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By Greenthumbs Garden
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Posts:  644
Joined:  Mon Jul 27, 2009 10:15 pm
#364242
So ive noticed a couple of my plants looking a little shabby, stop growing, blothes on leafes, cilia looing withered. I could not make out what the issue was as i could not see any pest visible.
Today i noticed more plants going down hill, despite good watering and adequate shade from this realy hot spell we have had. I took a real close look and it was almost imposible to see them but i spotted a few tiny red mites moving about, and what appears to be yellow ones dusted around.

Funny though, normally i can see spider mite much asier as the adults are much bigger and theirs alwasy a bit of web also. I struggled to see anything at all. Im pretty sure its the mites as the damage resembels many of the pics ive seen here and they normally come in this hot dry weather.
Flipping nusance, its always somthing to contend with.

So Ive treated them with a ratio of 1 part achohol to 1 part water with a squirt of dish soap. I looked around and this seems safe for vfts, i dowsed the foilage and tried my best to avoid the media, tilting the containers where possible... ill repeat again in 6 days
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By Greenthumbs Garden
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Posts:  644
Joined:  Mon Jul 27, 2009 10:15 pm
#364349
@Matt, thats exactly what they look like. the only thing that made me suspicious was 3 weeks earlier i saw somone post a pic of spider mite damage here in the forum and it looked the same. but the spider mite i have always dealt with here have been big, you can see them clearly about half the size of a pin head and then smaller ones and they coat the leaf in a fine web dotted all over with them.

The plants are looking a little better today, but it must me my imagination, lol. The good thing is the natural mitecide mix has not harmed my plants. I think i will repeat in several days incase i missed any then again in several days to catch any lava. then repeat the process 2x more, 3 weeks total to rid them. hope it works.
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By Matt
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Joined:  Mon Apr 21, 2008 11:28 pm
#364370
Dr GreenThumb wrote:The plants are looking a little better today, but it must me my imagination, lol.
:lol: I would guess to too! In my experience, I've only been able to get rid of them with a dedicated miticide. Though, I've never tried the popular insecticide neem oil. I think some people have had success with that.

I am very interested to hear how your natural miticide mix works out. Please update this thread as you combat those little turds!
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By kato_stud25
Posts:  83
Joined:  Sun Jul 07, 2019 6:08 pm
#364376
Matt wrote: Thu Sep 03, 2020 12:26 am In my experience, I've only been able to get rid of them with a dedicated miticide. Though, I've never tried the popular insecticide neem oil. I think some people have had success with that.

I am very interested to hear how your natural miticide mix works out. Please update this thread as you combat those little turds!
I just recently had to battle those little turds as you put it Matt and that they are. I've never had to deal with them before so it took me awhile to figure out what the problem was and they did some damage in that time. I used Bayer 3 in 1 three times and it slowed them down but did not completely get rid of them so I got some dedicated miteacide and I think it got rid of them, plants look alot better so hopefully there gone but at least now I know what to look for and have what's needed on hand to take them out.
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By Greenthumbs Garden
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Joined:  Mon Jul 27, 2009 10:15 pm
#364390
@Matt, I've dealt with mites before very successfully on my veggies using this recipe.

To make 1 liter of natural spider mite killer
  • 236 mil apple cider vinigar
  • 4 TSP bakeing soda
  • 1 TSP Dish Soap
  • 944 mil of water


I did not try this one because i do not know how safe it will be on my plants.
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By Greenthumbs Garden
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Joined:  Mon Jul 27, 2009 10:15 pm
#368935
Just to update this thread. I finally got rid of the spider mites,.... it was a brutal long war. I was spraying them with Neem oil almost daily at one point. A combination of the cold weather setting in and winter and neem I think is what helped. Quite annoying as I did not see the best from my plants this year. But also glad that I did not have too many casualties and most survived.
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By Greenthumbs Garden
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Joined:  Mon Jul 27, 2009 10:15 pm
#380058
Has anyone used predatory mites as a biological control released a few weeks before the spider mite season to control attacks? I read today of an orchid grower that normally keeps a population of predator mites to keep his orchids healthy. I think i might try it this year.
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By Matt
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Joined:  Mon Apr 21, 2008 11:28 pm
#380286
Dr GreenThumb wrote:Has anyone used predatory mites as a biological control released a few weeks before the spider mite season to control attacks?
I've heard of people doing this but can't recall anyone in the CP hobby posting about it anywhere online. If you decide to try it, please let us know how it works!
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By Greenthumbs Garden
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Joined:  Mon Jul 27, 2009 10:15 pm
#380298
@Matt, Yes I will, Mites here in summer are always a real bane. Maybe this could be the answer.
Matt liked this
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