Sterilizing a room after Spider mites

explosive82

Well-Known Member
Chances are you will be okay. Just be careful with reintroducing equipment to your grow room that was in use while there were mites present. Repainting is a good call as it will completely cover up lots of things that you don't want in your grow. PM spores, mite eggs, etc.

The biggest issue I see with indoor grows is that people just don't keep the room clean enough. Dead leaves everywhere (floor, in with the dirt, in the runoff trays). Fans that look like they have never been cleaned at all. Hoods covered with dust both inside and outside. Recycled soil- which is perhaps the dumbest move of all.
Yup i got lazy and had a pretty dirty room so i paid for it but now im wanting to exterminate them for good. I can't see why anybody would reuse soil lol
 

since1991

Well-Known Member
Chances are you will be okay. Just be careful with reintroducing equipment to your grow room that was in use while there were mites present. Repainting is a good call as it will completely cover up lots of things that you don't want in your grow. PM spores, mite eggs, etc.

The biggest issue I see with indoor grows is that people just don't keep the room clean enough. Dead leaves everywhere (floor, in with the dirt, in the runoff trays). Fans that look like they have never been cleaned at all. Hoods covered with dust both inside and outside. Recycled soil- which is perhaps the dumbest move of all.
This^^^^. The old adage..."cleanliness is next to Godliness" is never more true and applicable than an indoor growroom. Outside. ...there is a balance for the most part. What eats your plants gets eaten by a higher bug...and so on and so forth. Indoors...the plant immunity and balance is YOU. Spider mites just seem to find a way in warm dry growrooms...especially the ones most people have that arent sealed. ...not very clean (what most think is clean is not really ) and temps are still influenced by outside weather conditions to some extent. Mites find a way. Like i said...in my veg tent which is nowhere near climate controlled and dialed like my 2 bloom rooms...i found a very early breakout on one plant. Very early. And its always that one lonely plant or group in the back that you never pay as much attention to because they are hard to get to. I havent took in out of house clones from anyone in awhile too. They still creep in.
 
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since1991

Well-Known Member
Yup i got lazy and had a pretty dirty room so i paid for it but now im wanting to exterminate them for good. I can't see why anybody would reuse soil lol
Lazy ...(me too sometimes - everyone has been there bro) dirty growrooms...taking in cuts from Joe Blow who swears he has no mites....and warm dry rooms in summer...you bet yer ass yer sitting yerself up for a spider mote infestation. Taking in infected clones (just because you cqnt see them on little cuts doesnt mean they are not there) is how most get them. We pass that shit around like a funny facebook joke. I use a 3x3 tester / quarantine tent with a 400 halide for anything from seed or clone. Treat everything out of house like its covered in every diseaes out there....even if they are not. And tester tents are awesome for unknown seed packs too. Just assume every seed you got is a hermie or male and run them in the test room for at least one run. It greatly reduces hermies....spider mites and other bugs...and powdert mildew from infecting to main big rooms where all the star players live and thrive.
 

since1991

Well-Known Member
Foliar spray your plants with an ipm regimen helps prevent shit in the first place. Spray kelp/humic/yucca every 5 days and on the third spray use neem (or azamax) mixed with yucca. Keep the bottom branches pruned nice and tidy. No dead leaves anywhere....no dirty fans or walls or reservoirs. ...keep veg rooms cooler and humid (85 degrees and 30- 40 % relative humidity is asking for trouble)....dont take in anything from anyone no matter how hyped the cut is (keep everything in house and use seeds - there is fire in them seeds - always has been) and use a small tester room or tent to run any unknown plant there first.
 

explosive82

Well-Known Member
Lazy ...(me too sometimes - everyone has been there bro) dirty growrooms...taking in cuts from Joe Blow who swears he has no mites....and warm dry rooms in summer...you bet yer ass yer sitting yerself up for a spider mote infestation. Taking in infected clones (just because you cqnt see them on little cuts doesnt mean they are not there) is how most get them. We pass that shit around like a funny facebook joke. I use a 3x3 tester / quarantine tent with a 400 halide for anything from seed or clone. Treat everything out of house like its covered in every diseaes out there....even if they are not. And tester tents are awesome for unknown seed packs too. Just assume every seed you got is a hermie or male and run them in the test room for at least one run. It greatly reduces hermies....spider mites and other bugs...and powdert mildew from infecting to main big rooms where all the star players live and thrive.
Yea i have great strains i don't take clones from other people for this exact reason. i've already started my IPM so i think i'llbe good
 

Tim Fox

Well-Known Member
Neem or azamax for early early like just found them on the bottom of one plant early. But for full blown all out war....neem or azamax never cut it for me. When them little bastards are really jamming on my crop....they laughed at neem or azamax oils. Then you have to get for real with something else in the arsenal. Mighty Wash never did me wrong. Shits expensive but it works for me. Whatever is in that shit....it blows there legs off and makes mites explode and shit. Really cool to see with a microscope after a spray down. Kills eggs too which hardly any product does. In between crops....you want a Pyrethrum fogger can grenade to hit the room. Then wipe everything with bleach and water. I just noticed a very early breakout on one leaf of one plant the other day. And i havent took in any cuts from anyone in a awhile. Its this summer heat. They find a way somehow to get in warm growrooms in summer. Like a magnet. Rat bastards. If you get them "naturally"....that is to say....without taking in infected clones (75% of the way most of us get them) it always seems they are easier to get rid of. But really its a timing thing with mites. The earlier detection the better. Way easier to control.
the state of Oregon ( where weed is legal) is currently testing pestacides,, some are legal and some are not,, it has now been found that mighty wash contains pyrethrins that is not listed on the bottle,,
VERY DANGEROUS!!
https://www.oregon.gov/ODA/programs/Pesticides/Documents/PesticideAdvisoryMightyWash.pdf
 

