i think i have spider mites.

[Styles P]

ok so i have a plant thats about 7 weeks into budding. and i have started to notice little webs on the leaves. and the leaves also have little tanish spots all over them. the buds are looking fine and i was wondering if i can spray it with soapy water this late into its cycle? or would it fuck it up somehow? please help.

 

[stinkyattic]

I would not spray anything on the buds this late.
Look UNDER the leaves where you see speckles, and if you also see tan colored adults and slightly smaller white-silvery eggs, and some webbing- yeah you've got the little shits.
Control your temps in the 70s, and get your air movement going in there. Mites don't like cool temps or wind. If you are not seeing extensive damage, and have only a week before chopchop, just get through this harvest and then CLEAR OUT your room and pyrethrin-bomb it twice, spaced 2-3 days apart. Doktor Doom is one pyr bomb product. Also Hot Shot makes a 'kitchen fogger' that contains pyrethrin and no PBO activator, whcih is safe to use in living spaces.

Mites breed most effectively in temperatures above 85, and low humidity, and still air. Know their cycle and you will be able to keep the bastards at bay. They also HATE neem oil.

If it is NOT near a living area, you can hang a no-pest strip, but I like to save those for emergencies, and would NEVER use one in the same part of the house where I sleep.... Dichlorvos= nerve gas. It's also in a class of pesticides known to be endocrine disruptors. My local grow shop won't even stock them because of risk to employees. In developing countries, dichlorvos is a common agent used in suicide by farmers whose crops failed. FYI.

 

[Styles P]

its outdoors

 

[stinkyattic]

Ya... little detail you might have added in the first post... lol
Same rules apply. No chems on buds within a month of harvest.
Still haven't answered teh question if you see the PROOF of mites under the leaves. Usually webbign will appear on the highest, hottest, driest part of the plant first- the top buds- and under the bud leaves and high fans.
Mites should not thrive outdoors in areas where there is frequent rain or dewfall... you can get damage but not on the scale that you'd see in a hot dry growroom with no natural predators.
Ladybugs eat mites btw...

 

[Styles P]

yeah i have had the spots on the leaves for about 3 weeks now. its mostly on the fan leaves not the bud leaves. last time it rained was about 6 days ago. and it does not get dew on it because i put it in the shed every night to force flower it. and i do see little tan things under the fan leaves guessing its the parent mites. but the webbing is not real bad yet only on a few leaves and none on buds that i can notice. when ever i find a lady bug ill put it on the plant. btw its at day 46 flower so i will let it go about 58 or untill i see signs of them on the buds? and will they continue to fuck my shit up after the chop and while drying?

 

[stinkyattic]

You ever hear that myth about hanging your plants upside down under a lamp to dry and how the mites will crawl up the stem towards the light? It works, lol.

Harvest based on ripeness. Cloudy trichs with ~15% amber.

Give your plant a good spray with a garden hose set on its most rain-like setting, including under the leaves, on the next dry breezy day. Be gentle- only open the spigot part way to avoid BLASTING the plant- but water will slow the bastards down big time.

 

[Styles P]

thanks alot man there is rain in the forecast for tomorrow.