Just Sacrificed A Plant To The Borg...

[imiubu]

There is now a companion planting thread for anyone interested.

 

http://michiganmedicalmarijuana.org/topic/50167-companion-planting-for-cannabis/

[Norby]

Thanks for the link t-pain.

 

I thought of it but hadn't researched it yet.

 

I am going to start my chives and cilantro seeds today + some organic garlic.

 

The link says that Dill is a good companion plant for Lettuce and Cabbage.

Lettuce (Lactuca sativa) ?  Hmm any relation to cannabis sativa?

 

 

Yep, gonna drop some of those seeds in some soil today too.

 

 

 

Experiment is on!

Sativa is latin for thin leaf.  There are a lot of plants with that species name as a descriptor. If the first word lactuca were the same tehy would be related as they are in the same genus.  And on up the line, if they share the same family, class, order or phylum they are more distantly related.  Kind of like a family tree.

[zachw]

Quick update. On March 2nd I said that I brought in a leaf from the sacrificed plant after it was in the garage for a couple of very cold nights. And how I found among many dead (?) mites a live one scurrying across the microscope slide. I then immediately moved the plant to the back yard in the snow. Up through Monday evening - that's five nights of below freezing with the 3rd being below freezing the entire day.

 

Today's a nice balmy day and I brought in one leaf again to look at it under the scope.

 

THEY'RE STILL NOT FREAKIN' DEAD!

 

(My grow thankfully remains mite-free on both flower and veg sides.)

Edited March 7, 2016 by zachw

[t-pain]

you should put some mites in a sealed jar , then put it in the freezer. gotta find out how to kill them!

 

if it bleeds, we can kill it.

[webfoot]

Bug Maintenance is part of growing imo. I spray even if I don't see any sign of bugs. I always do my sprays in veg. I do a perpetual grow. I use neem, azmax, mighty wash,  I spray every 5 days three times total. I spray the dirt and the floors to. I never use the same product in my 15 day spray.  I do this about every 6 weeks. I haven't yet had bugs in the bud room.

I use a Hudson 99598 electric atomizer sprayer because it covers all the plant the best.

If I had bugs in the bud room id use the mighty wash or azmax but id do it a couple weeks before harvest even though it says day of is fine.  If you use mighty wash, it must be used within 30 minutes. After that it seems useless.

If you bring in clones spray them before you put them in your grow room. Always spray 3 times for best results.

Spraying sucks, Mites suck. Its part of growing for most of us.

[trichcycler]

poor microbeasties, they deserve a sporting chance you guys....

[zachw]

First harvest is complete and I'm super happy with the results. More in a separate post soon.

 

Per the original post here, I sacrificed one mite infested plant in veg - we'll call it PK. Since then, the grow has been completely mite-free except for a few found on another PK plant in early flower. But they were removed and I never saw any re-appear. 

 

So today I'm prepping the rest of the grow for a move into the bloom room. They're all clones of the first run. Lo' and behold, a close inspection of the two PK clones uncovered a few mites! NOTHING on any of the other plants as before. 

 

Pumped up the water sprayer, and let 'em have it a nice long, cold blast of water. But when the water droplets finally dry, I still see some of the critters.

 

Bought some spinosad (Monterey) a while back but never used it. I'm thinking, should I even bother? I don't have room to bloom everything for the last grow till fall, and maybe I'll just sacrifice the two PKs and be done with it. My experience here is that PK is just too attractive to mites! 

 

But I would still feel bad about killing the plants. Maybe I'll try and find some stealthy place outdoors to plant them...

[mibrains]

Ok so

progress report.

 

Used Dr doom bomb

3 days later Used neem spray.

3 days later used mighty wash

3 days later used safer insect wash.

 

Will repeat in 10 days.

 

So far so good.

 

No live mites seen.

 

Damage still exists.

 

Eggs still present.

 

Continuing the battle and will switch up the methods to hopefully achieve best results.

 

Would consider dunk tank out of trash can or 55 gallon barrel however my girls are in plant stands and being wove in trellises to achive a modified screen of green.

[zachw]

Ended up using Monterey Insect Spray since a few mites were found on the Hash Plant that was moved to bloom.

