prevention and clones

cerberus

cerberus

Well-Known Member
What are everyones methods for preventing bugs?
I know it's not organic and everything else I use is, but, at cloning stage I use AVID, then 34 days later I clean all the clones (while in an EZ cloner) and then transplant into clean dirt.

I keep my room cool and I clean like i'm OCD.

lets brain storm here, anyone got a good dunk reciepte for small or transplanting plants?

:leaf:
 
Mother's Finest

Mother's Finest

Well-Known Member
For bug prevention, nothing beats just not letting them in. Seal the grow area, put a filter on the room intake and then they can't get in on their own.
 
cerberus

cerberus

Well-Known Member
Oh yeah I deffintly agree with that, I chalk that up to cleanlyness, filters, sealed(ish) room, I also like to keep the temps at 75 or lower, good air circulation, and high co2 levels to keep the environement unpleasent for critters. But even the best environmental stop gates are just that, stop gates and much like water eventualy a little is going to get by. Then we are left with plant preventative measures (a strong healthy plant help deter pests, or neem oil) and finally removal..

besides pest security, any other measures you take?
 
Mother's Finest

Mother's Finest

Well-Known Member
There are solo pests but many of the most common bugs run in packs. Even if one gets in and then out again, when it brings its buddies the door will be closed and then his buddies will eat him. Ants, for example, leave a pheromone trail for others to get back to a food source. If ants follow the trail and find it leads nowhere, they'll leave pheromones saying this trail is closed and fewer, if any, will return.

We always briefly check our soil for little creatures before transplanting. If there are any, we either get rid of the soil or, if we absolutely have to have some soil now, heat sterilize it. Just getting new soil regularly from a good retailer and storing what we have in a sealed area has kept the soil we bring into the grow area bug-free for years.

Back in the day we used neem oil a few times to get rid of pests but not in a long time. During what I believe was our second flowering using molasses, ants found it and attacked that sweet soil literally by the thousands. We ditched the sweets, sealed the room and started checking the soil before bringing it in. I think that was maybe four years ago at most and we've never had any pests since.
 
Matt Rize

Matt Rize

Hashmaster
you can dip plants in anything intended for organic pest/pathogens eradication. zero tolerance is WAY too strong to dunk in un-diluted. you have to go 5:1 minimum or scorching. neem is actually really gentle compared to most of the other oils that are intended for pest/pathogen maintenance. aerosol pyrethrin products work well, but you have to watch out because the small bombs are intended for 10,000 sq ft plus, and are for between cycles only IMO. the big hair-spray can of pyrethrin is a time release form, which is not good for the consumer, we don't want persistent toxin products anywhere. i always use surfactants on anything applied above ground. right now i'm using some wet betty organic, but cocowet is good too. this monterey insect spray has been working for a buddy of mine, it has spinosad in it.
 
D

dirtygirl

Active Member
I use a product called GoGnat which is made from cedar oil. I am unsure about dunking the plants in it, I haven't used it on foliage. It's a concentrate, so you have to dilute it for your application, according to the directions on the bottle. You can water the soil in the proper concentration, it is also used to spray all surfaces mixed at a stronger concentration. I use GoGnat on the walls and floor on a regular basis to control them, as in my part of the country, there are always one or two at least who show up. I don't water the soil with it (I have in the past when I was infested). I mix some diatomaceous earth into my soil as this makes it unpleasant for the gnat larvae. The Go Gnat & the Dt Earth are what I use for gnats. So far, the gnats have been the only battle I have had with insects. Now, I just use prevention methods and my sticky traps indicate little to no activity.
 
Matt Rize

Matt Rize

Hashmaster
yeah, i use gognats to clean, and to kill anything in my trays while the grow is going. also to clean my drainage lines. never let it touch my plants. For gnats I like to reapply DE with a flour sifter, and I put mosquito dunks in any puddles. i'm testing a liquid version of the mosquito dunks now.

i've battled everything... multiple times. i gotta quit bringing cuts home, but around here it's like a fun gift and hard to turn down.
 
