MYSTERY BUGS - PLEASE HELP! pictures

:mad:Im so bummed - any advice is appreciated:

Last fall I was in the final 3-4 weeks of flowering when I was attacked by what I presume to be some sort of flea beetles, hemp borers, budworm or white aphids (please give your opinion, I've never found an official classification). Whatever they are - they're resistant to lady bugs, cuz I've got plenty of those crawling about.

Anyway - post-harvest i cleaned out of the grow area thoroughly and didn't use the area again until last Christmas .

Here's the situation: My wife allows me to veg in a climate controlled house closet for 3-4 weeks - after that she says they get too stinky and they go out to the detached garage (really more of a shed - built in the 40's) for flowering. My current grow has been going great and here I am, halfway through flowering, and I have these fucking creatures again - they burrow inside the bud, leaving a woolly, webby, sticky residue and basically ruins the crop.

I've tried a tobacco spray, pyrythrrum and Hydrogen peroxide soution sprays, but I fear I am doing more harm than good since I am well into flowering - I've got a fan on my plants 24/7 right now as humidity seems to please the bugs - Incidentally since I can't precisely controlly the climate, I've noticed that these bugs tend to show up when it is warm - (I'm hoping it gets cold here again soon).

the smallest of these bugs look like small pen-head sized dots - the largest are about half the the size of a pillbug and appear white on the plant and yellow in true light.
- they "burst" easily if you apply pressure with your finger - aphids...yes? Under a microscope I can see their little mandibles. Little Bastards.

Any identification or treatment advice is greatly appreciated

BTW - I am running closed system DWC system.

Guano

no buddy u have spider mites pretty bad, and you've had them for a while, go to your local hydro store and pick up some neem oil. Usually u can ask them how to get rid of spidermites on your "strawberries" and they will usually tell you.

but if they dont, get the neem oil and follow the directions. you should only have to do it once or twice. but when you spray it on them put them under a cool light, neem oil is like putting the opposite of sun block on our skin... it'll burn the leaves unless its under like flouro's, etc.

Oh and take all the plants out of your room and COMPLETELY sterelize it and SEAL the room so they wont get back in. good luck

No spider webs for mites so my guess is root rot...maybe a good flush and then some h20 in your reservior..never seen mites looking like your picture(s).

actually - there are webs - but there aren't seen in the pictures - Spider mites it is I guess- dzamn!

You may have more than one pest. That does not look like mites alone. Mites build messy 'webs' on the UNDERSIDES of the leaves primarily. The webs contain tiny pearl-like eggs that are visible to the naked eye. The damage they cause looks like the overspray of white spray paint on the TOPS of the leaves, most pronounced in the warmer part of your grow room, and on the stinkiest plants.

The fecal material on the tops of your leaves, along with the description, makes me think you have a second bug in there.

Don't move those to the shed until you treat. Bomb your veg room TWICE with a pyrethrin-type bug bomb. There is a pyrethroid product that Raid makes in a yellow and blue package. I've seen it at Home DePOT. Follow the directions on the package, and repeat again in 3 days. Bomb the shed twice before putting the plants in there. You will need 2 packages because each only contains 3 bombs.

Apply a light mist of neem oil. You can find neem at home depot as well, sold under the name 'Fungicide 3'. Raise your lights. Allow to dry. Wait a day. Mist lightly again. Repeat until the leaves take on a slightly more glossy appearance. Neem oil is not only disgusting and distasteful to common pests, causing them to stop feeding, but it also prevents the plants from losing moisture through the damaged parts. IT CAN suffocate your plants if overapplied, so mist lightly and watch for signs of darkening of the leaves.

Good luck.

thanks all

On the advice of my friendly local hydro shop owner, I purchased some 100% NEEM Oil and he insisted that I also purchase some Dutch Passion Penetrator foliar feeding solution - he said without Penetrator, the Neem will not absorb into the plant and will not be nearly as effective. Opinions on this? I trust this shop so we'll wait and see - I'll post pix of harvest and others in between

Quote:

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Originally Posted by guano68

he said without Penetrator, the Neem will not absorb into the plant and will not be nearly as effective. Opinions on this?

