# Predator mites...



## 2Dog (Dec 7, 2009)

So I was having an issue with spider mites. I am growing organicly and really did not want to use alcohol neem oil etc. So i went down to my local grow shop and bought some predator mites...50.00$ a pop gulp...These suckers are small and come in a little tiny container like a keif container..You sprinkle them on with little bits of material (wood or plant) IDK and they eat the mites...then die. So far they seem to have worked. I have left the little pieces they came in on the plants not sure if they are dead yet or not..Doesnt seem to be hurting plant at all. No movement, webs or eggs whatsoever...Way easier than alcohol and IMP more effective and healtheir..Thought I would share the info.


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## pcduck (Dec 7, 2009)

congrats..*crossing fingers for ya*


















mites are a pain


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## cmd420 (Dec 7, 2009)

Spider Mites??!!

(crowd boos )


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## 2Dog (Dec 7, 2009)

ya I know...but I dont see any now.


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## pcduck (Dec 7, 2009)

I hear they can live long time, in floor,,ect....but also heard that those predator mites work well with the right temps and conditions


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## cmd420 (Dec 7, 2009)

I thought u were an outdoor gal, 2?


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## 2Dog (Dec 7, 2009)

not during the winter....and not with these numbers...I will be doing outside in spring but with the days getting longer and not wanting to bring them in to bud I will veg inside this winter and put to flower outside...prob throw some super thai seeds out there...next summer it is on for my pk but I was nervous about the smell last year and I only had 5 plants total outside..


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## ray jay (Dec 7, 2009)

Used predator mites last year. Still dealing with mites this year.


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## 2Dog (Dec 7, 2009)

ray were yours as expensive as mine were? man the bugs are pricey....


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## The Hemp Goddess (Dec 10, 2009)

2Dog said:
			
		

> ray were yours as expensive as mine were? man the bugs are pricey....



Getting rid of mites is not an inexpensive process.  Predator mites are actually fairly cheap, but they have limited effectiveness (Avid sells for about $150 for 8 oz.  Floramite is around $200 for 8 ozs.).  Glad they seem to have worked for you.  Most have the experience that RayJay did--the predator mites just don't eradicate the spider mites entirely and the mites return.


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## 4u2sm0ke (Dec 10, 2009)

yep  yep...I  just  use  as  another  wepon in  my  arsonal:aok:


I  hate  the  Borg!! (  NUKE  them  bastards:hitchair:

best  of  luck  *2Dog*:48:


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## 2Dog (Dec 10, 2009)

The Hemp Goddess said:
			
		

> Getting rid of mites is not an inexpensive process. Predator mites are actually fairly cheap, but they have limited effectiveness (Avid sells for about $150 for 8 oz. Floramite is around $200 for 8 ozs.). Glad they seem to have worked for you. Most have the experience that RayJay did--the predator mites just don't eradicate the spider mites entirely and the mites return.


 
I think they worked well because I  did a lot of the work by hand with a vacume and cloth, washing down the plants outside with water that werent budding...I even put them outside in freezing weather which did seem to help a lot as well...so far so good but we never know what to expect as growers do we ?


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## viper (Dec 14, 2009)

interesting , i just bought 2000 predator mites as well (120 bucks) and was told by hydro shop dude that the pred mites kill the living and not the eggs so ill have to do it again in a few days to kill the hatched eggs , he said the spider mites are born pregnant and lay eggs soon after . i plan on safer soaping the room floor and walls as well . 


its been 17 days 2dog how are things going ?


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## 2Dog (Dec 14, 2009)

things are great! no signs of anything I have tons of pics posted in the white lightning grow journal so you can see for yourself..a little stress maybe..but besides that bueno.


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## cmd420 (Dec 14, 2009)

2Dog said:
			
		

> things are great! no signs of anything I have tons of pics posted in the white lightning grow journal so you can see for yourself..a little stress maybe..but besides that bueno.


 
AWESOME baby!

Don't let your guard down now...

I just sprayed and scrubed almost a gallon of bleach solution from top to bottom in the 12/12 room last night. I sprayed every fan blade, every cord, every square inch...

then I turned on the lights and threw in a heater to make it nice and inviting for the mites and mite eggs to come alive and hang out..nice and toasty..._I'm so nice aren't I?_

then *BANG*...all the ventilation goes off and before they know it they are  being bombed by a double dose of 2 pyrethium foggers...the door gets closed with an ominous bang and the room becomes the infamous "_tomb of the mite_" (ehoes ehoes)

I let it sit for about 24 hours and now it is sterile with 6 happy PK's in there for thier first big night of flower...

In other words I had to cleany clean too...sucks dont it?


but it's good now that it's done


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## [email protected] (Dec 14, 2009)

Don't lady bugs eat the eggs as well as the mites?


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## 2Dog (Dec 15, 2009)

I think those are aphids they eat cajun...


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## 2Dog (Dec 15, 2009)

cmd420 said:
			
		

> AWESOME baby!
> 
> Don't let your guard down now...
> 
> ...


 
It is fun isnt it? I had to use tons of lotion on my poor hands..I make a solution of bleach and water ina spray bottle spray and wipe everything down...good times sweetness.  you will love those pk's I wish I had more of her cured.. I have one jar left and  people know not to touch it...Every day I tell my pk mom how beautiful and big she is! lol...


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## cmd420 (Dec 15, 2009)

"and people know not to touch it"...

you are too funny 2Puppy


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## 2Dog (Dec 15, 2009)

LOL.....Im not joking.. 


there is another LW2 auto jar for christmas people are also leaving alone. right now it is mostly bubblegum and super berry being smoked....very good stuff just no pk...I may go buy some hash oil this week...


