Mites on cuttings

[daleharris]

So,,question is how long can cuts be totally submerged in water ?? I have some cuts of something I really wanted on the way soon and the source told me he has had mites but has not seen any in a while. Before I even bring them in I’d like to dip them in water and hold them under for like 20 minutes and maybe repeat it a couple times in fresh water. Or if there is something I can add to the water without killing cuts. And then put them in rapid rooters in dome. And up front only one will be kept as a future mom so I don’t care what I treat them with since the one I keep will be a cut that’s grown to only to give up cuts and discarded for new moms and future grow. I don’t care if this one glows in the dark so long as no mites and it gets big enough to give up 100% bug free cuts. I have on hand Avid and the other big hitters from my one and only battle with mites.

 

[Ca++]

I transport fresh cuts submersed in tap. I have about 6 hours to get them out, and in to blocks. Generally they are in the dark. I guess a rooted one will last a similar time under water. If there is no light.
20 mins is nothing, but you will need a wetting agent to drown mites. Then again at 3 days and 6 days, and 9 days wouldn't hurt (especially in cooler grows). This time interval is based on eggs hatching and kiling the juveniles before they are old enough to mature. Water alone won't kill an egg.

I would probably use something a bit poisonous for them. I have some tobacco based stuff from bayer, that is systemic. I just dunk the plant, not the block. Stir a bit. Jobs a good-un. Though I have seen you can leach soil with it.

You must be desperate to get cuts from someone using the 'mites' word. You need to read between the lines here. There is more chance that they have mites, than had mites.

 

[daleharris]

I transport fresh cuts submersed in tap. I have about 6 hours to get them out, and in to blocks. Generally they are in the dark. I guess a rooted one will last a similar time under water. If there is no light.
20 mins is nothing, but you will need a wetting agent to drown mites. Then again at 3 days and 6 days, and 9 days wouldn't hurt (especially in cooler grows). This time interval is based on eggs hatching and kiling the juveniles before they are old enough to mature. Water alone won't kill an egg.

I would probably use something a bit poisonous for them. I have some tobacco based stuff from bayer, that is systemic. I just dunk the plant, not the block. Stir a bit. Jobs a good-un. Though I have seen you can leach soil with it.

You must be desperate to get cuts from someone using the 'mites' word. You need to read between the lines here. Their is more chance that they have mites, than had mites.

Yeah I know. Common sense keeps whispering in my ear to just trash them or decline them before they are sent. I may yet.

 

[TanzanianMagic]

So,,question is how long can cuts be totally submerged in water ?? I have some cuts of something I really wanted on the way soon and the source told me he has had mites but has not seen any in a while. Before I even bring them in I’d like to dip them in water and hold them under for like 20 minutes and maybe repeat it a couple times in fresh water. Or if there is something I can add to the water without killing cuts.

H2O2 - hydrogen pyroxide. It is an unstable molecule that loses it's second oxygen atom, and breaks off into H2O (water) and O (oxygen monoxide) which keeps bouncing around until it connects with another oxygen atom and becomes either O2 (oxygen) or O3 (ozone). It's sterilizing action is from that loose oxygen atom, there are no poisons involved like bleach/chloride. Just a small drop is enough.

Here is an alternative to buying clones though.

1. Go to a dispensary, and buy the smallest amount of weed of as many strains you can, and find out which strain you really like to smoke.

2. Grow them from seed.

3. Make your own clones.

4. Just use bagged coco coir.

Personally if I don't plant them directly into the final pot, I use...

Canna Coco, charge/feed 100 PPM high P/K nutrients (Plagron Green Sensation, Canna PK 13-14, Atami B'Cuzz ATA PK 13-14, GHE Ripen, etc.) and 50 PPM of espom salt (MgSO4).

The high P stimulates root growth, the high K means the stems don't purple up and the Mg ensures a nice green and healthy leaf. pH at 6.0 throughout the grow.

The biggest thing about growing plants from seed, clone or after repotting is to stimulate the root system. That means phosphorus, limited watering and more humid air than humid soil.

The nutrients are only there so they can be taken up through the rootsystem, so the bigger and healthier the roots, the more efficient the plant becomes in taking up nutrients.

5. Cloning

Tapwater is enough to wet the coco coir for cloning. Clones need no nutrients at all. All the nutrients it needs are in the leaves.

