Thread: HELP! I have spider mites!

Please help everyone, I noticed my girls were wilting a little and i looked down and the soil was MOVING, i looked closer and found spider mites!

I don't know what to do.. I sprayed them (and soil) with EcoSmart Insecticide Organic & Natural Home Pest Control Products by EcoSMART

Says it is all natural and contains
Peppermint Oil 2%
Cinnamon Oil 1%
Sesame Oil 1%
Other Ingredients 96%
(Water, Winder Green oil, Isopropanol, canola oil, lecthin, carbon dioxide)

I woke up this morn and look and I didn't see anything in the soil but my plants are pretty much dead.. i disturbed the soil and it came alive again..

My plants are 5 weeks into flower and I think I may lose it all

please help!

Well, from what you described it doesn't sound at all like spider mites. Although I've heard that spider mites get on your soil, I doubt you could really see them down there.

I'm just fighting through a bout of spider mites now. Here's a pic of what damage they do to the plant leaves.

As you can see, they make tiny holes in the leaf tissues and suck out all the filling, leaving a tiny spot. Spider mites eat the leaves SAP. They will starve in the dirt. Not only hard to see because they are so small, walking across your soil is like hiking sand dunes for these tiny vampires.

I think you have something else!

Good luck

Hmm... Then I wonder what it is,
All the lower leaves are yellow, the flowers are wilting..

I don't see anything on the plant (wish I could take a picture of the mite or what ever it is)

Guess I will go and try to get some soap? will what I described kill what ever is in there, maybe it just will take a while?
Should I spray the Soil and then flush the soil to get the insecticide all in the soil?

Thank you for the reply!

You can do a foliar spray of Neem oil and water on the bottom of the leaves. Look for those little dots on the leaves in that picture (which is very good by the way). You can also use Neem in the water for the soil. It is not toxic to humans.

Neem covers more than spider mites. You could have multiple issues going on too.

Originally Posted by Vancefish

Well, from what you described it doesn't sound at all like spider mites. Although I've heard that spider mites get on your soil, I doubt you could really see them down there.

I'm just fighting through a bout of spider mites now. Here's a pic of what damage they do to the plant leaves.

As you can see, they make tiny holes in the leaf tissues and suck out all the filling, leaving a tiny spot. Spider mites eat the leaves SAP. They will starve in the dirt. Not only hard to see because they are so small, walking across your soil is like hiking sand dunes for these tiny vampires.

I think you have something else!

Good luck

I agree with Vancefish....it's not spider mites. It could be flying gnats....they will lay in the surface of the soil. Are there little bugs flying around your grow space? dead bugs in your light? It would also be helpful if we could see pics of your plants to help examine it better. I hope it's not too late for you babies....you've come so far! good luck!

• best things to use during flowering...just set one or 2 depending on infestation and size of room in front of your fan that circulates air and your pests will be gone.
• important thing is to break the cycle of bugs laying eggs and killing them so they do not lay more eggs
• the only pests that it does not kill is fungus gnats...that come from overwatering your soil
• mark your calendar and change them every 4 months

Thank you all for the replies.. I do have lots of little gnat flight flying around but I have controlled that pretty good with Pest tape strips hanging from the ceiling.. these are little multi legged (i cant count cause they are so damn small but they are while little mite type things)

I will take some pics once I find my camera (i think my girlfriend placed it somewhere in the house I cant fine )

I am going by the depot after work to get some no pest trips and try that..

I dont have any holes in my leaves, they just turned yellowish and curled (and this is nearly over night, probably 10x worse this morn then last night)

only one plant survived unscathed so I moved Her out to another area and I am keeping all my seedlings on the other side of the room

Thank you all Pics comming soon (its pretty depressing though since only the tops survived.. )

I started having the tell tale signs of spider mites and, without checking here first, started to spray them 2 days straight with water. Brought plants to near death, the leaves would come apart in my hand if i disturbed them, but no more spider mites or damage since then.

Ok, I got a picture of the little fuckers...

(amazing how good of a pic my Camera takes though a magnifying lens!)

I also attached two pics of the (remaining tops ) of my baby girls.....


I probably have a lot wrong with these guys.. but the curling etc is from these bugs I am sure!

Also from this pictures, how long do you guys think till harvest (if it isn't a loss)?

Thanks again!

during veg i spray my plants once a week with a neem oil and Dutchmaster penetrator mix and it also helps keep any critters from hanging around my plants!

do not overuse the DM penetrator mix about 1/3 strength and to attack pests with it you can spray it about every 3rd or 4th day with straight water mist in between neem/DMP applications

Guess I need to find out where I can get some Neem and quick!! My local shop doesn't have any

I also went to get some of the hotshot strips, and read the back, it was kinda scary (seemed toxic) they said only put it in a house that you wont be in for 4 months! so I didn't get any cause I don't want to smoke something had might have that in it... thoughts?

