~(Kief Junkie & Q.K.) 250w Organic Medi-Cab (Royal Hawaiian, W. Rhino, Bubblicious)~

[masterKahn]

I got mites in a big garden of mine and the only way I got rid of them was shutting down the grow for two weeks while on vacation. When I cam back all the mites had moved on.

Spider mite eggs can last for weeks and wait for the right time to hatch. It only takes one to reinfect your garden. stay vigilant.

 

[K.J]

I got mites in a big garden of mine and the only way I got rid of them was shutting down the grow for two weeks while on vacation. When I cam back all the mites had moved on.

Spider mite eggs can last for weeks and wait for the right time to hatch. It only takes one to reinfect your garden. stay vigilant.

Thanks for the advice MK, I am going to stay vigilant until this harvest comes in.

 

[K.J]

Another picture update; day 24 in flower

Another picture update; day 24 in flower

Still fighting the damn spider mites. There are definitely fewer active mites, but there are still eggs everywhere, so I suppose that I'm only able to see the half of it. When I watered yesterday, I did another neem oil spray and covered every leaf both under and over. I'm also checking them twice a day and smashing any of the bastards I can find. And then again today I'm doing some trimming of the worst infected leaves; those that are over 50% stippled, or the ones with multiple, visible active mites and a plethora of eggs. It sucks to keep taking away needed fan leaves, but once they've gone so far they are nothing more than a breeding ground for these bastards.

Anyway, on to the pics. These were taken today, day 24 in flower. Hope you enjoy!


Barbie (Bubblicious), 24 days in flower (7 24 09)

Beth (Bubblicious), 24 days in flower (7 24 09)

Rhonda (Royal Hawaiian), 24 days in flower (7 24 09)

Rosy (Royal Hawaiian), 24 days in flower (7 24 09)

Ruby (Royal Hawaiian), 24 days in flower (7 24 09)

Wilma (White Rhino), 24 days in flower (7 24 09)

 

[growMEDS]

Lookin just about perfect KJ!

 

[K.J]

Lookin just about perfect KJ!

Thanks growMEDS! Not as perfect as hoped for, thanks to our friends the mites, but as well as can be expected considering that.

 

[K.J]

Still fighting the mites. I did some checking around locally for predator mites, as a second line of defense, but none of my nearby nurseries carried them on hand. So, we did another neem oil spray yesterday after watering the girls; this time we doubled the strength. I made sure everything got soaked, both under and over. I'll do this at least a few more times I'd imagine, along with being vigilant every day about getting in there and manually killing anything I see. Ugh, dealing with these is no fun, but it's the only way to assure the medicine harvest comes in.

The girls are looking and smelling real nice. It's difficult to have them out of the cab, soaking wet, for over an hour while I deal with the mites; it puts a big dent in the stealth of the whole thing when the entire room smells wonderfully delicious. Hopefully it stays in the room and doesn't venture too far. We're about halfway through the average flowering cycle of 60 days 12/12, so hopefully the fattening up keeps going full pace. More pics soon!

 

[#1cheesebuds]

what the ... they look super hella good. my fav pic is Rhonda (Royal Hawaiian).

looks like she has the most dense buds of all the plants.

 

[K.J]

Thanks Cheese! The Royal Hawaiian's are definitely the most promising looking of the bunch so far.

 

[j6p]

The plants look great KJ, especially considering the ongoing spider mite battle. In addition to neem you might also try some food-grade Diatomaceous earth for the egg problem; this should rip the mites' cuticles and eliminate them as soon as they hatch and start crawling around.

 

[K.J]

The plants look great, especially considering the ongoing spider mite battle. In addition to neem you might also try some food-grade Diatomaceous earth for the egg problem; this should rip the mites' cuticles and eliminate them as soon as they hatch and start crawling around.

Seriously? Doh! Why didn't I think of that. I've got a brand new box of DE we purchased when first buying supplies for our cab. How do I apply it? Should I start by dusting the ground of the cab and the topsoil of each plant with it?

Thanks so much for the props and the advice, and welcome!

 

[j6p]

Seriously? Doh! Why didn't I think of that. I've got a brand new box of DE we purchased when first buying supplies for our cab. How do I apply it? Should I start by dusting the ground of the cab and the topsoil of each plant with it?

Thanks so much for the props and the advice, and welcome!

Since the mites mostly lay eggs underneath leaves, alternating the neem with foliar applications of DE underneath leaves might help get you through this flowering cycle. However if the regular neem applications are keeping them at bay, you might just keep using the neem until this cycle is complete.

After this cycle, I would clean and sterilize everything completely. Between cycles, put in as many different preemptive defenses as possible to keep mites out of the grow, including thin layers and barriers of DE. There is a sticky in the Infirmary section, "Spider mites AKA The Borg", with more info. Good luck.

 

[teerull]

KJ!
Sorry to hear about the mites! Hope you'll win the battle!

The plants are lookin' superb nevertheless! That royal hawaiian just makes my mouth waterrrr...


peace,
T

 

[K.J]

Since the mites mostly lay eggs underneath leaves, alternating the neem with foliar applications of DE underneath leaves might help get you through this flowering cycle. However if the regular neem applications are keeping them at bay, you might just keep using the neem until this cycle is complete.

