About 8 or so years ago I was growing heavily, I had moved to Michigan and acquired a medical cannabis grow license. Not too long after I had found 5 patients to grow for and was fully set up with my 72 plants having "weeded out" the less desirable strains I had 25 Top Notch mothers. Around that time I had been trading clones left and right, even through Kajiji and Craigslist, which was all legal. The problem was, I still haven't thought about the existence of spider mites and that was a HUGE mistake! Since my grow was set up at my old house (Wasn't living there at the time) beside and under the smoke shop and dispensary I worked for, I didn't always get there to check on things. It only took, or seemed like it was only 2 days of not checking on them. I had walked in to what is now one of my worst nightmares as a grower and just in general! My heart dropped, my beautiful ladies had a mountain of tiny gray spider mites on it, crawling on top of each other to reach the peak! I stood there completely frozen for a good minute before diving in to "mash" the little fuckers in my fists, literally handfuls of these disgusting bugs! Crawling all up each of my arms and all over me everywhere, I could feel them! I kept at it trying to salvage anything I can mushing every one I could see until there was no more crawling. The buds were all webbed up and spotted, they were ruined! I lost around $10k (was selling O's to the dispensaries @$400+). I was now on a mission to save my 25 mothers, which were affected but much less. I started with soaks, washing the plants off in a bathtub, there was much less but that didn't matter, they were still there! I tried different bug sprays and solutions, and nothing seem to do anything. A little more research and I'm searching to buy some ladybugs, I let them loose after the lights went out. The next day I walk into my room to find most of them under the light dead, it was an open light. The ladybugs had flew into the light as soon as it came on kamikaze style, a 1000w HPS, it was HOT which the spider mites seemed to like. After trying a few more things, I came to the solution, NEEM OIL! Neem oil mixed with a little soap sprayed on the leaves saved the year! not all the plants but some! The neem oil makes the leaves thicker, in fact too thick for the mites to eat or want to try to eat them, I believe they don't like the taste as well. Works great as a preventative measure for mites as well and is all natural. Either way, spider mites still crawl around in my mind, I have realized more recently that this is an actual case of P.T.S.D for me now. I now get anxiety with the thought of them, when I go somewhere and see them I go through the motions again, more anxiety and stress, just all together un-easiness. When I get home I STRIP AND SHOWER, I can not stand the chance of having them again! Take this as a cautious tale from someone who knows, YOU DO NOT WANT MITES!
#mites #spidermites #growingptsd #ptsd #neem #neemoil #prevent #saveyourbuds
#buds #problems #growing #growingproblems #stress #anxiety #dank #weed #pot #stoner #marijuana #cannabis #hps #toohot #crawlers #preventative #becareful #clones #issues #ladybugs #oil