I’m in Europe. I had never heard of Russet mites, and when I learned about them it read they’ve been around worldwide since the 70’s but their presence has been few and far between. Their booming periods almost always happen in area’s that have a lot of grows per area or large swatchs of cannabis land, like in India where IIRC they were first described around the 60’s. Anyway, when I read about them, I got them about a month later. But when I realized I had them, I came to thinking and after a long battle with them that I eventually won (though not before it cost me 2 rounds and almost completely shutting down) I realized that the moment I was reading about them first time, I probably already had them 2 weeks.
They say if a friend of yours tells you he has russet mites, you have russet mites.
I was growing indoors and my neighbor outdoors, and I knew there were some plantations indoors on several locations in my area. I switched my plants outdoors on sunny days. That’s what got me is my best guess.
They are one not to underestimate enemy that you never want to cross paths with.
I was so amazingly grateful to again be able to grow, but at the same time the paranoia for them to show up again was nervewrecking for the first 3 months after.
They are not known to frequent my area. Having had my battle with them, I will never take that win or the lessons learn for granted.
Interestingly enough, during the months I battled them, I also encountered a broad mite on a seedling. I am sure it was a broad mite and not a russet mite, as next to it was an egg and both the legs and the egg shape matched broad mites, not russet. The russet mites are even harder to see than the broad mites and most of what you do is futile.
Every method everyone posted seemed to fail one after the other.
I eventually overcame them by running an industrial space heater inside my small cabinet grow and completely toasting the plants and the space inside for hours (IIRC I had the industrial heater set to about 80°C) followed by a rigorous cleaning, and starting again in a separate cabin that had had the same treatment earlier. That’s after several sulphur fumigations, flying skull applications, flying skull and yucca foam dips, 60°C water dips and hot showers, bleach applications, ozone treatments, ozone and UV-C chamber treatments, NOTHING. They still came back no matter what.
Well until I literally made their life a living hell until they died. But I’m pretty sure the plants gave up way before they did.
That was the only time during my entire growing years that growing has ever made me cry in a bad way. I cried a few times more in relation to growing in a good way too though.
It even made me stay away from the other folks that grow that I otherwise regularly visited in those days, out of fear of spreading this shite to others. And rightfully so, these bastards travel around on clothing and even on gusts of wind.
That’s actually their mode of dispersal. When they have completely depleted the plant and maximized their population on one plant, they all collectively crawl to the top where they release themselves on the wind and then they glide over to the next plant, ready to start the cycle all over again; they can travel miles and miles like this.
I had nightmares of them, literally. Even after they were gone I’d have nightmares of them from time to time. Nowadays I just get a bit anxious thinking about it too much like now. That’s my cue. I gotta read something different 
IMO
never did anything for me
