Battling the Borg - Spider Mites

This year the Spider Mites have been a nightmare for and other growers. I have been lurking the forum for awhile trying this and that. Nothing worked until now. I am wondering from some of the growers out there experiences and remedies.

Out west has been unseasonably hot for October and November. West Coast temps have been miserable for a long time with temps high in the nineties plus. Today it was 89°. Since the BORG thrive in warmer and drier conditions it has been exhausting.

I personally lost 4 plants since around may of this year. I have one plant left that has been worked over by the mites badly. I tried AzaMax , CaliKill ( Capsacin based ) , neem oil , spinosad and other shit , but NO LUCK ... The only product to " actually " kill them for awhile was SNS 217 ( Rosemary Oil ).

Plant is in flower so i needed something that wouldn't outright fuck over my plant and buds. It looks rough but i think i can save her. Importantly the stems and branches are standing tall and not dead.
I stopped all treatments 2 days ago , Then took plants outdoors for a " shower " to clean off what i could.
Since i grow indoors , i am lucky enough to be able to pull plants for maintenece and bug issues.

I FINALLY FOUND SOMETHING THAT WORKED.
It has been 5 days and no moving BORG BUGS. This is what the plant looks like.
Heavy mite damage on all leaves - some leaf die off but slower growth. Washing plant has helped to get rid of nymphs and adults so far.



I decided to scour the web and do my own experimenting ( since this plant is THE GUINEA PIG )
I figured it was do or die time.

I experimented with the typical soapy / Alcohol mix but decided to ramp it up greatly.

3 cups water
6-8 drops dawn or similar dish soap
3 tablespoon of iso alcohol ( 50 or 70 % )
1 tablespoon Everclear

Since i had the EVERCLEAR for extraction purposes , i figured i would NAPALM those little fuckers .


This killed every god damn one of them. It has been 5 days and not one adult or new nymph.
I clipped various fan leaves that were treated with a number of mites ( alive ) , put them in a container to monitor. There were eggs and nymphs on those leaves too. It killed all on contact and NO HATCHING of eggs. Once i sprayed the full plant , there hasn't been any activity. I also used the spray to treat the tent and drip pan area as a preventative. My plant weathered it pretty well and have some new pistil growth.




So in closing i wanted to share this and look to see what other HOMEBREW sprays or treatments worked out for you.

I forgot to add MY REGIMENT :
Since the alcohol vapors off quickly i sprayed the plant 3 times - with drying times between each spraydown. Plant was able to be resprayed in less than 30 minutes.

I pulled her out 2 days later ... Nothing
Resumed 3 spray downs , with drying in between.

2 days later ( today ) .... Nothing.

great ty for posting . i will try it . i currently have a plant i left the spider mites on so i could mess around with bug killers with out killing the plants .

Still Dead ....

For flower I would agree with the SNS 217c. 2 application in 5 days wiped them out for me.

Dropping light hours to 11 on or less might help them go dormant untill you finish.

Mighty wash also got rid of em for me, didn't even spray the buds lol. worth a shot if you havent tried yet.

Budzbuddha said:

This year the Spider Mites have been a nightmare for and other growers. I have been lurking the forum for awhile trying this and that. Nothing worked until now. I am wondering from some of the growers out there experiences and remedies.

Out west has been unseasonably hot for October and November. West Coast temps have been miserable for a long time with temps high in the nineties plus. Today it was 89°. Since the BORG thrive in warmer and drier conditions it has been exhausting.

I personally lost 4 plants since around may of this year. I have one plant left that has been worked over by the mites badly. I tried AzaMax , CaliKill ( Capsacin based ) , neem oil , spinosad and other shit , but NO LUCK ... The only product to " actually " kill them for awhile was SNS 217 ( Rosemary Oil ).

Plant is in flower so i needed something that wouldn't outright fuck over my plant and buds. It looks rough but i think i can save her. Importantly the stems and branches are standing tall and not dead.
I stopped all treatments 2 days ago , Then took plants outdoors for a " shower " to clean off what i could.
Since i grow indoors , i am lucky enough to be able to pull plants for maintenece and bug issues.

I FINALLY FOUND SOMETHING THAT WORKED.
It has been 5 days and no moving BORG BUGS. This is what the plant looks like.
Heavy mite damage on all leaves - some leaf die off but slower growth. Washing plant has helped to get rid of nymphs and adults so far.

View attachment 3828447 View attachment 3828448 View attachment 3828449

I decided to scour the web and do my own experimenting ( since this plant is THE GUINEA PIG )
I figured it was do or die time.

