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Got spider mites. What I've done and what to do next.

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Got spider mites. What I've done and what to do next.

LoveGrowingIt 107 Replies 26,401 Views
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LoveGrowingIt

LoveGrowingIt

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#1
I spotted spider mites on one of my two plants in my 2x2 tent. I know they're spider mites because I've seen them before. They were on one plant, mostly just above the lollipop and on the side of the plant closest to the other plant. The plants are sativa. It's the 5th week of flowering.

This is what I did.

I cut out all the leaves that had signs of spider mite damage. Then I cut an additional 6 to 8 inches of plant around the area where I saw them. I made sure to create space between the two plants. I bagged the leaves and put them in the outside garbage.​
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I sprayed everywhere with a 1:1 mix of water to 3% H2O2, including the underside of the leaves. I also sprayed the other tent that has a small vegging plant in it. Then I sprayed the floor and my shoes.​
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I washed my clothes, and I took a shower. Then I sprayed the tent again.​
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I increased the humidity setting for the tent from 51% to 55%.​

Now I'm thinking about what to do next. I'm worried that I might have hurt the small vegging plant because its top is bent over, but I sure don't want an infestation of spider mites. I understand they need to be treated aggressively.

Today, I'll probably keep spraying H2O2 every few hours. My wife doesn't want to use anything that might harm her cats or us humans. One of the cats loves to eat cannabis leaves. I can keep the cats out of the room, though, and the room has a window. I'm also worried about the buds.

I have some Neem, Spinosad and no-pest strips. I'd sure appreciate any other ideas.
 
#2
Hose it down with a garden hose...tops of leaves, bottoms of leaves, stems and stalks, but not the soil.... cover the soil with saran wrap so it doesn't wash the nutes out and to keep the mites from " just falling off the plant to get back into the soil, then climbing back up onto the plant" ..

Repeat after a couple days of recovery as needed....

Hope this helps......
 
#3
Bilber said:
Hose it down with a garden hose...tops of leaves, bottoms of leaves, stems and stalks, but not the soil.... cover the soil with saran wrap so it doesn't wash the nutes out and to keep the mites from " just falling off the plant to get back into the soil, then climbing back up onto the plant" ..

Repeat after a couple days of recovery as needed....

Hope this helps......
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Thanks! I'm sure I wouldn't have thought of covering the soil like that.
 
#6
It's day two of fighting the spider mites.

Last night, I found a leaf with what looked like eggs. It's gone. I also clipped a few others. I also spread diatomaceous earth on the soil of both plants.

So far today, I clipped about a dozen leaves that looked like they had spider mite damage. Most of them only had a few spots. So, I've made progress. I know clipping leaves isn't enough, but it's the most direct way to get rid of some of them. I lost about a third of one plant. I didn't see any damage to the other plant, so that's good. I have them well separated now and I redirected the foliage fan. I'm hoping that will make it harder for them to spread.

I used a long needle-nose plier to grab the leaves and then cut them with scissors. That way, I was able to keep my hands away from the leaves. I cleaned the tools with alcohol while I was removing leaves.

Today, the plan is to use a garden sprayer with a hose to spray the underside of the leaves. I'll be spraying a mixture of alcohol and water. The hydrogen peroxide I used yesterday won't kill the eggs, but alcohol will. Killing the eggs is harder than killing the mites. They hatch on a three-day cycle, so I'll have to keep working on this.

We also ordered some insecticidal soap that is supposed to arrive tomorrow. I don't believe this kills their eggs.

So far, I haven't seen any sign of spider mites in my other tent. Hooray!
 
#7
LoveGrowingIt said:
It's day two of fighting the spider mites.

Last night, I found a leaf with what looked like eggs. It's gone. I also clipped a few others. I also spread diatomaceous earth on the soil of both plants.

So far today, I clipped about a dozen leaves that looked like they had spider mite damage. Most of them only had a few spots. So, I've made progress. I know clipping leaves isn't enough, but it's the most direct way to get rid of some of them. I lost about a third of one plant. I didn't see any damage to the other plant, so that's good. I have them well separated now and I redirected the foliage fan. I'm hoping that will make it harder for them to spread.

I used a long needle-nose plier to grab the leaves and then cut them with scissors. That way, I was able to keep my hands away from the leaves. I cleaned the tools with alcohol while I was removing leaves.

Today, the plan is to use a garden sprayer with a hose to spray the underside of the leaves. I'll be spraying a mixture of alcohol and water. The hydrogen peroxide I used yesterday won't kill the eggs, but alcohol will. Killing the eggs is harder than killing the mites. They hatch on a three-day cycle, so I'll have to keep working on this.

