Is there a material that can stop mites and other small insects?

[keith1975]

I have a mite problem that i think might be with me forever. When i harvest, i move the buds to another room, but alas, there are mites in this room too. So i see mites on my curing buds. Which i budwashed. So now im thinking i might as well leave the buds to dry and cure in the grow room. But im thinking maybe building my own drying rack that can keep the mites out.

Any suggestions? Ideally it would need to be some kind of super thin mosquito net that i could use to build a box with some kind of latch? Or am i dreaming if i think i can keep mites out?

 

[AngryBird]

What mites are we talking about?
Are you sure they are not in the buds?
OK after wash, try to make a bag of mosquito net to hang them in.. But maybe eggs are in the buds?

 

[OG1969]

I am thinking you would want to bomb or spray the room or rooms. Depending on the mite i.e. broat mites produce a toxin into the plant pretty much useless at that point. Me I would spray the room or rooms with forbid let it dry spray again every nook and cranny then bomb the rooms. And maybe even do around the outside of the structure. Sucks trying to grow and combat pests at the same time. And a note the fobid is not for the plants it is for the space. I would clean house before starting back up personally. But as mentioned above any idea on mite?
OG

 

[keith1975]

What mites are we talking about?
Are you sure they are not in the buds?
OK after wash, try to make a bag of mosquito net to hang them in.. But maybe eggs are in the buds?

They could be in the buds, I have no idea. I did bud wash, and thought that would get rid of everything.

I was hoping others that had mite problems can tell me how they got around it. I cant think I am the only guy to ever get mites on my buds.

 

[keith1975]

I am thinking you would want to bomb or spray the room or rooms. Depending on the mite i.e. broat mites produce a toxin into the plant pretty much useless at that point. Me I would spray the room or rooms with forbid let it dry spray again every nook and cranny then bomb the rooms. And maybe even do around the outside of the structure. Sucks trying to grow and combat pests at the same time. And a note the fobid is not for the plants it is for the space. I would clean house before starting back up personally. But as mentioned above any idea on mite?
OG

I am not going to solve the mite problem. Even if I clean, they will come back. I need to learn to work with them. Apparently many others do this. I was just unlucky enough to also get the mites in my buds.

I am going to start by budwashing again, and this time using a bit of h202. Hopefully if I dry it again, there will be less bugs. But I will for sure need to build something to help keep the pests away.

 

[OG1969]

Best of luck brother, hope you figure that one out. If you do market it for sure.
Peace OG

 

[thinkbetter12]

Fans, fans, fans. Supplemented with humidity (run a humidifier), spray leaves with water and like 10% alcohol (basic 100% from drug store) when lights are off, and neem oil sprays (especially underside of leaves where they lay eggs) also when lights off. Keep at it and keep at it, clean the rooms/tents, and clean some more, and keep doing this religiously. Inspect plants as often as possible for mites, kill by crushing in fingers or spray with water or neem. After many months on this routine, I am finally feeling like I have the upper hand. I'm not finding many anymore. The fans and moist/ humid environment seem to be really key. Good luck. I considered fogging but I think most of that stuff is really toxic. So this is the road I've taken. I've lost plenty of product over this time mainly because I attacked the plants with the neem and alcohol sprays and burned leaves, in an effort to salvage what I could. But I'm winning against those buggers!! I almost hate to say so for fear of jinxing myself. Any time is see one now (little red/brown ones you can see with naked eye) -- I crush it in my fingers, spray the underside of the leaf and neighboring leaves if I see any eating spots, Fingers crossed....

 

[keith1975]

Fans, fans, fans. Supplemented with humidity (run a humidifier), spray leaves with water and like 10% alcohol (basic 100% from drug store) when lights are off, and neem oil sprays (especially underside of leaves where they lay eggs) also when lights off. Keep at it and keep at it, clean the rooms/tents, and clean some more, and keep doing this religiously. Inspect plants as often as possible for mites, kill by crushing in fingers or spray with water or neem. After many months on this routine, I am finally feeling like I have the upper hand. I'm not finding many anymore. The fans and moist/ humid environment seem to be really key. Good luck. I considered fogging but I think most of that stuff is really toxic. So this is the road I've taken. I've lost plenty of product over this time mainly because I attacked the plants with the neem and alcohol sprays and burned leaves, in an effort to salvage what I could. But I'm winning against those buggers!! I almost hate to say so for fear of jinxing myself. Any time is see one now (little red/brown ones you can see with naked eye) -- I crush it in my fingers, spray the underside of the leaf and neighboring leaves if I see any eating spots, Fingers crossed....

Did you ever get bugs on your curing buds? I iso'd the hell out of my plants, couldnt see any mites. When I chopped them down, still no mites. bud wash them. Still no mites. Come back the next day, mites on my buds that are currently drying. My strategy is essentially cleaning, but if the mites are in the house then they are everywhere. I dont see me winning anytime.

And I dont mind them in the room, I can fend them off there. I do mind them in my buds, because I have no idea what to do except budwash again and hope they arent there next time round.

P.s. I swear, if I get to my drying buds tomorrow and there is even one cobweb, I am going to lose my mind. There hasnt been cobwebs yet, only one moving mite and the rest look like dead one's or eggs, but damn, if there's ever a time for a cobwebs to appear, it would be tomorrow, and it would confirm that I am indeed screwed. If, however, no cobwebs, no moving mites, then one more wash might solve all my problems. I'm crossing my fingers for that outcome! Because after that I'm out of options... might have to look at bud wash followed by immediate fridging or something... i dunno. let's see...

 

[thinkbetter12]

Yeah, that scenario confuses me. I'd think anything on there when you wash would get eliminated -- between the water, warm water, and anything you add like H2O2. Cobwebs in the buds would be egg nests, I think. When I first experienced these buggers, I didn't know what they were. Me: "Oh, white specs on my leaves...hmmm. Is that LED bleaching? …..". Days go by and I'm just watching the specs increase. By then I had a small infestation and some egg nests in the leaves, in tight or shaded areas where the leaves cluster. And I've had mites in flower but don't remember cobwebby egg nests but could have been. I can imagine if you have really big plants that you could have egg nests within the buds that you can't see. I'd say wash harvested bud more vigorously and inspect for egg nests, and cut those out! I use very warm water, with added H2O2, slosh around a few branches at a time - I do mine right n the sink nowadays instead of buckets, as I don't have that much volume. Then rinse in really cold clear water, sloshing more. Shake a little, and hang to dry. I use fans during the first day or so of drying too. I'd break down branches so you can inspect for egg nests when you begin and perform the washing process. I've been battling for months. Right now, I'm away for a few days and expect to see a few floating around when I return. First line of defense is getting those cobwebby eggs nests out of there. They are mind boggling and I've screamed, and torn my hair out, and nearly wept as I had to do whatever I could to eradicate them, cutting damaged plant sections along the way. Keep at it!! It takes patience and persistence.

 

[keith1975]

My buds are drying along nicely. I havent seen any mites again. I really think they buggered off. The buds are also starting to smell less like hay and other smells are starting to poke through. I should be able to move some of these buds to jars in the next few days. If i still see mites at that point, then i guess im screwed. But so far so good...

I also ordered predatory mites for my grow room. Spinosad wasnt working for me. But i think that might be due to the lower dosage i used. I used a larger dosage two days ago and now im giving it some time to work. Will know in a few days. And hopefully between the spinosad and the predatory mites, i will have solved this.

When I do eventually solve this, i going to write “the ultimate spider mite eradication guide”, because i really will have tried everything.