Spider mitess! Helpppp!

Hello everybody

I am in deep shit now, I was planning to harvest in just over a week and have a shit load of spider mites on all of my smaller plants and a couple here and there on the big ones!

What can I do that wont ruin my harvest?

I have seperated the badly infected ones but am shitting my self as Im so close to harvest on half of my crop.

I also have others which are 5 weeks into flowering so need to treat them, any ideas of something that wont ruin my end result as well.


Thank you

This late there isn't much you can do or for that matter, what the mites can do. I would recommend vacuuming your buds.

Don't treat or spray in any way. When you harvest, hang the branches upside down. As your plants dry all the mites will move together upward. They will form a web at the highest spot. The you can hit em with the vacuum easily.



Once the plants are cut the mites will stop feeding anyway.

CO2 has been discussed lately as an effective mite killer in high enough concentrations. If you can expose your plants to a high enough concentration you can kill the mites and not affect your bud at all.

What makes you certain you have mites, anyway? Webs? Can you see mites and eggs? Or are you just going by how your foliage looks? One week before harvest it should be getting pretty crappy looking anyway.

thanks for the reply!

I can see the bastards walking around! and their bastard eggs all over my beautiful trichomes!

I was thinking to spray them with clove water as I dont think it will do anything bad to the overall taste instead spice it up.

What do you think?

Biological Control

Spider mites have many natural enemies, which limit their numbers in many landscapes and gardens, especially when undisturbed by pesticide sprays. Some of the most important are the predatory mites, including the western predatory mite, Galendromus (=Metaseiulus) occidentalis, and Phytoseiulus species. Predatory mites are about the same size as plant-feeding mites but have longer legs and are more active. Various insects are also important predators—the sixspotted thrips (Scolothrips sexmaculatus), the larvae and adults of the spider mite destroyer lady beetle (Stethorus picipes), the larvae of certain flies including the cecidomyid Feltiella acarivora, and various general predators such as minute pirate bugs, bigeyed bugs, and lacewing . The purchase and release of predatory mites can be useful in establishing populations in large plantings or orchards, but the best results are obtained by creating favorable conditions for naturally occurring predators—for instance, by avoiding dusty conditions and pesticide sprays.
The major predator mites commercially available for release are the western predatory mite and Phytoseiulus. The western predatory mite is more effective under hot, dry conditions. These predators do not feed on foliage or become pests; thus if pest mites are not available when predatory mites are released, the predators starve or migrate elsewhere. If you wish to establish predators in a heavily infested orchard or garden that has few predators, use a soap spray or selective miticide to bring pest mites to a lower level and then release predatory mites. A good guideline is that one predator is needed for every ten spider mites to provide control. More than one application of predatory mites may be required if you want to reduce pest populations rapidly. Concentrate releases in hot spots where spider mite numbers are highest. Once established on perennials, predatory mites may reproduce and provide biological control indefinitely without further augmentation unless nonselective insecticides are applied that kill the predators. For information on where to buy these predators, write or call California Department of Pesticide Regulation, P.O. Box 942871, Sacramento, CA 94271-0001, (916) 324-4100, and ask for a free copy of their leaflet "Suppliers of Beneficial Organisms in North America," or view it on the World Wide Web at http://www.cdpr.ca.gov/docs/ipminov/bensuppl.htm.

Thank you very much for your reply

Im not sure where in the UK I can these good mites, Ill go down to my local shop tomorrow though and see what they have

one more thing mate dont worry keep them on bud until the problem is solved 2 weeks be all sorted mate

get them on line if you have too pay for special del

jonhy said:

thanks for the reply!

I can see the bastards walking around! and their bastard eggs all over my beautiful trichomes!

I was thinking to spray them with clove water as I dont think it will do anything bad to the overall taste instead spice it up.

What do you think?

Click to expand...

Don't spray anything on them. First time I've heard of using clove water. It won't be effective, it will cause your buds to mold and make them smell like an indonesian toilet.


Look, you are harvesting in a week. The damage is done if you currently have a high population. How long have the mites been there? Do you have visible webbing? That is a good way to gauge the extent of the infestation. Again, at this stage, one week from harvest, all you can do is remove as many as possible with a vacuum cleaner.

Don't overreact and get all mad scientist with the cloves, man.

I'm done.

Predator mites are not effective against large, established populations. They are a great control agent in greenhouses but they have very specific requirements to live and thrive such as high humidity. And it takes time for you to acquire them and then, if they like your grow, they need a little time to establish a sufficient population to make a dent in the SM population.

what if i delayed my harvest??

I could delay it by about 3/4weeks and harvest late, would i be able to spray it with something?

What about hosing it down with a fine spray of water?

You say mold will grow but if I keep in a cold enviroment for a couple of days will mold still grow, doesnt it rain on outdoor grows? does mold grow even then?

Thank you

avoid spraying the taste of soap never leaves

ask about a lot of people tryed this treatment whilst on bud shit smoke soaps can only be used before the first week of flower to make your bud smokable

this is a lot of information about all the cures read through http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7405.html

jonhy said:

what if i delayed my harvest??

I could delay it by about 3/4weeks and harvest late, would i be able to spray it with something?

Click to expand...

You would just be fucking up what you have. Accept it, learn and move on. You could harvest right now one week early, that shouldn't be bad. That makes more sense than delaying your harvest to do battle with an enemy that has already won and whose strength you don't fully understand. Mites are the single most important agricultural pest world-wide.

The mites really do leave harvested bud. They have no reason to stay, they can't suck the juices out of dried leaves. I've seen them gather together and move together; it's creepy. I suppose the eggs hatch and those mites wander off as well. By the time your done curing, there won't be any mites at all. Just unsprayed safe to smoke bud.

Don't get me wrong. I have 4 or 5 different remedies that I use if needed on plants in veg or early flower. I have respect for two of them and they are expensive and slightly hazardous to handle. I don't think you want to go there.

Good luck.

Even outdoor growers panic when the rains come in late flower. Trust me, DO NOT...I repeat....DO NOT SPRAY YOUR PLANTS WITH ANYTHING WHILE IN FLOWER!

Remove as many of them manually (via vacuum even) as you can. You only run the risk of them getting more out of control by delaying your harvest date. Seriously at this point the best thing you can try is the bumped up Co2 trick discussed earlier...and removing them manually.

Thanks for the info guys you have helped a lot.

so ive been doing a lot of reading to confirm it is spidermites.

I have inspected all my plants and there seems to be a lot of white spots all over the fan leaves and i think some on the trichome leaves.

I saw these little creatures and their eggs on the the smaller trichome leaves but I havent actually seen any webs of any sort. However judging by the amount of white spots on the leaves I reckon these bastards have been here for some time now maybe even a month.

I used a small 10x magnifier but I was so pissed with the bastards I couldnt help but kill each and everyone one!

Yep, smash them if you get the chance. Just try not to hurt your plants in the process. Same thing with the vacuum, be kinda gentle. Don't go just knocking around in there like a mad man. lol. Just go over each branch nice and easy and you should lessen your population for sure.

I wonder if being inside the vacuum would be enough to suffocate them though...maybe you should try and find a way to get the contents of the vacuum the hell out of the house. Maybe the neighbors lawn? LMAO...j/k...

What about Doctor Doom?http://www.discount-hydro.com/productdisp.php?pid=231&navid=24

"Hot Shots No Pest Strip"..... The single GREATEST anit pest ANYTHING! It seriously beats out anything! I will never use anything else for any pest EVER besides a "Hot Shots No Pest Strip" all you have to do is hang it in the grow room for 3-5 days and turn off your ventalation and BAM! Problem solved!

Check it:
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