Spider mites, Thrips, and White flies oh my!

[The Grim Reefer]

Alright, so as a few of you know I was currently undergoing a spider mite infestation which basically caused me to chop 1/3 plants a bit earlier than planned.

Low and behold.. I started noticing the same sign I did a month ago on my other plant.. little speckles on just 1 or 2 leaves. (white dots where something had been feeding)

Quick to react as this is my better plant, I ordered predator mites right away. (californicus to tolerate my lower humidity) They'll be here tomorrow.

My last plant, whom I have been trying to rescue - I've repotted, flushed, foliared with mag salt, ect and still nothing..

Well today I shook the almost dead plant and noticed what looks like (I'm praying my eyes are deceiving me) but it looked like white flies. Just 3-5 little white specs that kind of glided against the wind.

Eff the dead plant, I pulled her diseased bitch ass just a few minutes ago.

I'm worried a bit about my current plant that I put back into veg.. down to 1 out of the 3 and I want some yield so as i said - she's back in veg.

Having trouble with the older growth almost "folding under". Thought to be a mag deficiency, but I'm thinking it may be a possible potassium problem.

Soil is PHed to 6.5 (as is my water before every watering)
Stems are turning a bit purple
Currently using: Superthrive, Thrivealive, Alaskan Fish Emulsion (5-1-1) and Jamaican Bat Guano (1-10-.2)

Keep in mind she does have some buds, but there's a lot of new foliage growing in. Trying to watch bud rot and be careful.

<3 in advance guys, I appreciate it - pics within a few hours as I need to go pick something up.

The Grim Reefer Reviewed by The Grim Reefer on 05-24-2006. Spider mites, Thrips, and White flies oh my! Alright, so as a few of you know I was currently undergoing a spider mite infestation which basically caused me to chop 1/3 plants a bit earlier than planned. Low and behold.. I started noticing the same sign I did a month ago on my other plant.. little speckles on just 1 or 2 leaves. (white dots where something had been feeding) Quick to react as this is my better plant, I ordered predator mites right away. (californicus to tolerate my lower humidity) They'll be here tomorrow. My last Rating: 5

[Garden Knowm]

pictures!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

dude.. i am so sorry about the alien attack... bummer...

you have got to lower the temperature to slow the mites down... and they hate moisture of any kind.. even water....

you will need to fight daily.. many many small battles.. wins the war

[bob bobbinson]

Man, I feel for ya. Im staying tuned to see how the predator bugs will do.

were these from seed? or clone? and just a curiosity... did u do any preventitive medicine? before u saw a problem? and was your grow room sterile? or bad soil?

Sry bout all the questions. Your problem just worries me. and id like to see if we can narrow down why u got these bugs. so others can possible avoid that fate. Mabye it was just bad luck and they were all in the soil? I dont know but im curious to find out.

[Garden Knowm]

I hear the bugs are awesome!!!!!!!!!

[bob bobbinson]

So how do u get the predator bugs off ur buds before u smoke them? do u need predator predator bugs :P hehe

no seriously how do u not end up smoking both?

[4x5]

chop em all, bleach the hell out of the place, sorry for your pains

[Stickyplant]

Grim brother,

I am so sorry to hear of all the issues with attacks. I will say that I am interested to see how you do with the predator mites. Please do keep us all posted... especially on what happens after they eat your mites. (Excuse me while I beat a dead horse) I am interested if they are easy to find afterwards like lady bugs and to remove from your plant.

One of the pests I had to battle during my grow (besides the mites) was what I think was "fungus gnats". Very little black flying bugs. Believe it or not, thinking back, they were occasionally in the house before, so I am thinking they were with another plant, and the garden stuff from last year.

I started with fly paper... and this caught what looked to be hundreds inside a couple of days. I would put up 4, and gently shake the plant... they would COVER the paper. I even spread some on the soil, and those got covered too.

Realizing that the fly paper was not going to do the job, I went out and got some "Tomato & Vegetable" insect killer by Safer Brand. It claims it is safe for organic gardens and can be used up until harvest.

