Greenhouse growing in the Pacific NorthWest

[Pantagruel]

Yep. They eat mites and then poop them out in little tiny steaming piles of predator mite pooh. With a microscope they are quite recognizable by their cute little micro loaf structure. The also produce quite a few rather large eggs that are themselves tenaciously attached to the leaf surfaces. Mmm, tasty. No way around it really. Not really all that psychoactive as far as I know.

 

[HHHG]

Yep. They eat mites and then poop them out in little tiny steaming piles of predator mite pooh. With a microscope they are quite recognizable by their cute little micro loaf structure. The also produce quite a few rather large eggs that are themselves tenaciously attached to the leaf surfaces. Mmm, tasty. No way around it really. Not really all that psychoactive as far as I know.

My stuff is going to medical dispensaries so it has to be free of all insect matter

 

[Betterhaff]

Here’s what I’ve been using, it’s a contact killer so you have to make sure you thoroughly douse the plants. It may also take a few applications to make sure you kill any newly hatched because I don’t think it has any affect on eggs.

http://www.bonide.com/lbonide/backlabels/l285.pdf

http://www.bonide.com/lbonide/msds/msds285.pdf

 

[Bubbla]

My stuff is going to medical dispensaries so it has to be free of all insect matter

That's the way all bud should be HHHG. Not sure what's worse, smoking pests or smoking predator crap ! Wish people would stop to think that predators like ladybirds are really for use on consumables where you can wash them off.

Peace B

 

[CadburyKid]

My stuff is going to medical dispensaries so it has to be free of all insect matter

I'd prefer a couple of microscopic predators of my med weed than any chemicals!

The best way to maintain a bug free grow is by having a fully working organic garden where the plants have all the nutrients and vitamins they need in the soil. Deficiencies of humus (the dark rich soil) will leave plants without their proper resistances.

Monoculture (ie just weed plants) means that your whole garden is susceptible at the same time to an infestation. Proper organic gardens (ie permaculture method) interplant so predator species can thrive and a whole ecology can be in balance.

A good plant to ward off pests is dwarf marigold, but this is moot if you don't also have the above ideas in practice.

Also in PNW you have a lot of powdery mildew and my above notes prevent that by providing the plant with its correct natural nutrients.

If you are going to buy predators, ladybugs wont fix a problem, they will only help prevent it. There are a couple of other predator mites that eat two-spotted spider mites, and they are a better solution than ladybugs once a problem is evident. But you don't buy them until you actually have a first sign of spider mites because they are shipped with spider mites as their food source.