Spider Mites 6 Weeks in Flower - Only Getting Worse

pork · Dec 12, 2010

Got some plants 5-6 weeks into flower and I've been trying to fight a mite infestation that only seems to be getting worse. I've bombed the room with Doktor Doom foggers 3 days apart 3 times now. I also did a light spray on the plants, but 5 weeks in seems a little to far to be spraying anything...Or is it? I know Azatrol is safe up to the a few days before harvest, but is it going to damage the buds this late in? Rosemary oil, perhaps?

Thanks for the help....I need it soon!

ronvmpc · Dec 13, 2010

pork · Dec 13, 2010

is avid safe to use this late into flower? maybe a lower dosage?

the plants are in a 3x6 tray and trellised, so moving them isn't so much an option

mdTHC420 · Dec 13, 2010

hate to say it but you are pretty much f*cked at this point if you are fighting an infestation this late in flower. spraying anything on the buds past week 3-4 bud def 5 is just asking for mold problems or whatever and going to leave a shitty tasting resedue and or smell to most on your buds. if this is medical, chop the shit early, make hash, bomb the shit out of the place, and start over right bug free. if its for your head, just consider if you want to be smoking azamax or whatever is comprable along with a bunch of lil mite bodies?

Seamaiden · Dec 13, 2010

What? NO! Don't use the Avid right now. Your best bet is going to be two or threefold. First, CO2 at high ppms, during lights OFF (I think my son was doing around 5,000ppms to control his mite problems). Remember, CO2 sinks, so you want your girls close to the ground for that.

Second, he put GREEN bamboo stakes into the pots with his plants and blasted them with fans. The mites got off the plants and crawled onto the bamboo stakes, where he was able to remove them physically.

You can try Azamax/Azatrol, but you really need to soak the girls, really be certain you've hit every millimeter of space. At this point I wouldn't worry too much about mold or rot if you have RH under control.

Finally, you can raise the humidity, and I'm talking high, around 80%, and believe you me, they do not like it.

ibTheMan · Dec 13, 2010

SNS 217 will help, just dont spray the buds(or the least you can)spray leaves in your hand flip um spray the back good.

Max Powers · Dec 13, 2010

DEFINITELY don't use avid, floramite, or anything systemic at this point..You can try SNS 217, which is basically rosemary oil, but try to keep it off the buds. In the past, I have actually poured it on some paper towels and wiped down the worst of the leaves, it won't completely solve the problem, but it'll slow them down a bit and won't make your nugs smell weird. Recently I have been using a combo of avid, floramite, and SNS in veg and early flower and that seems to do the trick nicely.
using CO2 also works great if you have a controller, but I would be a little wary of having my humidity that high this late in flower. Also, be careful spraying the Doktor Doom around plants. Its' great for your room in between grows and spraying your clothes, etc. but plants hate aerosol.
hope this helps

OGONLY · Dec 13, 2010

You can try vacuuming them off with the correct hose attachment.

My buddy used Organcide in 6th week of flower. It almost eliminated the mites (thought they were gone completely but saw there were still some at harvest) and the bud turned out ok. Taste was off a bit (it usually is with this guy, always having to spray cause he is lazy with preventatives in veg) but he was able to get a decent price for it.

If you are going to use CO2 forget about a controller just open the valve on the tank and close the door behind you. Try and seal the room the best you can. Your plants won't be affected by the excess CO2. The bugs will.

No pest strips at Home Depot work for mites. They are controversial though as far as health is conserned. I would not use them in week 6 of flower. I know people who do though. Some people keep them hung permanently in their grow rooms. That is one of the reasons I grow my own. I know exactly what my buds have been exposed to.

420Gator · Dec 13, 2010

Seamaiden said:
Finally, you can raise the humidity, and I'm talking high, around 80%, and believe you me, they do not like it.

ive never had problems with mites but how long do you leave the rh this high? do you change the temp at all? i love simple solutions that dont require the use of chems

Seamaiden · Dec 13, 2010

My experience with using RH was completely accidental and due to the way in which my garden became infected (via my visiting son's clothing), the fact that I wasn't running very good ventilation and was much more concerned with keeping the room warm at that time.

In any event the RH in my flowering room during winter stays well above 50% most of the time, it's usually in the 60%-70% range, and during flood days (now that I have trays) it hits 80% easily. But in my veg-table (a raised box on wheels, sided with reflective-coated OSB, lit w/a combination of shop lights and CFLs) it's usually 50% or below, and that's where I discovered mites several weeks after my son visited. And in the worst way, by discovering stippling, looking further and finding webbing.