Most def spidermites - HOT SHOT PEST CONTROL STRIPS.

Not the ones in the orange packaging, get the ones in the blue packaging, much more effective. I have TWO in my tiny closet and NOTHING but plants are alive. Any bug that does get in there is dead within 24 hours (flies, moths, aphids, etc.)

Home Depot, Lowes, most any hardware store has them. I think you can also find the Dr. Doom strips, same stuff, at hydro shops - just ask for dichlorvos strips.

Well that is one FABULOUS pic!

You can nearly see the Chlorophyll on it's lips.

However those are mites.

I went to town on mine three weeks ago. It was ALL OUT WAR!

First I rinsed them in cool water holding the pot sideways over the tub. Making sure to hit ever leaf top and bottom with water, And turning the pot to expose more areas as leaves fell to the sides.

Then after an hour I did this again, but used an organic soap (I read a couple drops of Ivory dish soap works). We diluted the soap in a spray bottle full of water, and soaked all surfaces of each plant, then rinsed it off again.

THEN, I sealed them in a nearly air tight room with 3 lbs of dry ice in a bucket (gassing the room with mass CO2).

THEN2, I hung a hotshots (yep the four month one), in the room and sealed it up.

Then3, I upped the humidity to 60% and soaked the plants in neem solution.

I cleaned my house up one end and down the other!

Then, a week later... There's one,... DAMMIT!

ROUND 2:.... same as round one.

Now week 3 of flower and not a sign, except that leaf I took the pic of.

Good luck

for 14.95 you can order ladybugs online from the home depot. one ladybug will eat up to 80 of those little buggers a day. I used lady bugs in the past and mites were gone in a day or two. plus 100% natural. I am not much for spraying anything on somthing i am gonna pertake of...

Originally Posted by batlin

Guess I need to find out where I can get some Neem and quick!! My local shop doesn't have any

I also went to get some of the hotshot strips, and read the back, it was kinda scary (seemed toxic) they said only put it in a house that you wont be in for 4 months! so I didn't get any cause I don't want to smoke something had might have that in it... thoughts?

dichlorvos does not get in your plant nor does plants absorb any...it only affects small insects...i found a black widow in my room and i killed it after watching it hang out under my trays and it did not die until i gave it the black flag spray of death...the horror writing on the back is in case some idiot wants to use the strips for a breath mint

Originally Posted by stra8outtaWeed

dichlorvos does not get in your plant nor does plants absorb any...it only affects small insects...i found a black widow in my room and i killed it after watching it hang out under my trays and it did not die until i gave it the black flag spray of death...the horror writing on the back is in case some idiot wants to use the strips for a breath mint

very good point about the horror writing on the back!

I'm still not convinced they are spider mites.....you said earlier that you had noticed bugs moving around in the soil. Do you see these insects flying at all? Also, it seems those plants are not doing so well, and I don't think it's just the insect problem. They seem to have nute burn pretty bad. And they dont look anywhere near harvesting. I'd estimate another 4-5 weeks if they can make it! Sorry! I'll check back to see how you progress....good luck to you!

Yea, they are not doing so hot, worse today.. I did a flush of the soil yesterday as well as used some organic insecticide and flushed it through, I went to my local shop and they didn't have Neem or Soap (all out) so i need to wait on that.

I have not seen any of these guys on the leaf or stem or anywhere on the actual plan, they are only in the dirt. (and crawling on the pot) They seem to stay in the dirt until light turns on then they come out and play (it takes a bit once the lights come on to actually see them moving.. but when they do its like a freaken' swarm!

Since I couldn't find any Neem or soap I just got a hotshot strip, put it in front my box fan and pointed it at the girls.. I have my best girl in a Rubbermaid tub and she started showing signs today of the little fuckers.. so she is isolated in the tub and the others are all in the closet.. I have some seedlings in another Rubbermaid tub but I have removed them from the room.

The plants looked a whole hell of a lot better before this infestation, but I also might be feeding them too much kinda why I flushed so we will see..

at what point do I throw in the towel on these girls? get rid of them and clean everything? I have heard of putting dirt in the oven for a bit to make sure everything is dead, is that something to do?

If i do consider these girls a total loss, is it usable or just throw away?

thanks all, again this is my first grow (i really didn't think I would succeed) so thank you all for the advice and help with this issue!

-B

I'm really sorry....but it's your first time....it's all a learning process.

Do you have pics of the whole plant so we can give a better diagnosis on whether or not you should bother trying to save it?

Don't be discouraged....there is a lot to learn with growing....you seem to have the desire, you will succeed!

