There has been a long standing feud between Spider Mites and marijuana growers!
Spider Mites are soft bodied arachnids that are also closely related to ticks and fleas. They get their name from the silky webs they spin around plants and foliage to protect their nest and eggs. If you have grown cannabis before or even just tended to a garden you will know exactly how much of a pest these mites can actually be. They eat chlorophyll which most plants – and sadly marijuana plants as well, are all filled with.
You can spot their presence in your crop by looking out for a few telltale signs. Firstly, where they bite into your leaves will be left with tiny white or brown dots. In cases of severe infestations large sections of leaves of even whole leaves themselves will turn yellow/brown. You can also detect them by looking out for thin strands of silk between the leaves on your plant. They live and nest underneath leaves so inspecting the underside of your leaves will be the most helpful way of identifying them on your crop.
The most frustrating part of dealing with these visitors is that their entire reproductive cycle only takes a few days to complete. This means once you have spider mites you potentially have a real problem on your hands because a colony will soon pop up. Don’t worry though, there are a few preventative things you can to do give your plants an upper hand in the fight against mites
Spider Mites like hot and dry climates so try lowering the temperature of your grow area and giving your plants an extra spritz every now and then. Windy conditions also tend to discourage the mites, so having good airflow will prevent them from being able to nest effectively. You may also treat your soil or plants with additives or nutrients that prevent pests (this is going to have an effect of your final product though so research this method thoroughly before attempting).
If you missed the bus and already have mites making themselves at home on your plants – don’t worry we have a way forward. Some of these methods might seem a little extreme but this age old battle between growers and Spider Mites has given us some fool proof methods of pest control.
Some of our favourites are as follows:
Use a hard water spray (the pressure of the water sprayed will blow the mites to the ground where they will die without a food source)
Get a commercial pesticide or spray from your local garden store (don’t use any harmful ones and look for repellants that can be used on edible plants)
Suck them off with a hand held vacuum (then freeze the contents collected in the vacuum bag to kill the mites for easy disposal)
Introduce Ladybugs as a natural predator of Spider Mites (consider housing a small colony for effectiveness)
Essential oils like Neem Oil or Eucalyptus oil (make sure to research this method well before attempting it as a form of mite control)
Use a homemade solution of either:
1 tablespoon of bleach to about 3.5 liters of PH balanced water.
Alcohol and water (30% or more of the solution should be water to avoid hurting the plant itself)
Homemade pepper spray(9 parts water, 1 part dish washing soap that doesn’t have any additives, 1 tablespoon of cayenne pepper)
Nicotine tea (organic tobacco soaked in hot water overnight).
There are so many ways to take care of these critters but the problem is that they are resilient. Even just a few eggs left under a single leaf will have your visitors back in full swing in no time. So no matter what method of extermination you use, check for mites regularly!
If we have missed out any ways of dealing with Spider Mites that you think are worth adding, let us know in the comments bellow.