Aaron, keep us updated on the neem oil please!
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Aaron, keep us updated on the neem oil please!
There are mites in the garden now, less than 2 weeks left, would it be too late for the pest strip?
I would NOT use the pest strip scott.. seriously like imagine spraying raid directly on the plants and thats what it smells like.. the strip has been out of my room for 3 days and i use the odor killing cfl's and the plants still smell like pesticide.. but mine are just starting into 12/12 cycle.
Im headed out now to the hydro shop.. wish me luck. haha
my no pest strips produced no noticable odor. then again, i had amazing ventalation in my area so they didn't work either.
haha.. yea makes sense b-pads.. the guy at the hydro shop said neem oil wouldnt work and gave me some stuff from "Supernatural" and i sprayed it on the plants 5 min ago.. will let you know how it went
I am from australia, and i have a flood and drain system that has recently gotten mite infestation......i used to use Pyrethrum untill i realised you have to basically use it once every 3 days for your whole grow (which your plants wouldn't survive) so i am going to try these so called "no pest strips" and see how they go......
Peace Out
Bliss.
I should mention that since i have been growing aero and dwc, I have not had any mite issues.
Bachelorpads, I too have noticed that mites are a much bigger problem in dirt. If you remember toward the start of this post I said that some of them hybernate until a light change from veg to bloom. They burrow deep into the growing medium. I don't know if this is even possible for them in something like clay pellets. I think they can do it in somthing like rockwool.
WARNING!
AVID can kill YOU... be very careful when using that stuff.. USE GLOVES AND MASKS...
yes it is one of the only ways to eliminate mites...
temperature control is essential when fighting mites without avid... temperatures above 80 degrees make it IMPOSSIBLE TO WIN THE BATTLE for an indoor grower..
mites will go dormant and stay dormant for more than 1 year when temperaures drop below 60 degrees...
the only thing worse than mites is LEO...
temperatures above 80 degrees make it IMPOSSIBLE TO WIN THE BATTLE
Sorry Garden Knowm but this just is not true. I am living proof. I used pest strips. My temp is typically 84, but sometimes 90. I have no more mites. Ever. Period. I just don't get it. Why is this such a hard concept for people.
OPIE.. you are telling me.. that you had spidermites and you used pest strips.. the yellow hangy things. and you got rid of the mites...
UMMMMMM NO FUCKING WAY.. LOL
iloveyou
those were not spidermites... i would BET BIG CASHOLA!!!
HOW do you know they were spidermites?
: )
OPIE.. very very few gardeners.. less than 1 in 10 get rid of spidermites.. unless they STOP grwoing for a prolonged period...
if you got rid of mites at any temperature... it is a freaking miracle.. I have witnesed more than 50 cases of mites on 50 different gardnes around the USA and have never heard of anybody winning the battle using pest strips..
I have actually never even seen a mite on a pest strip.. spidermites stay on the plants....
lets get to the bottom of this..
cheers
iloveyou
Fuck this shit. I am sick and tired of trying to convince people of the best method to completely rid yourselves of spider mites forever (indoors only). It costs under $10. It takes 30 seconds. You do it twice. Done. No more mites ever unless you bring more in or let more in somehow. I am not trying to convince people that I am a weed master and everyone should use my methods. I am merely trying to help, so hopefully people will not have to spend the money and time that I did. I battled them for years and I tried everything except bombs. After spending at least $1000, I tried a method I didn't believe would work. Well it worked. It will work for you on your indoor grow. Instead of mocking me and trying to make me feel stupid, why not try it first?
OPIE.. you are telling me.. that you had spidermites and you used pest strips.. the yellow hangy things. and you got rid of the mites...
Yes.
UMMMMMM NO FUCKING WAY.. LOL
Go ahead and laugh. Meanwhile I sit back and continue to enjoy years of mite-free crops. You on the other hand continue to dip, and spray, and bomb, or whatever else it is you do.
those were not spidermites... i would BET BIG CASHOLA!!!
OK let's bet. Any amount you want. For your convenience I take pay pal.
HOW do you know they were spidermites?
Months of research. University studies. Dept. of Ag. reports. Things like that. I probably know more about spider mites than 98% of the people in this forum. Dare I say, maybe even more than the illustrious Zandor.