I did one spray of the entire plant... gently and very VERY lightly. I noticed this was not going to help either as all the little $hits fled to the soil. So I sprayed the soil on a day I didn't water... again VERY lightly, 3, maybe 4 mists. A week later, I did it again, then again while spraying the plant one last time with 4 mists total on the plant. 3 treatments was all it took. If I didn't see it with my own eyes, I would not have believed it... especially since "fungus Gnats" are not listed as one of the bugs this kills.

I sprayed the plant once every other day with a light mist of water (5-6 sprays) for a couple of weeks after that every time I actually watered the plant... to remove anything that may be lingering. Keep in mind, my plant was huge... 3 feet by 3 feet at that time, so less mists may be needed for your plants.

This, as stated, did the trick, however, I still see these little things flying around from time to time, one every couple of weeks... but they are coming from somewhere besides my plant now.. which is fine because she was safe.

I hope this helps.

PS Active Ingredients:

Pyrethrins: 0.0125%
Potassium Salts of Fatty Acids: 1.015%

[bongerstonerd00d]

I think they wind up eating themselves after there are no more mites to feed on, if not they just die and drop off. I am sure we all smoked worse than good bugs before and didnt even know it....lol I am curious as to how they work also. Not cheap, but if they save a crop, who cares about 50 or so bux. And, it would beat the piss outa spraying 94 times a day. Best of luck with the battle.



b0nger

[The Grim Reefer]

Knowm - Thanks for the reply, bro. I really want too, but unfortunately I'm around the equator and it's warming up to 106 by Saturday. 106 + HPS = Perfect climate for pests. :/
I'm going to put water into my swamp unit today to add to the humidity and hopefully cool it down a little bit.

Bob - Awesome you stopped by. These are from seed, and both budding unfortunately. That means I'm trying not to spray it much at all to avoid budrot and other nasty ailments. All of my soil is mixed by hand and straight from my local garden center. I would imagine if the soil was bad, I would have seen signs of these pests quite a few months ago. Bastards. I'm thinking my dog may be the culprit since I've caught him laying in the grow room before because he loves the lights!
Too bad though, I love playing with him in there.
I'm thinking the pests were either carried on our clothes by another plant in the house to my plants, or my dog was a factor. You can ask as many questions as you want!

I've read that predators are generally cannabalistic after they run out of food, but I've also heard the particular breed I've ordered doesn't - If that's the case I'll be spraying my plants down every 2 days regardless of the buds, I have 3 fans blowing on them at all times so they usually don't have a problem drying in time.

4x5 - Thanks for the info! It's going to be coming down to that shortly if problems don't get any better. I love this plant to death, but I have some killer seeds (blueberry, bubblegum, ect) that I really want to pop. I'm going to harvest and go ape shit as far as cleaning that room. I'm close to OCD when it comes to cleaning, and despite them not being harmful - I fucking hate bugs. I respect them, and I always put them outside when I find them instead of killing them.. unless they touch my plants. :thumbsup:

Sticky - I appreciate the advice! :dance: I'm interested in predators as well! I figure even if whiteflies are another issue, I'm really curious to see how they work! Fungus Gnats eh? How crazy and interesting.. I'll have to keep my eyes open for things that may even be out of the ordinary! I've been hearing more and more about Safer brand products, so I may go and see if I can get my hands on a bottle. I just don't want that shit soaking into my buds and making them taste like complete and utter shite. (yes, shite).

Oh, and apparantly someone in this house had a bag of rotten fruit laying around that had a small fly infestation.. way to go. If any of those get to my plants, it's on.

Bonger - It was 54 bucks with overnight delivery, but if it gives me an ounce or so to smoke - it means more money in my pocket in the long run.
This is one of the cheaper sites I've found (I ordered from): http://www.buglogical.com/index.asp
and
http://www.benemite.com/

Ok, time for a spray down with ice cold water. I'll go take some pics and be right back.

[The Grim Reefer]

Pics Round #1 *ding*