D

dirtygirl

Active Member
Always a hard gift to turn down - can't have your eggs in too many baskets as far as good genetics goes. Never know what may happen to one line or another, so I tend to sprout eggs in as many baskets as I have room for!
 
cerberus

cerberus

Well-Known Member
hmm.. I remeber reeding this dunk receipt that was an insecticide/miticide/fungicide that was organic and used to move young plants (first transplant after hardening off the clone) as an added percaustion. I have been battleing bugs off all different types, through out the ages. sealing the room made hge gains in not battleing, as did all the other smaller clean and security measures. BUT I will not be able to have a 100% safe firewall for the bugs, due to my own lifestyle and other factors I can't really elaborate on. That being said;

MF: again I agree, my dirt is heat sterilized and then solar baked for 50-75 days. Its stored sealed and purchased from retailers that store indoors to avoid contamination, you havent had to use any other detterent except stop gates?! good for you! =)

MR: I was thinking about using the areosal Pyr. for perimeters on the outside of the room, where walls meet the ground/floor outside the room, around vents, on the ground in front of the door, as a door mat, ect. but yeah, im not so chill about putting it in the room with the plants. the neem seems to be a good precationary measure but I'm a little worried about clogging stoma's, we will see. finally, I switch between different brand name bug bombs in between grow cycles and then wash all surfaces with a water peroxide mix, to clean off any residue and get to the nooks and crannies. back to my clean clean clean mentalitiy =)
dg: I have never used gonats, ive seen it on the shelves though.

thanks guys, any one got that dunk receipt though? :P
 
Matt Rize

Matt Rize

Hashmaster
cerberus said:
hmm.. I remeber reeding this dunk receipt that was an insecticide/miticide/fungicide that was organic and used to move young plants (first transplant after hardening off the clone) as an added percaustion. I have been battleing bugs off all different types, through out the ages. sealing the room made hge gains in not battleing, as did all the other smaller clean and security measures. BUT I will not be able to have a 100% safe firewall for the bugs, due to my own lifestyle and other factors I can't really elaborate on. That being said;

MF: again I agree, my dirt is heat sterilized and then solar baked for 50-75 days. Its stored sealed and purchased from retailers that store indoors to avoid contamination, you havent had to use any other detterent except stop gates?! good for you! =)

MR: I was thinking about using the areosal Pyr. for perimeters on the outside of the room, where walls meet the ground/floor outside the room, around vents, on the ground in front of the door, as a door mat, ect. but yeah, im not so chill about putting it in the room with the plants. the neem seems to be a good precationary measure but I'm a little worried about clogging stoma's, we will see. finally, I switch between different brand name bug bombs in between grow cycles and then wash all surfaces with a water peroxide mix, to clean off any residue and get to the nooks and crannies. back to my clean clean clean mentalitiy =)
dg: I have never used gonats, ive seen it on the shelves though.

thanks guys, any one got that dunk receipt though? :P
Click to expand...
Clog stomata - I'm sure you know already, but dunking in the dark, after several hours of dark, is best. This allows the stomata to fully close before application. They are super shiny though after dunking, and I would need a microscope to investigate the stomata properly.

I buy those mosquito dunks. I just drop one in the res, and it breaks down over a month or so. If my gnat issue is bad I will crush the dunk and use half a dunk for 20 gallons H2O. Also, the liquid BTi that I am testing is great. I use just drops per gallon and it seems to work better than the dunks.

Like you said. Sealing the room is the first step for serious indoor gardeners. I dust a thick layer of DE all around the garden exterior, and anywhere else I think pests may crawl in. I also have an air lock between outside and the actual garden space. This is where I change clothes to garden, when Im not totally baked.
 
woodsmaneh!

woodsmaneh!

Well-Known Member
prevention and clones

I know it's not organic and everything else I use is, but, at cloning stage I use AVID, then 34 days later I clean all the clones (while in an EZ cloner) and then transplant into clean dirt.

Not sure why you clean your clones? Avid is a systemic insecticide so no way to wash off it's in the plant cells, that's how it kills most spider mites. Does not kill fungus gnats.

I think you would be better off spraying the moms 4 to 5 days before you cut clones, that way they are protected right from the first cut.

Another thing Avid is a nasty air born health issue. Protect yourself it's not expensave, a tyvec suit 6$ 3m mask 8$ gloves goggles, ALL FANS OFF. If you can't find the WHMIS sheet on it let me know and I'll post it.

A known issue with using any killer like Avid is the bugs become resistant to them, they are very adaptable, in fact when they feel threatened they start to breed. So use your silver bullets wisely.
​
 
cerberus

cerberus

Well-Known Member
thanks my mainiac friend. I knew about the hazards, but the simple idea of spraying the mom before cutting.. simple brilliance. In regards to the silver bullet; I know! i know, I have been pretty good about not needing any bullets but I got a new cat and I did't animal proff in time. those little bastards snake rides super fast, maybe a weak of laxed opsec and whamo.. :(

thats what made me bring out this thread, to try a preventative step thats not as extreme.

M.R. lights off for a few hours is a nice idea too!
 
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