# Finally found a totally clean solution to mites



## zem (Nov 18, 2019)

Hi all 
I have been battling with mites for more than a year now. Luckily, I had grown for 14 years with no encounter with this pest! So when it came, I was experienced enough to not allow it to kill my plants, but it did make me think and work a lot before I found my way to deal with them. 

My biggest issue is that I don't want to fumigate anything that leaves any residues on my buds, not even organic residues. So my last grow, I chose to put the mites issue on top of my priorities. I knew that mites were on the floors and around my grow from the last grow. So first I adjusted my flowering table in a way to minimize the places of contact with walls and floor. I figured that the mites would have to zigzag up and down to find their way and the plants are in a flood and drain table so they would have to find points of contact with leaves to climb on the plants since they cannot cross the wet floor under the plants' pots. 

Second thing I did was to timely and faithfully supercrop my plants before inducing flowering. This is one of the better more detailed videos that I found about supercropping  . IMO this solved 90% of my issue, the mites lose their advantage of being unseen and they had to go to the well exposed leaves to start eating on the plants. I use organic potassium soap and spinosad. The soap kills on contact with no residual effect. The spinosad kills any worms and some growers claim that it helps with the mites but I am not sure about this. After 15-20 days into flowering, I stop fumigation and observe very closely as I position my colas. Any mites at this stage must be detected as early as possible and I remove them manually with a cloth and/or defoilation of infested leaves. Every plant must be fully and easily accessible. Throughout the flowering stage I detected mites about 8 to 10 times and cleaned them off. They were undetectable at harvest. Needless to say I took other obvious measures like disinfecting the growrocks and changing before going in especially from a possibly infested place like where I dried my infested plants... I even removed my oscillating fan that was in there when I had the severe infestation because I was sure there were mites inside of it. One day if I have to, I might get ozone to disinfect items but this is still unnecessary, I have to wait and see. 

To sum it up, I placed the mites issue on top, and found that cleaning, timing and observation were sufficient to deal with my spider mites problem. I don't know about other growers, but I really dislike leaving any residue whatsoever on my buds. It could be harder for organic soil that cannot be disinfected, and for outdoor grows, but for similar indoor grows, this method could be a way to avoid contaminating your buds.


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## stinkyattic (Nov 18, 2019)

A note on ozone, if you need it strong enough to work as a disinfectant, you're going to need a hefty generator capable of producing high concentrations in an enclosed area that can be controlled remotely, including fully exhausted before reentering the space. Source: former job at a fish farm had one, and we definitely had a couple employees hospitalized from exposure. 
Sounds like you are really observant and on top of your maintenance schedule which is 99% of the eternal war on mites! : )


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## zem (Nov 18, 2019)

stinkyattic said:


> A note on ozone, if you need it strong enough to work as a disinfectant, you're going to need a hefty generator capable of producing high concentrations in an enclosed area that can be controlled remotely, including fully exhausted before reentering the space. Source: former job at a fish farm had one, and we definitely had a couple employees hospitalized from exposure.
> Sounds like you are really observant and on top of your maintenance schedule which is 99% of the eternal war on mites! : )


Right and this is why I did not use ozone to disinfect my grow space and I doubt that I will ever go there, I am still thinking if I get a small generator to disinfect items in a closed box or not. 
Making the plants easily accessible from all sides and good supercropping, along with daily patrols around the plants made it difficult for any mite to settle on a leaf without being detected early. It also allows for good coverage with the soap and spinosad.


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## Rosebud (Nov 18, 2019)

Zem, way to go, you have really put some thought into this. I am so happy for you. I know you don't have all the stuff we have here and it is harder for you. You are rocking it. Thanks for the info.


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## fellowsped (Dec 1, 2019)

Have you considered trying to get ahold of some predatory mites? I know someone that had some spidermites and successfully controlled them with predatory mites.  Seems like you have a good system already but figured I would suggest them.


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## burnin1 (Dec 1, 2019)

I have been lucky.  I have not had a spider mite problem in years.
I have been using SNS 209 with good results.

https://www.amazon.com/Sierra-Natur...vqmt=e&keywords=sns+209&qid=1575223028&sr=8-3


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## Rosebud (Dec 1, 2019)

I don't think he gets amazon or a place to get beneficial insects and he still rocks it.


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## zem (Dec 1, 2019)

Amazon do not deliver directly to where I am. I could go through a paid intermediary and it would add cost and a lot of time to deliver, so I just use what is on the shelves. Potassium soap is organic and I only use it before flowers show up. It smells good, but not as good as Spinosad which I think resembles the smell of newly rained on soil. It is made from some sort of mushroom and I also do not fumigate it on the buds. What about the possibility that benificial insects could pose a problem if they get stuck in buds? I have not used them but have seen them and some of these beneficial insects are very small.


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## Rosebud (Dec 1, 2019)

I think the beneficials exit  the plant when there is no more food.  I worried about that too, but not after using them.


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## zem (Jul 11, 2020)

Hi, I just want to say after this last grow, that I was able to reverse plants that had webbing and bad infestation. I had my hands full with a lot of clones and the mites got a hold on every leaf. Using the same method, the mites have no chance. It does require some time to properly do the supercropping and then to do several runs of organic soap. I had to start slowly by allowing the plant to grow out of its problem to get some new healthy growth  before i was able to properly supercrop them. In mid veg i had just the branches that i want and all the bottom part amd stems were stripped clean and i was able to do two complete applications with soap. The results surprised me considering how far the infestation was in. I was able to get a full nice harvest free of mites. This is my battle gear, the basic yellow sprayer with plastic curved tip very smooth on the plants, i load it with 20ml per liter of this potassium soap, brand is Spanish and i can get it from over the counter, so you could find something similar online or locally where you are.  The other one is just a little handgun, i just load it with water used it on the plants when they were very fragile to knock off as many mites before i apply the soap and then i wash off the soap residues after. I only used it in the early stages and did not use it when the plants became stronger. I shake the soap it becomes all foamy and very effective in killing every pest it touches, and harmless on my skin therefore very easy to apply and leaves a pleasant distinct smell.


