Spider mites - Throw out old equipment?

[TheFertilizer]

I had spider mite issue back in July. It wasn't a full blown infestation... I never even saw a web. I killed them pretty much as fast as I saw them.

Well I don't know own where they came from and dont believe they are gone. My grow space was my bedroom... So my bed, carpet, closet full of clothes. There isn't a shortage of places they could have had hibernated in and laid eggs. May e they've moved on since I haven't had a food source for them since then, but I'm not counting on it.

I have pretty much have just come to the fact that I am going to need to deal with them preventatively. I am going to stock up on pesticides, spray the plants down every week or two with need or just soapy water, bug bomb my room and maybe throw a NoPest strip into tent. Then I'll have an assortment of pesticides to respond to any that get use to these measures. I have been thinking about filtering the intake to my tent a and only working with the plants naked after a shower... But maybe that's overkill. Point is I'm done pretending I won't get them.

But I guess what I'm wondering is if they could still be on my old pots and cloner. I am switching to smart pots anyway so don't need these old ones, but pots are good to have and I wonder if I'd really be doing myself any favor throwing them out. I don't want to make things worse for myself either. I am leaning heavily towards just bagging them up and leaving them in my closet where they've been.

 

[Tead]

Seems extreme.
If there were eggs around, a good general cleaning perhaps followed by a preventative application of an effective mite killer would be more than adequate.
I'm a neem user. It's a prophylactic treatment... incorporated into the plant. When bugs eat it, it screws with their nervous system and they die. It's worked very well in my very bug filled world. I could see how this might be a useful tool in your garden.

 

[Weaselcracker]

Yeah neem did the job for me and completely eliminated them. You need a systemic pesticide such as neem, which makes your plant into poisoned bait for the bastards. They can't eat equipment. Just clean everything well with bleach and water and consider a paint job for the place, if applicable. There will be mites and eggs missed but they'll scuttle over to the poisonous plants and die in horrible agony and despair. So sad.
If you reuse pots just make sure to scrub them spotless somewhere outside and that's enough to solve that issue, in my experience.

 

[TheFertilizer]

Is it true you can't use neem when in flower? It worked really well for me when I used it too so I thought about just using it in a scheduled regimine.

 

[Tead]

Using it in flower can be done via applications to the medium rather than spray.
One would do well to consider a few things however.
First, Neem is very strong in both flavor and smell (used in toothpaste in India?!?!). You really want to try to finish it without use. I discontinue use in flower altogether. I feel the Neem incorporated in the plant from it's veg applications that I do via spray is sufficient to protect it during flower. When treating via soil or medium, I like to try to over flush during normal feedings towards the end of the life cycle in an attempt to flush out any remaining neem oil in the medium.
Second, spraying anything with water anywhere near my buds in flower is avoided at all times.

My routine....

Spray application: 2tsp neem oil +1tsp dawn dish soap (or whatever... I just like + use dawn) + 1gal water. Spray entire (especially up under leaves) plant with the mix until heavy and dripping wet.
Soil/medium application: This differs as roots uptake at a much lower rate. 4tsp Neem oil + 1tds dawn dish soap + 1gal water. Water as if feeding. Try to apply as evenly as possible to saturate the entire soil/medium mass fully.

Neem is an oil. Liquid soap is used to break up the oil and allow it to mix evenly with the water.

 

[TheFertilizer]

Using it in flower can be done via applications to the medium rather than spray.
One would do well to consider a few things however.
First, Neem is very strong in both flavor and smell (used in toothpaste in India?!?!). You really want to try to finish it without use. I discontinue use in flower altogether. I feel the Neem incorporated in the plant from it's veg applications that I do via spray is sufficient to protect it during flower. When treating via soil or medium, I like to try to over flush during normal feedings towards the end of the life cycle in an attempt to flush out any remaining neem oil in the medium.
Second, spraying anything with water anywhere near my buds in flower is avoided at all times.

My routine....

Spray application: 2tsp neem oil +1tsp dawn dish soap (or whatever... I just like + use dawn) + 1gal water. Spray entire (especially up under leaves) plant with the mix until heavy and dripping wet.
Soil/medium application: This differs as roots uptake at a much lower rate. 4tsp Neem oil + 1tds dawn dish soap + 1gal water. Water as if feeding. Try to apply as evenly as possible to saturate the entire soil/medium mass fully.

Neem is an oil. Liquid soap is used to break up the oil and allow it to mix evenly with the water.

Thanks for the tips! How often do you apply? When I used it last it was pretty sporadically and still worked pretty well.

 

[Tead]

Man... thanks for that. I meant to mention that and spaced it.
I use it in veg. I'm rather sporadic about it as well... but I mean to do it every 3 weeks. I usually hit it on the 1st of the month.

 

[Weaselcracker]

Hmmmm... Double post.
Uh
I hate mites

 

[Weaselcracker]

Neem is very strong in both flavor and smell (used in toothpaste in India?!?!).

When I was in rural parts of India we used the neem twigs as toothbrushes- kind of a standard use in areas of the world the neem trees grow, I think. They kind of fluff up on the end as you brush. Quite bitter tasting. I don't remember reading what they put in Indian toothpaste, probably better if we don't know...
If you're going to keep getting new mites then spraying becomes part of the routine I suppose.
In my case mites are not endemic and don't overwinter because of climate. I got some from a 'friend' and they got in my grow and large garden greenhouse where they continually reinfested everything for a couple years till I got smart and neemed everything in the area a few times. There was a lot of cleaning, bleaching, painting, shut downs, confusion, research, toxic sprays,cursing, and general suffering during those two years.
If you have the option of obliterating them for good, then...

 

[Tead]

AWESOME!!! First hand neem usage knowledge direct from India. Thanks tons. The twig bristled into a toothbrush was a standard in our country during much of history as well... just not from neem trees. Humans have probably been doin that trick since forever. I even did it frequently when I was a grunt beatin the bush with my feet.

 

[TheFertilizer]

I think I got them from my friend, which is funny because he lamest me for getting them but it seemed as if I'd get rid of them, go back over there, and then pick them back up. Plus he worked for dispensaried and was exposed to more crops and stuff...

Anyway I think I'll keep the cloner and toss the pots just because they're taking up space.