Well, it's been 6 years since I joined this sub and started cultivating. I've had loads of successful plants since then, but now I have spider mites for the first time. I have no clue on how to proceed - throw everything away or harvest early and wash the buds. This post was not written by AI, I just want to include as much information as needed.
Plant details and actions taken so far
I'm growing in soil, use BioBizz nutrients. I have a spider farmer LED. Plant is in its 58 day of flower, strain is Cereal Milk, which should have 8 to 10 weeks of flower. If things were normal, I'd leave it for at least one week or two.
The buds do not look infected so far, I've trimmed loads of leaves, where I could see those bugs. I do not want to spray stuff on the plant nor use predatory animals to eat the mites (though they deserve to get eaten). I've also put diatomaceous earth on dry soil where the plant is growing. I've also got another fan ready, which I will put to use today, to blow air from below.
How to proceed
The big question - what should I do, fellow cultivators? I did not use the loupe yet, but I'm sure that the plant is not fully ready. It has white hairs and has been in flower for 58 days, RQS say it should stay in flower for at least 8 weeks.
Should I bin the whole plant and start fresh, after nuking my grow space with chemicals? Or should I wait for a week and harvest it. If I do follow that path, I'll dunk the colas, for a minute, in water with lemon juice and a few teaspoons of baking soda. Followed by dunking in clean water, letting it drip down and start drying the colas. Will that get rid of the bugs so I can safely smoke my bud?
How did I get them?
I do not want to repeat the mistake of getting those ugly bugs again. What can I do? Here's my grow setup, what could be the reason I got spider mites in the first place:
- My grow closet is in the hallway, I completely detach one side of the closet and put it standing on the floor.
- I water every two days with 1 liter of water, that stays outside (to get rid of chlorine) on my balcony, that has other plants growing (the water is on the floor and plants grow on a small table above the water).
- I also have a nosy dog that sometimes takes a sniff check of the plant and walks in the hallway multiple times a day.
My plan is to spray the whole wardrobe from the inside with neem oil or maybe even BioKill insecticide which is harmful for a growing plant, but I guess it's going to be okay after two weeks when the new plant starts to grow.
Next grow, I'll make sure the dog does not come close to the plant. I'll also use a fan directly from start, maybe buy a better one too.