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## AladinSane (Jul 11, 2020)

burnin1 said:


> I have been lucky.  I have not had a spider mite problem in years.
> I have been using SNS 209 with good results.
> 
> https://www.amazon.com/Sierra-Natur...vqmt=e&keywords=sns+209&qid=1575223028&sr=8-3


I have used SNS organic products in the past with good results also. The nutrients are what I have used, SNS 209 and others are on a shelf. Hope they're not needed.


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## WeedHopper (Jul 11, 2020)

Zem,,whats the name of that soap. I cant read it. Where would i find it? Havent had any problems lately but would like to be ready if i do.
Had some on one of my  plants but i caught them early and killed them with water,soap,and alcohol mix.


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## zem (Jul 11, 2020)

Bubbletrouble said:


> Zem,,whats the name of that soap. I cant read it. Where would i find it? Havent had any problems lately but would like to be ready if i do.
> Had some on one of my  plants but i caught them early and killed them with water,soap,and alcohol mix.


Its name is Phytosoap by Manvert made in Spain. I find it on the shelves in shops locally but i am very far from the continent of America  it is found in other brand names where you are in case you cannot get it. Its ingredient is potassium soap. By the way it kills all kinds of pests even bigger ones.


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## zem (Jul 11, 2020)

Bubbletrouble i just checked they have a site and products list but i don't think they sell retail. however you can look at the product to find a similar thing manvert phytosoap – Manvert


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## WeedHopper (Jul 11, 2020)

Thanks Zem,, info much appreciated.
Ive always had pretty good luck with dish soap,water and alcohol but im always looking for better ingredients.


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## orangesunshine (Jul 12, 2020)

pictures are long gone---but here's my mite story---3' plants---1 gal pots in the veg room were infested---i removed them from the room and fog bombed the room---cut a plastic lid from a coffee can to be used as a collar around the base of the plant to hold the soil intact so to turn the plant upside down---i cut the legs from a tall metal tomato cage and turned it upside down---the cage was zip tied upside down to 2 trash cans for stability---the work station was a perfect height---this was set up over a drain on a patio---i power washed each and every leaf with the garden hose using 1 hand behind the leaf so not to snap it and power washed the under sides with the other---they were again sprayed a 2nd time while upright---as an additional precaution i trashed the top inch or 2 of soil from e-v-e-r-y single pot and replaced with fresh---after the plants were all clean, i thoroughly cleaned the room before moving the plants back in---this little venture took pretty much all day but in the end---i organically beat the borg


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## WeedHopper (Jul 12, 2020)

Yep,,i have done something similar along time ago. I would let the soil dry good where i could turn the plant on its side and then sprayed the crap out if the underside. Sprayed my growroom down with alcohol. Kills the little bastages on contact.


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## zem (Jul 12, 2020)

orangesunshine said:


> pictures are long gone---but here's my mite story---3' plants---1 gal pots in the veg room were infested---i removed them from the room and fog bombed the room---cut a plastic lid from a coffee can to be used as a collar around the base of the plant to hold the soil intact so to turn the plant upside down---i cut the legs from a tall metal tomato cage and turned it upside down---the cage was zip tied upside down to 2 trash cans for stability---the work station was a perfect height---this was set up over a drain on a patio---i power washed each and every leaf with the garden hose using 1 hand behind the leaf so not to snap it and power washed the under sides with the other---they were again sprayed a 2nd time while upright---as an additional precaution i trashed the top inch or 2 of soil from e-v-e-r-y single pot and replaced with fresh---after the plants were all clean, i thoroughly cleaned the room before moving the plants back in---this little venture took pretty much all day but in the end---i organically beat the borg


nice OS! that's very thorough. how many billions of hours all us growers combined have wasted battling these tiny mites is just amazing


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## Dman1234 (Aug 1, 2020)

zem said:


> nice OS! that's very thorough. how many billions of hours all us growers combined have wasted battling these tiny mites is just amazing




Hi Zem, remember me? nice to see you here still.


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## WeedHopper (Aug 1, 2020)

Zem is an awesome grower with lots of knowledge.


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## zem (Aug 1, 2020)

Dman1234 said:


> Hi Zem, remember me? nice to see you here still.


Hi again Dman. So nice to see you around  Cheers!


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## zem (Aug 1, 2020)

Bubbletrouble said:


> Zem is an awesome grower with lots of knowledge.


Thank you BT! I am just another grower who still has lots to learn.


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## zem (Aug 1, 2020)

Bubbletrouble said:


> Thanks Zem,, info much appreciated.
> Ive always had pretty good luck with dish soap,water and alcohol but im always looking for better ingredients.


BT do you have a preferred dosage and ratio of water/alcohol/soap to apply this concotion?


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## WeedHopper (Aug 2, 2020)

Never really measured it out perfectly, but 50% water, 50% alcohol, spoon of dish soap, and sometimes i add garlic that has been chopped, boiled and strained, to the concoction. If i add the garlic it is part of the 50% water.
Kills on contact(alcohol) and helps detour bugs too because they hate garlic. Peppers also work,but again you have to chop them up real good,,boil in your 50% water solution and strain real good or it stops up your sprayer.


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