no mo' 'mershy

Northern Lights Auto had issues this week. Some leaves turned white overnight, after just having a few white spots. I cut off a sick leaf and looked underneath with a 50x bluetooth microscope and found these critters. Those specks of dirt are motorized:

I guess it's some kind of spider mites. I was freaking, thinking that my first plant was a goner. I cut off the sickest leaves, and sprayed the bottoms of the others with 3 t. citric acid crystals and 1/2 t. Castille soap in 1 liter of water. I didn't see any more bug activity, but sprayed again a couple days later just in case. I sprayed the other plants and my cucumbers too while I was at it. Northern Lights Auto has had a hard life, but she seems like a survivor. The white snow on some leaves is the remaining damage where the mitez chewed the green out of the leaf from below. Her main cola is mostly horizontal to keep the canopy flat because my lights are small and don't have much penetration. She had no feeding except the compost in the soil until , but now I've fed her twice with GH flora trio flowering formula (1cc FloraMicro, 1cc FloraGro, 1.5cc FloraBloom, in 1 liter of tapwater). I think she was weak from hunger, and that let the mites get out of control:

Bubble Gum Auto is 49 days old. I thought she was about to flower, but instead, after a light feeding, she added nodes on all her branches. Some branches stretched to 12" tall, above the main cola. I tied down the taller branches so i could keep all the bud sites at a similar distance from the 100w QB. She's had 2 light feedings with GH flora trio veggie formula (1.5cc FloraMicro, 1.5cc FloraGro, 1cc FloraBloom in 1 liter of tapwater). I begged a 7cc syringe from the nurse at my doctors office to measure cc's with. I'll continue light feedings every other watering from now on, and occasional citric acid spray under her leaves, in case the mites come creeping. The main cola is at center right, held down with a copper wire:

Purple Kush Auto is 42 days old. She's had a 2nd light feeding of GH flora trio flowering formula. She'll get it again once a week. I think she might finish before her older sisters. The white wire at top right is pulling the main cola down while the branches catch up:

The Gold Leaf Auto twins are 15 days old today. One is a node ahead of the other, but both are showing branches. I'm thinking to cut off the 5th node on the bigger twin this week. They had a first feeding this morning of GH Flora veggie formula:

The girls have been nomads this week, spending time on the sun deck and on a temporary shelf in the basement while I work on the grow room. I've been trying to keep them under 265w of LED's as much as possible (65w+100w+100w). Here they are in the unfinished grow room:

Clockwise starting on the left, from oldest to youngest: Northern Lights Auto, Bubble Gum Auto, Purple Kush Auto, Gold Leaf Auto (x2). I'm working on upgrading the exhaust from 6" to 8", fabricating an intake filter box, and other upgrades as time allows. Being retired is busier than you'd think. I barely get a chance to park my butt in the rocking chair. Thanks to @420Forever, @Fermented_Fruitz, @RastaDaniel, @Kyote, @LoveDaAutos, @ShadyGrove, @PlatinumGrows and all the crew at Live Stoner Chat. Will update next Friday, if life endures.