Return of the mites

My soil is full of predator mites. They like grains. I use mostly natural food grade stuff to feed the soil mites and earthworms. Soldier flies, palmetto bugs, other crawlies leaves insect frass, chitin. Looked these creatures up and left them alone. They pay their rent

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You can get free soil mites from alfalfa hay. The seeds will grow in your plants and provide nutrients and aeration.

Kale has alfalfa growing in the pot. No problems so I will add to other backyard containers.

ETA: soil mites in bags of hay at feed stores like Tractor Supply. Get small bag gives mulch, mites and seeds.

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Sounds like you have a balanced ecosystem, I wouldn’t do a thing to change it.

Indoors, without the natural predators, mites can get out of control. Clearly outdoors you have predators, including you squishing them.

:+1::seedling:

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Mites die indoors if no food. I feed them sprouted seed tea, grains etc. I noticed they die if I don’t feed the soil after plants are harvested. I also water harvested pots with LABS to keep soil from drying before recycled or new plant inserted. Mites may be moving to next pot with food; have to watch to verify. They are not on furniture clothing countertops etc. Didn’t consider infestation. Use hospital disinfectant to clean because of artificial kidney machine. Alcavis smells like fancy bleach. Might be helpful for preventing infestation.

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@ReikoX

I plant basil oregano marigold as companions for vegetables outdoors. I will add mint and nasturtium this year. Last year there were no mosquitoes. Still learning how to help balance things. Only the okra had aphids because no companions.

Learning types of flying predators. Lots of wasps hoverflies… they come to drink water … I sugar coat the hornworms

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KOH Crystals , canola oil, and RO water. Doesn’t get much simpler then that once ya get the lb of KHO out of the way you should be smooth sailing haven’t even made hardly a dent in my supply been using same batch for over two years now best thing Iv made IMO from that book

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Thanks for down sizing the recipe George, the book’s is more industrial scale. Do you use the electric drill for the mixing?

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I managed to get some KOH coming down in the next few weeks with a friend from the states. Looking forward to testing it out. How late in to flower have you tested it?

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Hi Ian, I want to test your weed, must be very potent :grin:, I just pointed you out where was @Tinytuttle 's recipe you were looking for, I don’t go farther than preparing a milkshake … beer3|nullxnull

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Waaagwaan haha I see now, I’m a rookie at computer type tiiings

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Big ups @Tinytuttle

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And I feel like a miserable by laughing at it, but you look to me as a good man and I know you will be benevolent while judging me … beer3|nullxnull

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All the way to flower, It will break down in 7 days or so or can be rinsed off in the bud washing if there’s any there Remaining .

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Yes an electric drill with a paint stirrer on it gets it mixed in about 10 minutes to the Mayo consistently.

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Wish I had access to some right now need to wait a few months need to get through this last couple snow months first I guess!

Well maybe I’ll start an indoor plant of this come spring may need to check and see if there’s any negative side effects when it comes to house kitties mine like to nibble on things from time to time!

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I can’t find comfrey here in the tropics but I do have a lot of moringa on my property which is amazing for human health but I’ve also been using it to make inputs for the garden. FPJ’s, vinegars etc but the one product I made which is having the fastest plant response and seems to be a super nute is what I call ‘Bio Nutes’

I take: 500ml of LAB, 500ml of organic molasses and mix it with dechlorinated water(5gl) in a 5 gallon bucket with a lid on and leave that in a cool dark place for 1 to 2 months and that’s your base “EM” mother.
I then fill another bucket with moringa leaves(picked at sunrise for the microbial activity in the dew) and flower pods(you could use comfrey or cannabis leaves) Then fill with finished EM and place a large rock on top to keep all the organic matter submerged. Again lid on in a cool dark place and in 3 weeks strain and you’ll have some serious ‘bio nutes’ full of minerals and macro & micronutrients. Use at a ratio of 1:500 to 1:1000.
And that way you’ll have fermented comfrey all through the winter :v:t4:

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I am growing outdoors in the jungle in Central America and I am coming to accept the fact that good and bad insects as daily visitors is normal and I usually have a pretty balanced little system with predatory guys cleaning up for me but recently I had a slight calcium toxicity issues with a few plants(maybe 6 out of 20) and since then the pest pressure on those with damaged leaves has been heavy. It’s been easy to control the amount of mites up to today when I found a new pest I’ve never seen. Under the scope they mostly look like black shiny eggs and hard to tell if they are moving, I did also find a few bigger grey kind of hexagon shaped things that were definitely moving. Touch wood I’ve never had aphids but I think these are black Aphids. Please help :skull_and_crossbones:

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Sorry guys I’m new to OG… my new topic just got merged over here so I apologize if it reads weird mid post :v:t4:

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Yeap, they look like black aphids:

Captura Captura

I think what’s good against the green ones will also work with these: neem oil, insecticidal soaps, and horticultural oils, try defoliating the worst leaves if you can … beer3|nullxnull

P. D. : Don’t worry about the mods, they are like good referees in soccer, you never notice them, appreciate their silent work … Arriba|nullxnull

You can change the thread title to “Bug problems in the jungle” frech|nullxnull

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