OPIE.. very very few gardeners.. less than 1 in 10 get rid of spidermites
I guess I'm that one. Anyone else who wants to be can too.
if you got rid of mites at any temperature... it is a freaking miracle..
Then praise "insert your religious figure-head here".
I have actually never even seen a mite on a pest strip.. spidermites stay on the plants...
Niether have I. I guess that's because they try to stay away from the strips. The strips are toxic and makes the mites dead or extremely sleepy. It's obvious you have no idea what you are talking about in this category. How about a little bit O' reading before so much doubt and critisism?
lets get to the bottom of this..
I already did. You just have to believe and convert. Operators are standing by. I love you too.
WOW
LOL
OPIE..simmer down to a boil..
How do you know that they are spidermites?
I never ment to disrepect you.... i only mean to love you
I dont even know what disrespect mean?
let the debate range ON!!!
GRRRRRRRRRR...
:D
: )
I love your knowledge/contributions and I hope more than anything you are right.
I will order pest strips on MONDAY and place then in room with mites...
thank you for your info....
please post a link where i can purchase them, so that I will purchase exactly what you have used..
word!!
iloveyou
Sorry, looking back it seemed like I was really mad. Didn't mean it like that. My wife is waiting on me to watch a movie. I will try to give more info. tomorrow.
SWEET!!
thanks
HAREM is demanding my presence...
: )
I think i see where the confusion is coming here.
No Pest Strips are not the yellow sticky traps. They are actually a device/strip that slowly releases a chemical into the air around it called Dichlorvos. This chemical will kill all kinds of insects, mites included.
Here is a more scientific definition of Dichlorvos
http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/tfacts88.html
The only reason it wouldn't work in some scenarios is because people usually vent the air in a grow room so quickly it does not reach a high enough concentration to kill them all.
The yellow sticky strips are all together a different animal. I use them on all of my plants right at the base because i have had issues with fungus gnats. If you place a piece of the fly trap right at the base of the plant, then any adult fungus gnats will stick to it. This interupts them from laying eggs and effectively controls fungus gnats before they become a problem. Just an fyi, this will not bring an infestation under control, they must be used before there is an overwhelming problem.
No Pest Strips should work if you have smaller amounts of air leaving the grow area. If you replace the air quickly, as in more then 3 times a day, it will probably not be super effective for you.
Thanks for the clarity mr. Bachelor... It took me awhile but eventually I realized my confusion.. I still will try the pest strips that opie says work..
and I will be their biggest proponent if they work!
: )
opie .... i would still like a LINK..
cheers
Man its friggen hot here. Barely into summer and it??s 90 degrees before noon. I??m glad I did my yard work early this morning. I live in the pacific northwest, and am sick of the rain. I would rather be too hot and dry than too cold and wet if I had too choose. How about you guys? Everything hurts more when I??m cold. Anyway, I am rambling ?? I guess the pain meds are kicking in and I just ground up a fresh handful of AK-47 in my new Krupps coffee/herb grinder, and am enjoying the use of my semi-new, top of the line Wicked Roots vaporizer. So, needless to say but I??ll say it anyway; at this moment life is good and I love you guys. Sniff?
Good thing I don??t drink too or I may never get this party started. We didn??t come here for me to pour my heart out; we came here to learn a little something about spider mites and to perhaps have an interesting discussion about them along the way. Without doing math, it??s been roughly two years since my mite problem. I have forgotten many of the specifics, but anyone can find out the things that I did with a little digging on the internet. Also please note that much of what is to follow is my personal opinion, and taken from my own experiences. This is what I know, and it is not false in my book, so I will present it as fact. I am sure others will beg to differ and that??s fine. Use your best judgment and decide for yourself what is best for you.
- What??s so bad about spider mites?
Spider mites suck, and I don??t mean just a little bit. They rank right up there with moles, termites, and mice for the ability to destroy money, time, and that which we love, need, or enjoy. If you suspect that you may have spider mites, take action immediately! They mature and reproduce very quickly, so very few mites very soon become very many. Ever heard ??Don??t cut off your fan leaves?? The plant needs these for photosynthesis and for other reasons. Spider mites left unchecked, very quickly destroy the fan leaves and eventually the entire plant. They live on the underside of the leaf and eat it.
