Recently I’ve noticed very small, white spots on a few leaves of one of my plants. Not all of the pant is infected, just a few leaves. I haven’t noticed anything creeping, crawling or flying around the plants so I assume it isn’t really bug poop. The plant is about 1 month old, no nutes and gets watered every few days with ph 6.5-6.8 plain water. The air temperature at the top of the plants (inside a closet) is 21°C, around 70°F. Just saw a similar post referring to spider mites and that may be a possibility. Are those visible?
Thanks for any help.
Spider mites may or may not be easily visible, however anytime you say “I see white dots on my leave” it’s could be and usually is spider mites
I would start treating, separate that plant if you wish, but you have to treat everything
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I think fastest safest way to get rid of all bug. Buy ladybug and introduce the to your bugs and say by by. I have larva in my tent in case anything. They will die when no pest they leave eggs that hatch on the same cycle as most pest. Best $20 i ever spent.
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I read that smearing vaseline on the stalk just above the dirt is a good solution. Your opinion?
Not really practical as the plants are in a small closet. Don’t really want to open the door and have a swarm of ladybugs all over the house. Thanks though.
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6 garlic cloves minced in500mls of water,add a few drops of liquid soap let sit for 6 hours then strain, that will make up 4litres ,and spray plant and say goodbye to all pest
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Sounds nasty! How often do you have to apply this?
@DieHigh55 once maybe twice depending on how bad pest are
this mite be long but very informative…copy and paste to your files for future referance
First…
Pepper spray: Simmer 5-6 Habanero peppers that have been finely chopped (paying extra attention to breaking open the seeds to get the good stuff inside) for each pint of water. Keep in mind to only simmer the peppers as boiling them will start the breaking down process and decrease the potency of your spray. Let cool to room temperature and strain the solids from the juice. This spray can be kept for an unreal amount of time if it is refrigerated, but if left out for like a week or more will make one of the most rancid smells. But if you havent cleaned up after yourself for over a week then Id say you have a different problem on your hands altogether.
Precautions: This is extremely spicy stuff! Depending on the sensitivity level of your skin you may want to wear gloves but I dont seem to have an issue as, I kind of like how extremely cleansing it is for my pores. A face mask is absolutely necessary, and some may find it to be harsh even with the mask. Turn off your fans, try not to get it in your eyes, try not to breathe it in, but the thing about this stuff is that it is safe to consume so as long as you mind your sensitive areas and prevent yourself from suffocating then youre fine.
Key point: The pepper spray can be used infrequently, as Ive noticed it makes the fan leaves pretty spicy to the taste even days after you spray it. It doesnt leave much residue that I can tell so it has to make eating a pain in the ass for them without suffocating your plant too much. This one effect alone will slow them down drastically.
Now for the second substance…
Peppermint spray: 3 teaspoons of Dr. Bronners Peppermint soap, 3 teaspoons of vegetable oil (I am going to see if the cold pressed hemp oil will work in a more superior manor than canola or soybean ect.), and fill the rest of a gallon jug with filtered water (I was reminded to mention that we use filtered water for EVERYTHING, I am not someone who is okay with variables I am unaware of. Variables that could cause substances to break down in a different way than I have intended them to).
Key point: Dr. Bronners promotes the use of their soaps for pest control, so we are off to a great start in general. This substance is going to further aid in what youve begun with the pepper spray…drying those !@#$ers out until theyre a water-less corpse. It will break down the membrane of the exoskeleton, causing them to be vulnerable, and suffocate as if they werent starved enough from hating the taste of your plants already. Remember to shake the peppermint spray super frequently as the oil will settle, and the oil is used to prolong the effects of the peppermint.
I like doing it this way because if you tried to use only the pepper spray, it would get too belligerent cause you would have to do it pretty often depending on your infestation level. It doesnt kill the eggs so you would need to be spraying regularly, which gets extremely annoying with it being that spicy. So we have the peppermint spray which smells amazing and feels very cool and refreshing, and when Im feeling meditative about it Ill just use a Q-tip sprayed in peppermint and manually wipe them off 1 by 1.
