or the plants, themselves, if the gardener decides that they need a visit to the great outdoors on sunny days.

cheers soul,, thanks for the input,,

your last paragraph,, the key , of course,, i have a million reasons to expect to have spider mites in my grow room/studio,, i really do

i could blame my cats, my shoes, my yard, my lack of care and control, and perhaps my lack of hygiene as well,, all fair accusations,,

however,, i see none of those changing

hmmm,, cheers

 

[nivek]

Hi Nivek,
if it's any help I use a 9:1 water/alcohol ratio. I've been playing with another mixture that someone led me on to with milk and water.
Read my post on it here as it had some good info that I mirrored from another source.
Sauga's First WW Indoor Grow, LED Style

heya mrsauga,, thanks you for the ratio numbers,, first real hard numbers from a user,, thanks,, and i used em too

sorta,, i have been doing some testing, on a small section of flowering buds,, with about a 15% ratio as compared to your 12 or so,,

test results so far,, that mixture definitely kills the mites, and seems to kill the eggs too, as i have read,, a good soaking is required, and perhaps heavy fans on right after to help with dissipation

promising so far, must say,, first thing i have seen touch the eggs

more testing required,, great stuff indeed

 

[nivek]

Are you growing indoors? If so,

* nematodes in the water to kill the larva and eggs (Doesn't hurt your plant. Sciarid fly killer from amazon).

* insecticide for the leaves and top soil

* cover the soil with a layer of diatomacious earth or sand to keep anything from crawling out.

* yellow fly paper to grab anything that is flying.

They go in a cycle (generally weekly). They will greatly reduce through each cycle. After the 3rd cycle you should have gotten rid of them. If you do it perfectly, they will go away after one. That's pretty impossible if like me you have the plastic airpots with holes in the side, so expect some rapidly reproducing survivors. I did get them under control eventually. I'm going to treat the medium with sciarid fly killer before I plant them this time. Do not want to deal with that again.

If you are using pesticide, you should consider bud washing before you dry. I do it anyway. I found it makes the final product much nicer to smoke.

I

cheers calv,, indeed

sheesh,, what a lot of work eh??

yep, it is,, a regular routine, indeed

bud wash,, yep,, do that, a bit of hydrogen peroxide to supposedly kill any other bugs and a good rinse,, great advice,, cheers

OOh, edited,, the nematodes,, Bugs that kill bugs, then canabilize to clean up the mess,,too good to be true, a fairy tale??

AAn option, bug warfare, to the highest level,, what fun indeed

 

[TorturedSoul]

your last paragraph,, the key , of course,, i have a million reasons to expect to have spider mites in my grow room/studio,, i really do

i could blame my cats, my shoes, my yard, my lack of care and control, and perhaps my lack of hygiene as well,, all fair accusations,,

however,, i see none of those changing

In that case (and assuming you could afford to do so), if I were in your shoes, I'd think strongly about investing in a regular supply of predators and skip the insecticides altogether. Probably skip the "non-commercial" treatments, too, because that would harm the predators as much as what you are wanting to kill, methinks. From the way it reads, the spider mites (and, who knows, perhaps other nasties, too, if not now then in time) are going to continue to be a factor in this and future grows. Predator organisms will keep the population under control, while "eradication events" are, IMHO, meant as one-time (or rare, at least) things.

I'd also consider ensuring that my plants received some silicon, just as a general thing to help strengthen them.

In Australia, European wild rabbits are considered to be - and, for all intents and purposes, are - invasive, feral pests. The people there have gone to great lengths to combat their problem and have been doing so for more than a century. There are still an estimated 200 million rabbits in Australia. One of the primary reasons for this is that rabbits have very few natural predators there.

Something to think about. . . .

 

[MrSauga]

heya mrsauga,, thanks you for the ratio numbers,, first real hard numbers from a user,, thanks,, and i used em too

Hi Nivek,
no problem...those numbers are from a well known member who has had great success. I tried the same ratio and was pleased with how it worked. I'm just passing that knowledge forward and as a thanks...you can do the same when needed.

