Spider mites 2 weeks from harvest

InTheShed said:
I'd stick with the iso if that's what worked. Pull them out and tip them at an angle to spray the bottoms of the leaves.
Click to expand...

I ISO'd them only, and will check how it is tomorrow. I probably didn't apply enough Spinosad or I did something else wrong. I can't imagine why Spinosad wouldn't work. It did seem like I had no mites after the last spray.

How bad is it to have mites as part of your routine? Should I try and get rid of them permanently, or should dealing with them become a part of my normal traditions? The grow room is connected to the outside of the house, so I don't see myself ever stopping mites from not coming in at all.
 
If you have outside coming in then control is the best you can hope for. I grow outside and that's the way I do it. I neem in veg and spinosad in flower, but this is the recommendation that comes with my brand:
"Monterey Chemical Company recommends that spraying continue at 7 to 10 day intervals for at least one month. Spinosad is recommended to be used at the rate of 4 Tablespoonfuls per gallon of water but not more than six times during the growing season."

Not more than 6x during the entire growing season and every 7-10 days (because that's around the half-life). Keep both those in mind for the future. For now, iso/water will carry you through harvest. When the tent is empty, clean it well with H2O2. Bleach if you can be bothered but only with a lot of air exchange or it's like working in the gassed trenches of WW I.
 
Mites have a life cycle. Spinosad works on contact. You have to repeat every other day.
Top to btm btm to top. Repeat every other day for 3 weeks.

Keep going, stop day before harvest.

Lets see pics of the flowers??

You killed all the live bugs, then the eggs in the soil hatched. Crawling up the stalks all the way to the flowers. bite bite bite .... if you were a bug what wood you do?
 
bobrown14 said:
Mites have a life cycle. Spinosad works on contact. You have to repeat every other day.
Top to btm btm to top. Repeat every other day for 3 weeks.

Keep going, stop day before harvest.

Lets see pics of the flowers??

You killed all the live bugs, then the eggs in the soil hatched. Crawling up the stalks all the way to the flowers. bite bite bite .... if you were a bug what wood you do?
Click to expand...
So you're saying the manufacturer doesn't want you to use more of their product? That would be a first!

I'm going to politely disagree with Bo on this one.
 
bobrown14 said:
Mites have a life cycle. Spinosad works on contact. You have to repeat every other day.
Top to btm btm to top. Repeat every other day for 3 weeks.

Keep going, stop day before harvest.

Lets see pics of the flowers??

You killed all the live bugs, then the eggs in the soil hatched. Crawling up the stalks all the way to the flowers. bite bite bite .... if you were a bug what wood you do?
Click to expand...

It's about 7USD for 100 Ml of Spinosad. I could easily use a tub a week at that rate. It's going to become expensive. I think after this harvest, I'm going to see what the companion plants do. I dont want to bring them in now, because there might be other critters on them. So I'll bring them in after harvest.

Note: see this thread for pics: Is it time to switch to 12/12? :)
 
After harvest completely clean the tent and figure out what lessons you've learned on this grow to apply to the next one. Do not bring outside plants into your tent...ever! If you want to try companion plants they need to germinate and grow 100% of their lives in the tent, in new clean soil in new clean pots.

And might I suggest creating a grow journal rather than posting a series of Q&A threads? It's the best way to make sure your grow is successful.

keith1975 said:
It's about 7USD for 100 Ml of Spinosad.
Click to expand...
What the mixing and use instructions that came with it?
 
Bud washing will remove the live and dead mites (kills anything alive).

You can harvest when ever you want to.

Your plants don't look that bad with mites but it looks like they are burnt from too much fertilizer??

When mites are a problem, you can see the webbing with your naked eye and you won't have to get that close. It gets pretty obvious. I don't see that in your pics even up close. So you may have mites but not all that bad (yet).

First thing you see with mites are round white spots on the fan leaves. That's my clue to look closer.

The leaves with the light yellow margins (around the edges) for me is an indication of something going on in the soil. Too much nitrogen or PH off and the roots are not happy. There's a lockout happening and thats usually PH oriented.

When we get lockouts then the plants become vulnerable to pests and disease.

Pests hate 2 things. Wind and rain. So like Shed mentioned, a fan at the soil line and foiler weekly with a weak solution of Spinosad is good and/or just plain water or mix in some kelp tea.

I also like to mix in some form of silica in my foiler (spray)

For plants that get that weird sagging look to them, I would try some EWC tea and water that in mix with a little kelp meal along with.

Healthy plants have a better chance at fighting pest and disease.

3 things to look for for plant health:
enough soil so they are not root bound
enough water (check your PH if you are not filtering)
enough nutrients
 
I am using isopropyl to spray my plants. Can I not use h2o2? Hydrogen peroxide? I mean, thats what i use during bud washing, so it should be fine surely?

Isopropyl is hard to get a hold of and more expensive. If I can just drop a cap of H2O2 into a sprayer and spray the plants with that instead, then my life would be much better!
 
70% isopropyl alcohol is expensive where you are? It's practically free here it's so cheap. I doubt a cap of H2O2 in a spray bottle of water will kill anything, unless it's 35% H2O2, which can be pretty dangerous to handle.

Take a leaf, spray it with the H2O2 you want to use, and put it in a jar. See if everything is dead the next day! I'd spot test with half water and half H2O2 (the 3% solution they sell here).
 
bobrown14 said:
Can you get spinosad??

In the USA Monterey garden spray

In Canada its called "Success" put out by Dow <spit>

Spinosad will work on mites and can be sprayed up to the day before harvest.
Click to expand...
Yes, with this second grow im going to really give spinosad and neem oil a proper chance. Neem for veg, spinosad for flower. And if that doesnt work, this will be my last grow for a while anyway, as i’ll be focusing on making the grow room better.
 
Insecticidal soap works on mites. If that's not available, try unscented Castille soap in water.
 
Spinosad will work. BUT just like anything with spider mites you have to spray every other day for at least 2 weeks.

So if you are going to harvest ALL the plants at the same time in a few weeks likely you can stop like 3 days before harvest. Then I would suggest spraying a day or 2 before harvest with just plain water (rinse off the dead ones) with lights on.

Dont spray after lights out this late in flower. Too much humidity.

IF you aren't harvesting all at the same time just stop spraying the plants you're gonna harvest - you don't have to get anal about not spraying or overlapping a little bit. It will be fine. No impact at all on flavor.

I like to get rid of the dead ones tho - either bud wash after harvest or spray them down good a few days before harvest.

Spinosad degrades in about 15 minutes under light.
 

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