I experimented with the typical soapy / Alcohol mix but decided to ramp it up greatly.

3 cups water
6-8 drops dawn or similar dish soap
3 tablespoon of iso alcohol ( 50 or 70 % )
1 tablespoon Everclear

Since i had the EVERCLEAR for extraction purposes , i figured i would NAPALM those little fuckers .


This killed every god damn one of them. It has been 5 days and not one adult or new nymph.
I clipped various fan leaves that were treated with a number of mites ( alive ) , put them in a container to monitor. There were eggs and nymphs on those leaves too. It killed all on contact and NO HATCHING of eggs. Once i sprayed the full plant , there hasn't been any activity. I also used the spray to treat the tent and drip pan area as a preventative. My plant weathered it pretty well and have some new pistil growth.


View attachment 3828467 View attachment 3828468 View attachment 3828470

So in closing i wanted to share this and look to see what other HOMEBREW sprays or treatments worked out for you.

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I'm glad you found a way to kick their collective asses!!!! Da Foopers.....

Yaaaaah for our side!!! I wish I could make this a sticky. If you want, I'll move it to the DIY forum.

Great post thanks for sharing. Also, Mite Rid worked for me.

Edit to add: after the first application it seems like its not working within the next few days. Half of them were dead and half alive... it wasn't until the second application until they were all dead.

Thanks for sharing this ... The Grain alcohol may be a bit rough on some plants but with a good dilution should be fine. Also keep an i eye out for hermie caused by spider mite stress. I found that out on an earlier plant that did not survive.

Update on the treatment ( recovery )
She is a little sad looking still BUT has perked up quickly. Green color has returned to much of her. Some fans are lifted up and no more leaf die off.

You can see she has gotten a bit greener since ( root drench with Floroshield ) then a light bloom feed after.
No new nymphs or webbing , so far. But will have to rinse the buds of the dead ones.

In my experience, you can never completely get rid of spider mites on a flowering plant without destroying it. You can knock them back/ slow them down though. Best practice is to take on a preventative approach in the future.

Joe Buddens said:

In my experience, you can never completely get rid of spider mites on a flowering plant without destroying it. You can knock me back/ slow them down though. Best practice is to take on a preventative approach in the future.

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Agreed 100% they always come back.

That is true ... But you CAN STILL liquor them up the front and put a boot up their rear.

Thanks for sharing. I am so fucking sick of spider mites. my biggest problem is once I spray them, I never note which leaves were most infected. Then when I see the white spots flecked on leaves I get nervous again...amazing how those little bastards can survive.

Worst mite i HAVE ever seen in my life was in Jamaica, which we go every year. A few years back I was at a buddy's field and his beautiful nugs were fucking covered. and I mean covered to the point of the leaves almost looking like white leaves and just flat out looked like spider man had just launched webs everywhere. When I asked (as carefully as I could because he is known as a very good grower) he didn't even blink an eye and said 'no problem mon'. they don't bother anything. It took all I had to get into the conversation/debate with him but wasn't trying to disrespect his grow.

Not sure I would smoke any of those buds after using all those chemicals on that plant. I would also start checking your house plants, it is very easy to carry them on your boots/clothes.

Benelli said:

Thanks for sharing. I am so fucking sick of spider mites. my biggest problem is once I spray them, I never note which leaves were most infected. Then when I see the white spots flecked on leaves I get nervous again...amazing how those little bastards can survive.

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Just drench the hell out of them everywhere!!!!! Thats what I do, top, bottom, all around

Coloradoclear said:

Not sure I would smoke any of those buds after using all those chemicals on that plant. I would also start checking your house plants, it is very easy to carry them on your boots/clothes.

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At least he killed them so far!
What chems? Spray your oils and shit on them....Your smoking an oil for gods sake! Not that Cinnamon and thyme and rosemary taste bad - IN COOKING!

Catch them early and nuke the fuckers is my view! Forbid 4F up to week 4 of bloom....BOOM DONE!

@Budzbuddha Nice you found something that works for you if you choose not the nuclear option on earlier plants!
Thanks for sharing.

Dr. Who said:

At least he killed them so far!
What chems? Spray your oils and shit on them....Your smoking an oil for gods sake! Not that Cinnamon and thyme and rosemary taste bad - IN COOKING!

Catch them early and nuke the fuckers is my view! Forbid 4F up to week 4 of bloom....BOOM DONE!

@Budzbuddha Nice you found something that works for you if you choose not the nuclear option on earlier plants!
Thanks for sharing.

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Azamax is a fairly strong poison with residual effects.