1 problem, 3 questions. +rep for help

I have White Mites, I beleive they're Broad Mites after catching 1 & putting it under a microscope. I have 4,000 Lady Bugs in the room who keep their numbers down, and I treated twice. The first time last Fri with Mite X, then again last Wed with a Neem concentrate.

I was hoping that would be the end of them, but it doesn't seem so. I haven't seen any more adults yet, but there were a few leaves that looked like they might have Broad Mite damage so I pinched a couple of fingers and looked under a microscope.

I saw what appear to be eggs, but they're not oval like the entomology sites say they should be. They're round, but they are translucent like the entomology site says they should be. But the thing that's really bugging me is the fact that there are a lot more on top of the leaf than under the leaf.

First question.......

I just started UV treatments about 7 to 10 days ago and I'm still in veg. Is there any way that these little transluscent orbs are the precursers to Tricombes and not eggs?

Second question........ (actually, this is a double question)

I keep reading that the best treatment is to dip the plant in 110 to 120 degree water for 15 mins. Being that I have 7 plants each around 24" in 10 gallon containers, I'm guessing I'll need a 40 gallon barrel in order to do the dip. But how do I keep the water in that temp range for an hour & 45 minutes so I can dip all 7?

Also, what can I expect the soil to look like after the dip? Will it just take off the top layer leaving the root zone in tact?

Third Question...........

I recently read on an entomology site that petroleum oil kills mite eggs. Bonide makes one called All Seasons Horticultural Spray Oil. In your opinion, is this a better option to try than the hot water dip?

I really need to get these things taken care of so I can flower. I'd appreciate any help, and as always +rep for the help.

my first grow I got mites bad (they came from the clones that were given to me) but what worked good for me was 2 tsp dawn mixed with a gallon of water. sprayed at lights off every like 2-3 days for 2 weeks or so. make sure to get top and bottom of every leaf!

cleanliness is the best preventative. I bleach my entire grow room between every grow and I bomb my whole house twice a year.

Good luck!

Thanks, but I'm already a week behind, I should have flowered last Fri. And if I wait much longer I may not have the head room for my girls by the time I get them to harvest.

A hot water dip or a petroleum based product are my best bets right now. But I need some answers to decide which is the better of the two as far as odds that I'll be rid of them by next Fri.

I recently read into steaming those little bastards, and from the sounds of it, it works great.(as long as you're careful to not damage the plant) It was on this site that i read it, so hopefully a search will bring you to the thread which contains the info(it's somewhere on the first page of that thread. can't remember the title).

Also, I'm 95+% sure those are eggs, and not precursors to trichs. I've never seen them in veg, nor read of it, but as always I could be wrong.

jawbrodt said:

I recently read into steaming those little bastards, and from the sounds of it, it works great.(as long as you're careful to not damage the plant) It was on this site that i read it, so hopefully a search will bring you to the thread which contains the info(it's somewhere on the first page of that thread. can't remember the title).

Also, I'm 95+% sure those are eggs, and not precursors to trichs. I've never seen them in veg, nor read of it, but as always I could be wrong.

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Thanks for the help. I can't +rep you again till I +rep some more people first. sorry

I've heard about steaming but haven't seen any verifyable proof as of yet that it works.

Given that a hot water dip is a way to kill Broad Mites & their eggs, it might work. Then again it may not work on the eggs. If I'm gonna go that way I would rather do the hot water dip for 15 mins.

I looked at a healthy leaf on a plant with no signs of damage and I saw 1 of those orbs. So I guess they could be eggs. Especially since there was only 1 on the healthy leaf & dozens on the damaged leaf. Don't know why they're round or why they're on top of the leaf more than under it though. Doesn't make sense.

I still need opinions on petroleum oil vs hot water dip though.

And advice on keeping 40 gallons of water between 110 & 120 degrees for an hour & 45 minutes, or even for just 15 minutes.

hey danny sry to hear ur still havin probs wit those pests man. but yea wat ur seein is prbly li trichs,in vegetative state mj has very minute trichome developments. and also have u tryed pyrethrum yet? its organic and shoodnt harm ur ladybugs but im not sur cux i havent used any yet jus seen it online while doin some research myself. but also u can try tobacco tea which the nicotine in it is very toxic to lil fuckers like that

That's okay about the "+ rep", as I'm not even sure what that's all about.LOL I just thought I'd mention the steam method because it sounded alot easier than trying to warm up a giant barrel of water and dipping a whole plant. Also, like you said, you're not sure if it will kill the eggs. The steam will kill the eggs and the mites, on contact.

I'd wait and see what sort of advice you get on the dipping, before you make any decisions. But, while you're waiting, you might want to search for that thread describing the procedure and it's effectiveness. It sounded quite promising.

Best of luck with those things. I'm sooo gald I've been lucky so far and hadn't had to deal with them.

Thanks again.

The hot water dip came from an entomology site run by the FL Dept of Agriculture & the Univ of S FL Agriculture dept. so I'm pretty sure it's good info.

