soapy water for spider mites question

[Budstick]

When spraying plants with soapy water to kill spider mites do you need to rinse the plant off after some time or just spray and leave? also how many times should you do this if your plant is infested pretty well with spider mites? How does this affect the taste of your bud if it does at all?
anyone else had good success with this method.
is there any type of soap that should not be used?

thanks

Budstick Reviewed by Budstick on 08-21-2010. soapy water for spider mites question When spraying plants with soapy water to kill spider mites do you need to rinse the plant off after some time or just spray and leave? also how many times should you do this if your plant is infested pretty well with spider mites? How does this affect the taste of your bud if it does at all? anyone else had good success with this method. is there any type of soap that should not be used? thanks Rating: 5

[WashougalWonder]

I have never used this method. Mites are very hard to kill. I suggest one of the no pest strips and Neem. Then prevention. You can use the neem up to 4 weeks from harvest.

Personally if using the soap, watch out for phosphates, Castille soap is non-toxic to cannabis.

[killerweed420]

Dawn soap seems to work the best. But be careful, don't over do it. It doesn't take but a little dish soap. Use it lightly about once every 4 or 5 days and make sure you get the underside of the leaves, thats where the mites live and breed.

[Budstick]

well i succeeded in burning up my leaves. is there any way to correct this problem?

[crashdamage]

As WashougalWonder noted, Castile soap works best. I have used this very successfully with no damage to the plants at all. Mix ~1-2 tsp of the castile soap in 1 qt water and pour into a clean spray bottle ( make sure it hasn't been used before to spray say windshield washer fluid or some other chemical )
Spray from underneath the plant on as fine a mist as you can get the thing to make ( Zep makes a really good quality spray bottle ideal for this purpose ) and coat the leaves. The castile soap works on soft bodied pests like mites and aphids by disrupting the cell membranes of the organism ( think the wicked witch of the West in the Wizard of Oz when she got dosed with water; it has just about the same effect) and stops them right in their tracks.Its non toxic to good bugs like lady beetles ( who devour mites like they are popcorn shrimp ) and doesn't produce resistant strains of mites the way commercial cholinesterase -inhibiting insecticides do. If the plant is flowering when you spray, just rinse the buds off with plain water after you harvest.