For some reason they never got a foothold in the flowering room, and since then I've made it a rather strict habit to always visit each area in one direction, i.e. I visit the flowering room first, ALWAYS, and then open up the veg-table. Everything's easier to treat in veg, so that's where I'm more willing to place risk and try stronger Txments.

I know a lot of people say you're risking bud-rot and mold in the higher RH values, but my girls love it, and the only reason I have PM in either area right now is because it established during summer in a nearby veggie garden (which was also pretty badly infected with aphids). I've also suffered PM at lower RH values, and have seen it persist at values as low as 30%. I know that's not the only issue, just as I know that someday I probably *am* going to see bud-rot or some other problem with the higher RH (just like I'm having RA problems for the first time ever), but for now I watch 'em like a hawk and try to learn as best I can.

Give me more grows under my belt and I may become more equivocal about it, maybe not. I know Jalisco Kid likes to run his rooms at a higher RH, though, and I believe he's got plenty of seasons under his belt.

420Gator · Dec 13, 2010

i "think" keeping my rh very low at all times may help keep my ladies disease and bug free in my 9 mos. exp ive never had to use all the bug and mold shit i bought from the dro shop, still have them just incase. i do however believe the cool temps (68-72) and low rh (?-50%,usually 30) cause slower flowering times, so i wanna work on raising both a little in the near future

monkeytime · Dec 13, 2010

maybe fox farm "dont bug me". claims to be able to use safely up to harvest. i have been using with conjuction with "no pest strips" and have been able to stay mite-free (for now, crossing my fingers). post harvest, i bomb with doktor doom.

DANKSY · Dec 13, 2010

i have used azamax 2 weeks before harvest with no taste or anything left behind... but makes sure you use regular water and wash them a few times before harvest..

monkeytime · Dec 13, 2010

although, i have been able to control pests, so i haven't used the "dont bug me" since veg, so I cannot confirm if safe or not. may try neem oil, soapy water, garlic/pepper water, etc. to control what is still controllable.

pork · Dec 13, 2010

thanks for the advice....seems like i've got my work cut out for me......been trying out the high humidity thing over the past night, trying to source a CO2 bottle to blast in the room, and then i'll go to sprays....

sky high · Dec 13, 2010

Dunno how many plants yer talking about.... but I've used a mix of 50/50 water and isopropyll alcohol late in flower with decent results. (the alcohol dries em out/kills em)

Spray the fuck out of the leaves with a foggy mist of the mix....wait a bit...then go back in and hit em with a hard spray and try to knock as many off as you can. I did this a few times and it got me through...no taste...no residuals/etc....

go to ebay and look for avid....you will find a guy selling avid/floramite and forbid...small amounts of each for like $35. BUY IT......and then knock the shit out of yer room/any plants you have and you won't see these fuckers again....

hopefully.

good luck

s h

pork · Dec 13, 2010

did the high humidity trick last night...have had RH over 90% for the lights off period...figure i should probably have my fans running during the lights on cycles....maybe do this RH trick for the next few nights?

ronvmpc · Dec 13, 2010

Sorry. I didn't read your post thoroughly and realized your flowering. Seamaiden pretty much summed it up. Foot in my mouth.

Seamaiden · Dec 14, 2010

Avid was a single treatment and done thing, but I did that with vegging plants. You have to be very careful in handling it, use proper gear, etc.

pork said:
did the high humidity trick last night...have had RH over 90% for the lights off period...figure i should probably have my fans running during the lights on cycles....maybe do this RH trick for the next few nights?

I keep the fans running 24/7, pork. Gotta, safer that way.

I don't know that high RH will kill them, just that they don't seem to like it and they never got a foothold in the room that has higher RH.

up yours · Dec 14, 2010

Sis I use azatrol upto a week away w/o residue or bad taste also also a dr doom small bug bomb three days from harvest but I rinse w/ dawn dish soap and water it works for me is all I can say. If that didn't help then I am sorry and I do not like avid personally speaking if its used appropriate it kicks serious ass I just won't use it is gnarly stuff if your strian takes ten weeks the organicide is a monster and omri listed

Spider Mites 6 Weeks in Flower - Only Getting Worse

Spider Mites 6 Weeks in Flower - Only Getting Worse

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Spider Mites 6 Weeks in Flower - Only Getting Worse

Spider Mites 6 Weeks in Flower - Only Getting Worse

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