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Will neem oil in bloom ruin grow??

TrialAndErrorGrows
TrialAndErrorGrowsstarted grow question 3 years ago
Yesterday 2 days before week 5 bloom I spotted spider mites on some leaves with my telescope. I have only been growing for a year now. Question is did I ruin the grow. I did a light spray and tried to only spray leaves but it is impossible to not get nugs as well.
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Other. Bugs
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DoctorGreenThumb
DoctorGreenThumbanswered grow question 3 years ago
Milk could be the answer with a bud wash @ harvest. Using milk on your compost and in your garden will probably come as a surprise to most. Upon closer inspection, however, it starts to make sense. The amino acids, proteins, enzymes and natural sugars that make milk a food for humans and animals are the same ingredients in nurturing healthy communities of microbes, fungi and beneficial bacteria in your compost and garden soil. Raw milk is the best, as it hasn’t been exposed to heat that alters the components in milk that provide a perfect food for the soil and plants, but any milk will provide nutrition and benefits. Using milk on crops and soils is another ancient technique that has been lost to large scale modern industrial agriculture. Milk is a research-proven fungicide and soft bodied insecticide - insects have no pancreas to digest the milk sugars. Dr. Wagner Bettiol, a Brazilian research scientist, found that milk was effective in the treatment of powdery mildew on zucchini. His research was subsequently replicated by New Zealand melon growers who tested it against the leading commercially available chemical fungicide and found that milk out-performed everything else. To their surprise, they also found that the milk worked as a foliar fertilizer, producing larger and tastier melons than the control group. Recently David Wetzel, a Nebraska farmer completed a 10 year study on applying milk at different rates to his pastures, and recorded the results with the help of the local Agricultural Extension agent Terry Gompert , a university soil specialist, a weed specialist and an insect researcher. What they found was amazing- the grass production was drastically increased; the soil porosity or ability to absorb air and water doubled; microbe activity and populations increased; cows were healthier and produced more milk on treated pastures; the brix or sugar level in the pasture tripled, indicating more nutrients were stored in the grass than before. Grasshoppers abandoned the treated pastures- the sugars are a poison to soft bodied insects as they do not have a pancreas to process the sugars. This also explains why insects will leave healthy, high brix level plants alone, as they contain more sugars than the stressed and sickly ones. Milk Works As Fertilizer.
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DoctorGreenThumb
DoctorGreenThumbanswered grow question 3 years ago
@TrialAndErrorGrows They go dormant and stop eating and will leave the area for a warmer place. So sticky tap the floor. It will also help kill off the eggs or take them longer to hatch. I would try and get the tent down to 35F
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TrialAndErrorGrows
TrialAndErrorGrowsanswered grow question 3 years ago
Thanks @Theia for the answer. I will definitely be doing the individual leave wipe next time.
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TrialAndErrorGrows
TrialAndErrorGrowsanswered grow question 3 years ago
@doctorgreenthumb What is the purpose of the temp drop? Thanks for the answer. Definitely going to do a bud wash at harvest.👍
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DoctorGreenThumb
DoctorGreenThumbanswered grow question 3 years ago
I would get an ac and drop the temps real low for 48-72 hrs. Get the temps down in the 35-40F area. I would do a bud wash @ harvest.😎
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Theia
Theiaanswered grow question 3 years ago
It is a pain but you get a cloth and you wipe down each leaf gently with a dilute neem oil mix. Like you said it's impossible not to spray flowers also. It comes down to if you have patience to sit and do this. After the Tim invested so far it's worth doing in my opinion. The oil on the buds can leave a bad taste. My last bug outbreak I used some predator bugs to break the cycle and after 2 weeks the issues were solved. Good luck.
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