After this cycle, I would clean and sterilize everything completely. Between cycles, put in as many different preemptive defenses as possible to keep mites out of the grow, including thin layers and barriers of DE. There is a sticky in the Infirmary section, "Spider mites AKA The Borg", with more info. Good luck.

Thanks for the fine advice. I read the box of our DE and it made me a bit wary of actually putting it on the plants, but I may dust the ground of the cab and the tops of the pots with it. You said foliar application; are you saying you can mix this stuff with water and use it that way? Or do you mean dusting the leaves with it somehow?

 

[K.J]

KJ!
Sorry to hear about the mites! Hope you'll win the battle!

The plants are lookin' superb nevertheless! That royal hawaiian just makes my mouth waterrrr...


peace,
T

Thanks teerull! I absolutely agree about the RH's. This was a strain I had no knowledge of, but my CG had these three hanging around and I was given a good deal to take them instead of the W. Widows I had ordered. Thus far I've been happy about the substitution.

 

[K.J]

A few random pics

A few random pics

I'm about to go tend the garden, but before I did I thought I'd post up a few random pictures that I took of the cab last night. I was in the cab mite hunting and I wanted to take all of the ladies out for a photo shoot, but taking them out is a hassle and runs the risk of damaging flowerd, stems, fan leaves, etc so I decide to just snap a few shots sitting in front of the cab. I wasn't trying to shoot anything in particular, just a view of the cab and the ladies from a different angle. Hope you enjoy.


Random close up group shot, Day 28 in flower (7 28 09)

Random close up group shot #2, Day 28 in flower (7 28 09)

Underbrush shot, Day 28 in flower (7 28 09)

 

[j6p]

Thanks for the fine advice. I read the box of our DE and it made me a bit wary of actually putting it on the plants, but I may dust the ground of the cab and the tops of the pots with it. You said foliar application; are you saying you can mix this stuff with water and use it that way? Or do you mean dusting the leaves with it somehow?

You can dust the leaves with DE to get rid of mites, but from your latest photos it looks as if the neem treatments are doing the job well enough. BTW, you can order predator mites from http://www.benemite.com/index.htm ; shaker jars of 1000 mites cost $25. That might be another option between neem treatments if spider mites are getting completely out of control.

The plants are looking great

 

[K.J]

You can dust the leaves with DE to get rid of mites, but from your latest photos it looks as if the neem treatments are doing the job well enough. BTW, you can order predator mites from http://www.benemite.com/index.htm ; shaker jars of 1000 mites cost $25. That might be another option between neem treatments if spider mites are getting completely out of control.

The plants are looking great

Thanks yet again. The neem does seem to be controlling them at least, if not ridding the garden completely. The humidity and temps have also helped; it's been at or above 30% humidity (topping out around 40) for the past week and a half, and the temps have been around 75 with lights on, down to 60 at night...both of which help keep them from reproducing as quickly. The daily manual mite hunts have also helped to get those super mites that seem to resist the neem.

I've considered predator mites, but I was told it would take 2 weeks to get to me and then another few to establish themselves and start really doing any good. If I decide to, I'll use your source.

I still may do a DE dusting, we'll see. Another neem spray coming soon though, that's for sure.

 

[K.J]

I went mite hunting in a big way yesterday. I typically just open the cab doors and kill anything I can see/reach. This time I took all of the girls out by row and spent 10-15 minutes on each one, getting every leaf, every inner fan, every stem...checking everything I could for the bastards. I also looked around with my 60x to see how many eggs and whatnot I could find. I really only saw and killed about 10-15 live mites, but there were lots of eggs still (hard to say if they are viable or not), and I found lots of dead mites. So apparently the neem is doing the job and controlling them to some degree (I'm sure doubling the strength of our spray last time helped immensely).

I rarely see webs anymore, which at least means the garden isn't overrun. But they've sure stippled the shit out of many of the fan leaves. One thing I've noticed is that they don't seem to hit the bud leaves (those leaves covered in resins) or the buds themselves. I imagine a larger infestation would take up residence there, but we've managed to keep it to the point where they're mostly hanging out on the fans still...which is great!

I'm happy to say that indoor temps today are chilly, and humidity is still high, so that'll help our battle too.

Just thought I'd drop a bitty update about our ongoing battle, this day, the 30th day in flower.

 

[j6p]

Day 30

Day 30

Lower temps and higher RH are definitely good news. You did extremely well to save your garden from the infestation, IMHO. I've lost some plants to the Borg myself. In my own experience, by the time the webs were visible, generally the plants could not be salvaged. The mites are so tiny and voracious that it is very easy not to notice them until it's too late to recover. This is why preemptive measures are needed, as well as constant vigilance during the grow. One idea would be to maintain higher indoor RH and lower temps if possible.

Keep up the good work! Looking forward to seeing plenty of first-class medicine at harvest. I'm subbed BTW. Thanks for the +

 

[Seismic]

Sorry to hear about the mites KJ. Take care, and best of luck with the eradication.