What about Preventative Measures

[Lugen007]

I read a lot of threads about "I'm 2 weeks into flowering and got pm/spider mites" What I would like to see is some preventative measures taken for PM, spider mites, aphids and other garden problems that might occur, and how people make sure they take preventative measures to deal with stuff BEFORE it occurs.....ie:sulphur burners, foliar spray of sm-90 or magic 60 etc, etc.


:)

[S4v]

Preventative

PM - In veg and Early flower (2-3 weeks in) you should be running your burner every night for about 4 hours during lights off. Extraction fans should be cut off during this time, and oscillating fans should be turned on the LOW setting. All new clones that are brought in the place should be sprayed witha fungicide. Safers has a nice one that uses Sulpher as its main ingredient. Shmokin has mentioned that he's had much success with the fungicide alone as preventive

Mites - Invest in a real miticide like Floramite or Avid. Preferably you should get both to alternate your sprays or the mites can/will build an immunity. For starters your mother room should be sprayed with a miticide every 3-4 weeks.

Your clones should be sprayed right before they go into your flower room every cycle, if you veg for 2 - 3 weeks you should spray again at the end of your veg, and once again at 2 - 3 weeks into flower (yup that many times if you wanna be safe :)) Your flower room should have been bombed with a pyretherin (sp) bomb or the raid Flea Bombs in the purple canister right after your chop. Also dip/spray every new clone you bring into your place.

Treatment

PM - Flower and Veg - There's a gang of products on the market that will deal with PM temporarily, along with some homemade mixes. So any of those will suffice i guess. I will go on record and say that The homemade neem/penetrator mix does work for while and Safer's Fungicide with sulpher works for a while too if you're diligent (sp) you can go your whole harvest without a big pm problem with the safers.

You can use a burner for treatment as well, but you will have to burn it for 8 hours during lights off. This works ok but i wouldnt use it that heavy past the 2nd week. Im still learning with the PM probs so i'd love to get some advice for this as well

Mites - If you followed the above instructions you wont have a mite problem ever again. But if you need to go on the attack i suggest using avid til about 2-3 weeks into flower. Always works for me. I hear it doesent kill the babies but i never have another outbreak anytime soon after i spray. It's also been said Avid has residual effects of up to 6 weeks. Dunno about that but it seems to be true in my experience. When you add Avid to your mister/sprayer make sure you spray for 3 days in a row and throw it out. The 'word on the street' is its not effective after 3 days because it has a short life cycle once its mixed with water. Floramite is listed to have residual effect for 21 days :)

Here's a website that has all kinds of Miticides including one with a 'sex attractant pheromone'. Draws em to the poision then BANG - knockout punch

http://rosemania.com/shopsite_sc/store/html/page9.html

[Springs]

just outta curiosity, with "residual effects" would the estimated dates include after the plant has been cut down :)?

[Deltanugz]

..

[S4v]

From the site 'FloramiteSC produces quick knockdown through contact activity and long residual control of more than 21 days. '

This means control specifically but It's safe to assume that the miticide can possibly be IN your buds for that long. Thats why i never recommend spraying after 2 - 3 weeks. If you have to spray 3 weeks into flower on an 8 week strain, the 'residuals' will have worn off by the 6th week, giving you time to flush your plants ( if you do that)

The Neem/Penetrator combo didnt help with my mites really, did a a good job temporarily for PM tho. It only slowed the mites down the first week then it was business as usual :(

[c-ray]

avid is toxic, floramite and pyramite are much safer I think, I had great success with pyramite and it is approved by agcanada for application on strawberries up to 10 days before harvest, no pesticide applicators license needed in canada either so anyone call up and order some just got to tell them which of the approved crops you're using it for, ie strawberries, cherries, peaches

the best preventative measures are to start with a clean room, start from seed and to grow really strong plants

[hydrorascal]

Personal need for first aid can be achieved by always working safely.

NEVER leave any electrical cords on the floor.
NEVER take electrical shortcuts. If ya dont have time to do it right..do it later.
NEVER overload circuits. 80% of a circuits rating is a very good place to quit.
80% of 20 amps = 16amps

Bulbs are hot. They will burn ya any time ya get tooo close. Stay away.

KNOW BEYOND ANY DOUBT.. the composition of anything you are using to grow with. If you are unsure.. ASK ... before ya mix it.

Ever try mixing household amonia with bleach?? The result is pretty toxic.

Know what to do if you incur a chemical splash... like in your eyes.. or on your skin. Most of us do not use a huge number of chemicals.. so knowing what you are using isnt a big deal. NOT knowing what to do at 3am just might be after ya drop a screwdriver into your open bottle of PH down..... getting a teaspoon or so into your right eye.

Keep the damn door locked. Your 'out of town for awhile' construction buddy Bill wouldnt appreciate folks going thru his belongs..

[Elohim is plural]

...if you put lights on your floor shining up mites have nowhere to hide...

...keep it windy, always...

...prune...

