Ready to give up! (spider mites)

[Smoke_A_Lot]

So my first problem was getting my old seed stock to germinate. Now i finally got some plants established an was checking them out last night in my tent. I picked one of the cups up and was examining the plant and i noticed a lil speck crawling in the soil, on a closer look they were in the soil and outside the pot. I thought it was just that single plant & tossed it, came back to look at the others and i noticed the same on all of them (complete infestation) !!



Going to throw all the plants out, and scrub the hell out of my tent with bleach and start over! Now they question is where did they come from? The soil was "Black Gold Natural & Organic" that's a good brand from what i gather. Could they of come from the bag of soil? I also started them in root riot plugs. My dad has a couple house plants in the house he's had for years, we have 2 cats but they're indoor cats, all my windows have screens. What caused this?

Now I'm being extra cautious! after i clean the tent should i throw out my bedroom carpet the tent sits on just in case?! Tell me if I'm going overboard here, but I'd rather be safe than sorry. What else can i do to prevent this happening in the future? I've grown before but NEVER had problems with spider mites.

 

[Itsmychoice]

They probably weren’t spider mites on the soil, maybe springtails which are harmless. Spider mites are usually noticed on the leaves. Either way I would do some preventative sprays or dips every week in veg. If they are of any size I would dig them out of the trash. Ogbiowar foliar would be spray nummero uno.

 

[Smoke_A_Lot]

They probably weren’t spider mites on the soil, maybe springtails which are harmless. Spider mites are usually noticed on the leaves. Either way I would do some preventative sprays or dips every week in veg. If they are of any size I would dig them out of the trash. Ogbiowar foliar would be spray nummero uno.

Okay, that makes sense! Idk if i forgot to add that but the lil insects weren't on the leafs at all! Just on the surface of the soil & the cups containing them. I can't confirm if thats what they are because they're so small, barely visible to the human eye - i had to squint to see them. They looked kind of like ants i suppose, multiple legs, transparent in color but with a redish/tan tint to them.

Anybody else wanna chime in?

 

[toastyghostie]

Man I hate the gigantic unnecessary signatures but yours is pretty alright!

Google spider mites

There are all kinds of mites you're probably fine

 

[troutman]

Before throwing everything out do get an organic Pyrethrin pesticide and try to deal with it.

I imagine if you did throw everything out you would be spraying anyways.

Give it a shot at least.

Check this link out:

http://www.saferbrand.com/advice/insect-library/garden-insects/all-about-spider-mites

 

[insomniac_AU]

Sorry for all your problems mate. I feel for you. TBH growing in soil indoors is not my specialty. When I've tried it I've run into all the same sort of pest issues. Common sense tells me that if your environment is sterile the vermin must be coming from the medium. I wouldn't throw the plants out yet as suggested try to deal with the problem. It might not be too difficult if the plants are small. You could discard the medium and replant after the plants are pest free. Might be worth a try anyway.

 

[stoney917]

Way overreacted mang...100% not mites first guess fungus gnats , or like dude said springtails.... not terrible but do weaken ya plants defense so if mites/other pests/other issues do show the door is wide open n they settle is quicker... get some h202 n neem watch ur problem go away.... hopefully they are still in ya trash.... they will come back fine....

 

[TheBlaze]

Not spider mites. I deal with them on a regular basis. A living soil is an ecosystem for all kinds of tiny creepy crawlies.

 

[TheBlaze]

Might be this https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypoaspis_miles

 

[Coughie]

Yeah...

Red-tan, on the soil, crawling fast enough to freak you out..

Those are hypoaspis miles.

More weed, less overreacting;
Calm thyself.

 

[Smoke_A_Lot]

Yeah...

Red-tan, on the soil, crawling fast enough to freak you out..

Those are hypoaspis miles.

More weed, less overreacting;
Calm thyself.

Omg, thank you so much!! I looked up pictures and that's exactly what they looked like & read they're actually a good thing! I totally jumped the gun, and was ready to set fire to my tent, bedroom, & every thing they could touch LOL

 

[Smoke_A_Lot]

I feel very stupid right now, but learned a valuable lesson!
I've never seen tiny bugs like that in my past grows, & assumed spider mites not knowing anything about bugs. hypoaspis miles do eat algae & i had a thin layer covering the top of the soil on my oldest plant. I dug them out of them out of the trash bag, salvaged 4 sprouts - the other 4 were too badly damaged with broken stems.

 

[Lost in a SOG]

If it's a larger fast moving mite then it will probably be predatory or eat something other than plants.. The ones that turn your plants to mush hide like an insidious powder of dots on the underside of leaves.. and if you think you have to squint to see those big red ones then let me tell you you probably wouldn't even notice spider mites, they're minuscule, until the population explodes and your plants start going down hill mega fast.. reproduction is exponential..

Spider and broad mites usually need to have a direct mode of infection like you literally touching a plant with them on and then going into your grow room,, or they come in on cuts..

I'm glad you have figured out you don't need to napalm your life lol

 

[Smoke_A_Lot]

If it's a larger fast moving mite then it will probably be predatory or eat something other than plants.. The ones that turn your plants to mush hide like an insidious powder of dots on the underside of leaves.. and if you think you have to squint to see those big red ones then let me tell you you probably wouldn't even notice spider mites, they're minuscule, until the population explodes and your plants start going down hill mega fast.. reproduction is exponential..

Spider and broad mites usually need to have a direct mode of infection like you literally touching a plant with them on and then going into your grow room,, or they come in on cuts..

I'm glad you have figured out you don't need to napalm your life lol

Yeah, i was just about to edit my post and say they were fast moving! Lil buggers were trying to out run my finger from getting splattered!

& I'm very glad too! That gave me a chuckle!

 

[Lost in a SOG]

Ah well false alarm

Game on!!

 

[troutman]

I do remember reading that fast mites are ok and the slow ones are bad.

Still, I say kill them all and never worry again.

 

[Lost in a SOG]

Aww come on now..

What If some giant figure in the sky appeared and looked down at all the skyscrapers in the putrid boils we call cities and all those gross affrontments to nature.. Brimming with self serving manipulative sociopathic parasites and assumed we were all that way and started smushing the good rural folk out in the country keeping the system ticking over..

Nah lol I'm joking life ain't fair and we aren't all born equal anywhere.. Dog eat dog or live and let live? Bit of a question for humanity that atm..

 

[St. Phatty]

Safer's Dip tank For the Win.

Safer's spray is helpful, but not 'systemic'.

Safer's sells concentrate so you can mix up a tank, 5 gallons to 20 gallons.

Every 2 days, for about 10 days.

When I use it I make a cardboard cover, to fit around the stem of the plant so the soil doesn't fall out when I turn it upside down over the dip tank.

Sometimes I can just bend the stem, and get the whole plant dunked.

ALSO - when the plant is just out of the tank and covered in soap, IT CAN'T BREATHE. You have to wait till the soap is good and dry before putting the plant back in strong light.

 

[AgentPothead]

I'm glad you could salvage something from this. I am still holding those clones for you also if we can figure out a way to get my ass to Boston

 

[troutman]

I am still holding those clones for you also if we can figure out a way to get my ass to Boston

I once took a city transit with 6 seedlings in a small cooler.