I'm just thinking that if I have to dip them in hot water for 15 minutes to make sure they're dead, then steaming them for a couple of seconds might not really be effective. Maybe it will help cut down their numbers, but I need to wipe them out asap.

The petroleum oil supposedly kills the eggs (info from the same entomology site), but I can do the hot water dips in a day if I can figure out how to keep the water hot. The petroleum oil treatments will take me to the end of the week. And like I said, I'm already over a week late getting them into flower.

The hot water dip is only recommended for Broad Mites by the way, not for all mites. (Just don't want to be the cause of bad info going around).

The reason why the steam works so well, is that the temp is alot higher, and kills them on contact. The temp if steam is over 200* F, and the mites don't stand a chance.

I don't even feel comfortable putting my girls in 110 degree water, no way I'm hitting them with 200 degree steam. Sounds too sketchy to me. I don't mean to harsh the info or the person you got it from. Just too risky.

I can understand that.


One more thing to consider.....if you have nice dense buds right now, you are running high risk of bud mold by drenching them like that. Make sure you hammer them with the fan/s when you are done dipping.


EDIT: Skip that, I just came from a thread where a guy was in the last weeks of bloom, and thought it was this thread.

go to a hydro store or order a reputable product online . 1. your plant would die in 120 degree weather outdoors so 120 degree water is ridiculous. you can remove them with a vacuum manually . you can also spray with neem oil while its still in veg . i havent had bug issues in over 6 grows . use a no pest strip they cost about $5-7 it will prevent bugs from the start. most importantly be patient. use proven methods not tricks or wierd cheapo techniques

jawbrodt said:

The reason why the steam works so well, is that the temp is alot higher, and kills them on contact. The temp if steam is over 200* F, and the mites don't stand a chance.

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And YES it does work if you do it correctly.
I got the technique from my parents, both of whom are nationally certified master gardeners. They grow ALOT of plants, flowers and such & some of their prize winning rose bushes got infested by mites. My parents are 100% organic gardeners, very smart so they used the best weapon against the mites... science. Mites and other rapidly breeding insects build up immunities to sprays, foggers and other chemicals very quickly. STEAM can be hotter than boiling water (water boils at 100 degrees c). Also it does not take a lot of steam to do the job right. The white mist that you see rising from the output of a steam source is actually water condensing back to liquid as it cools, so you have to use a steamer wand so you can get the hottest part of the steam to use.

Mites and other insects cannot build up immunity to extreme heat sources, such as boiling water or steam. Their fragile little bodies are easily destroyed by the steam as are the eggs. Also, the mites cannot fly away or jump, and they are sitting ducks.

I was going to make a YouTube video of my technique so people can see how to do this and STOP spraying crap on thier plants. As a caregiver, my patients only get the best buds raised the right way. For anyone out there- ask your pateints if they want petrol- based chemicals on their buds. I bet they say NO.

Found a place locally to get some of the concentrate for $10 (Bonide All Season Spray Oil), that has the petroleum oil base. If anyone's tried it and has done damage to their plants, please let me know. If not I'll report back after I've treated once or twice & tell everyone how it did on my Broad Mites.

rezo said:

go to a hydro store or order a reputable product online . 1. your plant would die in 120 degree weather outdoors so 120 degree water is ridiculous. you can remove them with a vacuum manually . you can also spray with neem oil while its still in veg . i havent had bug issues in over 6 grows . use a no pest strip they cost about $5-7 it will prevent bugs from the start. most importantly be patient. use proven methods not tricks or wierd cheapo techniques

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The hot water dip advice comes from an entomology site run by the FL State Dept of Agriculture & the Univ of S FL Agriculture Dept. http://entomology.ifas.ufl.edu/creatures/ I really wouldn't call anything from that site a trick or cheapo technique.

By vacuum I'm guessing you mean a keyboard vacuum. That actually sounds like a good idea, but if you miss one, then you still got mites.

I found the petroleum oil suggestion under spider mites on that entomology site. I assume it works on other mites too. The product just lists "mites" as a pest it works on as far as killing the eggs.

I used Neem Oil last treatment. Someone had told me it makes mites sterile. Judging by the ammount of eggs I saw on the damaged leaf I looked at, that's complete BS. But it did kill the adults.

So did the Mite X I used 5 days before that. And the lady bugs are keeping their numbers to a minimum but they wont finish them off (lady bugs wont kill off their food supply).

If this don't work I'm just gonna get Pirate Bugs or Mite Destroyers and put them into flower. I'll have to remove the lady bugs first, and that sounds like one big pain in the ass. But if that's what I gotta do, then that's what I gotta do.

I'd try the hot water dip if my plants were smaller, but with a 10 gallon planter and being 2' tall, I'll need a 30 or 40 gallon drum to dip them in, and I just can't figure out how to keep that much water at that temp for that long.

