oscar169
Farming 🌱
Supporter
- 2,729
- 263
I had spring tails so bad @ one point you could water the plants & there would be thousands of them floating & jumping ontop of the water it was crazy...:nailbiting:
Patanjali
- 578
- 243
I hear ya Oscar! It started freaking me out at first. I saw all these little bugs running all over a stump of a plant I cut down. After root aphids, anytime I see anything moving in the soil I start having panic attacks! :eek:
K
kingmet52
- 4
- 1
MET52 is available through [email protected]
K
kingmet52
- 4
- 1
I distribute MET52 in Colorado if you have any interest. [email protected]
Myco
- 718
- 243
Sorry to resurrect an older thread - but it needs to be known, as another poster said, that these are NOT RA. You can use the first two pics to discern 8 legs. The first pic shows the rear two sets of legs, the second pic shows the front two sets of legs. Also, the mouthparts are very mite-ish. They do resemble H. Miles, but from what I see, these mites are much smaller (by using the root for scale, and referring to them as a "speck"). H. Miles is a relatively large mite (for a mite) and they won't primarily be seen on the roots. Moreso just kind of roaming aimlessly through the medium - and from what I understand, primarily like to hang out in the top 1" of the medium.
I am 100% certain that these are some sort of mite - which is scary, if they are indeed the culprit - which the OP seems to be quite sure of that. But, it's scary because it is relatively commonly said that mites in the rootzone are no biggie... usually beneficial in some way. I have seen various growers report root-damage, leading to whole plant problems with some type of soil/rootzone mite present, while ruling out RA or another pest. And I'm talking battles, not easily otherwise written-off problems. I remember one guy on IC that had these "white speck" mites that he was convinced were keeping him from a successful harvest - for years. Tried every product under the sun, tried breaking down, closing shop for 6 months, sterilizing area and equip, only for the hell to reoccur. I don't know what his outcome was, he just stopped posting. I could find the thread...
Personally, I have H. Miles, springtails, and these little WHITE SPECK mite-like creatures - but, mine are definitely different than the OP's. And surely have 8 legs. I, too, have had root problems... resulting in "phantom" lockouts/deficiencies. Only difference, is the problems are not constant, and I still have great quality and pretty successful harvests. But as a passionate grower with a decade of experience, whom provides for several patients, can tell something is "off." The plants seem to be most affected when young, then flourish once of larger size in larger pots while in veg. Then, sometimes in mid-late flower, it seems as though some plants need extra care, and the entire garden seems more light sensitive than usual. This has been through a few gardens... with some in organic soil (best results), some using liquid nutes, which were the worst results - like I couldn't feed no matter how low the dose without seeing weird lockouts until I continued with fresh water. Tried different aeration ratios, different water source, different base soils, added more air circulation... all kinds of little tweeks here and there.... I hate to say it but I've just learned to deal with it after using a few products. Basically it's just like the plants need extra care, and growing seemed much easier in the past - no matter how much I've re-simplified. I was convinced I had RA, and searched high and low for any form of aphid, or other pest to blame... thrips, broads... etc. Bottom line is, I know my rootzone is affected negatively, by something. I've never seen any pest directly on my roots like in the OP... but there's no question my roots aren't healthy as they once were.
I, and from others' advice, have speculated the arrival of soil mites due to some sort of bad bacteria/fungus/pathogen... being as how unlikely it supposedly is that any mites are directly feeding off the roots - as in, they're feeding on whatever it is affecting the roots.
I don't know, but it's quite interesting to say the least.
Sorry for the long post amd resurrection, I just believe there's something more sinister invading rootzones than just RA's and the well-known. Oh, and did I say the pics in the OP are definitely mites? ;)
I am 100% certain that these are some sort of mite - which is scary, if they are indeed the culprit - which the OP seems to be quite sure of that. But, it's scary because it is relatively commonly said that mites in the rootzone are no biggie... usually beneficial in some way. I have seen various growers report root-damage, leading to whole plant problems with some type of soil/rootzone mite present, while ruling out RA or another pest. And I'm talking battles, not easily otherwise written-off problems. I remember one guy on IC that had these "white speck" mites that he was convinced were keeping him from a successful harvest - for years. Tried every product under the sun, tried breaking down, closing shop for 6 months, sterilizing area and equip, only for the hell to reoccur. I don't know what his outcome was, he just stopped posting. I could find the thread...
