Mites !!!!!!!!!

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Hey Rosie, did you have a problem with little dead pirate bugs?

One of the biggest complaints about Ladybugs was all the little dead bodies. LMAO

Mostly, the posts said the bodies were on the ground, in the pots, or on the leaves. Most people said they don't walk on the buds because it's too sticky.

Also, another sure thing about Lady Bugs.... if you don't give them a home and a place to breed, most of them fly right into the HID lights and (from what everyone said) they pop like popcorn. LMAO Sad, really. Most people report the entire lot of bugs (700 to 5000) are dead in only a few days to a week.

I could definitely pick a beneficial critter that is more suitable than the Lady Bugs. However, they are all ugly and the Lady Bugs are sooooo cute. LMAO Get over it, Hack. LOL

We'll see. I am spraying Axamax in the room today. Tomorrow or the next day, I'll put the new plants in. I have been inspecting the plants in the veg tent and can't find a single mite or egg.

No new activity on the clones but they are covered with dead eggs and that freaks me out.

However, whatever I decide on, once the flower room is filled, there's no nursing or treating or spraying them any more. I will have to remain bug free for 10 weeks or else use the predator bugs.

I guess will will see. I am thinking about a light spray on each plant before I put it in the room. However, when I pull the plant from the veg tent to move it to the flower room, I trim all the lower branches and transplant it. I'm not sure, adding the additional shock of a foliar spray is a real good idea.
 
Tho I do not do indoor growing...

My 2 cents, when we have bugs we spray every three days. We do not wait the recommended 7-10. We do 5-6 applications.
 
I haven't found any dead ones yet. I have started rinsing my pot off because of dust outside and I may rinse my indoor. The amount of ick that comes off my outdoor is too much. I like the pirate bugs because you can see them. most of my beneficials can't be seen.
 
only success i have ever had exterminating mites was power wash plants up side down with a garden hose
 
Hack if you want to keep using the Azamax (I use it and like it). You can spray it on the plants until the buds get a little bigger. Between the light, air and plants metabolizing it, it will be gone by harvest.
By week 4-5 I wont spray it anymore. I then move to using it as a soil drench because the plants will suck it up and send it throughout the canopy. Then after about 7-9 days, the plant will completely metabolize it away. I add some every couple weeks as preventative. I have never tasted it in my smoke.
 
As unbelievable as it is, I have not seen any signs since I sprayed. I will spray one more time just for preventative.

I harvested the flowering crop and I have another in the room flowering. No sign there either.

Keep your fingers crossed. LOL
 
These things are everywhere. :(

In the past, I have found the only way to eliminate whiteflies and spider mites is by shutting everything down for several months and letting everything dry out and die.

I have been spraying Azamax lightly and on occasion just to keep them at bay but my flower room is way too crowded to get in there and spray properly. Here is one of the times where overcrowding definitely becomes a problem.

I may set the veg room to 12/12 and just flower everything I have left. If I can keep them at bay for a couple months, I can shut down and clean up.

What a bummer. I have not had bugs in a couple decades.

It's not that I don't have plenty of pot to last. I just love growing and I miss something if I don't have my plants to visit every day. LOL

Plus, I just got these new CBD strain seeds and I am anxious to get them going. :(

I may try a predator mite.
 
Unfortunately, I don't think any spray is going to work in my situation. There's just no way to get a proper saturation with the plants this crowded. Plus, you generally want to spray UNDER the leaves and as you can see, that's quite impossible.

I may try the predator mites. What do I have to loose? Unlike the lady bugs, I didn't see complaints about dead bugs with the mites.

View attachment 1025.jpg
 
I just ordered the predator mites. One problem I have is that the predators want a 60% RH and I am at about 40% right now. I am hoping it does some good, at least.

If not, I'll try the Stethorus punctillum. It's a "lady bug" type predator that will take lower humidity. I just hate using any kind of spray. I don't like breathing or touching it and I sure don't like smoking it. :)
 
That is a better idea. I love beneficial bugs. I had to get pirate bugs this summer. Love those little guys.
 
yeah with that thicket you got there, I wouldn't even attempt to spray it at this point. I would add it as a drench but that will only be good as a preventative. I think you will need the predators to eliminate the buggers at this point.
 
I was reading somewhere that you're supposed to apply the Azamat 15 minutes before lights out.

Anyone know why?

Because light breaks down aza. And rapidly. As for Aza being bad, that is a lot of doo doo. There have been NO reported fatalities or serious illness from Aza or raw Neem oil, and they do not even test for it in Oregon. But there is a lot of anti-Neem and anti-Aza hype out there. And here too I guess.

Near and up until harvest I use a combination of sugar and Hydrogen Peroxide spray. Kills mites dead on contact, as well as PM. 1 cup of H2O2, and one cup of sugar in a gallon of water. Its a contact spray so you have to saturate the plant. I also use refined Neem oil as a preventative with the aza removed. It also kills mites and their eggs on contact, and kills and prevents PM. Apply it at a rate of 100:1. All of these sprays are organic, and not tested for in Oregon, one of the strictest states for testing weed. California will be even stricter come January. If you are worried about residue, you can dip your cut colas into a 5 gallon bucket filled with water after cutting.
 
Thanks Cas. I couldn't find anywhere WHY the product should be applied at that time.

I'm not so worried about toxicity (although I must admit, I don't like breathing it). But like HP says, That thicket would be impossible to cover effectively anyway.

I do have predator mites on the way. Apparently they come in a small vile in a medium. Does anyone know the best way to distribute them throughout my garden?

I would think that you want them up in the leaves and not really in the soil as much.

I was going to pour it out into a pan or plate and set it as near the canopy as possible. Or, if the medium is fine enough, I would sprinkle it lightly across the top of the canopy.

Any tips?

Thanks
 
"Please allow 4 to 6 weeks for delivery"

I (and most of you) grew up seeing those words on just about everything that we bought via "mail order". I am so glad to live in today's world where I ordered them yesterday at 2:00 and they are here today. I wish I could live another hundred years and see technology grow. It's a wonderful era we live in.

They are on the truck for delivery so I should have them any minute. Wow!
 
Well, they just arrived, And, included with the package was a very nice instruction and information sheet describing how to distribute the mites. I'm going to scan it and post it.

I have 45 minutes before lights on so I'll wait wait wait. LOL
 
I am itching all over. I just know they are in my hair. LOL

Actually, it went quite smoothly. The vermiculite was light enough that it actually sprinkled quit well. I put about a third on paper envelopes and set them on my string grid right in the midst of the canopy. The rest I sprinkled on the leaves in both rooms. Hopefully this will help. I'll probably order another batch in a week or so.

I turned off all the fans for a while as the mites settle into their new home. I'll go and turn the fans back on on a little while.

I didn't see any mites when I looked in the vile they were shipped in but when I poured them out onto the envelope you could see all those hungry little suckers running off the paper and right onto the leaves.

My beard is itching. LOL
 

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