MacGuyver4.2.0 said:

And YES it does work if you do it correctly.
I got the technique from my parents, both of whom are nationally certified master gardeners. They grow ALOT of plants, flowers and such & some of their prize winning rose bushes got infested by mites. My parents are 100% organic gardeners, very smart so they used the best weapon against the mites... science. Mites and other rapidly breeding insects build up immunities to sprays, foggers and other chemicals very quickly. STEAM can be hotter than boiling water (water boils at 100 degrees c). Also it does not take a lot of steam to do the job right. The white mist that you see rising from the output of a steam source is actually water condensing back to liquid as it cools, so you have to use a steamer wand so you can get the hottest part of the steam to use.

Mites and other insects cannot build up immunity to extreme heat sources, such as boiling water or steam. Their fragile little bodies are easily destroyed by the steam as are the eggs. Also, the mites cannot fly away or jump, and they are sitting ducks.

I was going to make a YouTube video of my technique so people can see how to do this and STOP spraying crap on thier plants. As a caregiver, my patients only get the best buds raised the right way. For anyone out there- ask your pateints if they want petrol- based chemicals on their buds. I bet they say NO.

Click to expand...

Hey man, can't say we didn't try.

MacGuyver4.2.0 said:

And YES it does work if you do it correctly.
I got the technique from my parents, both of whom are nationally certified master gardeners. They grow ALOT of plants, flowers and such & some of their prize winning rose bushes got infested by mites. My parents are 100% organic gardeners, very smart so they used the best weapon against the mites... science. Mites and other rapidly breeding insects build up immunities to sprays, foggers and other chemicals very quickly. STEAM can be hotter than boiling water (water boils at 100 degrees c). Also it does not take a lot of steam to do the job right. The white mist that you see rising from the output of a steam source is actually water condensing back to liquid as it cools, so you have to use a steamer wand so you can get the hottest part of the steam to use.

Mites and other insects cannot build up immunity to extreme heat sources, such as boiling water or steam. Their fragile little bodies are easily destroyed by the steam as are the eggs. Also, the mites cannot fly away or jump, and they are sitting ducks.

I was going to make a YouTube video of my technique so people can see how to do this and STOP spraying crap on thier plants. As a caregiver, my patients only get the best buds raised the right way. For anyone out there- ask your pateints if they want petrol- based chemicals on their buds. I bet they say NO.

Click to expand...

Actually the boiling point of water depends on what altitude you're at. Therefore there can not be just 1 set boiling point for water or for any liquid.

If steam really works that well and is safe, then I'm sure I would have seen it on one of the entomology sites I've been cruising for the last couple of weeks. The FL Dept of Agriculture aren't exactly amatures. Unless I see a scientific study or I see it listed as a recommendation on a site run by a professional agency or college, there's just now way I'm taking that kind of chance.

Seriously, last week someone in here told me that regular sulfurated Black Strap Molasses had ingredients that they didn't list on the label. And 3 weeks ago someone tried telling me that perlite was made with asbestos. lol

Mites also can't build up an immunity to being suffocated, which is what oil based products do. Products like Mite X, Neem Oil, and All Seasons Spray Oil. Unlike the rest, the All Seasons is petroleum based which should give me the ability to kill the eggs. I'm guessing it wont kill all the eggs by what I read, but it will kill some or most which will help me wipe them out after a few treatments.

And it's not a petroleum based chemical. I did run across a petroleum based insecticide which I elected not to use. All Seasons is a petroleum based suffocant, which means it uses the oil to trap & suffocate the mites, and as an added bonus, it also provides an ovicidal effect, to quote that entomology web site.

Thanks for your help though.

P.S. If you ask most patients if they want meds from a plant that's been fed Sulfur, Zinc, or Molybdenum I bet most would say no as well. lol

Just a thought I have one of those steamers u can buy on tv and my buddy barrows it to clean his grow room n the water temp is right around there I bet using that on ur plant would work perfect.. I was tryin to think outta the box

Hey everyone, just treated with the All Seasons Oil Spray (98% petroleum oil in concentrate) the night before last. I lost a lot of leaves to nute deficiencies which is another problem.

While I had the plants out of the room I turned off the A/C & fans and turned on all the lights. Got it up to 120 degrees in there for an hours. I hope that killed any mites or eggs that were in the room. I was going to spray with the All Seasons in there too, but I forgot.

My leaves never seemed softer, it's like spraying a moisturiser on them. I won't know how it did with the mites for a while yet. Tommorow I plan on mixing some of the All Seasons & Neem concentrates together in a gallon of water and treating again. With all the eggs I saw on the plants, I'm sure they're gonna need at least 1 more treatment.

But I highly recommend the All Seasons to anyone treating for pests. It should be added to what ever else you're using. It makes your leaves soft, and it kills the eggs. Not sure if it just kills some, or if it kills most, or if it kills all. There's no info on what dead or empty eggs look like so it's hard to tell. But killing some of those eggs when fighting mites is huge.

It's by Bonide, you can find a local dealer or order direct here. www.bonide.com

Hope that helps some of you fight those little buggers.