While I was ordering our new bugs, one of the big wigs at my bug supplier asked us to come down and meet with him. They are aware of what we grow. They have asked us to assist them in developing a protocol for bio controls in an indoor cannabis grow room. We, of course, happily agreed. He convinced us how important it is to up our RH to help the predators do their job. I convinced jim how important it is to keep RH down to ward off Powdery Mildew. The solution is, they carry a bacteria that controls powdery mildew. It is mixed with water and sprayed on the plants. The spray is applied prior to applying a round of predators. The new insects can then stick to the leaves when applied with a salt shaker. Anyways, this was just one of several topics we discussed on the cannabis grower's specific needs. They want to start providing several protocols for cannabis growers. These would be for infestation control and prevention of most bio hazards in the grow room.
We toured the facility, which was amazing. These people know bugs! There are dozens of rooms, each with a specific environment. Some hot, some cold, some ultra humid, some dry. Each room houses a specific insect in a specific developement stage. Some insects are raised only as food for the insects to be sold. Given the amount of insects they carry, I now believe that sprays can be a thing of the past.
They gave us some Lacewing larvae. We put some on the plant's leaves and the little bastards went right under the leaf and started eating mite larvae within seconds. A single Lacewing larvae can consume 10,000 mites and/or eggs in its 3 week lifespan. The downside is that they do not reproduce well in the grow room. BUT, the larvae are only $35 for 500, and 5000 eggs can be had for $25. The lacewing will also eat aphids and thrips. Basically, it will eat everything it comes across. This also means predator's eggs (the adults are too fast). Because of this, they should only be used on plants heavily infested as a one time use.
I'll keep passing on the info as I get it. Rincon Vitova should have a complete cannabis grow room bio control protocol within a month or so. I'll post it here.
On another note. We are looking for finacially challenged critically ill cancer and AIDS patients to donate meds to free of charge. If anyone knows of someone or someplace I can contact to set up donations in So Cal, please PM me. Maybe some sort of outreach center, or something? Thank you all for trying.