Trouble reading today's article? Click here: Issue #185 - Sunday, November 8, 2015 Dear Fellow
Grower, In today's issue... - Spider mites can be almost impossible to get rid of, but we'll teach you how
to exterminate spider mites for good!
- Maybe it's actually caterpillars attacking your garden, luckily caterpillars are easy to get rid of!
- This week's trophy pics feature the amazing growing skills of a first-time grower!
Nebula Haze & Sirius Fourside (founders of GrowWeedEasy.com) "To use a human term, the Borg are immortal."
~ Seven of Nine, Star Trek: Voyager
Spider Mites aka "The Borg" by Nebula Haze & Sirius Fourside |
Spider mites are part of the mite family and are related to spiders, ticks and other mites. Although they're a common cannabis pest, they can be very difficult to get rid of. The first sign of spider mite damage is tiny specks (bite marks) on leaves.
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Picture of spider mites on a cannabis leaf - they're tiny and often found under the
leaves Spider Mites and Cannabis
Spider mites have tiny
sharp mouths that pierce individual plant cells and suck out the contents. This is what results in the tiny yellow, orange or white speckles you see on your plant leaves. Spider mites are common cannabis pests, especially when growing in soil. Although less common in hydroponics, spider mites can show up in any setup where cannabis is being
cultivated!
Villains! Extreme Close-Up of Two-Spotted Spider Mites with Egg Spider mites can be an especially tricky pest in the grow room. Since they are so small they can build up a big infestation before a grower even notices a single mite.
Many growers see the distinctive tiny spots of a spider mite infestation and think it's some sort of nutrient deficiency, not realizing it's actually something far more sinister. Spider mites are despised by growers. Here's why...
- Rapid reproduction - a single mature female spider mite can produce a million mites in less than a month
- Disappearing act - spider mites often appear to be gone/killed, then they come
back with a vengeance days or weeks later, right when you thought you'd gotten rid of them for good.
- Big appetites - spider mites can eat up your tender plants in an amazingly short amount of time; a bad infestation has been known to kill plants overnight
- Webbing - spider mites cover leaves and buds with a fine mesh of silk webbing, ruining whole crops even after you get rid of the spider mites
- Zombie-like resistance - spider mites quickly become immune to whatever you do to try to kill them; if you don't take care of your
spider mite problem by eradicating them completely from your grow room, you may soon find you have a population of 'Super-mites'. The two-spotted spider mite which specializes in cannabis seems to be particularly resistant to insecticides, and is sometimes referred to as "the borg" in the cannabis growing community. These 'borg' spider mites with two spots on their back can be almost impossible to get rid of! Read one grower's journey to get rid of the "borg" spider mites in his grow room.
Spider mites often go unnoticed at first because they are so tiny that they look like spots to the naked eye. Male spider mites are about 1/50th of an inch long (.5mm) while females are slightly smaller at about 1/64" (.4mm). It's hard to imagine something that tiny, but the picture below might help give you an idea of how small they are:
Under a microscope you can see they have four pairs of legs, no antennae and a body shaped like an oval. When spider mites attack a particular spot and you see lots of speckles near each other, the leaves may start looking yellow or bronzed. Badly attacked leaves often die
prematurely.
Although it starts with speckles, this pest has certainly earned the "spider" part of its name from the distinctive silk webbing they spin on vegetation, leaves and flowers once an infestation really sets in. Web-producing spider mites may completely coat the foliage and flowers with the fine silk, which collects dust and looks dirty.
With flowering plants, you may even see entire buds get covered in fine webbing from a bad spider mite infestation. Spider mites have a life cycle that helps them re-populate quickly and effectively after much of their population has been destroyed.
Adult females begin the cycle by laying eggs, often on their host plants. In days or weeks an egg will hatch and become a larva, which is the first stage of life. Larvae are round bodied and have only three pairs of legs. The larvae feed for a few days, seek a sheltered spot to rest and then molt into the first nymphal stage. The first nymph now has four pairs of legs.
The first nymphs feed a few days, rest and molt into the second nymph. The second nymphs feed, rest and molt into the adult stage. Overall, it can take days or weeks for spider mites to go through their whole life cycle.
Here are adult spider mites with eggs Because of this variable growth process, it's common to think that you've eradicated the spider mites in your grow room while they're secretly building up numbers in one of their immature
stages.
This is why it's so important to keep treating your grow room after a spider mite infestation even if it appears that all the spider mites are gone. Just pretend they're hiding and doing pushups, just building up their numbers for a second infestation. Treat your grow room like a war zone, and don't allow the spider mites to build up any numbers and attack again!
Growers Need to Take Spider Mites Seriously... Or This Can Happen!
Solution: Early detection of spider mites is key!
Spider mites are tiny and can be
detected only by a full and thorough leaf inspection (on both sides of the leaf). If you find Spider Mites or eggs you must act fast and hit them hard.
Spider mites can be very quick to take over your plant, and even quicker to develop a resistance to almost any method you use to get rid of them, which is why it's generally recommended to use multiple methods of offense against a spider mite
infestation.
If you have problems with spider mites, keep a constant and varied offense for the best chance at success!
So if you have spider mites, what do you do?
How To Get Rid of a Spider Mite Infestation
Caterpillars, Inchworms & Cabbage Loopers |
Caterpillars!!! Argh!!! Sometimes the first sign of caterpillars, worms or cabbage loopers is just seeing chunks of your leaves missing. You may also see clumps of black/brown "dirt" on your leaves, which is caterpillar poop. Lastly, you may actually catch a caterpillar
munching on your leaves! It makes me so angry to catch them in the act!
Signs of Caterpillar Damage - Leaves Are Missing Chunks
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Caterpillar Droppings on Leaves Although spider mites can be difficult to get rid of... luckily the same is not true for caterpillars, inchworms and cabbage
loopers! Caterpillars are actually pretty easy to stop!
A "BT" spray is a safe biological insecticide that contains the bacillus thuringiensis (BT) bacteria. This bacteria kills larvae and prevents caterpillars from being able to eat. This is
one of the most effective ways to kill caterpillars, and won't hurt most beneficial insects. It is completely non-toxic so it can be used up until the day of harvest. As a bonus, it also kills other cannabis pests like fungus gnats!
A Closeup of the "BT"
Bacteria
Don't let another caterpillar take a bite out of your leaves!
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Hi guys, (and girls)
I just smoked my first home grown weed ever, but it wouldn't have happened if it wasn't for your help and your excellent website! Thank you so much. It wasn't the best weed but it still has a punch. I think I did everything wrong but I learned and have a clone growing nicely, so there is hope. It's been an awesome hobby and lots of
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Thank you,
Chef Mikey |
Trophy Pictures of the Week |
"My first grow, few problems, but with your site it has been simple to over come. Thanks for the great advice."
-Ramfan69 |
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Who Runs This
Newsletter? |
Nebula Haze:
Medical cannabis is important to me personally, and I'm dedicated to showing others how easy it is to grow their own supply of
cannabis at home.
It is my mission to educate and build growing resources to help both new and advanced growers get bigger, better yields with less time and money. |
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Learn which seed sources are personally recommended by Nebula Haze |
Sirius Fourside:
Sirius Fourside is a hobbyist grower who has gained the bulk of his experience growing in water as a medium(deep water culture,
bubbleponics).
"Growing cannabis is a relaxing hobby in and of itself, but it also saves you money and keeps you from having to deal with shady characters. Cannabis is much
easier to grow than people give it credit for, and growing in water doesn't increase the difficulty much, if any. But whether you want to grow in water, coco, or a different medium, we'll show you how easy it can be!"
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