Personally, I have H. Miles, springtails, and these little WHITE SPECK mite-like creatures - but, mine are definitely different than the OP's. And surely have 8 legs. I, too, have had root problems... resulting in "phantom" lockouts/deficiencies. Only difference, is the problems are not constant, and I still have great quality and pretty successful harvests. But as a passionate grower with a decade of experience, whom provides for several patients, can tell something is "off." The plants seem to be most affected when young, then flourish once of larger size in larger pots while in veg. Then, sometimes in mid-late flower, it seems as though some plants need extra care, and the entire garden seems more light sensitive than usual. This has been through a few gardens... with some in organic soil (best results), some using liquid nutes, which were the worst results - like I couldn't feed no matter how low the dose without seeing weird lockouts until I continued with fresh water. Tried different aeration ratios, different water source, different base soils, added more air circulation... all kinds of little tweeks here and there.... I hate to say it but I've just learned to deal with it after using a few products. Basically it's just like the plants need extra care, and growing seemed much easier in the past - no matter how much I've re-simplified. I was convinced I had RA, and searched high and low for any form of aphid, or other pest to blame... thrips, broads... etc. Bottom line is, I know my rootzone is affected negatively, by something. I've never seen any pest directly on my roots like in the OP... but there's no question my roots aren't healthy as they once were.
I, and from others' advice, have speculated the arrival of soil mites due to some sort of bad bacteria/fungus/pathogen... being as how unlikely it supposedly is that any mites are directly feeding off the roots - as in, they're feeding on whatever it is affecting the roots.
I don't know, but it's quite interesting to say the least.
Sorry for the long post amd resurrection, I just believe there's something more sinister invading rootzones than just RA's and the well-known. Oh, and did I say the pics in the OP are definitely mites? ;)
Seamaiden
Living dead girl
- 23,596
- 638
Good post, Myco, and no worries necroposting. It shows you used the search feature. :D
Myco
- 718
- 243
Lol, thanks, although that's not exactly the case, I was just browsing through a couple pages of the infirmary and saw this thread. And I couldn't leave the thread where it was without making sure the OP and any potential viewers know that the critter is a mite. Treatment for RA's seems to fail, and as we all know, that can be very expensive...
I wonder if the OP can give us an update...
C
cctt
- 318
- 43
I can't add any new information, unfortunately. I trashed all of the original plants, cleaned thoroughly, and started over. Things are currently going well here. I'm open to the idea that these were mites that were feeding on the decay of roots that had other issues, but may never know for sure.
Thanks for your post, Myco, it was very informative.
Thanks for your post, Myco, it was very informative.
D
doubleup
- 7
- 3
That is crazy, I read this and had to think if I posted this and did not remember. That is how exact my experience with these fuckers has been. I have stopped and cleaned, took off 4 months they still came back. I recently treated and did a pyganic soak then an Azatrol soak 5 days later. they are gone and I treated the surface with Diat. Earth. Also caulked my entire room. These are not root aphids. This is the closest thread I found that describes what I have, now the plants are sensitive and lock up and are really light but hate when I feed. This is crazy whatever they are, almost about to quite entirely. Thanks for posting,
Myco
- 718
- 243
It's somewhat comforting knowing I'm not the only one...
Do you have a close up pic of your critter?
There's other folks floating around the various forums with no well-known pests in sight, just a tiny little mite or similiar, and the same ongoing issues. Then people replying saying we are in denial of RA and/or just haven't located them... well I have sacrificed many plants, dissecting rootballs, to no avail. I've searched countless amounts of foliage for broads/russets/etc... I love to find a more understood pest to blame it on.
Don't quit. I won't, and will never. Cannabis is my life and my passion. I won't let a semi-microscopic critter (or whatever the phantom is) defeat me. But at the same time I am not wasting $$$$$ on pointless treatments. Hell, if I knew exactly what it was and how to fix it, I'd hand over a large stack of cash to make it happen... but with this notion that 99.99% of soilbourne mites are harmless, and even breaking down a grow for MONTHS doesn't solve the issue... it's like playing darts with a blind fold and you're not even throwing in the right direction....
I can grow successfully in my adapted ways... but like I said in my post, something is off, and I hate settling for it. On the bright side, when the day comes that I can grow a plant start to finish with zero issues like I used to, I'm going to be one hell of a grower - lol.
We need a thread...
When I get time, I'm going to try to find links of others with the mysterious mite and a seemingly never-ending problem.
Seamaiden
Living dead girl
- 23,596
- 638
I'm thinking that, whatever it is, it is like root aphids in that it brings a cascade of problems, not just the one problem.
That was my experience with RAs. Clean clones showing signs of mosaicing, the PM that I couldn't eradicate, not even with E20 (first and last time I ever used it), complete and total failure to thrive. The best I could accomplish was nursing the plants along, and I ultimately ended up losing each and every one that had been infected, including subsequent uninfected clones I took in the hopes of saving the genetics.
