Powdery Mildew and Spider mites in the grow room. How to restart the system

thumper60 said:

Look into a sulfur burner.

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Add thumb for sulfur burner. Outside only. I have used this on outside crops and recently did my tent outside. When used on outside crops it leaves a residue on plants that zero bugs can stand. Great till the next rain.
This is the nuclear option for pest and pathogen control.

dopenixon said:

Is there any residue or after smell from a sulfur burner?

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Yes but it rinses off. brown to silver coating depending on disk or pebbles in the burner.
And yes it smells like sulpher......

Doesn't wettable sulfur do the same thing?

Jimski said:

Add thumb for sulfur burner. Outside only. I have used this on outside crops and recently did my tent outside. When used on outside crops it leaves a residue on plants that zero bugs can stand. Great till the next rain.
This is the nuclear option for pest and pathogen control.

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No they can be used safely indoor no need to burn outdoors just use the powder to dust plants I would never use any kind of sulfur on plants indoor but bombing rooms in-between grows is fine an safe to do.

Hollatchaboy said:

Doesn't wettable sulfur do the same thing?

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Yes but its tuff to get the spray into tiny cracks where mites hide the burner will get into anything in the room lights an electronics must be removed before burning sulfur.

I just lost a beautiful plant because I had to go out of town for three days and when I got back it was covered with PM. Chopped it and tossed it. I hosed the entire grow tent down with H2O2 3%, 1.25 bottles in almost two gallons of water. I feel your pain.

Micronised sulphur isn't the same as burning sulphur, burning sulphur produces sulphur dioxide gas that's deadly to insects.

Permethrin smoke bombs are another option Permethrin kills eggs and adults and they're cheap circa $4 and ready to burn.

Homergrown said:

Once these afflictions take over how do you go about restarting your grow room? I have killed all the plants and moved out anything I can. What other steps are required to get a clean room up and running again? thank you for your comments

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Room or tent.

Whatever cleaning regiment you chose make extra attention to anything that moves air. You may have PM spores in ducting, or with old school boxed up aircooled heatsinked led lights it would go into the light and come back next grow unless you take it apart and clean properly.

Edit: oh yes, forgot: those meshy hoods that keeps your fingers out of oscillating fans need cleaning down aswell, depending on what your setup is like.

Can put all the grow equipment and supplies in large heavy duty trash bags. Take turns tossing in a hot shot No Pest Strip for a few days in each bag full of stuff. So not only do you not have to worry about breathing it in, but it also super concentrates the fumes. Then keep them sealed until your ready to start up again. You can keep the NPS itself stored in a ziplock when your done using it, and save them for later use.

Or if you have a tent, stuff everything into it, and use a roll of plastic sheeting and tape to seal the whole thing off all the way around, with a couple no pest strips hanging inside. Then bomb or burn out the whole rest of the place a few times, a few weeks apart.

Better yet, also hang a bunch more NPS for a few weeks or more (like 3-4 per room if you can), but only if your not living in or occupying the same area as the grow.. You don't wanna breathe the dichlorvos fumes at all, even if the package says its ok for short periods in households.. Especially if using a bunch of them all at once.

Some of the stray mites probably crawled up inside your warm ballasts, or deep in the walls through tiny cracks or anywhere else to lay eggs, which afaik can go dormant for months before hatching out again! They'll start migrating & looking for another food source once you take it all away. You should be able to nuke them out (including the eggs), and start up again asap. Taking a few month break after a good cleanup is probably the best option if you live in the same space though, and don't really have the option of using harsh chemical warfare tactics in the household.. Otherwise they'll just come right back, just like the PM will until you get your environment in check.

Damn I never thought Id say this but glad I got PM. Id hate to have mites instead. Drop That Sound helped get my grow back on track from PM with no cleaning though obviously recommended. Just added box fans, smaller plants and about to put furnace filter on each box fan today.

Its times like these that wonder if Im a true grower.. Hope it works out for you best of luck! I seem to be chuggin along 6 wks later in flower new clones.

Box fan filter home made. Its a biotch but cool to know saved more than double the cost for a box fan with a opening cage just for this. This $25 those $50 or more if recall right. edit holy cow 70$ before tax hell yea this is the way to go.

Dealing with spider mites is pretty easy. If you are between grows, it's even easier; get the grow room good and warm, mid 80s, that encourage any eggs to hatch. Make sure the room has no plants and the floor is swept clean of any leaves so there's nothing to eat. They'll starve in a few days, the warmer it is, the faster they starve. DONE!

Powdery mildew is harder, but if you get it wet, it dies. Wipe everything down with a soapy mixture, mop the floor well, etc. Wipe down your equipment.

ttystikk said:

Dealing with spider mites is pretty easy. If you are between grows, it's even easier; get the grow room good and warm, mid 80s, that encourage any eggs to hatch. Make sure the room has no plants and the floor is swept clean of any leaves so there's nothing to eat. They'll starve in a few days, the warmer it is, the faster they starve. DONE!

Powdery mildew is harder, but if you get it wet, it dies. Wipe everything down with a soapy mixture, mop the floor well, etc. Wipe down your equipment.

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Good point about the spider mites. Folks worry about them hiding out for months, but I figured they would only hibernate or remain dormant in eggs if the temps drop to signal winter coming...

I can't really add much to what's been said already.

cold water bleach to clean everything and wipe away any spore load. That's never a 100%, but it's a good start. I saw ozone mentioned, ahh.... no. PM nor spider mites have a -/+ charge to them, but for odor YES.

UV-C Is what you want, get yourself a germicial lamp (mine are T 30w is fine. Run that bitch for 24hrs in the designated environment and keep it sealed. If you have automated/remote control over an exhaust fan, use it after the 24hr burn.

Wipe the room/enclosure down with clean antimicrobial soapy water. (Hot cold don't matter. But I should note, any bleach water should always be cold, heat kills the bleaches effectiveness.)

There's a reason why you got PM in the very first place. PM is everywhere but It has pre-requisites to take hold. I'd look back on notes or records ( you should be making for every plot and every grow) to see what did did and didn't do, adding to that, what you could/should have done. Cause and effect my friend.

Suffer burner is only useful once an infection has been detected, and used as part of an IPM program. I would advise against it as a preventative. Prevention starts with, healthy vigorously growing plants that have an active Systemic Aquired Resistance.

Look into UvA +B enrichment. Very effective input to a complete IMP program. This is what I would also consider in the "preventative" group rather than "maintenance"

Best of luck broski

Sorry sloppy proof read....
UVC lamps are T8

Spider mites are in the "clean up crew" so to say. They, just like aphids, seek out and find compromised plants, they're weekend and without a natural defense, hence "systemic acquired resistance" I spoke of prior. Look into running high brix, this will help with vigor and so will chitin or chitinase to activate the SAR, also silica to strengthen/harden and don't undermine your calcium it's tremendously important. Your branches should be solid and have a white foam pith in the center (applicable on newer growth, older growth is hard like wood).

Increase your air movement or position it properly (PM hates air flow), keep night time temps and RH in check. If you cant control your temps in the dark phase, then run your exhaust and incorporate a dehuey outside the tent or in a lung-room. Automate or get a speed controller.

Finally, defoliation. Veg or flower, it doesn't matter. If you can't drop your RH, remove (some) the mechanism that's the cause of your increasing RH. Not applicable for every situation but it should always be a consideration.