First off, I want to thank Calibuzz for his initial post and follow ups.......it all too often that the children on RUI open their traps and ruin helpful threads. I've followed the thread for a while and am ready to offer a few suggestions.
1. The no-pest strips are dangerous, and covered with "human" warnings on the packaging. They might be somewhat effective, but are not made specifically made for spider mites and you SURELY don't want to spend much time in the room if using them. I tried them a few years ago, and they didn't do shit. I have a large area though- for a closet they may be perfect. But I don't want my buds absorbing air-borne poisonous chemicals, that may or may not cause cancer or some other nasty disease in 10 years. These may be the cheapest form of protection, but also the most dangerous to your health IMO.
2. Mighty Wash is highly acidic-something like 4.2 pH. I bought some, and it helped some, but it changed my soil pH quite a bit. If you choose this, make sure you buy the Mighty Cleaner, that has the opposite pH of the Mighty Wash, to obtain a neutral pH when applied. I wish they were clearer about this at the beginning. My plants suffered until I figured it out. A so-so product.
3. Liquid Ladybug is very expensive. I like the quick evaporation of the product with no residuals but it too didn't eliminate the mites. It helped some, as they all do I guess.
4. Neem/Azamax/etc.- Azamax is just a more refined concentrate of Neem oil. Do not spray your buds with any of these, as they will close your stomata, your white hairs will dry up and die, and you bud size (and total weight) will suffer mightily. Spray your leaves yes, your buds NO. I use this as a soil drench, but nothing further.
I made and tried the Habanaro spray today and will spray again fully tomorrow. I'll report in a day or two my results.
Habanaro's can be rather small up to about the size of a bic lighter. I bought 5 for $1 and needed 30 peppers to make about a gallon of juice.
To 420: 15 peppers seem on the high end. I would drench my plants with fresh water to delute the concentration and reapply at the correct dose.
Lastly, this is another example of ask 100 people a pot question and get 100 different answers. It's like asking "what's the best strain?" I think multiple attacks using different products is best, but be diligent spraying/treating often. Keep on the lookout daily for signs of a larger infestation. Be careful what you use in flowering- in veg, it's much less important. Pyrethium sprays of different sources will also affect the stomata and close up buds- use only in veg. My rule of thumb is anything goes in veg and I'm much more selective in flowering.
Two other suggestions- If you have a limited number of plants, an alcohol wipe on the underside of leaves is quite effective. And plain water, applied sharply shooting at the underside of leaves will always help to remove the mite population from your plants. I'll report on my results in 2 days......
. Thanks Calibuzz!
