I will supply specific info so I can hopefully get some good feedback.
I noticed mite damage about a week ago. Not the whole plant but several areas on different colas. I never saw webbing and only a few actual mites.
I chopped last nite as she was ready and did a thorough bud wash for about 15 minutes per cola. Dunking, swishing and agitating the whole time.
I did not treat the flower before the chop with anything, after chopping last nite and researching this morning I see there are some things I could have done and maybe can still do since they have only been hanging for 12 hours or so.
I have seen that if hung, the mites will head upward which would be the base of the stem. IS this accurate?
I saw Nuke Em as a really good option if still in late flower and it does not leave a residue on the bud and should be applied liberally at lights out. If this is viable, I could have used it and if a good option, will add to my tool kit.
I saw use a vaccuum?
I saw even with a really good bud wash they are still there and will colonize in your curing bud.
I saw freezing right after the bud wash but after the 2 hour drip dry for 24 hours and they will all be dead.
The main thing I saw is there are stages and once your colas are tented with webbing visible clearly to the naked eye, it is too late but this was not the case as mentioned above.
Can I get y’alls input for those that have experienced different degrees of mite infestations and what your solutions were?
My view is now gas em. They’re everywhere and easier to use chlorine dioxide aka ProKureG after a health Azamax spray down. Gas and wipe down equipment with 1:30 bleach water mix.
It is amazing these things only live 3 weeks. They reproduce so fast. My son had them and within a week, all of his colas were tented with webbing. Even though I deep cleaned my grow area, I now do not feel like it was enough and will do it again every 3 days and once my dry is complete, that tent is going outside, being dismanteled and cleaned again, all poles will be submerged in Alcohol/water/dawn and the tent will be wiped down and not used for several weeks while they all die off.
Going to add some CJDB or Growers Ally to the tool kit in the next day or so.
on order to add to the tool kit for future infestations if encountered. I did see a very few mites crawling around the tops of the stem and on my net the buds are hung from, thanks for that tidbit @Caligurl.
I pulled them last nite and looked very closely at the buds and see no evidence of them so I think I am good.
Once they are done drying, that tent and everything in it are going outside and I am gonna clean the crap out of all of it. Tent poles will be taken apart and dropped in a tub of water and alcohol, tent will be sprayed with alcohol and bleach diluted and will do this 3 times every 3 days before I use it again for seedlings and early veg.
I will say I feel very educated after falling down this rabbit hole and researching all there is to know about these little critters.
Captain Jacks Deadbug sprayed every 3 days for two weeks will get them and any that hatch. I hang 2 Hot Shot no pest strips in the grow room overnight every couple weeks and never see a mite. I fought them for a while back in the day but no more. Just don’t stay in with the strips too long, 4 hrs exposure is max for humans. I hang them in the canopy and turn vent fans off at lights out. Next morning, I put them in ziploc bags to save them and turn vent fan back on and done. No more mites… I spray grow room including all equipment between every grow with a mixture of 91% alcohol and 6% peroxide with a couple tablespoons of bleach thrown in. That nukes everything in the room.
Never dry plants infested with mites in the growroom. They start leaving the buds as soon as they are chopped.
If the plants are chopped wait 5 weeks before replanting in that room.
Go to your indoor plants at dawn and then your outdoor as you are the carrier.
I feel your pain and once considered burning a place down to get rid of them.
Simply put, going from your bed to your cannibis and not to other plants first is the best philosophy. Checking plants once a day without touching them is good practice as well as showering and changing clothes if u have been outside before.
This is the time of year indoor growers who fiddle with outside or greenhouses have issues.
Exactly. I always shower directly before opening up my areas. I prefer to nude garden, inside.
Also, keep away from pets. I used to have a pic of a red spider mite hitchhiking on the leg of a mosquito. They’ll grab onto pet hair and be hauled inside.
I built a cheapo greenhouse in the backyard last May to grow in. We had veggies in their too. I had no idea what a spider mite was at the time but quickly found out. Those things will drift with the breeze using their webs. Amazing little destructive critters. First plant was a WW Auto. As soon as it started to flower, they were on it. I believe it was @growdoc that noticed the damage the plant had and let me know.
I don’t go near my indoor grow room after mowing the lawn or harvesting the figs and muscadines until I shower and change into clean clothes. So far, my indoor grow has escaped the little bastages. I’m so anal after losing three plants to them, I wash my clothes every other day.
