MYSTERY BUGS - PLEASE HELP! pictures

[guano68]

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

guano68 Reviewed by guano68 on 02-12-2008. 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 Rating: 5

[enquadrider16]

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

[DrGreen]

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).

[guano68]

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

[stinkyattic]

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.

[guano68]

thanks all

[guano68]

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

[stinkyattic]

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

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.

[guano68]

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.....

[Paht_Hed]

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.