...avoid the use of pesticides and fungicides and if you are going to use them take the integrated pest management and dispenser courses available from most municipalities...these chemicals are not to be used by the ill-prepared...
EIP

[Glass Man]

I don't believe anyone's mentioned keeping your humidity down yet. High humidity invites PM and other problems. I'm not sure but I think spider mites like high humidity too.

Neem Oil is the cheapest and safest control for both Spider Mites & PM. It might not be the strongest thing, but for less than $10 you would be foolish not to keep a bottle of it on hand. If you price the miticides you'll be surprised how expensive they are, Avid's about $80 and the rest are over $200.

So keep you growroom clean, humidity at 50% or less, use plenty of fans for circulation & ventilation, and that will go a long ways to preventing problems.

Btw, some strains just "like" to get PM, so just try a different strain next time.

Hope that helped some.

Peace,
GM

ps Neem is used for medical purposes on humans, so it is safe to be around. Miticides & fungicides are not.

[jaharvester]

My preventative measures include all the enviremental aspects.
I also spray once a week with Nutrilifes SM-90.

This blend of Biousables also includes living Bacillus so its works in the soil as a root rot solution much the way General Hydros Flora Sheild does.

I also beleave my regular regimine of 6 day folier feeding with Nitrozyme Hygrozyme and Superthrive helps.

Rare Earth....derived from Ancient Seabed Silicon deposits, helps your plants
build up a natural resistance to these nasties....
Rare Earth is the only ORGANIC(I almost hate to say it) form of agricultural grade silicon i have found, and the results are way better than the Pro-Tekt...which i used to use....

Just my 2 cents.
Hope it helps someone.....

Good Grow!

[Lugen007]

This is great!!

I would like to see some of your schedules

example

veg week 1 - sm-90
veg week 2 - "whatever"
flower week 1 - "more stuff"
etc....


I think if we can see a schedule of some nice prevantitive measures it would make a good sticky....just my opinion

[hydrorascal]

if your plants are indoors there are a few additional things to do.

When you first get into the plant area..STOP !!
Listen, Look, Smell, Taste. Doing so will let you identify pretty quickly if there are 'issues' upcoming. Root rot is a perfect example. It stinks..and if you spot it at the outset is very easy to deal with.

A ballast going bad will smell too. As will burning plants from a bulb being too close. Hows your timer smell ??

Do a visual check on the air pump or powerhead in your res. They are mechanical and WILL fail.

While you are right there.. do a check under the leafs .. critters are much easier to deal with when they first become apparent than waiting til the white flys totally cover your plants.

Hanging a couple 2" x 6" yellow construction paper strips around the plants helps too... and should be checked often. They work best with a nice thin coat of petroleum jelly on them to catch critters. Some critters prefer blue so ya just might want a couple of them too.

At night .. outside.. check your light security..and while you are there .. check the aroma coming out of your plants.

[Glass Man]

Another thing which I don't believe has been said, and is extremely important, Do NOT bring out door plants, tools, work clothes, etc. into your growroom. Keep your pets out too, they carry bugs around also.

I've made the mistake of being "Mr Nice Guy" and thinking I'll start some veggie, herb, & flower seeds for Mrs Glass Man in my growroom. Damn what a mistake! More varieties of plants equals a bug buffet!! Don't be tempting the little bastards which something that they love, cause they'll be on your priceless sativas & indicas right after they finish up with the basil, no two ways about it.

If you want to be nice to your wife and help her with her garden, just hand her a fistfull of greenbacks and save yourself a lot of heartaches.;)

[Lugen007]

"for mites :

floramite SC..only thing i will use. I dip my cuts before they even have roots for systemic mite protection for the duration of the plants life pretty much.

i will dip them again in it prior to transplanting in to 7 gallons.

im paranoid and anal so another thing i do is totally bleach bomb my room twice after every grow, theres no soil or anything on the floor because my rooms are hella spotless.

pm is easy to deal with just build a room that controls its environment well. thats really the best way. another way but one i dont recommend is hittin' em with a wettable sulfur product like SM90 or something but i try to stay away from that

never have to deal with aphids or any other bullshit really.

the best way to cut your bug problems down is dont get clones from anyone keep your shit clean and dip the fuck out of everything in floramite. get some of that bug net or filter your intakes so you're not suckin' em in too. thats key.



carbon filter on the intake for sure!!



"What about sulphur burners?"




I wasn't talkin about a carbon filter. a heavy duty 3M a/c filter works great for keepin' tha buggies out.

I would never put a carbon filter on my intake...lag that shit up too much.


Sulphur burner no way. again spray with wettable sulfer once, never have a problem. dip in floramite sc once, never have a problem.

I hope my style of doing things is becoming obvious. DO THINGS SO YOU DONT HAVE TO REPEAT THEM LATER!!!"

[Kurious]

@ the first sign of mites go get @ least 1000 predator mites. not cheap but they do the job with no residue. 1 missed mite when you spray still leaves you with mites. predators hunt the little phuckers down and eat them.

pm problems can be solved by fresh air flow. you need to get fresh outside air into the grow. circulate it around. Then exhaust some thru a carbon scrubber back out. you should have some kind of fan at the intake and exhaust if you let your scrubber circulate the air in the grow.

Kurious