That was my experience with RAs. Clean clones showing signs of mosaicing, the PM that I couldn't eradicate, not even with E20 (first and last time I ever used it), complete and total failure to thrive. The best I could accomplish was nursing the plants along, and I ultimately ended up losing each and every one that had been infected, including subsequent uninfected clones I took in the hopes of saving the genetics.
click80
- 747
- 63
Gonna do a quick post and come back later, I hope and post some pictures. I did get rid of my RA problem. Forever it seems. The Merit killed them and I haven't seen them again. What I did see, and continue to see, is soil mites. I think a lot of people get them confused if they are unable to look at what they think are RA's under a handheld microscope.
My grow after the RA problem got to about the second week of flower and I noticed little round RA looking bugs. I became terrified. I actually paid a person from the local college that had soil science experience to identify them since they didn't have tailpipes. They are simply soil mites and there is plenty of info on the internet about them. They are harmless in most cases unless growing outside and then there is a slight possibility they might function as a disease vector. In 99% of the cases they came in with your soil, compost or worm castings in the form of cystss. They are ubiquitous in nature, they are nutrient cyclers and do not feed on roots unless the root is dead. Same with springtails. I worry if I DON'T see springtails. Again, springtails are a sign of healthy soil when growing organically. So when I read of people blaming soil mites on lockouts and other phantom problems, especially experienced growers I wonder where the causation link might be. I feel that it's highly unlikely that the soil mites cause any problem. Now that I know what they look like and i have four very successful organic grows under my belt I consider them my little helpers in that they add to soil as nutrient cyclers, and as a secondary effect they promote root health by cleaning up of dead organic material and converting it into nutrients available for uptake. There is another thread by Logic on the site about what he thought were RA but in fact were soil mites. You can google soil mites and springtails and get a ton of info. I would suggest sticking with info that are not from cannabis forums as I see mixed info, some good some bad. There are a lot of people that think springtails are bad and this is simply not correct.
My grow after the RA problem got to about the second week of flower and I noticed little round RA looking bugs. I became terrified. I actually paid a person from the local college that had soil science experience to identify them since they didn't have tailpipes. They are simply soil mites and there is plenty of info on the internet about them. They are harmless in most cases unless growing outside and then there is a slight possibility they might function as a disease vector. In 99% of the cases they came in with your soil, compost or worm castings in the form of cystss. They are ubiquitous in nature, they are nutrient cyclers and do not feed on roots unless the root is dead. Same with springtails. I worry if I DON'T see springtails. Again, springtails are a sign of healthy soil when growing organically. So when I read of people blaming soil mites on lockouts and other phantom problems, especially experienced growers I wonder where the causation link might be. I feel that it's highly unlikely that the soil mites cause any problem. Now that I know what they look like and i have four very successful organic grows under my belt I consider them my little helpers in that they add to soil as nutrient cyclers, and as a secondary effect they promote root health by cleaning up of dead organic material and converting it into nutrients available for uptake. There is another thread by Logic on the site about what he thought were RA but in fact were soil mites. You can google soil mites and springtails and get a ton of info. I would suggest sticking with info that are not from cannabis forums as I see mixed info, some good some bad. There are a lot of people that think springtails are bad and this is simply not correct.
monkeymun
- 755
- 93
When you say mosaicing, do you mean viral mosaicing?
Seamaiden
Living dead girl
- 23,596
- 638
Exactly. I can't say for sure what it was, but that's what it looked like to me.
D
doubleup
- 7
- 3
Dude I am at war, finally was able to take some pics and have a vid too, they are small and look light greyish, and kind of hop around as well as crawl. See pics, what do you think? Theya re still light sensitive and have quite a few right now. Will use evergreen and azatrol but am so tired of doing that it stresses them out. I just want to know WTF they are
EDIT**** They seem to only be in the soil, I have to brush back a thin layer. When treating could I mix the azatrol and pyganic in with feeding?
We Solidarity
- 1,610
- 263
those are springtails. They aren't the cause to your problem - check page 1 of this thread https://www.thcfarmer.com/community...ungus-gnats-and-other-fun-bugs-id-pics.55071/
D
doubleup
- 7
- 3
Really? Okay, is it okay there are a lot of them? Maybe I am just fing up the plants doing soaks and treating them all the time.... Weird, thank you
Rootbound
Supporter
- 2,634
- 263
there are different species of springtails. The ones we deal with or see when watering are considered "blind Springtails" . I had to google it for good info on them.
Seamaiden
Living dead girl
- 23,596
- 638
I've been reading that one, cctt. Thanks.
Latest posts
-
light stress or just a stupid grower ?- Captspaulding posted
-
Mikedin’s garden center, Let’s grow!- Mikedin posted
-
RSPIDER FARMER LM301H EVO
- Rob348 posted
-
What light energy burns plants leaves.- Monkeybigbuds posted
-
Question of watering/pre-watering Solocups for seedlings- PlumberSoCal2 posted