We also ordered some insecticidal soap that is supposed to arrive tomorrow. I don't believe this kills their eggs.

So far, I haven't seen any sign of spider mites in my other tent. Hooray!
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I think you covered all your bases well.
 
#10
Found your thread, think I have them too, thanks for pointing that out. Getting a hold of NaturesGoodGuys right now and see if they can overnight a few beneficial insects .
 
#13
coolslayer said:
Never tried it....is it inexpensive?
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I almost forgot I had it, I honestly don't remember how much it cost but most of their stuff is, I looked it up real quick, a 500ml bottle is $33. The 250ml is $20. So is that expensive? I haven't seen much improvement using it against Fungus Gnats when I first got it but didn't know you could use it as a soil drench. I've never used it as a soil drench, not yet anyways, but am curious on it's use against spider mites. Just not sure about spraying it near the bud sites.
 
#14
Week4Bytch said:
I almost forgot I had it, I honestly don't remember how much it cost but most of their stuff is, I looked it up real quick, a 500ml bottle is $33. The 250ml is $20. So is that expensive? I haven't seen much improvement using it against Fungus Gnats when I first got it but didn't know you could use it as a soil drench. I've never used it as a soil drench, not yet anyways, but am curious on it's use against spider mites. Just not sure about spraying it near the bud sites.
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Yeah, I dunno....most I ever used was Spinosad based spray.....worked well though....
 
#15
coolslayer said:
Yeah, I dunno....most I ever used was Spinosad based spray.....worked well though....
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I'll have to read through this thread real quick when I get home here soon, Don't want to repeat a conversation already had...lol, see yas in a few. I have some Spinosad near by, the Monterey Garden stuff.
 
#16
Week4Bytch said:
I'll have to read through this thread real quick when I get home here soon, Don't want to repeat a conversation already had...lol, see yas in a few. I have some Spinosad near by, the Monterey Garden stuff.
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Cool.
 
#17
Alright, I'm caught up.. would a spinosad soil drench help? I've done two soil drenches with it the past 6 weeks. You know whats funny, I was trying to figure out another problem with my grow and I used this app GrowDoc to help me figure it out. you take a photo of your leaves and it scans it , runs it through it's database and give you a solution. Really cool app, anyways it comes up with Spider Mites... I'm like man..what a piece of shit app...lmfao.. That was yesterday, then I post on my thread about my problem and @LoveGrowingIt was quick to point it out to me.. I was still sceptical until I pulled a leaf and examined it under a loupe, freakn eggs along the edges.. 😒 so kudus to Growingit on helping me with that. I have a little homework here. Either I'll be spraying with the Cannatrol or the Spinosad tomorrow morning.
 
#18
Week4Bytch said:
Alright, I'm caught up.. would a spinosad soil drench help? I've done two soil drenches with it the past 6 weeks. You know whats funny, I was trying to figure out another problem with my grow and I used this app GrowDoc to help me figure it out. you take a photo of your leaves and it scans it , runs it through it's database and give you a solution. Really cool app, anyways it comes up with Spider Mites... I'm like man..what a piece of shit app...lmfao.. That was yesterday, then I post on my thread about my problem and @LoveGrowingIt was quick to point it out to me.. I was still sceptical until I pulled a leaf and examined it under a loupe, freakn eggs along the edges.. 😒 so kudus to Growingit on helping me with that. I have a little homework here. Either I'll be spraying with the Cannatrol or the Spinosad tomorrow morning.
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I recommend the Spinosad. Have never used Cannatrol.
 
#20
I find most spidermite problems can be prevented by providing an environment that the spidermites don't like.

They don't like it overly dry, they love higher temperatures, and they hate wind.

So, try to lower or raise the humidity to near 50-55%.

Get temps down to about 65-70..

and put a REALLY strong fan on them, let the leaves flap around a bit, after a while(a couple days) you'll notice that the mites don't like it.

If you're in full flower, good luck...

If you're in veg? I'd start completely over, remove the plants completely start over... Spray the entire tent down with a cleaner and a good miticide.

Let it sit for a couple weeks...

Then start a new grow using the above methods, if you put the strong fan on the seedlings, they can take it... The mites can't, plus it will make your plants stronger.


I guess this is where it can be said that leaf stripping can have it's benefits. You can remove the most infected leaves, if you're like 6 weeks into flower your buds should be pretty big.

Take out the biggest leaves and most infected. Put the fan on 'em like I said as strong as the plants can take, it should cut down on the mites pretty good.

AFTER harvest, You can look around here on the forums for the ingredients to give your buds a "bath" and wash out any of the mites..... I think it's like a cap full of hydrogen peroxide to a 5 gallon bucket or something?
 
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