jcdws602
Well-Known Member
Spider mites are a mother fuker to get rid of once they've established a foothold & it sounds like your mites are running buck wild.
You cant pussy foot around trying to use enviro friendly sprays once a colony is established,even shutting your room down & removing all plants for 6 months wont kill them off, the bastards hibernate.
I use the 3 prong attack if i get mites ,i spray everything with Azomax , then use another brand chemical based insecticide containing Pythrenes , its important to use different chemical compounds because if your infestation is heavy the mites will build a tollerance to the single compound , i use the 1st 2 insecticides 3 to 4 days apart for the 1st half of bud phase.
Then just when the little fucks are building a tollerance to the chems i switch to an organic pesticide durring the last half of bud phase,the organic mite spray i use is called "Captain Jacks" & its chemical make up is from something called "Spinosaid".
The organic spinosaid in capt jacks can be used right up to the last days of bud without poisining yourself,spinosaid is made from a fungus/mold that was found in an ancient rum distillery on an island & proved to be a fantastic natural pesticide.
If you really want to get rid of them its gonna take some work & multiple chemical pesticides,use Azomax to start then use another different chemical based insecticide a few days later,repeat going back n forth between the 2 differet chemicals every few days till 4 weeks left on bud,then switch over to Capt Jacks & use it every 5 days which will give them 6 organic treatments.
Neem oil is not for people with heavy infestations & will only slow them down, ive found Neem oil to be on par with Palmolive dishsoap & not strong enough,others will surely dissagree & say chemical pesticides are bad & they are correct , but if used only within the 1st month only it will be inert at harvest.
Aside from Azomax there are several other high potency insecticedes you can use with Azomax & Capt Jacks , ive found home depot , lowes & menards to have much better insecticides over grow shops who normally carry weak ingredients best suited for small outbreaks caught quickly.
You'll want to buy a handheld sprayer that sprays upside down , the most important areas to spray are the underside of leaves,remove any leaves that are within an inch or so above the soil or hydro medium,scarify the top 1inch of the soil everyday.
If possible paint everything in sight , walls,floors,ceilings ect & if carpet steam clean , when the lights are off take all ballasts , hoods , filters & fans outdoors & safely take them apart & dust with dry paint brush to knock out any little bastards hiding in the lights , chances are there will be mites within your equipment.
Getting rid of mites permanantly requires alot of work , if you just do a little here & there you'll have mites 5 yrs from now & ladybugs wont touch an infestation,once your grow is harvested clean & paint everything then throw a few hundred ladybugs on your next grow & they can eat 50 mites each every day,once you see all your ladybugs dead its a good sign you got most of them,keep a watchfull eye out for the next few grows.
Good luck.
Not to say your approach is wrong but for you to say that you can't eradicate a full on infestation with "enviro friendly sprays" is wrong and is obvious you haven't tried lavender oil.
I keep on preaching about it's ability to kill mites,eggs and protect against mold while being inexpensive and safe compared to all those pesticides you mentioned,and you can use it at any stage of a plants life.I have taken out full infestations in 3 weeks spraying every 2 days.After that just spray preventatives once maybe twice a week.
Lavender oil is not like neem oil,it actually kills mites and eggs not mess with their hormones.
Try it,you wont regret it.