 

[nivek]

In that case (and assuming you could afford to do so), if I were in your shoes, I'd think strongly about investing in a regular supply of predators and skip the insecticides altogether. Probably skip the "non-commercial" treatments, too, because that would harm the predators as much as what you are wanting to kill, methinks. From the way it reads, the spider mites (and, who knows, perhaps other nasties, too, if not now then in time) are going to continue to be a factor in this and future grows. Predator organisms will keep the population under control, while "eradication events" are, IMHO, meant as one-time (or rare, at least) things.

ya know t.s.,, i have read about predator mites,, have so,, but i never really considered it seriously,, till now

you make a lot of sense there,, i like the thinking,, tho i am not there in action quite yet,, gonna look into it,, cheers

 

[nivek]

ok friends,, an update on my iso alcohol and water mixture to combat spider mites,,,

last post i was bubbling over with glee at the apparent results with a roughly 15% solution,,

well today not so much,, seems my observations were skewed with over optimistic optimism

seemed that ratio does nary a dern thang to them mites,, maybe gets em a bit drunk, that's it

so today i doubled the amount of iso in the mixture,, from 50 ml to plus 50 ml more,,

and doused em good,, but still nuttin

so i added 50 ml more to the mixture

now i am pushing 40 to 50 %,, i will check the formula later,,

but this seems to do the trick,, or i just drowned them all perhaps

sweetsue posted that she used straight 50% iso from the bottle,, so that agrees with my numbers,, thanks Sue,, cheers

so i wait to see what the plant looks like tomorrow,,

cheers friends,, thanks for the input

 

[4Dutchess]

Last year I lost almost all my yard grow to Russet Mites. That Oct I started a tent grow and was damned theyd get in. They dident. My arsenal is this...... ISO wash mixed 4-1, (ISO is the 1), with a few drops of bonners alternated bi- weekly with "Nuke Em" (google it). Thats when you have them and maybe done weekly as a maintenance after (IPM). I scope my plants weekly. This method is the shit. Cheaper and works. Best part its nontoxic. You can get it all over and no worries.
I had spider mites once and I think I used Neem Oil and killed them in a week with two applications. Easy. Russets are the plague from hell compared. My current yard gow is bug free and beautiful and Im getting ready for a tent run. I will use this method till it dosent work. Can I stress this most......Its non Toxic!
Thats my 2 cents. Hope it helps
4D

 

[TorturedSoul]

My arsenal is this...... ISO wash mixed 4-1, (ISO is the 1),

I assume that people are using "ISO" here, it's just stoner-speak for isopropyl alcohol?

If so, what is the percentage of the stuff you use to make your mix?

 

[4Dutchess]

4 parts water, 1 part ISO. 2 drops Bonners. The 70% ISO works too. ISO is stoner term for rubbing alcohol.
I buy the ISO from Smart and Final. Its like $18. a gal. The "Nuke Em" stuff lasts just as long is as cheap as the ISO which surprised me. Cause the Nuke Em seemed expensive but it lasts. A bottle lasts the whole grow.
The plants love to be sprayed and launch after.
My plants are budding in the yard! What a transformation!
This stuff dosent work for fall caterpillars. I spray other stuff (Safer Cat. Spray) for that and got to do that weekly the first 3 weeks of Sept. Which is like now. Harvest in 6 weeks!!!

 

[nivek]

Last year I lost almost all my yard grow to Russet Mites. That Oct I started a tent grow and was damned theyd get in. They dident. My arsenal is this...... ISO wash mixed 4-1, (ISO is the 1), with a few drops of bonners alternated bi- weekly with "Nuke Em" (google it). Thats when you have them and maybe done weekly as a maintenance after (IPM). I scope my plants weekly. This method is the shit. Cheaper and works. Best part its nontoxic. You can get it all over and no worries.
I had spider mites once and I think I used Neem Oil and killed them in a week with two applications. Easy. Russets are the plague from hell compared. My current yard gow is bug free and beautiful and Im getting ready for a tent run. I will use this method till it dosent work. Can I stress this most......Its non Toxic!
Thats my 2 cents. Hope it helps
4D

cheers 4d,, thanks for the content,, appreciated,, sure gladd i dunna have them russets,, this bad enuf, indeed

neem oil keeps creeping into the picture, still and constantly,, hmmmmm

cheers friend,,

 

[nivek]

ok, the testing continues, as of this morning,,

first off,, silly me,, my calculus was decalculabobbing or something,, i had my numbers all skewed up in a not correct direction,,

i was thinking i was nearing a 50 % mixture when in fact i was nearing a 50% amount of iso compared to the water,, so in fact i was closer to 25% ratio and considering it's only 90% iso to start with,, i was even lower than 25%

and the bugs were not dying,, not all by a long shot,, even small ones seemed disolvation free

so i mixed a new batch,, 50/50 water iso mix, still only 90% iso so a 45% ratio i guess

early indications are this kills em dead,, testing on going,, will report later,,

cheers friends,, thanks so much for all the assistance

P1170121

• nivek
• Mar 10, 2017