Tlkbear,
They also come in a variety of colors, depending on the stage of development in their life cycle.
Spider mites weave silk like threads around the leaf and that is how they have got their name. Also, this is a common feature in insects belonging to this family of insects.
Spider mites have six to eight legs, and they are quite active insects. They live by sucking out the nutrients from the plant. They also end up sucking the sugars, which cannot be digested.
These mites can feed on hundreds of species pf plants. Also, they tend to infest in large numbers. Within three days of hatching, a spider mite has the ability to start laying eggs. That is why a spider mite infestation grows rampantly at a blink of an eye. A female spider mite is quite fertile. She has the ability to lay as many as 20 eggs at a time in one single day.
Their average life span is from two to four weeks. In these two to four weeks, all they do is lay eggs, and during this period, they can lay several hundreds of eggs. The hatching and lying of eggs is so rapid that the entire garden is taken over in a few weeks time. That is why when you see symptoms of spider mite infestation, you will have to work on an immediate remedy. The good news is that spider mites can be killed using simple soap solutio
[3] Spider mites weave silk like threads around the leaf and that is how they have got their name. Also, this is a common feature in insects belonging to this family of insects.
[4] Spider mites have six to eight legs, and they are quite active insects. They live .by sucking out the nutrients from the plant. They also end up sucking the sugars, which cannot be digested.
[5] These mites can feed on hundreds of species pf plants. Also, they tend to infest in large numbers. Within three days of hatching, a spider mite has the ability to start laying eggs. That is why a spider mite infestation grows rampantly at a blink of an eye. A female spider mite is quite fertile. She has the abili to lay as many as 20 eggs at a time in one single day.
I would be dusting them girls down real good tlkbear!!
Hope this helps
B Safe
Willm
I just shared a site with Will that has a product that looks promising for these problems. Look on Kelp4less.com and look at a product called Mighty Wash. Says that it is safe up to the day before harvest. Have not used it but it looks promising and no harmful chemicals !
Hope this helps,
Ya’ll take care,
Jerry
Well I guess they are not spider mites there is no webs on the plants. The plants are only a few days till I harvest them so I don’t want to use DE on the buds. I sprayed again with the stuff I got from the hydro shop. I still not sure what they are. Any thoughts on what they are?
I’m checking on it do look kinda formula I hAve seen them before cause I hear a bell ringing…lol
I’ll bein touch in a little by. Got a couple of thing to take care of.
B Safe
Will
I’m on my way to get some mighty wash and power wash. Thanks for the heads up. Tom
Yup you got spider mites alright. Mix up say 6 to 8 drops of dish. Soap to at of water and spray. Your plants the soapy it will suffocate them little critters.
Here is your man
B Safe
Will
You have to dust the underside of the leaves with a common manual garden duster. Placing on soil is OK for starting plants, but once grown and infested; You must dust the plant. Before harvesting; You give the plant a shower, making sure to remove excess DE dust
Hey. You did answer. Wow! I was beginning to think you only drop in every blue moon. This is pretty cool that you respond to such questions.
Ok…so I have to dust the plant. Man that is going to be a big job but it is worth it in the end - after harvest (if i can save them). Right now everything look good and I just started a treatment (in addition to the (DE) which I should repeat in 14 days. I read this article here in Germany which encourages not using the same chemicals/cures each time - to avoid the mites from becoming immune to one particular substance. It is a water soluble liquid solution specifically designed for getting rid of spider mites. My plant leave look like they have been through a buffer but they are still green and healthy - taking away the blemish. And the infestation was noticed over a week ago. So I guess I caught it in time.
So now I have two tool/solutions with which to work, and as long as I remain diligent I hope to be rid of those little pests by harvest time.
Thank you very much for your prompt response and advice.
Best regards
JT
Borco1954,
When you go to harvest check this website out. It’s very simple all it is , is hydrogen peroxide and water check it out it will clean off the DE
B Safe
Will
Be sure to check out our resources right here:
Especially these ones:
~MacG
BTW, rinsing off of DE is best done well before harvest, hopefully you got things under control early and can do so when the plant is still healthy and growing, as to be least likely to knock off any trichomes or affect potency in a negative manner much.
And certainly as in the Jorge Cervantes you tube video, you want to rinse gently while the plant is green and not dry to avoid knocking off too many trichomes, the method in the video is a last resort, always the earlier the better. And in any event, some bud is better than no bud, which would be the result if you didn’t stop what ailed the plant with the DE, or as in the video, didn’t get the grey mold/powdery mildew off.
~MacG
Mites cannot become immune to DE. De scratches the soft exoskeleton, and the pests dies from dehydration.
Got it ! Valuable info.
Thanks abounch.
JT
This I hope as well.
Thanks!
JT
I made up a batch of tomato leaf spray and hosed down my plants. How kind until the little white aphids die off or will I have to do something different? Seems like there’s more of them now!!
@ElmerDuff,
S
I use this onlly with the hottest pepper T
bacco Juice recipe
Take 3 strong ciggeretes soak them over night in water. Then stir in hot pepper.
Boil it for 2 to 3 miniutes, let it cool off and spray the plants 3 to 4 times a week. You can add safer soap if you like to the mixture.
(make absolutly sure you use gloves/face protection while handling and spraying)
Neem oil works very well too!!
Will
Help you
I had this problem on and off and almost gave up growing. It took two years to solve this problem by learning online what works and then combining some of the best things I learned.
I now have had two crops with no pests or pm. I did have a problem twice and that was because I got lazy and didn’t spray twice a week. This is when the eggs can hatch and your problem starts over.
I just changed my way of growing. I now think of making the plants strong and use prevention. I came up with an all organic non toxic solution that is in the watering tank and I spray the plants with it.
I found that if you use a weak mix and use it often, growing can be fun and no pests. I mean not one problem.
I mixed manure that is broken down with microbes, pot ash, minerals, and plant extracts. I don’t use anything else. It was hard to get it right and I got lucky. It now is an all in one mix, two cups per 5 gal bucket for watering and in a sprayer with no dilution.
The posts above and others like this is how I got all the info. So, thanks for all the great input. I could not have done it without you.
I just helped a friend out to test this in a different growing system and it worked the same. Mine is deep water culture his is hydro with peat/coco/pearl blend.
Don’t give up, it can be done.
Thanks to all of you.
Will
You are welcome.
This just the beginning and I hope to influence growers to change from treating pests to learning how to never have pests. I was not sure this idea would work and now I know it does. I find most growers have accepted that pests are just part of growing. Time to change that. With all safe organic solutions, no chems.
I still have room to improve my solution as the buds are not as dense as I would like. I think I may need to up the nutes and up the intensity of the lighting for bud cycle. I do reduce the Nitrogen but I think I should up all other nutes.
I built a stack lighting system that has an open LED light that can have other lighing above it. I have tried MH, Sodium, and now a
xenon/MH combo bulb. I like the xenon/MH best so far and I think I will add more of them.
I want to get to the point I can just sit and watch the grass grow and not fuss over it. I am close. This is fun.
Thanks garrigan62