Eradicating spider mites!

[Locrian99]

hey guys this is my first grow and I’ve got mites. Confirmed from the white spots and looking at the little buggers on the underside of my leaves. I sprayed with neem oil will be three days when my lights are ready to turn off. I have both azamax and Spinosad to spray next. Nebulas page says either should work, was leaning towards the Spinosad since azamax to my understanding is essentially the same chemical (azamithrycine) that is in neem oil. Curious what people’s experience are with these, 2 weeks into 12/12 and really don’t want to be spraying stuff when my buds are developed. Thanks

[007]

You could try a little dish soap with water, peppermint soap can work too, mighty bomb and mighty wash, you've got the right idea with different approaches since the little buggers usually require a few different ways to get them to f*ck all the way off.

[HIonCANNABI420]

I had an issue with spider mites weeks into my grow. It being my first serious setup and grow, I naturally freaked out! I went to my local hydroponics store and picked the brain of the owner, a grower of over 30 years!! I grow 100% organically, in soil, and he recommended to me the AzaMax. The reason I chose the AzaMax over the straight Neem Oil is that there have been recent studies which suggest Neem Oil can be harmful to humans in elevated dosages or over an extended exposure. With that being said, the AzaMax, from what I've researched and been told, is a derivative of Neem Oil, so its not quite the same.

I treated my plants with the soil drench with the high strength mixture as well as a strong foliar application. there were NO SIGNS of mites merely days later!! Moving forward I applied a weak mixture of the foliar application once a week until I reached flowering, haven't had an issue with ANY pests since!!

[Beach_Town_Brit]

Not all spider mites are created equal.
Lorican, are you growing clones?
If so, that's likely the source of your mites and may mean you have the super resistant, zombie effect, red-dot, spider mites.
Keep hitting them with different approaches every 2-3 days for a couple of weeks. The plant will suffer a bit but better to be sure of eradicating the infestation before your buds really get going.
Personally, I've found Mighty Wash to be the most effective treatment.

[Locrian99]

Thanks guys. I am growing clones, hoping it’s not the borg, I kind of doubt that’s where it came from but it’s possible. Hit with Spinosad this morning next up is azamax, I’ll probably do another rotation or 2 of those, depending on activity. Still have seen no signs in the white widow or green crack. They seem to like one of the gorilla glues more than the other. I’ve adjusted fans to make sure all are getting good air moving through them as I think the one getting hit the worst was a little neglected with how it was previously set up. Again thanks for the feedback.

[Locrian99]

I’ll look into the Mighty Wash.

[ellz]

I just dealt with them during my grow. I tried Neem oil but it didn't do much good. Mine were already into flower when I caught the problem so I just have bug covered buds now! At least they are all dead from curing, lol. The bud is just a bit more poppy than usual but hey, extra protein! I also have AzaMax for my next grow but I also plan on getting something with Spinoset. There is really no easy way to get rid of them. The trick is catching them early enough to stop them from spreading and then hitting the plants often so the ones that are there are dead. I will say that when I grew outdoors, I treated my plants regularly with Neem oil and a soap/water mixture and never had a single issue with spider mites! Grasshoppers were a different story but not a single spider mite! So my point to that story would be treat the plants as if they have the bugs even if you don't see any and you may never see them. I am going to try that on my next grow and hopefully I can post about how it worked. Either way, best of luck with them because they are very, very frustrating to deal with. Folks on here can tell you...I damn near lost my mind over them! LOL.

[Locrian99]

Yes I think I’ll probably just be treating from veg apparently they are a pretty big issue in my area according to a few YouTube videos on growing in my state. I notice you are growing hydro, I’ve read bugs are less of a problem in hydro, spider mites an exception since they lay eggs on leaves?

[ellz]

@Locraian99 correct. In a hydro set up, you eliminate the pests found in soil but spider mites are still a real possibility. They love the under sides of leaves for their eggs. It's shaded and their is little wind. Plus, some people don't always remember to check the under side of the leaves. That was my situation. I assumed in a hydro I would have less problems so I was less vigilant. However, as I quickly found out...that's not the case with these little pests. So yeah, the best way to deal with them from what I can tell is to treat the plants like they are there from the get go and hopefully they will find your crop undesirable and stay away. Once they get started, they are a nightmare to get rid of. I read about how some growers go through and rub down each leaf in their grow so you can imagine how cumbersome that can be later on in the vegetative stage. Especially if you are like me and are worried about pulling off too many leaves. The other problem I had was that I didn't catch them until flowering and until they had taken over completely. That was my biggest mistake but it also helped me learn not to repeat it.

[oldjarhead100]

hey Locrian when I get a bug [problem I treat the plants with whatever I'm using then in 10 days I spray again then in 10 days I spray again spider mites wont go away from one spray

The spray does not kill the eggs so you have to let them hatch then kill them ,I spray until they are gone might be a few times

Also are you spraying under the leaves as well as the top these little f ers will run around the leaf to hide

[Locrian99]

Yea I’m spraying underneath and all over pretty much until the plant is dripping. Planning on continuing the spray. Got pistils coming on now. I was intending on just doing every 3 days. Maybe that’s overkill, but man I’ve got to much time, money and work invested at this point to let some nearly invisible bug ruin it. They seem to be looking better for now. thanks for all your input and advice been a great help. Never grown a plant in my life, quite the experience, enjoyable. Thinking I’m going to try some planter boxes for strawberries this year as my son loves them. And might as well put this experience to use elsewhere.

[D.A.A.S.69]

Morning 99, just like Ellz says, at first sign you start treating them, an keep on treating them the whole grow. It's better to start treating lightly before you see them. If you've been smoking pot for a long time you have already smoked plenty of mites, remember them popping sounds, that ain't seeds poppin.

[Locrian99]

First time my wife and I went to the dispensary after legalization in our state I’m looking at this menu and I blurted out something to the effect of man it used to be if you wanted good bud you went to the hippies Shitty bud you went the gangsters. I remember lots of popping we always said it was seeds. I also remembering saving all the seeds that we never did a damn thing with. And my plant growing attempt in my closet lol

[starramus]

Had mite problems back when I was growing clones. Started out with neem oil, and tried Mighty Wash later. No luck with the Mighty Wash. Later discovered Azamax (probably from GWE) which entirely decimated the little bastids. The advice to hit them with different chemicals is good advice.

[oldjarhead100]

I use both together Neem oil and aza max seems to do the trick