Bugs bugging, should I continue?

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rufflepuffle

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Hi there,

I've been growing my first plant (Monster skunk) indoors in a tent for 3 and a half weeks. While being focused on lights, humidity and temperature I feel that I ignored something important, and I'm suspecting having more that an infestation coming.
I'm using an all-round biologic soil, and since the first days I've noticed some tiny white bugs walking around the soil. at first I didn't care much because I had bought it from a gardening store and assumed it was natural, and these guys seem to have multiplied, because they are all around the soil, but don't seem to climb up the plant (I've noticed that they can jump). last week I left on holidays and before leaving, noticing that the population had increased and my bottom leaves were turning kind of yellow I did some research and thought it might be some kind of aphids. Also read that having some companion plants could help. Apparently peppermint and sweet basil make good companions, so I added two pots to my tent. (I also started my NPK feeding just in case of having some lack of nitrogen on the soil).
When I got home today I inspected my plant and noticed something else. First of all there were traces of spider mites (some webbing around and between leaves) and when I looked underneath the leaves there were some tiny black spots and another kind of bug that I'm not sure what it is (see on photo). I know that it was my fault, by being naive on thinking to bring some plants to the same environment, but now it's too late.
The plant seems far from healthy but I don't want to quit on her, and I'd like to avoid using any chemical products on it.
Today I realized for the first time that she may not thrive at all and that left me really frustrated, because it's been really cool to see it growing. I'll accept any advices, or information sources.
Do you think there's hope?
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Look like white flies to me. Spinosad, insecticidal soap, no pest strip or soap and water will help. Looks like mild infestation so get on it, Are you from the south? I have heard they a common there.
 
Spinosad will help your infestation. I recently brought thrips into my tent with organic soil and had them pretty bad before I noticed. Although it did put a damper on my grow, I was able to get rid of them. You can use spinosad even during the flower cycle with no harm to your plants or harvest. Need to do something now tho for sure to get rid of those pesky critters.
 
Spray Bottle,,,,,,,, Mix Water at 70%, Alcohol at 30%, and a little dish soap in a spray bottle. Soak the leaves, especially the underside of the leaves and wait for 30 minutes, and rinse off with clean water. Repeat daily until bugs are gone.
 
I was afraid that having an infestation this early would compromise the whole process. I'll definitely try those methods.
Is spinosad a brand or a component? Because I only seem to find some similar products.
 
and what about those tiny white jumpers on my soil, should I also spray it with spinosad? I don't even know if they are harmful since they've been there from the beginning, but getting rid of them would ease my mind.
 
Get yourself some diatomaceous earth as well and spread it around the top of your soil when it is dry, you will have to repeat this after watering because the diatomaceous earth will get wet. It works
 
so just to update you guys, everything seems to be holding on. I just found out that Spinosad isn't available in Switzerland anymore so I got a biological insecticide (soap based) ment to be used against these kind of pest (whiteflies, spider mites and aphids. 3 days after I don't have any webs around my plant, I can still see a couple of tiny bugs under the leaves but I prepared my own homemade soap and water solution which I'll be spraying around today. I'm not happy with the appearance of my plant but she's fighting. Also I verified the soil that I had bought and those tiny white jumpers are all around. I'll be searching for a strategy to clean it before I have to repot it and add some more soil.
 

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