See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spinosad

 

Sprayed everything, including the Burmese Kush clones which had zero mites and whose moms made it through the harvest with zero mites.

 

A day later, looked at an infected leaf under the scope and saw lots of dead mite carcasses and what I believed to be eggs.

 

A few days later, saw a few live mites under the loupe. By the way, they are more fragile than I thought; prodding them with a dental probe destroyed them.

 

May try another application of Monterey. Though I believe that I can keep things under control, the two Power Kush plants are very susceptible to mites

and I don't the idea of ANY mites in my flowers. Found a potential place outside to plant them - I'd rather give them a chance to live and prosper even if I don't see 'em again.

(But the deer will probably get them anyway.)

[zachw]

Ok so

progress report.

 

Used Dr doom bomb

3 days later Used neem spray.

3 days later used mighty wash

3 days later used safer insect wash.

 

Will repeat in 10 days.

 

So far so good.

 

No live mites seen.

 

Damage still exists.

 

Eggs still present.

 

Continuing the battle and will switch up the methods to hopefully achieve best results.

 

Would consider dunk tank out of trash can or 55 gallon barrel however my girls are in plant stands and being wove in trellises to achive a modified screen of green.

 

Don't think that a dunking kills them, just washes them off.  So a power wash is likely more effective than a dunk. Just speculatin'!

[t-pain]

what no ladybugs?

[trichcycler]

my deer have preferred the tender plants before they began flowering. I hope they leave yours alone!. heck nature might eradicate those last mites and leave you with an awesome outdoor bounty.

 

good luck

[Willy]

Ended up using Monterey Insect Spray since a few mites were found on the Hash Plant that was moved to bloom.

See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spinosad

 

Sprayed everything, including the Burmese Kush clones which had zero mites and whose moms made it through the harvest with zero mites.

 

A day later, looked at an infected leaf under the scope and saw lots of dead mite carcasses and what I believed to be eggs.

 

A few days later, saw a few live mites under the loupe. By the way, they are more fragile than I thought; prodding them with a dental probe destroyed them.

 

May try another application of Monterey. Though I believe that I can keep things under control, the two Power Kush plants are very susceptible to mites

and I don't the idea of ANY mites in my flowers. Found a potential place outside to plant them - I'd rather give them a chance to live and prosper even if I don't see 'em again.

(But the deer will probably get them anyway.)

An implemented pest management system is always best , either outdoor or in. I use monterey, and after using  a system for six weeks, i have gone a total now of 2++ yrs with out so much as an egg. I found monterey makes the eggs look like raisins, they dont hatch, and clean up great. even the carapaces are eaten by a black spot .. and they left after the plants were clean of mites. use the monterey, you will be happy, use it two days then in a week two more days, and then one more time, just before dark or lights out.. I have never known it to fall. even when there is a tent of webbing over the plants.. and yes it gets that bad if you let it get away from you. There nasty and pretty hard to get rid of..

[zachw]

what no ladybugs?

 

I'd consider this for a larger basement grow, but not one in regular living spaces.

[zachw]

An implemented pest management system is always best , either outdoor or in. I use monterey, and after using  a system for six weeks, i have gone a total now of 2++ yrs with out so much as an egg. I found monterey makes the eggs look like raisins, they dont hatch, and clean up great. even the carapaces are eaten by a black spot .. and they left after the plants were clean of mites. use the monterey, you will be happy, use it two days then in a week two more days, and then one more time, just before dark or lights out.. I have never known it to fall. even when there is a tent of webbing over the plants.. and yes it gets that bad if you let it get away from you. There nasty and pretty hard to get rid of..

 

Thanks Willy. The instructions don't say how often to wait between applications for cannabis! 

[Willy]

I tried lady bugs, they got in the hoods, the fans, seemed to go everywere, and didnt' do squat, I even tried the other insect control as  well, the trio bags.. they all died before the mites ever did. plus they got everywhere  in the house as well. 

[imiubu]

Congratulations!

 

I rid my garden of an infestation of Thrips with the recipe I posted earlier... every 3 days for a couple weeks.. no more bugs.

 

Just sayin

 

water

soap

alcohol 70%

H202    3%

 

buh bye buggies.