russet mites destroyed my outdoor garden

Just picked up a tray of clones and low and behold they have russets. I pretty much counted on this when deciding to get them but am still disapointed. I sprayed with a pyrethran neem oil mix right away and will keep them separate from everything else untill I can confirm all foreighn Invaders are dead. I will spray with sulfur tommorow , then start watering with sns 209 every watering for at least two weeks while spraying lightly every other day. I always check with a USB microscope and low and behold 1 out of 30 was horribly invested, it has been burned and thrown away in plastic zip lock. I saw one or two on the rest of them total but they will be getting querintined like they have ebola

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buds turned brown I harvested and dried some of it and sealed it up in a plastic container I opened the container after a week and bunch of little black or brown bugs came out I could see them without my glasses not sure if they are spider mites order a digital microscope I will post some pic when I get it .

russet mites

If you can see them with the naked eye, they are not russet mites. Russets are extremely small, you need magnification to see them

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got a digital microscope from amazon yesterday didn’t work at all goin to try clip on lens on my phone , from what I can see with a jewelers loupe it sure looks like mites.I would like to get a better look at these things before I nuke my property

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I would highly recommend identifying any pests before beginning treatment. If they ‘look like mites’ then they are probably not russet mites.

Russet mites - you might be able to see these faintly with the naked eye but would really need a loupe or microscope.

russet

These are broad mites, and you would need a microscope to see these at all.

broadmite

These are two spotted spider mite, you will be able to see these with the naked eye.

twospot

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Wettable sulfur and Aspirin worked for me,for indoor

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Sorry to hear you about this critters. I’m trying with entomopathogens this round, for the indoor plants and the backyard, after 12 hours my plants are looking healthier.

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got a different digital microscope today and took another look and they appear to be russets mites not in any hurry to nuke my yard ,I have dogs and grow veggies.will these things live on things other than cannabis ?

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If it’s tomato russets, there’s a good chance they will be able to live on other plants. I have done a fair amount of reading on russets, but I’ve never battled them personally, so I don’t want to steer you in the wrong direction. Here’s a couple of links that may help.

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I’m assuming you didn’t have any mites in your garden prior to this season. Before the season started , did you acquire any clones from friends or a dispensary ?

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good chance these are tomato russet lost 2 cherry tomato plants this year from damage consistent with the photos in the link you posted .the tomato plant weren’t from seed I bought them in march the russet mites could of been on them.I got 8 clones in June gave 2 to a freind his were ok my 6 got mites

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You are absolutely correct. I farm for a living and taking precautions before and after using chemicals is number one. I’ve known to many young farmers die of cancer from chemicals. Wear a mask and full clothing

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Definitely treat the area as good as you can. Ive seen a grow site left dormant for 2-3 years and as soon as cannabis showed back up so did the russets. They prefer and thrive on cannabis but will survive on a wide range of other plants so you really have to clean up all dead plant material and discard it. Spray the yard in the fall and spring, I recommend a product called take down , it’s a nice mix of pyrethrins and canola oil that really seems to do the trick without being incredibly toxic. Only problem is pyrethrins are incredibly toxic to bees so I avoid spraying it on any of my flowering plants that support the pollinators.
I’m in the process of treating some clones that had russets and after a week I can’t spot them anywhere and see some new healthy growth. I started watering with Sierra natural science 209 ( rosmaric acid as systemic pesticide)
I sprayed with safer brand end all ( pyrethrins) then safer brand 3 in one the next day ( sulphur based spray). Waited three days and sprayed with monteray brand take down. I spent a hour examining them with the scope tonight and can’t find one russet. This is not when you call it good though , it’s like antibiotics you have to take them for a few days after they have wiped it out just to be sure. 2 days after the last application of take down I’ll spray with Dawn dish soap and the sns 209 as a foliar. Then the day after that I , three days sense the last take down application i will spray with the take down again and then move to four day intervals with the take down. Watering every time with the sns 209, spraying 30 min after watering and when the lights are off.
I’m rather confident if you follow these steps and spray every single bit of the plant you can rid your self of these little mofos.
Take down mixed at 2% according to the directions
Safer brand comes ready to use unless you buy concentrate.
Sns 209 at 10ml a gallon instead of the recommended 8, because the plants don’t mind and fuck those mites.

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I saw russet mites and spotted mites with my digital microscope could I see broad mites with it

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I treated my infected plants with Diatomaceous earth dry or make a solution with water and ivory liquid soap . If there small potted plants its easy to turn upside down to treat the underside . Then doctor zymes eliminator after a couple of days spray again it worked for me . Gifted infected plants with mites then aphids I sprayed my whole garden several times with great results . No harmful residual chemicals :sunglasses: And no nasty after taste good right up till day of harvest

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I’ve had success with spraying water where possible, and using predatory mites, all outdoors though.

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Bonide orchard spray , and take down both work great, although be carefully if using both, sulfur and neem together can realy hurt plants.
I personally hit them with the orchard spray wait a day rinse them of realy good with a light dawn mix and then the following day use the take down. If you do this twice ,a week apart and get 100% coverage your bugs should all be dead.
Using the weaker mix with both.

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I’m always hesitant to use sulphur on plants that are to be smoked as sulphur oxides (formed during combustion/smoking of the product) are quite toxic.

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Yeah that’s why I only use sprays while in veg and make sure to rinse them off afterwords. Some if the products out there can be realy hazardous if used wrong.

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