Mites !!!!!!!!!

[Hackerman]

These things suck so bad. It's a year next month since I started this thread and I just can't get rid of them. It is 3 or 4 harvests later. Earlier, I shut down and sprayed everything. The walls, floors, lights, buckets, tools, everything. All was dark and dry for over a month or so.

I didn't see any on the last crop until the very end when I was looking at the trics for maturity and saw one walking on a bud. I didn't find many, but I did find some while I was trimming.

Now, I am 3 weeks into flowering my next crop and they seem to be back. Some plants have them on the leaves and others don't. It seems random. I think it's just the infestation starting to spread. I sprayed Azamax like crazy yesterday in hopes it will cut them down.

I usually don't spray anything in flower but at only week 3, I don't think they'll make it to maturity with this infestation. It's not that bad now but in 6 weeks it will be insane. I hope the Azamax slows them down.

Predators are a constant struggle..... and not cheap.

I ordered 3 ultrasonic bug/rodent repellents and I am going to try them. I have read in the cannabis forums about them not working at all but I read in many general exterminator forums that they can work but it takes longer than most people want to wait for results. Some exterminators claim they are not bad as a prevention tool. I'll try anything at this point. They are cheap and I don't THINK they will harm the plants.

These things can really get you down. I told my wife I am thinking about just quitting growing and smoking pot. I don't get high anyway. I risk my life in prison for the calming and therapeutic benefit I get from 'growing' more so than 'smoking' the pot. But when stuff like this happens it's more anxiety that relief. Maybe it's time for a new hobby and a change in life.

I suppose if these don't work I'll try spraying some of the stuff suggested in this thread, However, if I do spray it, I'll probably just mulch the entire crop like last time. I absolutely refuse to consume poisoned pot. I believe these people's claims about safety about as much as I believe Monsanto's. They are all there to make money. Azamax's people lie just the same as Monsanto's.

How can such a tiny insect have such an impact on my life? Amazing.

Would be a shame to loose this crop. Awesome tasting Barney's Farm Red Dragon...

 

[burnin1]

I am so sorry. I have been in this situation 3 or 4 times probably. I was told really high humidity will kill them, but I think you would risk mold doing that.

I recall making bubble hash with a side of mites a couple times. It sucked.

I feel for you.

 

[Hackerman]

Thanks bud.

I inspected today and I didn't see any but I know the little bastards are still there. I found one on my clones so I sprayed them today. My garden is my silent mantra. Thinking about my garden when I am stressed really helps calm me. This is disrupting my life stream.

I don't expect I will get rid of them this crop but after this harvest, I am going to drench my entire grow area in DDT, Roundup and Agent Orange before I start another crop. I can only hope to slow them down enough to get through the harvest without much sacrifice. Nothing on the buds yet. All lower leave stuff. I only sprayed the lower leaves. I hope that doesn't just drive them up into the buds.

I also set up my ultrasonic devices today. I am buying hazmat suits for my next grow. Once I get rid of these, I don't EVER want them coming back. Wearing tyvek suits in the grow area probably won't hurt. I also have carpet in most all of my grow area. That sucks. I keep it very clean but I know those little guys are basking in the luxury of cut loop pile. LOL

Gig tonight. Pests tomorrow.

Thanks again for the kind word.

 

[The Hemp Goddess]

Have you considered using CO2? http://ezinearticles.com/?How-to-Kill-Spider-Mites-With-Co2-(Carbon-Dioxide)&id=7016561

 

[Hackerman]

Wow! Thanks HG. That opens more opportunity.

Now, do I buy a tank and release system for about $200 or an LP generator for about $300 or the boxed CO2 for $50 (probably not) or do a DIY?

Thanks again, girl. I am looking into this right now.

 

[The Hemp Goddess]

Hopefully, this will work for you and you won't lose your crop. As you have to get your CO2 levels to really high concentrations, I am thinking that the box CO2 will not work. Not really any way to regulate it is there? So probably either the tank or the generator.

