Einstein Oil and my spidermites

[ShroomDr]

So I found mites on 2 of my 5 plants. They are roughly 4 weeks into an 8 or 9 week flowering period. I dont have any webbing yet, so the infestation is not terrible, yet..

Ive got some No Pest Strips, that i put down last night, but i still havent seen a bug land on one. The NPS worked real well for some thirps i had a year ago.

I just got some Einstein Oil. The clerk at the store said to using warm water and a wetting agent (ive already got some SM-90), and make sure the oil and water are mixed as well as possible.

They told me to spray everyday, and obviously i have to make sure all the eggs hatched, before i stop applying. I also bought a real nice pressurized sprayer, to help apply the product.

They said to wait until the lights are about to go out to apply it, and i dont have to wash it off (<---is that right?). I figure i'll add an extra fan in the chamber, to help prevent bud rot (+ it helps to keep the bugs from flying)


Anyone care to add any advice/there personal experience with the product?
Am i missing anything?


600w elux ballast with a Sunspot 6 w/ lens, and coco, if it matters.

 

[ShroomDr]

well ****, i figured there would be at least one response by now. There are no threads with 'einstein oil' in the title. I guess i'll make this my 'bug log'. I just sprayed all the ladies down, and added an oscillating fan to the room. Ive never sprayed anything on plants this deep into flowering.

I would still like to read someone confirming that the E oil does not need to be washed off.

I guess ill see the results in 12 hours.

 

[inflorescence]

How would you wash it off anyway? oil and water don't mix. you'd need a soap to remove an oil, like castile soap.
Don't spray if the temp + rH is over 130 (or is it 140?)
An airbrush works as a replacement pressurized sprayer.
Adding castile soap ( a couple drops) to an oil helps "emulsify" it into suspension. I don't know if einstein already has an emulsifier in it.
Drop your temps, increase your airflow, cut back on any N (mites love N).

 

[ShroomDr]

i thought there were some products you were suppose to wash off. I didnt want to clog the stomata.

I used SM-90 with the mix, it is a wetting agent too, so im sure that helped break up the oil. I also used warm water. It was as well mixed as oil and water can be.

 

[Aestivus]

No Pest strips (Hotshots) dont work by trapping bugs so you probably wont see bugs on them they release a pesticide which requires stagnant air to effect the bugs. Also, I have read atleast one report on this forum that they slowed growth in plants but have not seen very many reports of that.

I believe Einsten oil is Neem oil is it not? try searching for Neem Oil, neem oil does not need to be washed off and washing it off will reduce its effectiveness.

 

[ShroomDr]

it says "made with 100% organic, first-extraction, cold-pressed neem oil. I wanna say there is another ingredient.

The NoPestS do release a relative of 'saran gas', but they are yellow for a reason, lots of bugs are attracted to the color yellow, and they cant get out of the sticky shit on the strips.

Ive used them before without any problems, but that was to control thirps, not mites.

 

[ShroomDr]

12 hours later.

The lights just came on. I still see the mites, but none of them are moving!

I figure ill wait another day, and spray um down again.

 

[ShroomDr]

UPDATE

Well, about 14 hours ago, i sprayed them down again (3 nights later). I didnt see any moving mites the entire 3 days, but i figured another spray wouldn't hurt. I applied 5ml Einstein, to a warm quart of water, this time I used 10ml of SM-90.

 

[inflorescence]

I'm sure you know, but add your oil to distilled water only. The hardness in tap keeps the added soap from properly emulsifing and prevents it from coating the leaf in a uniform, smooth fashion.

 

[Guest]

i use einstein oil and i love, took care of my fungus gnats in 1 treatment, i use a bit of warm water from the tap and a drop of dishwashing soap as the wetting agent...worked like a charm, but there was a slight residue but a few weeks later it was gone.

 

[ShroomDr]

I seriously doubt that someone needs to use distilled water when using this product. It doesnt say to, and your supposed to using warm water.

Can you really expect someone to heat distilled water, and add a wetting agent, to one product.

I didnt use distilled water, and it stopped the bugs. Overnight.

 

[inflorescence]

I seriously doubt that someone needs to use distilled water when using this product. It doesnt say to, and your supposed to using warm water.

Can you really expect someone to heat distilled water, and add a wetting agent, to one product.

I didnt use distilled water, and it stopped the bugs. Overnight.

It doesnt say to, and your supposed to using warm water.

Kinda like how a lot of nute manufactuers say to add so many mils to water.
You don't think they mean Tap water do you?


Well then I guess your lucky your using neem because if you were using any type of pesticide you would know that the pH of the formulation greatly affects it's effectiveness and by using a high pH tap you could virtually negate it's ability (depends on the product).

I thought that was pretty common knowledge. Guess Not.
But hey, you're only growing one of the millions of types of plant species on the earth so it's not like you have to know a lot.

 

[ShroomDr]

I guess i could see if the tap water had some crazy pH like 8.5-9.


The warm water is suppose to help the oil and water separate a little better (along with the wetting agent; i think its called a surfactant).

I would not advise that someone repeating spraying anything, without pHing it.

 

[inflorescence]

I guess i could see if the tap water had some crazy pH like 8.5-9.

My tap is 8.6. That's the whole point, a nute/pesticide manufactuer can't possibly manufacture their product to perform (in effectiveness) the same in all the varying tap pH's across the country/world so they just standardize it and formulate for distilled/RO (same thing), then tell you to pH to the desired pH if they haven't added their own buffers already, which settles at a pH they think is optimum.

 

[ShroomDr]

I reapplied again last night. Same thing, 1 quart water, 10ml sm-90 and 5ml einstein oil.

I think it was the forth night period since my last spraying. I still have not seen any living bugs in there, but my veg chamber had a few gnats, so i sprayed last night, and ill add some BTi to their next feeding, just to be safe.

 

[mikessong]

Don't spray if the temp + rH is over 130 (or is it 140?)

I've read that it's 140, and not to spray if temps are over 80. Supposedly it causes phytotoxicity but how real is that and is that specific to cannabis? I'd like to use Einstein Oil on my fresh batch of rooted (and a few unrooted) clones because my last grow in the space got pretty infested with spider mites although the NPS were pretty effective. But the average of the recommendations I've read for clones at this stage say to maintain temps and humidity and humidity around 80 each, which would be 160 total. Even most veg recommendations say temps 75-80, humidity around 70 or even higher, which would bring you over the magic 140. So how does anyone ever spray anything?! Is the answer to bring the temps and humidity down to 70 or below, then spray, wait a while, and then bring the temps up? If so, how long do you wait?

Also, they say not to spray during the light period - is that for fluoro's too? And I've read that 20/4 is the best light schedule, so in 4 hours the light will hit the spray? Is that going to cause a burn once I move these under HID light?