# Spider Mites?



## mindtrip (Aug 25, 2015)

I don't see any damage from them, but I want to nip this in the butt quick. I can see teeny tiny gray bugs on my soil, pots, and plants. I assume these are spider mites? They're too small to get on camera. I never noticed them with either of my previous grows.

Can anyone offer me an organic way to get rid of them? And where the hell did they come from? How do I keep them from coming back?


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## RubyRed (Aug 26, 2015)

Azamax every 5 days.  its organic and is best used as a preventive maintenance tool 

love this stuff


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## WeedHopper (Aug 26, 2015)

Dont sound like SM,,,they are usally under the leaves.
http://www.koppert.com/pests/spider-mites/


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## Rosebud (Aug 26, 2015)

Nice link WH, we need to know what they are. SM don't hang out in dirt. They leave black frass(****) on the leaves and suck the juice out of them. 

I like SNS products the best for an organic grow. Although Mighty wash is awesome too.
If they are on your soil i don't think they are sm.. 
[ame]http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_c_0_22?url=search-alias%3Dlawngarden&field-keywords=sierra+natural+science&sprefix=sierra+natural+science%2Caps%2C200[/ame]


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## Sweetmansticky (Aug 26, 2015)

Try this stuff mind trip , I thought it was a gimmick but it's actually really good.
Is this the same as your one rose? 

View attachment image.jpg


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## Hushpuppy (Aug 26, 2015)

There are literally thousands of bugs that can get on your plants. Those may have come in with the new soil/medium or they could have come in on your clothes and then found your plants merely by accident. I like to use Azomax as my first line of defense against leaf chewers. Most bugs don't like it and will either leave or die. The Borg is a different animal and can be very persistent and tough to kill. I often get spiders in my grow and if I do, I try to leave them as they are a natural first line of defense.


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## Rosebud (Aug 26, 2015)

Sweetman, that stuff works great too. I think Umbra uses that. I have used that. It works.


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## mindtrip (Aug 26, 2015)

Hmm...should I just leave them alone if I'm seeing no adverse effects?

Thanks, everybody.


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## Rosebud (Aug 26, 2015)

No you shouldn't leave them alone. Could you put them on a white piece of paper and take a pic? Shake the plant onto the paper and see what you have.


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## mindtrip (Aug 26, 2015)

I will try tonight. They may be blurry but I will at least post a pic after work.


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## WeedHopper (Aug 26, 2015)

Is this them,,,https://www.icmag.com/ic/showpost.php?p=4600816&postcount=19

Also found this,,,,http://www.massey.ac.nz/~maminor/mites.html


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## mindtrip (Aug 26, 2015)

No, that's not it, Weedhopper.  These are fat-bodied little things.  I took some pictures, but these bastards are so small that I can't even pick them out in my own pictures.


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## Rosebud (Aug 26, 2015)

Sounds like spider mites. Do you have a loupe you are using? Do you see bug ****? Do you see spots on your leaves?

WH those pictures make me itch...


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## mindtrip (Aug 26, 2015)

I do have an LED microscope, but I haven't used it on these bugs.  I can just barely see them with my bare eye.

I don't see any kinds of bug ****, and no spots on the leaves.

Other than the bugs themselves, I see no signs of them being there.


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## Rosebud (Aug 26, 2015)

This is interesting and weird...


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## mindtrip (Aug 26, 2015)

Rosebud said:


> This is interesting and weird...



Agreed.  I guess I'll just carry on as long as I'm not seeing any problems.


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## Rosebud (Aug 26, 2015)

I would have to know what they are. I would be afraid... if they are in the soil they could be root aphids... Are they winged?


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## Sweetmansticky (Aug 26, 2015)

Use that led microscope and let's see the evil you face , also we could have a peek at some trichs while you have the scope set up!! Hehe


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## RubyRed (Aug 26, 2015)

ostpicsworthless:


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## mindtrip (Aug 26, 2015)

They do not appear to be winged. They don't move terribly quickly; I can easily smush them when they're on the rims of the pots. I'll have to look at them again tomorrow... I'm in bed now and way too tired and comfortable to get back up.

And yes...so many trichs!!! Almost time to harvest.


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## Rosebud (Aug 26, 2015)

Goodnight mindtrip.


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## Sweetmansticky (Aug 26, 2015)

Yummy! Show us the good and the bad tomorrow? Everybody loves a trich or 2......... Thousand


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## Dr. Green Fang (Aug 27, 2015)

I second the "root aphids" thought


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## mindtrip (Aug 27, 2015)

DGF, unfortunately those look like what I've got (best I can tell).  I can't find my LED microscope, so who knows.  And now that I look closely, I don't see them on the plants.  Just the soil.  If this is my issue, how do I get rid of them?


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## WeedHopper (Aug 27, 2015)

http://www.planetnatural.com/pest-problem-solver/houseplant-pests/root-aphid-control/


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## Dr. Green Fang (Aug 27, 2015)

I found tonight in my own garden, a new mite.. but it's a beneficial. Is this what yours looks like? 











They are Hypoaspis Miles. 



> Hypoaspis mites feed on fungus gnats, springtails, thrips pupae, and other small insects in the soil. The mite is 0.5 mm (1/50 inch) long and light-brown in color. It inhabits the top 1/2 inch layer of soil. Females lay eggs in the soil which hatch into nymphs in 1 to 2 days. Nymphs develop into adults in 5 to 6 days. The lifecycle takes approximately 7 to 11 days


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## mindtrip (Aug 27, 2015)

It's hard to say.  They are definitely slightly round and look tick-like, kind of like in your pictures.  Damned if I know what I did with my microscope.

I'm still seeing no sort of damage to my plants, so I'm hesitant to take any drastic actions.


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## Dr. Green Fang (Aug 27, 2015)

I have a feeling you have Hypoaspis ... which should be fine. Do you have any fungus gnats? A.K.A. "Fruit Flies" ?


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## mindtrip (Aug 27, 2015)

I hope you're right.

I have no fruit flies now...but I had several for the first week of this grow.  Why?


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## Dr. Green Fang (Aug 27, 2015)

Fungus Gnats eat dead root matter and other various things in your soil. If a fruit fly (fungus gnat) gets into your grow (very easy to happen) it can lay up to 200 eggs a week.. just one fly. The larvae eats the dead matter (and roots) and will mess with your root zone when you get over populated. Predatory mites eat these larvae.. I just found this out tonight as I just identified this bug in my room tonight. If it's in your root zone, I'm guessing either Root Aphid, or Hypoaspis. 

Get that darn microscope! Or buy another one they are like $3.00 shipped... literally. hah  :aok:


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## mindtrip (Aug 27, 2015)

Thanks, Doc!  I know, I know.  I'll get one coming.


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## Hushpuppy (Aug 28, 2015)

that is interesting information. If you had fungus gnats early on and now they are gone, and you now have these mites, it may be that these mites *are *the predatory mites and they are the reason that the fungus gnats are gone.  The thing that concerns me more at this point is that you have had 2 different bugs getting into your grow. I know its hard to keep them out of almost any grow setup. If the mites are the predatory mites then that is a stroke of good luck.


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## mindtrip (Aug 28, 2015)

Good thinking, hushpuppy.  I honestly don't know what to think/do at this point.  The girls look happy, so I'm just kinda letting it ride.


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