I'll try some of the bayer suspend, I've sprayed house with some cheap bayer. I have pets. Thanks
Hey there Buck. Spider Mites are just part of the fun. Everyone gets em sooner or later.
What I do... first off you need a lot of air movement. The mites hate wind even tho they use it to spread around too much keeps them from getting up on the plants. So I have fans down low and up high ... lots of air movement... also helps with the other eventuality PM. Get rid of mites and PM your battle is won.
For mites we need a several pronged approach. One treatment isn't enough. The insects have a life cycle. Understand the life cycle you can break it and get rid of them. You're not going to get rid of them 100% they are everywhere. OK to spray your whole house and live in the chemicals if you want to. That's a pretty drastic approach if you ask me.
What we do when we get a mite infestation is spray the whole flower and veg area with a few different things, I usually just put them all in the sprayer at the same time and drench everything REAL good tops, btms of plants, soil, stems, floor and walls around the plants and outside where you're feet are. They probably hitched a ride on your shoes.... or if you let others in the grow space they also can bring them it.. why my grow space is off limits 100% to everyone.
My wife knows the change clothes and shower and never wear outdoor shoes in the grow area.
Neem oil - 1tbs
Dr Bronners Peppermint soap - 3-4 drops (emulsifier for the oil and mites hate peppermint). Can also use soap nuts which is good for the plants and you. Soap nuts is an Indian thing similar to Neem. How I found it. We use it for washing clothes, cleaning our home... dishes lots of uses. Soap nuts from the Saponin tree.... its a natural saponin = soap! But benefit is its good for plants AND doesn't smell or have a taste unlike peppermint soap and Neem.
Monterrey Insect spray - 3 tbs during an infestation (1 tbs weekly as part of an IPM routine).
Garden Safe - 2 tbs (this is the shit that works for mites and also its a 3 in one organic product) 3 in 1 stuff... mites, fungicide & insecticide.
All that into a gallon of water and spray till its gone.... the plants will look droopy but will perk up over night.
Now you can skip the neem oil (& peppermint soap) since it's also in the Garden safe.
Here's the trick. You need to spray 2x or 3x a week during an infestation. You cant skip... once you kill the bugs on the plant, there's also eggs that also need to be killed. They sometimes are not killed (the eggs) the first go around. So they hatch and the process starts all over again with another infestation. So 2x or 3x spray everything a week.... yeah it's a pain but this will TCO your issues and fans. Do the 2-3x weekly for 2 weeks then cut everything down to 1tbs and do that 1x a week.
Can also add into the sprayer every time:
Pro-tekt (1 tsp) & Fulpower (cap full - it's a big cap) - these help your plants imune system fight off insects and diseases.
The KEY is get rid of the mites... kill the eggs .... then kill off the 2nd round.... and then weekly spray for maintenance. I stop spraying flowers 3-4 weeks before harvest if I can... if the infestation gets in there late in the round the plants need to be washed either before harvest or after.
NONE of the stuff I'm suggesting is bad for human consumption and is 100% organic. I steer clear of chemicals for anything ... there's been no studies on plants sprayed with chemicals then the plants dried and smoked by humans.... well I suppose we could look to the Tobacco industry.....or not. Probably not a lot of truth there anyways.
HTH - good luck
