How can you kill pollen spores?

A friend had a male plant that released spores in his room earlier this year, and asked me the best way to clean the room. I was reading about it and some people say h2o2 simply sprayed on the surfaces works well at killing spores. Some say bleach. Anybody have any experience with this problem? Thanks

Plain water will kill pollen, but if he wants to be extra thorough on the cleaning he can use bleach water. IDK about h202 though. Good luck

He is correct water will kill pollen. H2O2 will aswell. But the bleach that was mentioned in the previous post is really one of the best bets. because if you have a dollar store near by. you can pick up a gallon for nearly $1. Plus it kills just about anything else as well. Where peroxide kills microbes and the alike. They do both work well but I like to favor bleach over peroxide. I usually dilute the bleach aswell. I usually use like 3:1 ratio for the bleach. 3 parts water to 1 part bleach.

It is long past dead anyway. If not properly stored, pollen is only good for a few days - week.

water doesn't really kill pollen , it just more or less immobilizes it.
Pollen itself won't last long in an environment not suited for it's storage.

try ozone generator.

Jim,
Just so you understand the issue...pollens are not spores. Spores are very hard to kill but pollen is not. Like aithor said...in open air it doesn't live long. Couple weeks max. And while bleach is a good disinfectant...3/1 seems too strong to me. I'd dilute way more...and use good ventilation so you don't breath so much chlorine gas.
JD

Dept of health bleach dilution guidelines

http://www.info.gov.hk/info/sars/en/useofbleach.htm

JohnDee said:

Jim,
Just so you understand the issue...pollens are not spores. Spores are very hard to kill but pollen is not. Like aithor said...in open air it doesn't live long. Couple weeks max. And while bleach is a good disinfectant...3/1 seems too strong to me. I'd dilute way more...and use good ventilation so you don't breath so much chlorine gas.
JD

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Yes it is a strong mixture. However with that strong of a solution it leaves a residue behind that last a few hours. Sodium Hypochlorite degrades when heated but it left alone will last a few hours depending on how strong your solution is. If you have a stirred up room with pollen isnt just settled on the surfaces of things you can clean once and allow the room to settle and while in the process anything else that lands until the degrade of the sodium Hypochlorite simply dies. Including, mites, pollen, viruses, or anything else that is not resistant to it. BUT heat, sunlight, and a few other factors allows it to degrade much faster. Chlorine bleach itself evaporates at roughly .75 grams aday so you know.

Also have you ever poured bleach on your hand or even a diluted concentration of bleach on your hand? Do you remember the slight oily feeling between your fingers. That is the Sodium Hypochlorite. Even on your hands it lasts for a little while until degraded or heavily flushed with water.

It does work in aiding to remove pollen from your grow room. If you can handle the smell. What I use to do was clean the walls floor and tables or what ever you have in there. Turn off lights, fans and everything in between grows. and wait a few hours. I would clean the room twice if pollen was present to aid in future non pollination.

It works and it is cheap. Be careful if you have sensitive skin though. It is caustic with a PH around 11. And mixing it with any kind of acid makes it degrade rapidly releasing chlorine gas. Which you dont want to breath but can also be used to kill air borne containments in small spaces. Just make sure to evacuate any air in the room after you are done as it can kill you.

Hope this was somewhat informative and helpful.

Jimdamick said:

A friend had a male plant that released spores in his room earlier this year, and asked me the best way to clean the room. I was reading about it and some people say h2o2 simply sprayed on the surfaces works well at killing spores. Some say bleach. Anybody have any experience with this problem? Thanks

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IMO- use the procedures they use in the Laboratory. Air/Room Sanitize.
Clean everything, every where with a Bleach solution. 1:10 part solution Bleach/Water.
Put your solution in a spray bottle. Spray the Air. The water particles will collect dust, and pollen, and spores in the air. They will drop to the floor.
or you can use a HEPA filter system it will take a lot of the particles out of the air.

Good Luck on your Grow.

Jimdamick said:

A friend had a male plant that released spores in his room earlier this year, and asked me the best way to clean the room. I was reading about it and some people say h2o2 simply sprayed on the surfaces works well at killing spores. Some say bleach. Anybody have any experience with this problem? Thanks

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How about UV to sterilize pollen? UVC is used in UV air purification it can also be used in hand held devices on surfaces though the obvious risk of UVC is an issue. How about UVB bulbs left on 24/7? There are scientific articles on the impact on pollen with UVB and sterilization could a UVB light sterilize a tent or room if left on long enough? I will reiterate the risks of UVB and cancer if over exposed. In the same boat with pollen I let some herms breed as we live in an area where seeds and clones are hard to get but plotting next grow and how to sterilize pollen. Could a UV air purification with high humidity or even UVB light might make it hard for pollen?

Way to resurrect a 5 year old thread.

Just spray down with water. Plus in air it only lasts a few weeks.
JD

Sorry about raising the old thread just been trawling the forums this is the only one I joined.

