What's the best type of magnifier to use for pest inspection?

I'm looking to buy a nice 20-30x magnifier to view my leaves for early detection of pests. The one I used last grow was a cheap piece of crap that didn't work very well due to the very limited viewing space and I wasted like $20 on it. I also got burned on a cheapy from ebay...need something solid and worth the buy.

If any of the veterans here have suggestions, I got a credit card burning a hole in my ass right now. Thanks in advance.

imo
you don't need anything that strong to look for bugs. A 3x would give you a much wider field of vision. I use a headband jeweler's loupe to inspect plants. here's an example


http://www.ebay.com/itm/Jewelers-Headband-Magnifier-Visor-Loupe-2-Led-Lights-Illuminated-Head-Strap-Nx11-/330868159626?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4d0947748a
You will not believe how easy it is to inspect your plants with dual vision. no focusing with one hand and squinting to see through that tiny lens. Once you use one you will always reach for it first. I do use a 30x loupe to look at individual trichs but that is all

for this application, id highly recommend just going to a dollar store or walmart and getting yourself a nice old style magnifying glass for reading. No need for a high X magnifier in this instance. Something like this will serve you well
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Lumagny-2x-3x-Illuminated-Magnifying-Glass-with-LED/26464446

It really depends on what you're looking for. If it is spider mites, etc. (the usual suspects) a magnifier to 60x should be fine. A buddy got europhid mites on his crop and lost the whole thing do to not being able to 'see' them. I looked for his problem with a hand held microscope at 200x hooked up to my laptop and took some pictures and printed them out. He then went to the MSU ag extention and showed them the pictures (they were real leery at first but then identified them). These little mites are very hand to see at 60x, look like little white specks. They will flat out kill everything, the plants look like the most severe nute burn you've ever seen and the plant slowly turns brown and is dry crisp. and All the heavy nuke chemicals won't touch them (Avid, etc.). Answer: start low and if you have a 'real' problem' jump to much higher magnification. He now will not go anywhere near the grow without a shower and clean clothes, clean shoes.
[h=4][/h]

phizzion-I'd like to hear more about those pests.

Cory and trevor said:

phizzion-I'd like to hear more about those pests.

Click to expand...

This happened last year here in Michigan, although more common out west in Oregon and Washington (google it, I believe Oregon State U. has the best write up). Anyway, my buddy got this 'problem' we couldn't figure out until I got this hand held microscope that takes pictures and it goes to the software loaded on a laptop. At 200x we could see little white bugs in the pictures, but searching the web could find no pictures to identify. I them told my buddy to go yo the MSU ag extention about 2 miles from his house to have the culprits identified. MSU laughed and said they were Europhids. Apparently they are in pine trees, fruit tress, Maple tress (they cause the round balls on the Maples leaves) and arer not usually a problem here in Michigan because are winters knock down there numbers, out west are a different story. MSU basically said they're wasn't much that could be done. Well we tried everything to get reid of them, including torching the whole grow. They still hung around, every time he started, they reappeared, at least we knew what we wewre looking for. Long story short, he ran into an old hippie grower that told him to use a concoction of insecticidal soap and three other 'organic' ingredients. Applied the spray and it 'dissolved' them. He's going on 4 grows with no sign of them coming back (here the knocks, lol). His property surrounding his house is full of Maple and pine trees. He wasn't as careful about coming in from outside and being clean before visit (I'd been warning him). Lastly, he'd just got a clone of Deathstar that he'd been after. Needless to say he doesn't have the Deathstar any more.

I have scopes that range from 3 x to 60 x .. Each has its own purpose but as stated for general plant observation a good old magnifiying glass works best . I have a large one the size of a small paper back and this one is my favorite as it is a window in a sense of magnification ..



Oh those Eriophyidae mites are a bitch , the common galls found on tree leaves are often due to them .. Not a normal cannabis threat but like broad mites they do attack and are a bitch to find .. Normally though the Eriophydiae is spread by wind .

Who is using one of those digital scopes? I always wanted one. Not sure if they're worth a hoot.

Phizzion- Any idea what else was in the hippy's concoction?

Rrog said:

Who is using one of those digital scopes? I always wanted one. Not sure if they're worth a hoot.

Phizzion- Any idea what else was in the hippy's concoction?

Click to expand...

Rrog--- Here's the formula for the stuff that killed the Europhids, it's supposed to kill all soft shelled leaf suckers, which includes spider mites. I know they kill the Europhids dead in their tracks.

This is all mixed to 1 gallon of water:

40ml of SM 90 made by Nutrilife
40 ml of Mildew Cure made by Safergrow
1 tsp Dynagrow-- DON'T EXCEED 1 tsp, has silica in it
1 tsp Epson salts

Can be applied right up to picking

For infestation: apply 3x in 9 days (1x every 3 days)

After that apply every 10 days to 2 weeks

Completely coat the plant.

It is also supposed to be good as a general elixer for plants.

That's very interesting! Thank you for taking the time to dig that up.

There are several natural oils and plant compounds that trigger the plants own immune system. So it's always "on" and ready for some infection / infestation. Additionally these compounds can directly address the contagion. Like peppermint oil. It'll screw with a bug's nervous system.