- How do I know if my plants have mites?
The mites themselves are very difficult to see with the naked eye, or even one that is clothed. It is possible; however you need to have good vision for this. It is best if you check with a magnifying glass, or better yet a pocket microscope. These are about $8 at Radio Shack, or at least they were three years ago. You might as well get one if you don??t have one, because you need one anyway for determining when to harvest (by checking trichomes). Not that it is necessary, but a microscope is the easiest and surest way to determine the exact species of mite.
Though the mites are difficult to spot, the evidence that they leave behind is not. At the beginning stages of the infestation you will start to see little white spots on the tops of your leaves. The spots won??t be spread out evenly, but in groups of hundreds or thousands, bunched close together. At first glance it may look like one big spot. This is where the mites ate away the plant matter. Eventually they will leave only the skeletal structure of the leaf. These spots will spread. Do nothing and soon you will see webbing on your plants. Look close at the webbing and you will see hundreds or thousands of mites. The webbing will eventually spread to corners of walls and ceilings. There it will become more and more visible over the next few days as it becomes darker with masses of mites. If it is against a white wall it is very apparent.
- Crap. I have mites. Now what?
The first decision you should make at this point is very important and not to be taken lightly. It could affect your entire life and the lives of those around you. You need to decide if you want to control them with natural, safe methods, or rid yourself of them with lethal chemicals. As far as I know, it is near impossible to rid yourself of mites using natural methods. Please don??t yell at me about this, I said near impossible, and I mean without spending a lot of money. I??m sure it can be done and has been. In general, most methods that are natural only serve to control, or knock back the infestation. What??s worse, it is never ending. Using solely natural methods one is likely to end up battling mites the rest of his or her entire weed farming venture. The good thing is that natural methods are safe. On the other hand toxic chemicals are not safe, but can easily rid your grow of mites once and forever. Using toxins, I know of two methods that can rid your grow of mites. One is definitely easier than the other but both will work. I would not use toxins if I am trying to or planning on having children. Whatever you use be efficient, do it right and do it well, and kill as many as possible the first try. Mites can build up a tolerance to substances and then you are really screwed.
- I want to try natural methods. What??s your recommendation?
First thing you do, and I mean right now, is mix up about 1/4 teaspoon liquid dish detergent in a spray bottle full of water, and soak every square inch of .. man, getting stoned.. hard to concentrate? Oh yeah, every inch of the underside of the every leaf on every plant. Also soak the growing medium and everything else near your plants that you can stand to soak. This is a suckie process, since it??s hard to get the underside. When you turn the spray bottle upside down it refuses to spray. Someone invent something and give me half for the idea. Now you need to get set up to soak your plants in Neem oil. At this point I should tell you that if you ever spray or soak your plants you need to pull your lights way back until they dry completely, or they will burn. You will need a bucket big enough to submerge your entire plant (just the stalk, not the container). You will also need some Neem oil which is available at most garden centers and hydro stores. Furthermore you will need a piece of Styrofoam or something similar, that you can cut a slot into. The slot is to slide the stalk into when you cover your container. If your grow medium is below the surface of the container, fill the space with a towel or something. Follow the directions and fill the bucket with the Neem solution. Cover your growing medium and turn your plant over and dunk it. Shake it a little to get all the bubbles out and make sure everything is completely covered with the solution. Pull it out and let most of the liquid drip off before putting the plant back. Spray your whole room and repeat as necessary to keep the mites in check. After next harvest, tear apart your room and scrub down everything with a bleach solution. Read up on how to keep mites out in the first place. You can at this point decide if you can afford mite destroyers (not beneficial mites). If you buy maybe a couple thousand of them for a 3??x3?? closet you may be able to completely rid yourself of mites. This will be expensive.
- I??m ready for the big time. How do I kill em dead?
