How Late into flowering do you spray with soaps?

[razzapiggy]

Had a pretty bad mite problem, got those fuckers somewhat under control with the help of Pyrethrum... today I found one plant absolutely loaded with mites... webs and all. I have gotten pretty decent at detecting those sick bastards, and the problem doesn't appear to have spread to any other plants.

I segregated the single plant, and took all the mites off with a Q-Tip (quite annoying) but I am guessing some of the mites have travelled to other plants. I am a few days short of five weeks flowering, and I'm not sure weather or not to spray em. I have buddies who say they use the sprays until a week before harvest, while others tell me to not use it once the buds are a solid "thumb" thick. I am growing purps, and like many stories I have heard of this strain, it has been a damn slow starter. I think I could get away with another week of spraying however I don't want to raise the mold risks if possible.

razzapiggy Reviewed by razzapiggy on 06-30-2007. How Late into flowering do you spray with soaps? Had a pretty bad mite problem, got those fuckers somewhat under control with the help of Pyrethrum... today I found one plant absolutely loaded with mites... webs and all. I have gotten pretty decent at detecting those sick bastards, and the problem doesn't appear to have spread to any other plants. I segregated the single plant, and took all the mites off with a Q-Tip (quite annoying) but I am guessing some of the mites have travelled to other plants. I am a few days short of five weeks Rating: 5

[razzapiggy]

Found another plant that had the bugs on em... gave em both a spray. Hopefully they dont mold up... I doubt they will - I did it quite lightly. Can anyone comment how late they spray? Am I pushing it spraying at 5 weeks?

[Mandala]

They have mosquito dunks which are high in bacillus thuringensis. They will help with the mites. You can use pyrithium. I would spray them down in the shower to wash the webs off. Mix neem in with the soap and spray the soil as this is where they mate. The pyrithium can burn so dilute it. They breed faster in over 80 degree heat with heigh humidity. if you got a dehumidifier that would help.

[razzapiggy]

Yep, I use the d\h when the lights are off for sure.... I just grabbed the webs off the plants and tried to dry em a tad.

[Mandala]

Raise the lights way up if they are wet. The bulbs explode if you get water on them so be careful.

[razzapiggy]

I have the glass covering all my bulbs so I should be fine, I also sprayed away from the lights as a precautionary measure.

[Mandala]

Good to hear. Diatanatous earth that is used in pool filters is fossils harvested from lake beds. Mites have exoskeletons and when they crawl across this on the top of the soil they slice their bellies and dehydrate in 24 hours. I would get some predator mites stat to rid your place of the beasts as this is the only way.

[razzapiggy]

Yeah, I am going to grab some lady bugs...I was trying to avoid it if at all possible because it seemed like the land lord was going to be making a visit to the house and I didn't want lady bugs all over the house. But, now it seems as if she isnt coming down, and then again I should be able to keep most of the bugs in the room with a little door stopper or somethin.

[Mandala]

I came home to my vt place one day which was painted white and had about 5000 lady bugs covering the place. It was so cool. They like flying into the light. It may be a bit mean though you can spray them with soda so they cant fly and stay on the plants if you dont have a door to your grow room or glass over your bulb.

I would go preditor mites myself

[rhizome]

They have mosquito dunks which are high in bacillus thuringensis. They will help with the mites. You can use pyrithium. I would spray them down in the shower to wash the webs off. Mix neem in with the soap and spray the soil as this is where they mate. The pyrithium can burn so dilute it. They breed faster in over 80 degree heat with heigh humidity. if you got a dehumidifier that would help.

Good to hear. Diatanatous earth that is used in pool filters is fossils harvested from lake beds. Mites have exoskeletons and when they crawl across this on the top of the soil they slice their bellies and dehydrate in 24 hours.

OK- BT is NOT effective against mites. Their digestive tract DOES NOT depend upon an alkaline reaction.

Spider mites DO NOT breed in the media. You've never noticed all the eggs all over the underside of the leaves? Neeming the media is useless against mites. Ya might as well go and neem your television.

Spider mites breed SLOWER in higher humidity- running a dehumidifier just makes it worse.

DE on your media IS NOT effective against spider mites, as they will never touch it.

I'd feel comfy spraying pyrethroids @ 5 weeks. If you're worried about mold, grab a bottle of Serenade or other organic anti-fungal from your local.

Neem is fairly effective, when sprayed ON THE UNDERSIDE OF THE LEAF.

Beneficials are great, but it's kinda late in the cycle to start em.

A methiocarb fogger will do it, but you're getting close to harvest- I hate smoking that shit.

Myself, I like a shot of abamectin as they move into flower- but that point's past.

Many swear by " No Pest Strips" which contain dichlorvos- never tried em myself.

Dropping your temps and raising RH will slow em down, maybe enough to get the infested stuff harvested.

Mandala- Nothing personal, but a lot of what you're saying is just wrong. I don't know how else to put it.