 

[olddad]

takes upwords of 10,000 ppm of co2. It almost impossible to do this unless your room in sealed. Forbid 4f will kill them and they won't come back. It pricy, It has a 45 day residual then not trace found. I had buds tested no signs of insecticides

 

[Hackerman]

Yeah, the article HG linked said 12 to 15k. 2 setups are in tents. No problem sealing them off. The other is a room but it is really more a closet and it sealed pretty darn well.

However, I still have the room where the tents reside. And, I wonder if the mites will be in the carpet and in the room in general. Certainly, the CO2 is an awesome way to wipe out the herd. Total annihilation may require additional treatments in and around the room but this sounds like a winning idea. I have been reading about it but I have yet to determined just how much it will take to do the job. 15k ppm is a pretty lot of CO2.

I did an inspection today and found no mites in one room and only 1 tiny little clear baby in the other room. I know it's not over but we may have dealt them a blow with the Azamax.

I doubt the ultrasonic devices are doing anything but I have 1 in each room anyway. I may add 3 more.

Lots of little specs on the tops of the leaves. Trying to keep it green as long as possible. Tomorrow is only week 3. The good news is, both these strains finished in 8 weeks so I'm not flowering a 12 week Sativa. LOL 5 weeks to go.

I am going to the store tomorrow to see about CO2.

Thanks again so much for the help and suggestions.

 

[zem]

Wow Hackerman! They took quite an effort. I am here because I finally encountered these types of bugs for the first time now after 15 years of growing. Reading through your thread, I am not very optimistic to be able to remove them. I am only 1 week into flowering, the stretch is only beginning so I guess this is a plus. I will try to eradicate them before they increase in number but this will be difficult.

 

[zem]

I tried potassium soap on them and it does kill them on contact. I went with 2.5 the recommended dosage made a good soapy solution. The problem with that is that it does not have any residual effect so once it dries the ones that survive can repopulate. I noticed that i had killed a lot of them on the infested plant but they are continuing to spread slowly so today i really showered the plants with this stuff. It is difficult to get all the undersides of the leaves now that the plants are stretched. I will be doing daily applications with potassium soap for several consecutive days and see if i can control this issue.

 

[sopappy]

I tried potassium soap on them and it does kill them on contact. I went with 2.5 the recommended dosage made a good soapy solution. The problem with that is that it does not have any residual effect so once it dries the ones that survive can repopulate. I noticed that i had killed a lot of them on the infested plant but they are continuing to spread slowly so today i really showered the plants with this stuff. It is difficult to get all the undersides of the leaves now that the plants are stretched. I will be doing daily applications with potassium soap for several consecutive days and see if i can control this issue.

spend the 200 bucks, Zem, think of it as an one oz sacrifice to the mite god

 

[sopappy]

Thanks bud.

I inspected today and I didn't see any but I know the little bastards are still there. I found one on my clones so I sprayed them today. My garden is my silent mantra. Thinking about my garden when I am stressed really helps calm me. This is disrupting my life stream.

I don't expect I will get rid of them this crop but after this harvest, I am going to drench my entire grow area in DDT, Roundup and Agent Orange before I start another crop. I can only hope to slow them down enough to get through the harvest without much sacrifice. Nothing on the buds yet. All lower leave stuff. I only sprayed the lower leaves. I hope that doesn't just drive them up into the buds.

I also set up my ultrasonic devices today. I am buying hazmat suits for my next grow. Once I get rid of these, I don't EVER want them coming back. Wearing tyvek suits in the grow area probably won't hurt. I also have carpet in most all of my grow area. That sucks. I keep it very clean but I know those little guys are basking in the luxury of cut loop pile. LOL

Gig tonight. Pests tomorrow.

Thanks again for the kind word.

ultrasonic on those little bastards, don't you need ears? or does it vibrate them to death or something? Buy the Forbid 4f, I wish I had a 200 dollar solution to this crap, I've got thripps and brown slime algae or whatever the **** it's called, pythium follows.

I feel your pain, THIS kind of growing SUCKS!