Two methods I know of will work for sure and for good. One is Avid. It is extremely toxic and very hard to get for most people. It is a systemic. It stays inside the plant for a while and continues to work. You can buy it on the internet. Search about this if you are interested. The other is much easier and it is what I used. I have not had mites in about 6 or 7 harvests I think. It is called a Bug Stop Pest Strip, and it is manufactured by Spectracide. It is toxic and it will rid your grow of mites. Buy one and hang or place it in your grow room for two weeks and your mites will be dead. Follow the directions to determine how many you need, but I would probably double it just to be safe. Use as little ventilation as possible during the treatment. Look at the eggs under your microscope and you will see the little bastards dead in their tracks as they attempted to join the real world. If you are fortunate, this will be the end of it forever. More likely though, especially if you are growing in soil, you will need to repeat the process at the next light change from veg to bloom. This is due to a survival mechanism which makes some of them burrow deep into the growing medium and hibernate. And now, just stop letting them get in. Don??t bring them in, and read up on how to stop them from coming in on their own.
- Got any links?
Health effects, MSDS
http://householdproducts.nlm.nih.gov...ds&id=19020034
Where to buy (one of many places)
http://www.righthardware.com/item.html?itemid=364909655
A mite article
http://creatures.ifas.ufl.edu/orn/twospotted_mite.htm
- Got any pictures of the package?
WOW!!! NICE OPIE...
I am in the pacific west.. how baout I come up and you let me look at your garden.. : ) and film it for my next DVD?
IF these strips really kill mites.. which I am almost... sold on... I really would love to document IT!!!
what do you say? I can give you references.. LOL
iloveyou
Very informative thread.
I have yet to see an abundant wealth of information on treating mites when in flowering though. If anybody has any advice, let me know!
mites in flower = bad.
Be proactive with mites. You do not want to fight them during flower. If you have to then i would use the no pest strips (Dichlorvos). I am not saying it is a good idea, but that is what i would do if i had to do something. Avid would obviously not be a good idea at that point.
If I were not worried about health effects, I would use the pest strips during flower, but not near the end. My mites were gone in 5 days, so no biggie on the chemicals. Otherwise I would control the mites with natural methods until harvest, then I would kick me some serious mite ass.
This is a suckie process, since it??s hard to get the underside. When you turn the spray bottle upside down it refuses to spray. Someone invent something and give me half for the idea.
I remember now how I fixed this problem. I took the tube out of the spray bottle, so it was sucking from the top instead of the bottom. This made the spray bottle work great upside down.
They sell spray bottles with the tip pointed up just for this purpose. I bet you can find one at any garden center.
I did not know that. All serious gardeners should probably have one of those.
I probably looked in 8 different stores for a decent spray bottle.
http://www.epinions.com/Hot_Shot_No_Pest_Strips#
OPIE, what do you think abut these?
I think that's the one that's designed to trap the insects with adhiesives and is not the same thing I used. I don't think these work at all for mites, unless you are using them to trap the mites at an entrance to your room. You want the one that puts the toxins out in the air, more of a yellowish than blueish package (see my scan of the package above). You can also check the spectracide web site and they detail all their products.
PLEASE: for god's sake. After you have tried this, and all your mites are dead, please tell Zandor and the others, so that they will be more inclined to believe me.
*runs out and buys a whole case of no pest strips
any particu;ar brand?
throws away foggers - oils - emulshions - spray bottles and all that other shit that dont work
now all i need to do is fatten up my buds
ps thanks Opie and well done
Thanks for the compliments guys. Ziggy, as far as I know the only brand and model that will work for mites is the one in my scan above: Spectracide's No Pest Strip. A couple years ago this was a greeen and yellow package. I don't think the package has changed because when I did a search I found them at the hardware store that I linked above.
Newly registered user here, but have several year growing experience. Spider mites, ugh! I live in the hot and dry desert southwest and have battled the bastards for years. Just when I think I won the war, there they are again. I even moved! Being desparate, about a month ago I purchased a couple No Pest Strips thinking at least they'll keep the gnats away. Well, I haven't seen a live mite in a couple of weeks. Wow! Thank you very much, Opie.
All's not perfect, though. I still see hundreds of eggs. Is the strip preventing the eggs from hatching? Did it kill the eggs? Or, please no, are there critters that I haven't spotted? Attached (I hope) is a pic taken thru a Radio Shack 60x-100x set at 60x. Kinda hard to see, but its the underside of a leaf, all the white dots are eggs.
