How long does spider mite damage last?

guy incognito

Well-Known Member
I noticed I had spider mites several weeks ago and bought azatrol to get rid of them. I sprayed them several times and I think it worked. I still see eggs on the bottom of the leaves, but I cant find any mites. However the plants still look like they have mite damage and they are losing leaves faster than they are growing them. Should the plants health reverse as soon as the mites are gone, or does it continue on for some time after the infestation is gone? Or do I have a separate problem?
 

Serapis

Well-Known Member
We'd love to offer help, but we need more information. Also pictures speak volumes. If you still see eggs, you very likely have mites still. can you also tell us how you are growing, what you are feeding, how often, what is your PH, what type of lights, etc.
 

SIR SMOKER

New Member
I noticed I had spider mites several weeks ago and bought azatrol to get rid of them. I sprayed them several times and I think it worked. I still see eggs on the bottom of the leaves, but I cant find any mites. However the plants still look like they have mite damage and they are losing leaves faster than they are growing them. Should the plants health reverse as soon as the mites are gone, or does it continue on for some time after the infestation is gone? Or do I have a separate problem?
A mite infestation will destroy your whole crop and the effects/damage can NOT be reversed.
 

Weedoozie

Well-Known Member
This is very true as the eggs are waiting to hatch.
SS.
Yup, and those eggs are durable little bastards. They can hibernate for a while and tolerate as well as survive harsh weather conditions until the right environmental conditions are present. I recommend using canola/horticultural oil mixed into foliar spraying water which you spray onto the tops and bottoms of every single leaf/stem/area on the soil where the eggs may be as it smothers the eggs. This was the only way I prevented my spider mites from returning.
 

Serapis

Well-Known Member
You could also introduce a humidifier and get the humidity up to about 80% to cause them to slpode....
 

BluffinCali

Well-Known Member
Dude I just lost a cycle due to spider mites and if theres eggs then there are mites, nevermind the fact that those eggs will be hatching and there will be thousands more. What ever you do dont stop treating your plants, wipe down underneatrh the leaves, I even used a shop vac to suck up webbing, mites, eggs and anything else that was there. They are tough, durable little bastards that dont go easily, Ive beat them before but they kicked my ass this last time and I caught them early when only one plant out of 24 was infected and I ended up losing 18 plants that to the naked eye didnt look all that bad, not good, but it looked half way smokeable, under the microscope there were tons of dead and live mites, just white looking shit everywhere, its a different story on the microscopic level. Thats why alot of good dispensaries will thoroughly test samples from weed they buy to look for bugs or traces of mold/mildew, in order to protect their patients. Youd be surprised when you had some of the best lookng chronic in your hand and went and looked at it under 100x magnification to see all nasty shit chilling there waiting for you to smoke it up...check it out sometime and you "mite" be surprised
 

Serapis

Well-Known Member
That will never beat a mite infestation.
I've never tried it yet because I use Hot Shot No Pest strips and don't have bugs, however, according to the Marijuana Garden Saver Handbook for Healthy Plants, on page 71, high humidity kills spider mites because they absorb it and explode. The book lists other ways as well with chemicals but if you do get an infestation, it surely wouldn't hurt to use high humidity with Safer Soap. Now if you tell me that personally have tried this, I'll accept that and never recommend it again. But in the meantime, in veg growth, I recommend that if you have a humidifier, use it and try safer soap of Fungicide 3 with miticide in it. Azmax and Floramite work as well.
 

SIR SMOKER

New Member
I've never tried it yet because I use Hot Shot No Pest strips and don't have bugs, however, according to the Marijuana Garden Saver Handbook for Healthy Plants, on page 71, high humidity kills spider mites because they absorb it and explode. The book lists other ways as well with chemicals but if you do get an infestation, it surely wouldn't hurt to use high humidity with Safer Soap. Now if you tell me that personally have tried this, I'll accept that and never recommend it again. But in the meantime, in veg growth, I recommend that if you have a humidifier, use it and try safer soap of Fungicide 3 with miticide in it. Azmax and Floramite work as well.
Whatever you say. Just leave me ALONE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You are just like a spider mite following me around.
I think you are a little weird and you scare me.
 

guy incognito

Well-Known Member
more info:

bagseed, soil grow, cfl veg, 400 watt hps flower. I posted pictures in another thread and didnt feel they were necessary here (because ive already identified the problem, just need to know how long the after effects will last).

If you still see eggs then the mites are not gone...
I don't know if that really follows. The eggs were there before I started treatment. So how do I know if I still have active mites or if all the eggs are residual? I will continue treating every few days to get all the mites that have not yet hatched.

How long will the damage last though? SS says the effects cannot be reversed...but i'm getting browning/drying of leaves still. I know this late into flowering they probably will not regrow all the leaves they lost and look normal...but should they still be accumulating damage AFTER the mites are dead? and for how long? I'm not seeing any signs of mites other than leaf death, but im not seeing new speckles before the leaf dies (there is still speckling on a lot of my leaves from before).

So my question is: should the health of my plants continue to deteriorate AFTER the mites have been killed? Have they set off a chain reaction resulting in the death of a leaf some time after they suck its nutrients out? Or does this represent a rogue band of mites that are eluding detection? Or will I continue to have problems as residual eggs hatch-feed-die?

Note: since beginning treatment with azatrol I have spotted several DEAD mites. I assume they are dead because they do not move. When I poke them with a pen they do not respond. It looks as if they just died in place (im assuming they were dead and that is what one would expect to happen when the mites/plants get drenched in azatrol).
 
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