The way to clone a cutting is to have at least 2 nodes, and scrape/pull the outside of the bark off down to the lowest node, which gives you a much bigger surface area for roots to sprout from.

Dip this in clonex gel or your favorite rooting agent, to protect the cut from infection. (Coco coir is pretty antiseptic in that it has it's own mycorrhizal fungi.) Personally I use a fermenation I made from sprouted hempseeds/microgreens, honey and water. Rather than sterilize the wound, it overwhelms it with beneficial bacteria. It looks nasty the first week, however the second week it has the thickest roots I've ever seen. Just a thought.

 

[daleharris]

H2O2 - hydrogen pyroxide. It is an unstable molecule that loses it's second oxygen atom, and breaks off into H2O (water) and O (oxygen monoxide) which keeps bouncing around until it connects with another oxygen atom and becomes either O2 (oxygen) or O3 (ozone). It's sterilizing action is from that loose oxygen atom, there are no poisons involved like bleach/chloride. Just a small drop is enough.

Here is an alternative to buying clones though.

1. Go to a dispensary, and buy the smallest amount of weed of as many strains you can, and find out which strain you really like to smoke.

2. Grow them from seed.

3. Make your own clones.

4. Just use bagged coco coir.

Personally if I don't plant them directly into the final pot, I use...

Canna Coco, charge/feed 100 PPM high P/K nutrients (Plagron Green Sensation, Canna PK 13-14, Atami B'Cuzz ATA PK 13-14, GHE Ripen, etc.) and 50 PPM of espom salt (MgSO4).

The high P stimulates root growth, the high K means the stems don't purple up and the Mg ensures a nice green and healthy leaf. pH at 6.0 throughout the grow.

The biggest thing about growing plants from seed, clone or after repotting is to stimulate the root system. That means phosphorus, limited watering and more humid air than humid soil.

The nutrients are only there so they can be taken up through the rootsystem, so the bigger and healthier the roots, the more efficient the plant becomes in taking up nutrients.

5. Cloning

Tapwater is enough to wet the coco coir for cloning. Clones need no nutrients at all. All the nutrients it needs are in the leaves.

The way to clone a cutting is to have at least 2 nodes, and scrape/pull the outside of the bark off down to the lowest node, which gives you a much bigger surface area for roots to sprout from.

Dip this in clonex gel or your favorite rooting agent, to protect the cut from infection. (Coco coir is pretty antiseptic in that it has it's own mycorrhizal fungi.) Personally I use a fermenation I made from sprouted hempseeds/microgreens, honey and water. Rather than sterilize the wound, it overwhelms it with beneficial bacteria. It looks nasty the first week, however the second week it has the thickest roots I've ever seen. Just a thought.

Sorry but I will pass on this. I have been growing only 8-9 years but there is a reason clone only means something. Been through small pheno hunts for several years starting out and that’s not my goal. By the way there were NO BUGS on my cuts.

 

[St. Phatty]

What about using a vacuum cleaner ?

Strong enough to suck the mites off, but not strong enough to damage the cutting.

 

[Greenheart]

I've taken unrooted mite infested cuts before. I put them in a ziplock bag with water, neem, and soap. I left them in there for most of a day. I isolated the clone bucket and treated them daily with neem for a week. When accepting clones there will always be a risk. Isolate them from the rest of your plants until you are certain. Mites and thrips don't scare me. It was that clone with P.M. that forced a reset.

I generally take small cuts 5 inches or less when I clone.

If you take in the cuts and use neem be sure to get 100% coverage and don't let up until you are certain they are gone. As stated you need to interrupt the mites breeding cycle by killing off all the new instars as they hatch from the eggs the adults left on the plant.

 

[St. Phatty]

Since Ladybugs are not always available -

Is there ANY animal that is commonly available as a pet that will eat spider mites ?

smaller birds or lizards - or frogs, or salamanders - maybe ?

 

[chilliwilli]

Since Ladybugs are not always available -

Is there ANY animal that is commonly available as a pet that will eat spider mites ?

smaller birds or lizards - or frogs, or salamanders - maybe ?

Maybe jumping spiders?

 

[TanzanianMagic]

Since Ladybugs are not always available -

Is there ANY animal that is commonly available as a pet that will eat spider mites ?

smaller birds or lizards - or frogs, or salamanders - maybe ?