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## [email protected] (Dec 15, 2009)

2Dog said:
			
		

> I think those are aphids they eat cajun...



I have been researching this a little. They eat fungi mites and aphids depending on the color of the lady bug. They said if you have soil they will breed and have more babies. I read at roll it up though one guy said the mites layed eggs and hatched before the lady bugs could eat all of them. Also to cover the light because when dark they go to the bulbs to keep warm and when the lights come back on they will fry them.


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## The Effen Gee (Dec 15, 2009)

They will be back.

Use Flromite in a 9 day regiment spraying every third day to eliminate them 100% and the hatchlings.

They ALWAYS come back. Unless you sterilize your room, house and yard. Take off your shoes and put on paint suits with a full face and head cover. Plus, you woule need to filter all your incoming air through a HEPA just to get started to keep them out once they are gone.

....not to mention you need to eradicate your entire plant stock and start out all over again.

Two things you can do to slow their progress:
Remove shoes or wear booties'
Wash your hands with purell before entering your room.

Your house and grow room need to be at least as clean as your dentists office to be pest and mold free.

Untill then, you get to run around and put out fires like the rest of us.


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## viper (Dec 15, 2009)

Gee thats encouraging !


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## viper (Dec 23, 2009)

ok , ive stumbled upon a different method of killing spider mites , 4 days after i released predater mites it seems to be getting worse , i appreciate the feedback .

what would it do to plants 2 weeks from harvest to release a full 20 oz container of co2 ? my source is saying it will kill all bugs but it doesnt say what happens to the buds by exposeing that much carbon dioxide to them ----- i know not to go in there until its completely aired out because that much co2 can kill .


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## 2Dog (Dec 23, 2009)

getting worse hmm I know noting about using that much co2..sounds scary. god only two weeks frm harvest. You have tried vacuming and cleaning the plants right?


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## viper (Dec 28, 2009)

i did vacumn , i sprayed with 1-3 ratio alcohol water 3 different times ---- its kind of hard to clean big fat buds with popcorn looking calayxes, i mean a lot of them are big around as the end of a pencil eraser mmmm , so im bombing tonight with co2 , cross my fingers and hope it doesnt hurt the plants


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## 2Dog (Dec 28, 2009)

have you tried putting them in the cold? the mites hate that!


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## cmd420 (Dec 28, 2009)

Cold temperatures + Azamax..

You can use Azamax up until harvest to knock em back and cold will keep em 

from getting another foothold until your harvest is done.....

those two things will allow you to hold em off long enough to complete your harvest..


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## viper (Dec 28, 2009)

lets see  i thought about the cold until i read somewhere that they just hybernaite, and i guess that at such a far along state that all im waiting on is more amber and not growth which cold temps slow growth --- will cold temps slow amber ? and im looking in to azamax after this post --- what sucks is i have 3 other grows in there all in stages for continued bud if you know what i mean -- oh yeah the strain in question is AK-48


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## cmd420 (Dec 28, 2009)

That's the thing..at this point it is just about damage control...without hurting your harvest..gets a lil tricky

they will not be able to function and multiply in the cold...whatever is there will stay (it will be dead after the Azamax) but nothing new will appear if it's cold...

The cold is a harmless (to plants) stopgap measure until you can treat plants that are in earlier stages of growth and the room itself more aggressively..


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## viper (Dec 28, 2009)

yep yep ,, i just looked it up and that sounds like a plan ,,, im getting azamax tomorrow .

its gonna be a lot of work cause dang it looks like a forrest in there , i can barely move around lol ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, thank you cmd 
                                               thank you 2dog 

and then do the floromite in 9 day regiments like effen said


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## The Effen Gee (Dec 29, 2009)

Be carefull with the floromite.

It has a 21 day residual at least. I recommend using latex gloves and a mask rated for liduid droplets. It's pretty serious stuff.


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## viper (Dec 29, 2009)

being careful i will (thanks for the heads up )

ok ! now for the update report on the co2 blasting ----IT WORKS I BLASTED THEM SUCKERS  , they're all dead , no movement at all , you can see them stuck dead in there little webs .

put a bud under a microscope and sure enough deader than a doorknob

now im gonna smoke them little ba$*^#ds lol 

all plants look to be fine  , i am impressed, no chemicals no concoctions , nothing but co2 ------------ awesome 
and in 4 to 5 days i'll do it again to kill hatched eggs 

now to keep it under control


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## nvthis (Jan 11, 2010)

viper said:
			
		

> being careful i will (thanks for the heads up )
> 
> ok ! now for the update report on the co2 blasting ----IT WORKS I BLASTED THEM SUCKERS , they're all dead , no movement at all , you can see them stuck dead in there little webs .
> 
> ...


Interesting


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## Time4Plan-B (Jan 12, 2010)

Predator mites imho are useless unless the conditions are optimum for their survival.

They reproduce much slower than spider mites so thats why each time i used them in perfect conditions i went for the treatment area of preds as 100 sq metres when i only had like 10 plants in 10 sq meters worked for a while then the eggs hatched but the preds were long dead so ineffective to say the least.  I did this twice and still had them at a cost of $250 in total.

In u.k. we have westlands bug attack £4 per litre ready to use in mister bottle.

Misted once last year never seen a mite since its systemic and stays in plants system for upto 12 weeks so spray ya mums and no mites again.

t4.


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