Just inquisitive here, when did you very first notice you had mites?
@OleReynard
I have had them previous in this grow, but I noticed a few leaves starting to get a splotchy appearance and taco up soon after. That was when I knew it was mites. Before that I had noticed occasionally some leaf tips were getting eaten off with no sign of anything else wrong at the time other than dying lower leaves.
Occasionally I would see what I thought was a fine hair in the tent. Each time I saw all of those symptoms I knew it could have been mites. Once I saw the webs and small tan dots crawling on it I knew.
One way I was able to get a good idea was if the leaf Tacos up I would lightly pinch and run my finger down the length of the leaf. If my finger cane back with brownish smears I know it has something and itās likely mites with those symptoms. At least the ones I have have a pattern. Spinosad halts them for 3 days before webs show up again.
Once I get home today Iāll check on the tent and see what Iām dealing with. Though at this rate Iāll have to look into either an early harvest or a predator in the tent that will at least stay long enough to finish the grow.
Now something interesting I noticed was that the mites didnāt show up near the corner with the lavender, cilantro/coriander, lemon balm, and kiwi strawberry mojito mint plants. Only the one with no plants. They avoided the area near those plants specifically. I know mites donāt like cilantro, but Iām not really expecting the world from it. If anything Iām hoping if I could get another 3 in there I might have a barrier to make them not like to be near. IDK though. It could be all of those plants and not just cilantro.
Stick a geranium in their see what it does?
Iād do it myself but I donāt have bugs.
Did you take a clone in or are these ancestors of previous uprisings?
Mites dont like mints in general, lavandar, coriander, rosemary, etc are all in the mint family. You can try this, get some cilantro from the grocery store and chop it up in a blender. Dilute it with some water and spray the little fuckers with that.
Geraniums are natural pyrtherens
Likely ancestors or stragglers from outside. Ticks started early this year. I wouldnāt be shocked for mites also
Maybe spray the perimeter of your house outside.
Are you changing clothes and shoes before visiting?
Iāll have to try that. I always seem to only be able to bandage fix them for a brief time now.
This is just a bandage, will only work for a few daysā¦
Not at all and TBH it would be useless anyways. I live in a small apartment. The hallway leads right to a the rooms in the place. Just going inside my place would introduce them in a proximity that they could gain access without much difficulty. They also would likely be sucked up through the passive intake I have as last I checked the mesh holes are larger than mites.
I also have zero control over the garden in the backyard and they live in denial about the blackberries being the source of these mites. Before I got them at all I noticed the blackberries had webs in them. I pointed it out to my family and they called me stupid and that I was imagining things. Then the rest of the outside garden got mites and they still held to the blackberries never got mites story
Really my best option is to move honestly. I can work all I like on my side of the house, but if they donāt do anything to stop pests, then theyāll just come inside where itās nice and thereās a lot of defenseless plants to attack.
While I wish I had better options to get rid of the mites my options are basically to hope I can get them to at least go dormant somehow, but thinking if it mine vanished pretty much when I let it get cold in the room.
Theyāre weakened though. They keep changing colas like whack a mole(mite). Theyāre keeping localized to the area they were attacking, so Iām thinking Iām missing a spot in the middle somewhere.
Thankfully itās just spinosad though. Iāll do some more research, but last I checked itās not exactly healthy to smoke though I donāt remember finding any cancer or respiratory system issues from it. Though worst case Iām freezing the weed right away after harvest and making rosin with the fresh material. Likely nectar collector quality vs my dab rig, but Iād rather heat treat the spinosad that may be in it and hopefully kill it. IDK though. Iāll have to plan out harvest plans now it seems
Marauder canāt seem to drink enough water. I checked again with the meter and her soil was reading a 1 out of 4 on the meter. Soil that was light colored and dryish when mixing up read a 1 also. When I got it mixed better it was between a 3 and 4. Yes I know I need a higher accuracy meter. Though if itās a high 4 I know itās too wet. They have responded best when I had them growing in a 3 average moisture level. I have her a drench and just let the soil drain out recklessly. I watered very fast. At lights off when Iām up Iāll check go see how much they have left in the soil. This managed to saturate the soil in her pot finally without dry patches from halfway down to the bottom.
Now on the note if plants and watering I almost never water my lemon balm. Itās growing out of control down on the ground there. I havenāt fed it any nutrients at all. Another thing Iāll have to Google, but it would seem as if theyāre nitrogen fixing. Theyāre pretty purple on the underside of the leaf too. I canāt find the pot beneath the leaves anymore I just kinda wing it when I water them. I feel like the leaves honestly are taking in the water through foliar, but Iām assuming the occasional runoff that reaches it must be helping it to stay hydrated.
