Please help me I don’t want my baby to get sick I just found this

[Angel413]

I’m i found spider mites please help me this is the first time that happen to me. I don’t have experience dealing with insects

Strain: Sative jack herer
3 weeks in to flower
Growing indoor/soil
I got 3 plants

 

[bobrown14]

That wood be a 2 spotted spider mite.

You will start to see if you dont already, little white spots on the leaves.

The mites live on the underside of the leaves and will eventually entomb you plant in webbing and it will happen quickly if you do nothing about them.

Mites HATE wind and rain.

You can spray your plants with water and knock them down but they will still be there.

There are several options for you for treatment.

I use spinosad - its organic and not a chemical its a bacteria that kills the ADULT mites.

Mites have several life cycles so we need to knock out at least 1 of those preferable the adult egg layers.

Spinosad is sold under many names I use Monterey Garden Spray - with an infestation like you have I will spray the plants every 2-3 days for 3 weeks and keep checking for more adults after each spray. You want to continue for 2 weeks AFTER no more adults. You will see the eggs - they will hatch and another round will come alive.

The idea is to kill the mites after they hatch and before they become adults that will lay more eggs.

Yes they are serious and yes you will be able to defeat them.

They will come back so spraying 1x weekly as a management program is good advice. We growers call that an IPM routine. Integrated pest management.

Google it....

There are other treatments like neem oil and other oils and chemicals. Neem tastes like crap - worse even so spraying that on flowers will burn the flowers and leave a nasty residue that you can smell and taste.

Spinosad can be foliared on up to the day before harvest. But if you follow what I mentioned above, you will be mite free in 3 weeks but remember they will be coming back so vigilence is key. IPM for the win.

 

[Angel413]

That wood be a 2 spotted spider mite.

You will start to see if you dont already, little white spots on the leaves.

The mites live on the underside of the leaves and will eventually entomb you plant in webbing and it will happen quickly if you do nothing about them.

Mites HATE wind and rain.

You can spray your plants with water and knock them down but they will still be there.

There are several options for you for treatment.

I use spinosad - its organic and not a chemical its a bacteria that kills the ADULT mites.

Mites have several life cycles so we need to knock out at least 1 of those preferable the adult egg layers.

Spinosad is sold under many names I use Monterey Garden Spray - with an infestation like you have I will spray the plants every 2-3 days for 3 weeks and keep checking for more adults after each spray. You want to continue for 2 weeks AFTER no more adults. You will see the eggs - they will hatch and another round will come alive.

The idea is to kill the mites after they hatch and before they become adults that will lay more eggs.

Yes they are serious and yes you will be able to defeat them.

They will come back so spraying 1x weekly as a management program is good advice. We growers call that an IPM routine. Integrated pest management.

Google it....

There are other treatments like neem oil and other oils and chemicals. Neem tastes like crap - worse even so spraying that on flowers will burn the flowers and leave a nasty residue that you can smell and taste.

Spinosad can be foliared on up to the day before harvest. But if you follow what I mentioned above, you will be mite free in 3 weeks but remember they will be coming back so vigilence is key. IPM for the win.

Okay thanks a lot I’m going to try what you told me

 

[Vulx]

Phytoseiulus persimilis

See if you can find someone who sells them near you.

 

[Vulx]

If you have African marigolds or fennel around supposedly that will work well to prevent them from coming around.

Only if it's like a recurring problem would I say it's a necessity to have them around, just food for thought.

Those beneficial bugs, the persimilis, will take care of your problem though.

 

[bobrown14]

Phytoseiulus persimilis

See if you can find someone who sells them near you.

You like that better than Spinosad??

 

[Vulx]

Especially for a small infestation, yes.

 

[Vulx]

Basically you let the little guys out, they eat the mites, and they breed faster than the mites can. When the mites are all dead, the persimilis die off.

Spinosad residue will cause people to fail lab testing, so it's just something I avoid.

Edit: plus they kill the mites at all stages of their life.

If you're comfortable using spinosad, spray once at the recommended level, wait 24 hrs, then release the persimilis. That way you don't have to keep re-applying the spinosad.

 

[Weaselcracker]

Also it’s worth considering where you got the mites from, and where else they may now be lurking- ie houseplants, greenhouse, etc. If that source is active or there are now new sources, they’ll be back.

One main reason it took me two years to eradicate my mites is they got into my greenhouse too, and then became the source of reinfestation. Due to my cold wet summer climate they were always at fairly low levels so I didn’t notice them.
One time I’d been mite free in the grow for a couple months. It was minus ten outside - everything frozen solid. I grabbed some pots from outside near the greenhouse and I remember looking at them wondering if I should take them inside and rinse them, but they were ‘sort of clean’ and the idea of any bugs surviving on them out there seemed a bit silly.
The mites were everywhere again within a week or two.

 

[Vulx]

Also it’s worth considering where you got the mites from, and where else they may now be lurking- ie houseplants, greenhouse, etc. If that source is active or there are now new sources, they’ll be back.

One main reason it took me two years to eradicate my mites is they got into my greenhouse too, and then became the source of reinfestation. Due to my cold wet summer climate they were always at fairly low levels so I didn’t notice them.
One time I’d been mite free in the grow for a couple months. It was minus ten outside - everything frozen solid. I grabbed some pots from outside near the greenhouse and I remember looking at them wondering if I should take them inside and rinse them, but they were ‘sort of clean’ and the idea of any bugs surviving on them out there seemed a bit silly.
The mites were everywhere again within a week or two.

That's another plus for the predatory mites. They're voracious and will do the job until it's done.

 

[Angel413]

Phytoseiulus persimilis

See if you can find someone who sells them near you.

but what happen with the Phytoseiulus persimilis when my plants are ready to be harvested

 

[bobrown14]

You eat them... lol.

@Vulx where do you source yours from??

Also you mentioned failing lab testing and spinosad. What in spinosad that causes a fail??

I'm under the impression its ok for use in Ca/OR/WA states and also ok for organic growing and why I use it.

Farmers use it here for fruits and grapes.

Just trying to learn something new here. I've never used predatory mites but you bring up a good point. I grow organically so I really depend on the good over taking the bad when it comes to pests. Its a balance.

We kinda throw the balance off a bit growing indoors since the normal deterrents for pests are not really in place so pests like mites have no predators in greenhouses or indoors in general and populations take off.

 

[Vulx]

You eat them... lol.

@Vulx where do you source yours from??

Also you mentioned failing lab testing and spinosad. What in spinosad that causes a fail??

I'm under the impression its ok for use in Ca/OR/WA states and also ok for organic growing and why I use it.

Farmers use it here for fruits and grapes.

Just trying to learn something new here. I've never used predatory mites but you bring up a good point. I grow organically so I really depend on the good over taking the bad when it comes to pests. Its a balance.

We kinda throw the balance off a bit growing indoors since the normal deterrents for pests are not really in place so pests like mites have no predators in greenhouses or indoors in general and populations take off.

Spinosad has a testing threshold in CA of 1 μg/g for smokeable and 3 μg/g of edibles. I think.

Koppertus is a good source for beneficial insects and such, if nothing else then just information.