Thats about all I got so far. I refuse to dose my plants with hateful chemicals, and I havent had any success whatsoever with neem and on top of that I am not a fan of how much more residue the neem leaves than my regimen. My absolute favorite part about these 2 sprays is that they can be kept around indefinitely, which gives you a sense of security seeing as the MOMENT you see a mite you can go grab your holistic weapons and spray.
I haven’t had spider mites indoors for over 5 years. It’s due mostly to how clean my environment is and my closed-loop air system.
Anyways!
There’s a product that has been getting mad reviews at our shop lately. THE best method to absolutely DESTROY spider mites without using dangerous pesticides such as AVID and Floramite. The product is called Mighty Wash and is actually 98% water! What makes it effective is that the water is “charged”. The way it works is when the spray hits the spider mites or eggs it begins to dry them out. It essentially “kills on contact”. The pests do not need to eat the product, just come into contact with it.
DEATH TO MITES!!!
note: the spray is not to be diluted. Use as is right out of the bottle. Also, you absolutely MUST use a regular plastic sprayer bottle. Any sprayer with a metal tip at the end will destroy the charge in the water and make it useless.
What about this
8-10 garlic cloves
1 jalapeno pepper
1 to 2 teaspoons ground cayenne pepper
Put in blender and fill w/water. Blend well & strain thru cheesecloth. Add 1/8 tsp. Ivory dish detergent per quart of liquid, spray on plants.
Nonchemical, nontoxic, common household items. Just don’t rub isyour face after making/spraying.
Hope this helps
Will
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Or scratch ones nuts, I presume. Thanks for the “recipes”, I WILL destroy these bastards! Do any of these pepper recipes affect the flavor of the smoke? I loves spicy food, but I don’t know if I want it in my lungs. Thanks!
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No it won’t hurt the smoke. And the hhotter the spice the better !!
And you defenetly dont want this on your nuts…lmao
Will…
The answer is , Yes you can see them ,not well but yes .And first look to the underside of the leaves .first . don’t treat till you know what and if anything is wrong . as toit being a pest .
Hammer
So “if in doubt, treat” isn’t such a good idea? I haven’t actually seen anything crawling around on the infected areas, not even with a magnifying glass. I thought maybe a preventive spray with one of garrigan62’s pepper recipes might be a good idea just to make sure there aren’t any critters, and then if the problem continues try another solution.
You’re going to get different opinions, I would treat now I downloaded your picture and looked at it closely I am on the side of the fence that it’s mites, but it may not be, but I would treat no harm done, and maybe some prevented
there’s not many white spots so it might be early and that’s why you might not be seeing them I would treat everything, then reapply in 5 days and keep checking from there
-good luck 
Better safe than sorry and your not going to hurt anything.
will
Preventative spraying won’t do any harm to your plants and is a great idea during veg imo, rather beat the bugs before they get a chance to get comfy, then they’re much harder to deal with!
Thanks for all your help and advice, time to send some nasty bugs…I think… to Pepperland (without the Beatles).
@DieHigh55 , Let me clarifie my earlier statement … I prefer not to sprays chems on my plant as a preventive . And then find a product aimed at a particular pest for best results ,When known .With that said . garrigan62 's formula is in my opinion is all natural . And if in dought it would be a perfect choice .
Hammer .
Guess it wasn’t bugs. I sprayed the plant with a solution of peppers, garlic, water and dishwasher soap and the next day this was the result. It’s some kind of nute deficiency, I imagine, but I’m not sure what. The plant is a month old in potting soil, no nutes, ph around 6.5-6.8. under CFL lamps. I water it every 3-4 days when the soil feels dry. Any hope for the poor girl? At least I can stop itching imagining there are spider mites crawling all over me. Any help is appreciated!
That leaf damage wasn’t from the spraying, that bottom picture looks familiar to me, but let’s see if we can get some other opinions @Donaldj @peachfuzz & @Hammer, does that look like a fungus to you?