explosive82

Well-Known Member
the state of Oregon ( where weed is legal) is currently testing pestacides,, some are legal and some are not,, it has now been found that mighty wash contains pyrethrins that is not listed on the bottle,,
VERY DANGEROUS!!
https://www.oregon.gov/ODA/programs/Pesticides/Documents/PesticideAdvisoryMightyWash.pdf
How dangerous are pyrethrins in flower? What is the half life of them (how long they reside on the plant after use) I don't currently use them but i was considering it till i read that thing about it sent to me by GLL
 

since1991

Well-Known Member
Not saying chemical pesticides arent bad....but yall need to ease up a skosh on some of it. And ya need to do your research and know just what exactly yer doing when it comes to pest control.
 

Olive Drab Green

Well-Known Member
How dangerous are pyrethrins in flower? What is the half life of them (how long they reside on the plant after use) I don't currently use them but i was considering it till i read that thing about it sent to me by GLL
Pyrethrins come from chrysanthemums. They are toxic to cats, but dog flea collars are made with it. They aren't really of much concern to humans, especially in low doses. Cats' livers just can't process it out. They are one of the shortest acting, naturally derived pesticides around.
 

SCJedi

Well-Known Member
Avid / Forbid (ovicide & miticide) is my preferred combination. I've used everything from azamax to neem to spinosad to floromite. Read up a little. Dont bleach or bomb or treat one time and think you are done. These things have a life cycle folks. Eggs hatch in 4 to 5 days and the entire life cycle from egg to adult may require 1 to 3 weeks, depending on the temperature. (http://mint.ippc.orst.edu/twospotcycle.htm) Nuke the crap out of everything including floors, walls, containers, stakes once and then use best practices and you'll be fine.
 
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SCJedi

Well-Known Member
the state of Oregon ( where weed is legal) is currently testing pestacides,, some are legal and some are not,, it has now been found that mighty wash contains pyrethrins that is not listed on the bottle,,
VERY DANGEROUS!!
https://www.oregon.gov/ODA/programs/Pesticides/Documents/PesticideAdvisoryMightyWash.pdf
I actually chuckled at this becasue if you think flower extracts are bad for you then you have the wrong hobby. But then again I also use nukes but do it responsibly. Perhaps its because Pyrethrins should be used for maintenance and not eradication. Why doesn't anyone ever mention about how toxic Spinosad is. That stuff will wipe out honeybees in a heartbeat.
 
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Olive Drab Green

Well-Known Member
I actually chuckled at this becasue if you think flower extracts are bad for you then you have the wrong hobby. But then again I also use nukes but do it responsibly. Perhaps its because Pyrethrins should be used for maintenance and not eradication. Why doesn't anyone ever mention about how toxic Spinosad is. That stuff will wipe out honeybees in a heartbeat.
Pyrethrins and Pyrethrum can be toxic. Typically, I think it's more neurotoxic and hepatotoxic in cats than any other mammalian species, but in large doses, it could certainly make you sick, and even potentially kill you, but not in organic pesticides with .01% or even .3%. I believe, anyway. They also combine this with a potentiator in bug bombs.

Just remember, flowers can be deadly. Opium's from flowers and has a considerably lower LD50. Hemlock and Sumac can kill, too. What you said isn't necessarily wrong, but it's not entirely right, either.
 

Chunky Stool

Well-Known Member
I don't understand the obsession with sanitizing the grow space.
I had mites in my tent, big time. Chopped the crop early and washed the buds with diluted peroxide. It actually turned out pretty good -- for being picked early & washed.
Anyhoo... all I did for clean up was:
1) Vacuum the entire space with a shop vac. Tent, garage floor, workbench, etc.
2) Dump shop vac contents & any small garbage cans into the dumpster.
3) Hang one hot shot no pest strip in the tent & seal it up.
4) Hang two hot shots outside the tent & minimize air flow to the entire area.
5) Wait one week.
6) Remove hot shots and save them in an airtight container.

Never saw the little fuckers again and it's been almost a full year. Hot shots definitely work!

https://www.walgreens.com/store/c/hot-shot-no-pest-strip/ID=prod6143750-product?ext=msnPLA_-_All_Products(BSC)&kpid=sku6127240&sst=00d89baf-15a4-4326-8432-af1113b495fd
 

Olive Drab Green

Well-Known Member
I was speaking in generalities. My degree is in toxicology. Everything is poisonous, its the dose that makes the poison.
Right. And by your definition, pyrethrins and and pyrethrum are both toxic to humans. Not just in forcing mg/kg, but in its chemical action. It's just not as toxic as, say, arsenic, strychnine, etc. but there are things that easily are less or "nontoxic" in comparison, whereas this does denote the identifier of "poison." I would say neurotoxicity through disruption of sodium channels merits its status as a poison, in enough of a dose.

Working on a psych degree. Also want to establish some kind of psychopharmacology qualification. I want to research psychotropics, especially ethnobotanical entheogenic psychedelics.
 
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