Despite the attack Booberry is looking really good. Sheās starting to fade again, but she isnāt killing her leaves right away like before. Sheās become pretty gnarly looking, but after a trim sheāll be looking good again. Once I got her soil to hydrate properly sheās been drinking from the soil and not herself. My first hint that I didnāt give enough water was when I was giving them gradually larger amounts daily until after 4 days when the soil didnāt seem to dry to dirt after the water was taken up by the plants as noted each time with the moisture meter in multiple spots. The core is always reading around a 3.5 area. The edges dry out so fast that I had to go unorthodox to solve it. Though I definitely risked root rot on the 4th day with the drench after giving her sips of water twice a day until her soil didnāt dry out fully in 2-3 days again. It worked as planned and after no water since my last update about watering sheās still reading a 3 average.
All the water in the tray was sucked up by the pots and the soil is reading a 3 at the cord for Marauder too.
Now time will tell if Marauder will need more water again tomorrow
Plants are almost finished with flower. Marauder is still packing on weight and is a intense milky white all over. Extremely frosty. Whenever I look at her I think it might be PM, but I look close and the trichome heads are just massive LoL. She drinks her pot dry in a day or 2 once she needs water until I give her a drench. Should be a week if they go 8 weeks and if they go longer Booberry is likely getting harvested at that time anyways. Sheās packed on so much weight despite the mites. Iāve been spraying with soapy water at lights off and lights in only if I see them crawling on the tip of a bud. It only holds them back for a day or so, but itās helping me to keep from spraying with any chemicals and letting Booberry finish flowering. Sheās packed on so much density without the mites eating her to death. Very ugly looking though as she got some deficiency or something last second after she started plant death. All leaves are fading the exact same way no matter where on the plant. Seems she might be calcium or phosphorus deficient with the spotting, but worst case she has a lot of bud on her. I was considering harvesting her last week, but I didnāt get around to it and Iām glad I waited. Sheās gained extra height on some buds and sheās billed out others. Iām really excited for the harvest. Booberry has been making some really nice smells. She ended like Booberry cereal (I know I didnāt know at all when I named her), then cinnamon toast crunch 3 days ago, and today sheās an intense grapefruit and skunk.
Marauder smells like cinnamon, citrus, skunk, and pine. Iāve noticed sheās not being touched by the mites. I donāt know if thatās a trait of Marauder, but if others noticed the same thing thatās really cool that it might be mite resistant
Sorry no pictures. Itās lights off.
I went in to spray again and thought I may as well add some blurry lights off pics. Hey at least show some progress, but my camera is failing fast. Wish I could get better quality, but below 16mp itās always blurry anyways.
Theyāre both looking near the end finally. Marauder is getting some more trichomes for the most part, but she bulked up a tiny amount yesterday. Booberry on the other hand looks near death and yet isnāt IDK. Iāll likely harvest her soon, but I was seeing more clear heads on her buds. She had a decent bulk up where she started making some buds about twice as tall. The ones that I noticed get bigger noticably werenāt huge, but easily went from about a mini Bic to a normal Bic a few of her branches have 12" of bud on themā:grimacing: Iām trying my hardest to keep her from drying out during this attack. If it doesnāt get better itāll be better to emergency harvest at this point though.
Booberry has been harvested. About half is going to edibles as the mites nested on the base core of some buds. I thought it was mold at first and then I didnāt see any spores and saw webs instead. I disassembled the buds to be safe.
Iām a little sad I canāt smoke that much bud, but Iām the other hand having a smoke free option is good right now.
If she decides to stay alive and grow again thatāll be interesting for sure.
Marauder Iāll be giving a long dark period before I harvest her also. Might finally shut the grow down today and get everything clean for my next run.
Harvesting Marauder after 4 days of no light outside of the leaks when I would check on her. She got very frosty. She smells so strong Iām actually high from the smell of the terps. I can feel my cheekbones force a smile and I donāt usually. Itās really intense though and my sinuses are burning. I havenāt seen any balls or sacs but it would appear that Marauder went Hermie at one point and was throwing white pollen out. It would wash off and on the 2 branches that would get a white powder on the leaves I originally suspected PM, but without it spreading Iām going to assume the micro seeds I found on Booberry cane from the white pollen on Marauder. My next grow Iām going to be outside. Wait for that. Iāll be starting it inside once I clean up the house.