Thanks
I WANT A LINK.. I want to order these and try them OUT!!
please
link ME
iloveyou
congrats on the victory MEADOW ...
OPIE!!! : )
Thanks for the congrats GK, but the praise goes to Opie for persistenly pointing this out.
I found mine at the checkout isle of the local Home DePot. Mine are in a dark blue package. It's called a Hot Shot No-Pest Strip. The back reads almost verbatim of Opie's package. I imagine several companies are marketing the same product. It's the ingredients that count:
18.6% Dichlororvos (2,2-dichlorovinyl dimethyl phoshate)
1.4% Related compounds
80.0% Inert ingredients
Now if I can get the pH of my rockwool slabs correct ....
HAIL OPIE!
: )
JDOG.. please keep me posted on how these strips work for you..
: )
TheMeadows: Your very welcome. I'm glad I could help at least one person.
Now won't more of you come over to our side please? It's real nice over here. Just sitting back, sipping Crown Royal, and watching our pest-free plants growing.
In answer to your question, I'll just be honest. I don't know for sure about eggs. I don't think it kills the unborn babies, but I am not sure. I just looked at the eggs with my pocket microscope and saw that many of them had hatchlings half out of the egg, dead in their tracks. This was about 10 hours after putting the strip in my 3' x 2 1/2' x 8' closet (the night before). I assume that the babies carry on as normal until they try to come out into the atmosphere that has the lethal toxins in it. How concentrated the toxins are in the air, probably determines how soon the hatchlings die after emerging from the eggs.
Whatever you use and whatever happens, you must break the life cycle. This means killing all the adults and babies, before the babies can grow up and lay more eggs. I think my mites hatched about 3 days after the eggs were laid, so assuming the toxins kill the adults in a day or so (more like a few minutes I think), then everything should be dead within 3 days.
jack frost:
2-4 times every two weeks... However, spider mite control will almost always take several treatments. This is because the spray will not kill eggs. Consequently, eggs will be hatching following your first treatment. To insure you kill all activity, treat once a week for 3-6 treatments.
What are you talking about? What spray? And you just need to do it once, or twice at the most, if they emerge from hybernation at the next light change from veg to bloom.
The best material for spider mite control is called CYFLUTHRIN
Yeah, I guess that "mite" be true, as long as you could find it in a strip, and it broke the life cycle in one week, and it is as toxic as 18.6% Dichlorvos (DDVP), and it cost the same or less.
Well i did quite a bit of reading on these no pest strips and the side effects if humans come in contact with them, Nasty things not to be used without care, but if one takes the proper care ie.. gloves ,mask, and not to inhale for long periods of time.Also plant matter is not effected by the vapour , (read 3 tests performed by seperate labs other then manufactures) and all said they do not effect plants in anyway.Also they are used to rid pet snakes of mites as well as other reptiles.I have been putting them in my room 3X5X5 with the start of an outbreak 1 plant infected , for the dark periods,soon as night time kicks in i shut down all ventalation in and out ,cover up openings but leave a small fan going to move the air around within the chamber, 10 hours into dark cycle i pull it out and put it in a zip lock bag ,let the vapour disapate for 2 hours and when lights come back on fire all air exchangers up
When i check the infected leaves those guys are dead their little children are dead and the egg count is redused greatly.
My question is i have been doing this for the last 7 days without seeing any new damage or anything alive but there are still eggs abound which are not effected by ANYTHING!! (even radiation! , read study where they shot radiation at spider mite eggs and they still hatched but did not live very long)
So as the little fuckers hatch the die within a few steps out of the egg, how long do ya think i need to keep going? I think it can take 3-14 days for them to hatch in hot dry conditions, how long did you treat for?
Pippz:
Glad to see another success story from using the pest strips. Zandor, do you still think that it's impossible for the strips to work?
I kept my strip in my closet one week, if memory serves. I didn't see any more movement after the first day. You just need to keep it in there until you are sure that all the eggs are finished hatching.
So do these strips actually work? Anyone tried it and worked for them besides Opie? Garden, did u get the chance to try it yet?
Oh btw, all this talk about mites makes me wonder, WHERE DO MITES COME FROM?