Originally Posted by khyberkitsune

Most def spidermites - HOT SHOT PEST CONTROL STRIPS.

Not the ones in the orange packaging, get the ones in the blue packaging, much more effective. I have TWO in my tiny closet and NOTHING but plants are alive. Any bug that does get in there is dead within 24 hours (flies, moths, aphids, etc.)

Home Depot, Lowes, most any hardware store has them. I think you can also find the Dr. Doom strips, same stuff, at hydro shops - just ask for dichlorvos strips.

Thanks for being descriptive....very helpful! Also, without jacking this thread....i wanted to say that your pic you posted on "Big Grow Expertise" (which was closed) is amazing! i must have stared at that picture for 5 straight minutes! Great job man!!!

sounds like you have fungus gnats...the only thing i found that works on them is azatrol...it is the active ingredient in neem and is concentrated but it will take 3 -4 weeks of using this to break the breeding cycle....the azatrol makes the new hatchlings sterile so they cannot reproduce but it is important to keep the regim up until they are gone.....overwatering is usually the cause of infestation...they do not do as well in soil the gets dried out a little...my suggestion is during veg don't water until you see a little droop in the plants and with the combination of the 2...lesss water and azatrol that is about the only way i know to get rid of those pesky little shits

Originally Posted by stra8outtaWeed

sounds like you have fungus gnats...the only thing i found that works on them is azatrol...it is the active ingredient in neem and is concentrated but it will take 3 -4 weeks of using this to break the breeding cycle....the azatrol makes the new hatchlings sterile so they cannot reproduce but it is important to keep the regim up until they are gone.....overwatering is usually the cause of infestation...they do not do as well in soil the gets dried out a little...my suggestion is during veg don't water until you see a little droop in the plants and with the combination of the 2...lesss water and azatrol that is about the only way i know to get rid of those pesky little shits

Yes, you are correct I do have fungus Gnats, I looked up what the flys were that use to be flying around and thats what they are... but they seem to be gone now.. and I just have these creepy crawlies...

I am attaching pics of my best plant.. (It is VERY stretched but that is due to my initial setup that had VERY little light, but the top has really done well since I put it in my rubbermaid box. I also took a picture of one of the lower leaves.. the upper leaves are all green and good...

I repotted and sprayed the roots with Neem to solve the same problem. Keep the plants off a cold floor too.

So it sound like you have gnats AND mites! Bummer

So you've got a good handle on how to kill the mites. However I'd still suggest washing them over the bath tub. Just tilt the plant to the side and rinse every leaf top and bottom. Turn the pot as you go to expose more areas covered by other leaves. You don't need a plant store bought soap either. Just any mild organic soap like Ivory(this still has some Chemical scent). using a spray bottle put a few drop of soap in and fill it with water. then rinse off all the bugs.

Unfortunately the gnats that are flying around are nothing but breeders. Their damaging effect left with the last molt into flies.

It's the ones in the soil to worry about. First, let the soil dry out a bit. These maggots like moisture. Try to water just enough to keep the plant healthy. Since these little vampires like to burrow in, not all air born poisons would kill them.

BUT, I read a thread a while back. It mentioned something about the maggots needing oxygen to survive. Some people have had luck with a layer of sand on top of the soil to block oxygen from reaching the soil for a few hours. then dumping the sand off, after the maggots suffocate.

Still do all you can to kill the flying breeders and the mites.

Good luck to you.

Well, I had to sacrifice 5 of my babys last night... They I touched one of them and all the leaves fell off.. I think this was mainly due to no experience and my first time so I am not too heart broken.. Learned a lot and have already got some babies growing, check out my grow log.. I do have 3 plants lets 2 of which look pretty sad and one that is doing ok.. so lets hope..
I finally got some neem oil and used that.. so I think they are on their way back to health

Bat's 2nd Grow, 1st Log

Again thank you all for the help!
Bats

These look like root aphids. They look like spider mites in the beg stages but are by far bigger than ANY spider mite I have ever seen. They are dark brown even black at first then the color lightens as they mature. Alot will grow wings and look like a fungus gnat but they are not the same thing. Like you said they crawl in the soil & come out of the bottom of the buckets and will gather by the thousands in your tubs but never seem to actually get on your plants or stems until they mature and start flying. Azatrol will work. 1 oz per gallon of water and use as a drench. No need to spray or mist the plant because they are not on the leaves. hope this helps. They came or migrated from Northern CA about a year ago. Prior to that nobody had ever seen them & alot of local hydro shops still have never seen them so they will be quick to say they are mites. Adult mites are very very small and hard to see without a micro scope. these look like over sized fleas at first then you say to yourself thats a spider mite. but spider mites are not that big and they don't grow wings.