General Debris vs Mites Help


My uneducated eyes are not sure- is this debris from the air or is it mites? I have no magnification beyond 2x, so here’s my iPhone’s 10x digital zoom. About as good as I could get it.

If it’s infested it’s very small. I have noted it for over a month, but never does it worsen or produce black spots under the leaves.

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Really hard to tell from the pics. Do they move? :thinking:

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Nope. If I move them they do though. IE- rubbed between my fingers or given enough water.

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The pics are inconclusive, but spider mites are super easy to diagnose. They reliably form a pattern of small white bite marks on the top of affected leaves that are hard to miss or misdiagnose.

Just spray IPM as a general practice, weekly, on the same day of the week either right after lights go out or with the lights turned off / dimmed to absolute lowest setting. Also deleaf and keep the surface of your growing media clear of debris so the little buggers have less place to hide. Do both religiously, and spray IPM on all plants, tops and bottoms of all leaves until they drip, that are 3 nodes tall or rooted clones, and do it into the 2nd week after flip. Get into the habit now and do it for the rest of your growing career. That’s the best way to avoid any issues.

Also, what’s going on with the general health of those plants?

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The plants are happy and fairly healthy, week 2 of flower.


That’s the most effected and the most virile plant.

Was thinking on getting some predatory bugs, or Spinosad. Not super sure on the pros vs cons.

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To elaborate a little more in the plant health, It’s showing yellowing but not much else. Bottom leaves are the most effected.

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I’d recommend a basic regimen of organic IPM you make yourself since it’s so much cheaper and helps with the general immune system of your plants. I’ve posted a basic recipe elsewhere on this site.

I wouldn’t use Spinosad unless you see something specific that warrants it - such as a large presence of thrips or aphids. Things like that should have a targeted rather than general use IMHO.

Instead, use a general IPM with several organic plant oils, neem/karanja, rosemary, peppermint, lavender, thyme oils emulsified with Dr. Bronner’s castille soap inside your spray bottle. They are extra effective in an organic environment, when used weekly and as prescribed. More is not better with the application rates, FYI.

As for your plants’ yellowing down low, I don’t know if you’re in 5 or 7gal and whether or not you’re organic, but general plant health does have a lot to do with their ability to fight off pests.

As an aside, that plant in the pic looks male, but it’s hard to say with the color and clarity.

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This closeup is a few days old, but that same plant. I’ve been wondering; it looks female from what I could tell, but it’s noticeably different than the others.

These are 3 gallon, soon to be 5. Organic except the addition of NON organic banana peel which I regret.

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Again the pics are blurry on the important parts, but I’m pretty sure that’s a male. Take him out and get a pic in regular light with good focus on the flowers. From the previous pics you can zoom and see what appear to be some rather large bananas and clusters. Males are structurally really obvious - no hairs, just sacks and individual bananas.

Good deal on the organics. Religiously use the organic IPM recipe and you’ll be golden.

As for transplanting, it’s probably too late to make much positive difference. Unless you’re very careful and gentle you may end up stressing the plants and negatively impact them. I’d recommend just topdressing some organic amendments and scratching it into the top 2" of soil.

If you are dead set on transplanting this late into flower, I’d go bigger than 5gal, personally, just because it’s easier to fill a larger container and fit a plant in it without disturbing the roots. Are you familiar with the technique for transplanting that uses a pot the same size as you’re transplanting from to create a mold around which you pack the dirt in the larger container? This allows you to drop in the existing rootball, then backfill and topfill around it without any stress to the root mass. There will still be some stress, but it won’t be as bad.

This technique is much easier if you transplant from plastic pots and not fabric pots. Fabric pots are a pain in the ass to transplant out of, which is why I only use them as the final pot size.

Also, as a general rule in organics, I think you want the plants in their final containers about 2 weeks before flip for maximum benefit. But fact check me on that because, as should be obvious, I’m a total nube.

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I was kinda sure it was a male, but no one called it out yet on my grow log- but that’s blurry not so close ups in HPS. Will get pictures in better light later today but my shaky hand can only get so steady. (Damn, why did I sell off my DSLR again?)

Transplanting is only happening once in the future, lol, I found out those problems you mention.

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I think i see a bunch of male clusters and a few pairs of pistols. Like @nube has said those pictures are not very confirmative but i think you have a plant showing intersex with a lot of male flowers. Your gonna wanna get what plants are female fed some food. Yellowing out like that 2 weeks into flower is not good.

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Any better?

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Yep, thanks, much better. Straight male. No question, no herms, just a dude. Make note of his structure and all that - he’s textbook male. Chop him soon or he’ll pollinate the room.

That clarity from broader spectrum light is one of the big benefits of growing under white LEDs and specifically high CRI light. It really helps diagnose issues for the human and the camera. I don’t see any evidence of a mite problem.

Also, regarding the health, the plants are definitely too big for their britches and maybe have dried out too much. You need to keep organic soil a little moist all the time. If they dry out, you’ll see that premature yellowing. You can stretch organic soil amendments much farther in moist soil than soil which goes through dry/wet cycles.

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Hopefully moving forward I won’t have any of these problems now at least, I’ve seen these all coming well in advance I just didn’t know it.

I’ll get them some compost this weekend, as well as starting the IPM recipe you posted. Hopefully that’ll sort them. Many thanks friends.

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I agree fortunately no mites around, seems there is a Manganese deficiency instead … :sunglasses:

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