Not indoors as a pet, however bee and wasp larvae eat mites. Bees often pick up mites 'to go' as a snack for the kids.

 

[Hammerhead]

There are places that sell predatory insects including species of mites that will eat other mites and not our plants.

Organic Mite Control | Predatory Mites, Biological Controls and Organic Insecticides

Mite control using beneficial insects and biological controls leads to healthier plants and higher yields. Whether growing indoors or outdoors, mites can cause serious crop damage. Successful integrated pest management starts with identifying the problem.

www.arbico-organics.com

Worker bees gather both pollen and nectar from flowers to feed other members of the colony. It would be uncommon to eat insects as food unless needed to survive.. They do eat honeydew excreted by aphids. Any developing queen larva is fed royal jelly exclusively. Worker larvae are feed worker jelly only. Honey Bees are strictly herbivorous for the most part.. Cannibalism is part of their nature to ensure only the queen eggs survive. They do consume microbes living in pollen. Some argue they are Omnivores because of the microbes they consume.

There are bee species such as the Vulture bees of the genus Trigona, found in tropical locations that are known to be meat eaters and not vegetarians.

Bees carry mites on them regularly. They can kill off a colony if not treated.
Here is a Honey bee with Varroa mites on it that are deadly to the colony.


These are another species of mites that vector in on bees.

 

[linde]

Sorry but I will pass on this. I have been growing only 8-9 years but there is a reason clone only means something. Been through small pheno hunts for several years starting out and that’s not my goal. By the way there were NO BUGS on my cuts.

You're fine. Neem them and dunk them. I do it every time I take cuttings from my outdoor plants. I submerge them for a good hour atleast then run under faucet to knock any stragglers off. Then neem them again. Shake them dry and throw in the cloner.

 

[TanzanianMagic]

Not a direct 'bee larvae eat mites' quote, however they do have the potential. And of course wasp and hover fly larvae do.

(LiveScience) Why Bees Eat Their Kin

"Bees can be ruthless relatives. Bumblebee queens eat their offspring's eggs, and honeybee workers make meals of their siblings' eggs."

And microbes as meat...

(University of Chicago Press) Omnivory in Bees: Elevated Trophic Positions among All Major Bee Families

When fauna such as bee larvae consume a detrital complex, they are ingesting microbial meat along with the entire detrital mass. As a result, the detritivorous animal feeds as both a carnivore and a herbivore, assimilating heterotrophic (microbial) and autotrophic (plant) proteins, respectively, and exhibiting an elevated trophic position compared with strict herbivory (Steffan et al. 2017a). The mixing of carnivory and herbivory represents canonical omnivory, and while common among many animal species, such omnivory has never been reported among bees.

 

[G.O. Joe]

Or if there is something I can add to the water without killing cuts.

Horticultural oil. Freaking dish soap. 100 cigarette butts and a little acid. (not lsd)

 

[daleharris]

I went nuke. Before the package showed I mixed alcohol and water in spray bottle and before even opening I had package dripping with that stuff. Gently opened box and sprayed everything I saw again with alcohol mix not even in garage area yet. Then took rooted cut and snips and dunked them thoroughly in a mix I made couple hours earlier of Floramite and Tetrasan and dunked them totally for about a minute and swirled them around to ensure not a bit of plant matter down to roots was missed. They bounced back pretty much but were not happy with me. 2 days later same dunk process but with Forbid. some leafed are a bit unhappy but easy to see on the road to recovery. Last night put a leaf under microscope and not a single thing moving but possibly some dissolved eggs but not sure. So far so good. Today predator mites arrived and most of them were put in grow spaces as I do as a bit of IPM but this one is still all the way out in garage. Each time I throw clothes in washing machine before going inside. I dumped Nature’s Good Guys special blend on this one too and propped a slow release satchet on stem too. I can see predators with my eyes crawling on leaves looking for eggs or anything viable. Been using predators for some years as a part of IPM and hypoaspis miles is the best thing I’ve seen for gnats. She will stay where she is for another week and I can’t imagine any borg living through that or viable eggs.
Soon as she gets big enough for cuts to start new moms she gets tossed. And watched like a hawk until then and can be declared clean. One plant like this is easily cleaned compared to a tent full but I’m really watching this closely.