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Go EXTRA easy then. Neem isn't meant to be a systemic. I've NEVER heard of that. I may just be full of shit, but last time I checked neem is meant to form a protective film/barrier.
Is it a good idea to use a spreader/sticker when applying pesticides? Sure! But for their surfactant qualities, not to get the neem INTO the plant's tissues. Weird.

Will do. I was a little skeptical as well but I got a consensus opinion from the the owner and two employees that at this stage in the growth cycle, with bugs infesting the insides of the young buds, that this is the bet to save the crop - we shall see.....

I read an article where someone was collecting ladybugs and releasing them in his grow room. Ladybugs eat spidermites and a few other plant pests and don't harm your plants. :hippy: There are a few shops in my area that actually sell ladybugs. You can store them in your refrigerator so they will stay alive longer.

I did try ladybug as my first response. I think they work well if you don't have an advanced case - in my case they couldnt keep the prob under control.:(

I'm running with ladybugs now. My house is infested with them- not of my doing either, and I consider it good luck. I still do get signs of mite damage but the infestation is really under control, and bonus, mites can't evolve a genetic immunity to being MUNCHED!!! :D mwahahahaha!

Ew...
Mealy bugs!


Mealybug - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Like stinky says, there's probably an assortment of bugs in there.. One of them though is for sure Mealy.

Good Luck.. :(

WHAT DO I DO?????

Just a random bit of info guys,I watched this the other day on a nature program,when a ladybird is on the hunt,spider might just drop off,then,when danger has passed they climb back up onto the plant,So don put too much faith in them.P.s,sorry,I dont have a clue about mealy bugs,so this will be interesting.Good luck,Rm.

THEY'RE STILL HERE

I am awaiting an express shipment of the Mealybug Predator: Cryptolaemus montrouzieri. Mealybug Predator Cryptolaemus montrouzieri - GreenMethods.com

25 of these critters should arrive tomorrow - They look a bit like ladiebugs but apparently have an even more voracious appetite for mealybugs. My current crop is in sad shape and is ready for harvest :( - Pretty much too late for anything - I am getting the Crypto M.s mainly to protect my (uninfested) bigger batch that is in the same room and is 4 wks into 12/12

I'll let everyone know how these friendly predators work

FIrst of al spider mites make white dots form on the top of leaves. You do not have a spider mite infestation.

Mealy bugs it is.

First of all, since it appears you are in flower stage I would not touch my plants with ANYTHING chemical at all. It takes up to 28 days for UV rays to breakdown the toxins.

DO not smoke the chemicals for your own good would be my advice.

What would I do?

Let them go. Pick as many off one by one by one.

Your predators will need several weeks to get established to begin with so odds are they will not make a difference in time to alter your yeild. The time for predators is prior to flowr, not during, as they can take 4 - 6 weeks to conquer.

Neem oil does not kill most pests, rather, it makes them sick and inhibits sexual activity. As you apply the neem oil every 4 days, after about 4 or 5 applications you have effectively interupted the reproductive cycle and there are fewer mites to deal with.

At this point I would let them grow as is and just hand pick what you can. It all depends on how many more weeks you have to flower, but you do not appear to have time.

Finally, if you can contain them, remember the pant will react to infestation by emitting more resins. It is what the resin is for probably.

I had one plant I completly let go with spider mites and by the end she was covered in a web.

But Gotdamn that was the strongest smoke I ever had. Grown right next to same strain plants that I battled 24/7 figuring this pest problem out.

Good luck...but dont smoke the chems!

Harddon back best damn grower iv seen:thumbsup:

You know, we used to have another member who posted pats on her own back from different usernames... :wtf:
Dude. Seriously, that is ridiculous.

na man thats HARDDON best fucking grower iv eva ment:rastasmoke: those plant he grew in his box and the big room that he has is topnoch he's the best grower just like jorge cervants

The mealybug predators didn't really have a chance to set up shop. I harvested a week early and picked bugs off for hours - threw the really yuck pieces into a paperbag for a BHO extraction. In generally these little monsters stunted the growth of my gals and cost me at least 50% of my final yield.

Mealy bugs are nasty - the fact that I am in an indoor/outdoor environment (e.g. garage) not doubt contributed to the problems.

Post harvest, the garage got triple bug bombed before any living creature was placed back inside