Really that's why it's so important to get some biological aids in the soil when you first mix it, and periodically amend with these same amendments. Also fresh vermicompost is an enormous, lab-proven agent of good. Not only in the soil but in the foliage. I guess that last little bit was the point of some previous debate. How could Vermicompost suppress problems in the foliage? Well, it's been proven it does.

This works well. I think you have to order batteries. Nice wide field of view. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0019NA0S4/ref=oh_details_o07_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Plastic lens so be careful of scratching it.

phizzion said:

It really depends on what you're looking for. If it is spider mites, etc. (the usual suspects) a magnifier to 60x should be fine. A buddy got europhid mites on his crop and lost the whole thing do to not being able to 'see' them. I looked for his problem with a hand held microscope at 200x hooked up to my laptop and took some pictures and printed them out. He then went to the MSU ag extention and showed them the pictures (they were real leery at first but then identified them). These little mites are very hand to see at 60x, look like little white specks. They will flat out kill everything, the plants look like the most severe nute burn you've ever seen and the plant slowly turns brown and is dry crisp. and All the heavy nuke chemicals won't touch them (Avid, etc.). Answer: start low and if you have a 'real' problem' jump to much higher magnification. He now will not go anywhere near the grow without a shower and clean clothes, clean shoes.

Click to expand...

Great. Another hard to find pest to be aware of. Ha, ha. Not really funny but damn isn't there enough outdoor pests already!

I have two methods to look for mites. The jewlers visor is great for looking at plant details and verifying that there are critters crawling on the leaves, but they aren't enough to identify the exact pest. My microscope has a 10X ocular lens and a 10X objective lens (for a total of 100X magnification), and that's enough for me to tell that the spider mites on my plants are the two-spot species. I'm actually planning to get a 4X objective lens (total of 40X) because the narrow field of 100X makes it difficult to find the mites, and they quickly move out of range. A broader field with less magnification is probably ideal.

I am currently dealing with spider mites for the first time on my first grow. Take the advice from the more experienced guys on this forum. Hit the mites hard and do it as soon as you identify a single mite. These suckers breed fast and they are very difficult to eradicate. The advice I got from others was to have at least two different pesticides. Apply one as soon as possible, and apply the second one a few days later. Pyrethrins worked great for me for about a week, and then the mites were back. Good luck!

FNG Grower said:

I have two methods to look for mites. The jewlers visor is great for looking at plant details and verifying that there are critters crawling on the leaves, but they aren't enough to identify the exact pest. My microscope has a 10X ocular lens and a 10X objective lens (for a total of 100X magnification), and that's enough for me to tell that the spider mites on my plants are the two-spot species. I'm actually planning to get a 4X objective lens (total of 40X) because the narrow field of 100X makes it difficult to find the mites, and they quickly move out of range. A broader field with less magnification is probably ideal.

I am currently dealing with spider mites for the first time on my first grow. Take the advice from the more experienced guys on this forum. Hit the mites hard and do it as soon as you identify a single mite. These suckers breed fast and they are very difficult to eradicate. The advice I got from others was to have at least two different pesticides. Apply one as soon as possible, and apply the second one a few days later. Pyrethrins worked great for me for about a week, and then the mites were back. Good luck!

Click to expand...

You won't get rid of the mites, you can only control them. I had success with the pyrethrum oil but it burned my leaves a bit. The best products I used were azamax and wipeout. Every 3-4 days I hosed the plants down all the way to the end of flower and I saved my harvest. Just make sure you thoroughly allow the plants to dry in front of a fan or two prior to placing back into the grow environment....nobody likes bud rot or PM.

All about the 30x jewelers loop. Have a 100x microscope for a more detailed investigation.

just curious, after a spider mite infection, is it best to water cure? what post drying steps do people do to get the dead bugs out?

oh ya derp, also.. what USB microscope would people recomend... i bought a 30$ one off amazon and it was so bad i sent it back.

IcculusX said:

oh ya derp, also.. what USB microscope would people recomend... i bought a 30$ one off amazon and it was so bad i sent it back.

Click to expand...

I'm also wondering. There was a Celestron brand. Lots of "likes"

I have this one and it does a decent job.


http://www.amazon.com/Aven-26700-300-Microscope-Mega-Pixel-Magnification/dp/B004M8SQ6Q/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1377399708&sr=8-5&keywords=usb+scope


Couple issues I have and they probably all do at this price range.
1.You have to turn a ring on it to focus
2.You can't hold it by hand and keep it focused,you need a stand or flex arm.
3.You have to re-size the pics to post them on RIU.


I have a flex arm but it's still tricky to get it adjusted right but once you do it takes very good pics or video. I have some pics from it in my Cree bulb thread. I was even able to watch a predator mite do his vampire routine on a spider mite when I first got it.

I was thinking of getting one of these to use with the scope.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000978D58/ref=ox_sc_sfl_title_6?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

I think you have to spend about $300 to get a good one with power zoom.
I also came across this one and it had better reviews than mine.

http://www.amazon.com/Dino-Lite-AM2011-10x~50x-Digital-Microscope/dp/B003Q9OVFW/ref=pd_sbs_indust_3