Is this spider mite damage or am I just paranoid?

Hello fellow farmers. I checked my plants and noticed something that looked like yellowish powder on a couple leaves on one plant. The mystery substance looked somewhat like male pollen, so I got out my cheap web cam "microscope" to take a close-up look. By the way, the leaf has not turned gray like it appears in the photo, but it is a bit discolored, like the usual green might have faded a bit. Anyway, I zoomed in and the white things don't look like pollen to me. But they don't exactly look like any king of bug or egg that I've ever seen. Another reason I doubt it's hermie pollen: the leaves that look funny are not under any flowers, and no other plant has this symptom, if that is what it is.

I've always read that spider mites don't like humidity or moisture, so I gave my plants a light shower with a spray bottle full of water just in case. Also went to a nursery to buy a pyrethrin-based spray that is supposed to kill mites. Anyway, if anyone can share helpful info, much gratitude.

Might be White Powder Mold ( if so , try and reduce humidity and improve air flow in your grow area ) Or might be Spider mites ( lady bugs released in your grow area works pretty good to get rid of those from what I hear as they are prey for ladybugs ) http://growweedeasy.com has some good info about that and the forum is a good place to study up on that.

I don't ever recommend putting any kind of spray "including water" on the plants directly, it could be more harmful than doing good. If you put hot peppers and garlic ontop the sol ( grounded up) it will drive away bugs and pest so u will be able to tell if it's mites but I can't tell by the pictures that's why I'm recommending this method, good luck

Looks more like thrip damage.

^ Do thrips shit white pieces on top of leaves..

tallstraw said:

^ Do thrips shit white pieces on top of leaves..

Click to expand...

They shit underneath the leaves. But the damage they make shows on top of the leaves kind of like little scrapes or scratches.

Is that so? Oh fuck, these new clones I got had a few white streaks, I thought it was bleaching. Now when I get back I'm thoroughly checking. Doktor doom spray, and a little neem spray should kill and keep them away righ?

Update: I'm still not sure what was wrong with the leaf I photographed, but I now know that spider mites got into some clones that I was growing nearby. And I'm pretty sure that the infestation came from one clone that I bought a few weeks ago. It started looking sick almost immediately, but I thought it was related to too much or too little water. Then all the other clones started to die as well. This sucks. I'm throwing away every clone and cleaning up all my planting and cloning area. Not sure what I should do to keep the spider mites from getting into my main grow area, which is in a closet. The temps inside get up to 90F during the day, and according to a cheap meter I have the humidity stays right about 35%. And thanks to everyone who responded. I'll be on the lookout for thrips as well as mites.

Lady Bugs. I suggested that already. Lady Bugs PREY on SPIDERMITES and most other Aphids, which i think thirps are an aphid. Go Snag a few off some outdoor plants and release them onto your plants in your main growing area. Make sure they are lady bugs though, the Chinese beatle also looks like a ladybug but they are an orange color with black dots, Ladybugs are red with black dots.

Yello -

So I just went though this madness - i've been in 12/12 now for 4 weeks, and they attacked two weeks before 12/12 - and I still spray for them. Though the last one I found alive was two weeks ago.

For a closet grow - and depending on where you live (temperature and humidity) - you may always be battling these bastards. It's a fact of life for growing...as a newb myself, this is what has been repeated to me on repetition...you manage the issue, not treat for it. I live somewhere where it never freezes, so these guys are even outside, in your rugs, etc. especially if you have pets (and I'm in a pet friendly apartment!) They even can come in through your air intake in a tent (like mine)...so I've now put a carbon filter from my compost thing, put two unscented dryer sheets on both sides, and then capped my air-intake, so at least my intake is secure.

That said - I don't recommend using lady bugs on mites...aphids and thrips, sure. But mites reproduce too veraciously for a lady bug to keep up with it. So you'll be throwing money at buying live bugs when you could proactively declare war on the mites.

*Mites reproduce in 3 day cycles, hatching, immediately laying eggs, then dying in three days, the eggs then incubate for three days then hatch....so it is important to kill the parents, then once the kids hatch, off them as well. Then, if any of those borgs laid any eggs, you get their kids once THEY hatch. This repeats until you don't have a mite problem.

SO I bought this stuff from my local hydro store...http://www.mightybomb.com/ And there are many different versions of "this" - primary thing to look for is Peppermint, Lemmongrass, Rosemary, Geranium, Neem, etc. oils in usually 0.5-0.2% concentrations - and they all have different fun names. Just look for the $$ and then look at the ingredients. Totally organic and you can use them throughout flowering, if you use it right.

For like 50 bucks, I got a two-gallon container of it...it's not diluted, so you can dial in the strength needed. You spray two days in a row right before lights out (make sure your fans are off) and spray the undersides of every leaf, then the tops to make sure they are completely drenched. I throw a towel in the bottom of my box because it'll get wet in there.

Let 'em air dry for a few hours, then plug the fan back in to drop the humidity again...because it'll spike.

Key Points to spraying anything on plants - do it right before lights out and do it without your fan off. This will allow for natural evaporation to occur without stressing your plants too much.

Do that - 2days on 2 days off, and repeat - and you won't have a mite issue anymore.

ALL OF THAT IS TO SAY - WHEN YOU BUY A CLONE FROM ANYWHERE OTHER THAN YOUR OWN GARDEN YOU WASH THE SHIT OUT OF IT. I will, from now on, spray every single plant that comes into my grow box with an oil concentrate/h20 mix. Some people even make their own out of habanero peppers, cayenne pepper, and peppermint oil. Scorched Earth.

I hope this helped. Next time, get a pocket microscope, scope the undersides of your leafs, especially along the main leaf vein, EVERY DAY until you stop seeing them. Keep track of how long you've sprayed for, and try to get it under control by the time you're ready to flush your plants - just in case some are left, they won't take over your buds in that last week. Once you harvest, they will leave.

Peace and love and good luck,

Smacks.

True, However if the mites have not reached his main growing area yet, they would be a good pre-emptive measure, and why buy them when you can just go capture say 10 - 15 and stick them in there so if they do show up, they will already be there to kill em off from the start.

Thanks for the good advice, everyone. I'm also going to research predatory mites. And since my outdoor plants sometimes get mealybugs, I might even get some of those ladybugs they call "mealybug destroyers."