 

[oldfogey8]

rosebud recommended the dr zymes stuff to me. it works very well. i bought 2 quarts of the concentrate and probably will never have to buy more as it makes a whole bunch of batches. i feel your pain. since i got infected(by bringing outdoor plants into my grow room i think), i have never been able to completely get rid of the little d'bags. i had the 2 plants i am currently growing just hanging in a stasis mode for a couple of months under a t5. no bugs at all but not in my tent either. set up the tent. sprayed inside and out using spinosad and neem oil on the tent, my light, my fans, my filters. everything. soaked everything real good. didn't treat the girls because i saw nothing on them for months. then once i started the tent grow back up, i found mites. only on my green crack plant. sprayed a couple of weeks ago and seemed to help. i think i am going to just assume i will have to spray every couple of weeks for the rest of my grows. darned bugs...

 

[zem]

spend the 200 bucks, Zem, think of it as an one oz sacrifice to the mite god

This is not an option for my case for many reasons other than the 200.

On the bright side, potassium soap seems to be working. I checked the undersides of the leaves and there were dead mites on them I was only able to detect a single one alive on a very low leaf where it is difficult for the soap to reach its underside. I tried it on a caterpillar and on a sort of green grasshopper (outside my room), it killed the grasshopper instantly, while the caterpillar had inconclusive results as it got very agitated that it fell down and i could not see where it fell in the bush. I also detected some green insects that are very destructive, had no idea what they are, green relatively big crawlers that suck the leaf into yellow twisted form. I hit them with it they froze then and there never to move again and the plant thrived. That was early on and is the first reason that encouraged me to go further with this treatment. Also read about its mechanism of action and the affected organisms here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insecticidal_soap#Mechanism_of_action

 

[pcduck]

I tried CO2 did not work for me. And I had extremely high levels of co2

 

[sopappy]

This is not an option for my case for many reasons other than the 200.

On the bright side, potassium soap seems to be working. I checked the undersides of the leaves and there were dead mites on them I was only able to detect a single one alive on a very low leaf where it is difficult for the soap to reach its underside. I tried it on a caterpillar and on a sort of green grasshopper (outside my room), it killed the grasshopper instantly, while the caterpillar had inconclusive results as it got very agitated that it fell down and i could not see where it fell in the bush. I also detected some green insects that are very destructive, had no idea what they are, green relatively big crawlers that suck the leaf into yellow twisted form. I hit them with it they froze then and there never to move again and the plant thrived. That was early on and is the first reason that encouraged me to go further with this treatment. Also read about its mechanism of action and the affected organisms here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insecticidal_soap#Mechanism_of_action

insecticidal soap was a disaster for me but the plants were young and I likely overdid it.
I recall reading about a caterpillar killer that makes them think they are full and they stop eating and starve. I wish I could remember now but I was pretty ripped.

 

[umbra]

Living in the Central Valley of Cali, where 80% of this country's food is grown, we have the worst bugs. It requires a regiment of 3 different insecticides (miticides) sprayed 4 days apart. That way it kills the living mites and the eggs and any that hatch. Very few of the commercial growers are passing the testing for bugs, pesticides, and molds that are required for the dispensaries. It has been recommended to me to use Grandevo, Venerate XC, Regalia, and Southern AG spreader ( a surfactant ).

 

[umbra]

I use CO2 at 2000 ppm and a biowave. Neither have any effect on bugs. But both claim they do.

 

[zem]

So I was reading that soap can leave residual aftertaste on buds and I thought to give Spinosad a try. After 24 hours since applied, I see the bugs are still alive. The ones that are dead are the ones that the soap had killed earlier. I looked closely and I think it is the 2 spotted mite AKA the borg! It has an amazing appetite like I see a leaf with many spots over it I flip it and I see only a couple of bugs that did all this damage. I am now 18 days into flowering. I think i will have to use chemicals during flowering for the first time in my life. I will look for something to target mites and preferably something that the mites would ingest and die. The amount of foliage that i have makes it difficult to cover the entire undersides of every leaf. Any ideas? Help!

 

[umbra]

Both grandevo and venerate xc are bioinsecticides. Not chemicals but microorgasisms that effect their ability to eat, reproduce, and soften their outer skeletal shell.