Yes water is the go they say was just wondering about UV and curious if it maybe useful? I guess most of us would be wary about to much UVB on our plants and apparently excess uvb damages pollen cells with sterilization the result.

I was reading that in areas of ozone depletion the resultant higher uvb impacted pollen leading to some forests becoming sterilized. There is actually quite a bit of research on UVB impacting plant cells
.
Anyway just 2¢ worth sorry to do a Lazarus on this old thread thanks for tip

No sweat dude...we've all done it. I'm amazed that I still had the same email address after 5 years!

UVB is reputed to help with THC production and is credited with potency in outdoor grows.

I actually set up a room with multiple UVB lights (reptile metal halides) but the gain was not discernible. Plus UVB can fuck with your eyes. I had a door switch to shut them off (as well as timer) so I would never go in room with the UVB lights on. Never do it again. Lots of extra work for minimal gain.
JD

JohnDee said:

No sweat dude...we've all done it. I'm amazed that I still had the same email address after 5 years!

UVB is reputed to help with THC production and is credited with potency in outdoor grows.

I actually set up a room with multiple UVB lights (reptile metal halides) but the gain was not discernible. Plus UVB can fuck with your eyes. I had a door switch to shut them off (as well as timer) so I would never go in room with the UVB lights on. Never do it again. Lots of extra work for minimal gain.
JD

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Yeah that sounds intense that would be dangerous that much UVB it damages or mutates our cells as well as plants its a bad cancer risk. Bad for eyes its so close to UVC its scary

Glad you told me that I got a globe on the way and have same reservations

UVA is said to help with out risks of UVB a cri like a cmh looks great sub 400 nm and companies do flog it but whether it really works I can't say guess you just got to try it

Ammastor said:

He is correct water will kill pollen. H2O2 will aswell. But the bleach that was mentioned in the previous post is really one of the best bets. because if you have a dollar store near by. you can pick up a gallon for nearly $1. Plus it kills just about anything else as well. Where peroxide kills microbes and the alike. They do both work well but I like to favor bleach over peroxide. I usually dilute the bleach aswell. I usually use like 3:1 ratio for the bleach. 3 parts water to 1 part bleach.

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10 to 1 water/bleach is effective and a standard rate for sanitizing also....

MacNugget said:

Yeah that sounds intense that would be dangerous that much UVB it damages or mutates our cells as well as plants its a bad cancer risk. Bad for eyes its so close to UVC its scary

Glad you told me that I got a globe on the way and have same reservations

UVA is said to help with out risks of UVB a cri like a cmh looks great sub 400 nm and companies do flog it but whether it really works I can't say guess you just got to try it

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Not really! Not from repti bulbs!

JohnDee said:

No sweat dude...we've all done it. I'm amazed that I still had the same email address after 5 years!

UVB is reputed to help with THC production and is credited with potency in outdoor grows.

I actually set up a room with multiple UVB lights (reptile metal halides) but the gain was not discernible. Plus UVB can fuck with your eyes. I had a door switch to shut them off (as well as timer) so I would never go in room with the UVB lights on. Never do it again. Lots of extra work for minimal gain.
JD

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Those repti bulbs have only an effective delivery area of 18 inch's around the bulb! They are made to run in fish/reptile tanks and be harmless to people around them...Thus, they only send out effective UV radiation ,,,18 inch's....

Dr. Who said:

10 to 1 water/bleach is effective and a standard rate for sanitizing also....

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Yes the chlorine dioxide kills pathogens and pollen the gas released from bleach would be very effective and actually kills the pollen where uvb mutates cells they become sterile not sterilized lol water impacts fertility also its not necessarily killing pathogens or spores but I got to geek out find some science threads as I got no idea.

Bleach makes a lot of sense as chlorine dioxide gas fills the air and should take spores out anywhere the gas or liquid goes.

Thanks for the tip it makes sense and I will do the same

Has anyone gone over the top with UV lights and killed themselves or got first degree burns here yet? I'd like to read that thread

Dr. Who said:

Not really! Not from repti bulbs!




Those repti bulbs have only an effective delivery area of 18 inch's around the bulb! They are made to run in fish/reptile tanks and be harmless to people around them...Thus, they only send out effective UV radiation ,,,18 inch's....

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Yeah I never used them I got a CLF reptisun 10 @24w on the way I read they only have a small percentage of UVB and UVA. I read 1 will suit 1kw I am running just over 2kw but only small amounts is what I am after just enough to trigger cellular mutation not fry it lol

Think JD was running a bunch of metal halide uvb lamps. That is scary I would be very cautious with CLF or t5 these can be very dangerous as they mutate our cells cause cancer like sun burn causes skin cancer. They can damage eyes to.

The light you see is visible light in the low 400 range and above its deceptive as we can't see UV off course which can make some complacent but I would be cautious.

I haven't used them before so I have no experience its all a learning curve so getting advice from experienced growers is essential... Appreciate all opinions and advice