Update:

Since I combined the N. Californicus [NC] (Good red mites) and the T Urticae [TU] (Bad 2-Spotted mites) in the same jar, threre are new hatchlings from both today.

The NC population looks like it increased, but not significantly compared to the TU population. The older NC eat 4-5 mites/TU eggs a day, and lay 2 eggs a day. About a day or two later the eggs hatch (in hot temps) and will become adults within a week time with proper food (currently about 30:1 TU:NC, about a week's food).

I kept the enviroment 80° and about 80% humidity for the first day and it worked out well. The very tiny newly hatched NC are running around the jar like mad, very active. I haven't seen any mite-killing action yet but I'll try to take some cool pictures once it starts.

I figure a sizable NC population to introduce to his room won't be ready for a week, so we used Safer brand Insecticide last night and he says the mites look like they are going through hell (temps dropped to 50° last night in his room) but the plants are great.

Applied science rocks...
CannaGeek Reviewed by CannaGeek on . Anyone know how to find predatory mites in N California-cus? Some of you might be laughing at my pun in my title, but probably not. One of my friends has a spider mite problem because he did a couple things which made him vulnerable to mites. His getting mites is like getting cancer from smoking; one doesn't directly cause the other (as we know atm), but the chances of getting it are enormously higher. His room was hot, dry (because a HUGE fan), and no preventive measures were in place. That is a perfect breeding ground for spider mites by the way... Rating: 5