Recycled Organic Living Soil (ROLS) and No Till Thread

GreenSanta

Well-Known Member
Yeah I noticed,... I have to setup a fan blowing at the 400w MH so they dont cook on it... but my setup is almost 100% LEDs and they tend to die in the fans... my lights are full of dead ladybugs :/ I gotta clean em soon. Whats the problem with the chinese look alikes are they a pest? did you have them in your garden?
 

Pattahabi

Well-Known Member
yeah I mean I think they might be beneficial like earthworms, I just transplanted a plant in a container that was full of them on purpose just to see how well it might do. But at the same time I am a little worried lol. Pretty cool to see the soil so alive though I mean you just look under the mulch and there is stuff moving everywhere!! As long as they dont eat the ladybugs larvae that might be kicking around...

Also, has anyone here had any luck raising ladybugs indoor, or keeping a healthy population? I am experimenting with various mulch to see if it might help, I wish I didnt have to keep buying them.
This is just my experience, ladybugs are fun to play with, but they don't really do much as far as controlling an infestation. I have TONS of the pill bug rolly pollys in my containers. They are shredders and help break down material. Personally, I have never had any problem with them eating plants. It's my understanding they like dead plant matter.

Peace!

P-
 

ShLUbY

Well-Known Member
just made my first base mix with the rice hulls and growstone split 50/50... the rice hulls are awesome! like the feel and look of the soil when saturated with them in the mix.

except for the rock dusts, OSF, and gypsum, i left the mix generally unamended because i'll be using the vegamatrix for these ones. i'm about to get a big batch of amended soil going when i get caught up on these so i can start using the amended soils all the time and phase out the vegamatrix. it's just to get me through till i have all my soil made.

do you guys think i'd be able to recycle and amend the soil i use the vegamatrix products in? was thinking about using it all for making no-till 30 gal vegetable beds to throw under some T5's in the late winter. can't really see the vegamatrix hurting the soil all that much since they promote microbial soils...
 

GreenSanta

Well-Known Member
Lady bugs don't do shit but climb into lights and die. Outdoor they just fly away.
Ladybugs do work, better as a preventative, but also they can save a crop if you buy enough of them. The problem with them is unless you can create an environment for them to multiply, they will never eliminate pests completely, the ladybugs larvae do most of the damage.

As far as them dying in the lights, I have to open my LEDs and clean them up now but it has been a couple + years of ladybugs in the grow room. Unless you have cool tubes I would not bother with ladybugs and HIDs though...

I have gotten rid of spider mites before, with predatory mites and ladybugs together. But I have had spider mites in the room for several months now. My grow has been perpetual for years now and I like it that way, I couldnt do without ladybugs, I hate when they are unavailable and in my opinion they are worth the money.

What are you guys doing for spider mites?
 

Vnsmkr

Well-Known Member
Ladybugs do work, better as a preventative, but also they can save a crop if you buy enough of them. The problem with them is unless you can create an environment for them to multiply, they will never eliminate pests completely, the ladybugs larvae do most of the damage.

As far as them dying in the lights, I have to open my LEDs and clean them up now but it has been a couple + years of ladybugs in the grow room. Unless you have cool tubes I would not bother with ladybugs and HIDs though...

I have gotten rid of spider mites before, with predatory mites and ladybugs together. But I have had spider mites in the room for several months now. My grow has been perpetual for years now and I like it that way, I couldnt do without ladybugs, I hate when they are unavailable and in my opinion they are worth the money.

What are you guys doing for spider mites?
Chili and garlic pestled up. About a 1/2 tsp worth in a spray bottle. I sprayed a few evenings last year they were done
 

GreenSanta

Well-Known Member
The only reason why I had a bit of a spider mites infestation (besides the heat) during the summer is that I couldnt order ladybugs for the longest time. If they are available all Winter I will be laughing...

Hypoaspis?
I have used them before but cant get them anymore... I think I used them for thrips though. The problem with most beneficials is that they need a fairly high relative humidity... I like to keep my room at 40%.

Chili and garlic pestled up. About a 1/2 tsp worth in a spray bottle. I sprayed a few evenings last year they were done
I have used habaneros pepper spray, never with garlic though. You most have caught them right away. I dont like that it probably kills a lot of beneficial insects?

One thing I always wonder is if ladybugs also feed on predatory mites or not.
 

Darth Vapour

Well-Known Member
lol got to love these witch remidies for mites had mites once in 25 years of growing only once Personally if someone gets mites then they are to blame s far as i am concerned
Where i used to live clones were in abundance i mean any strain out there would take a week and i would have them ,, and any clones i ever got was treated as if it had insects or disease and there fore quarantined usually out in the shed
Organic or not these girls were dunked in Bug be gone forget the spraying shit i mean dunked with chem poison upside down up to soil with Bug B gone and quarantined for min 2 weeks with repeated applications
before entering actual grow room usually i would take them out of domes transplant them into sterile soil and and pots dunked and into new dome tray throwing out the dome tray that it came in ..
at the beginning of plants life its much better to nail it with one time chem insect kill then multiple attempts with watered back organic pesticides one shot one kill more or less
no need to worry about chemicals as there clones they will grow out of it
but that is just how i roll cant be bothered fucking around i want them gone now
 

ShLUbY

Well-Known Member
lol got to love these witch remidies for mites had mites once in 25 years of growing only once Personally if someone gets mites then they are to blame s far as i am concerned
Where i used to live clones were in abundance i mean any strain out there would take a week and i would have them ,, and any clones i ever got was treated as if it had insects or disease and there fore quarantined usually out in the shed
Organic or not these girls were dunked in Bug be gone forget the spraying shit i mean dunked with chem poison upside down up to soil with Bug B gone and quarantined for min 2 weeks with repeated applications
before entering actual grow room usually i would take them out of domes transplant them into sterile soil and and pots dunked and into new dome tray throwing out the dome tray that it came in ..
this is what i do, except without the poison. i just use the captain jacks dead bug, make a dunk and do that every 3 days for three treatments. works great if you're considering taking a cut from someone. learned my lesson the first time lol. they're so much easier to take care of when the plant is clone sized too. upside down, dunk and done.
 

Pattahabi

Well-Known Member
lol got to love these witch remidies for mites had mites once in 25 years of growing only once Personally if someone gets mites then they are to blame s far as i am concerned
Where i used to live clones were in abundance i mean any strain out there would take a week and i would have them ,, and any clones i ever got was treated as if it had insects or disease and there fore quarantined usually out in the shed
Organic or not these girls were dunked in Bug be gone forget the spraying shit i mean dunked with chem poison upside down up to soil with Bug B gone and quarantined for min 2 weeks with repeated applications
before entering actual grow room usually i would take them out of domes transplant them into sterile soil and and pots dunked and into new dome tray throwing out the dome tray that it came in ..
at the beginning of plants life its much better to nail it with one time chem insect kill then multiple attempts with watered back organic pesticides one shot one kill more or less
no need to worry about chemicals as there clones they will grow out of it

but that is just how i roll cant be bothered fucking around i want them gone now
Do you work at a hydrostore?

Just curious,

P-
 

Vnsmkr

Well-Known Member
The only reason why I had a bit of a spider mites infestation (besides the heat) during the summer is that I couldnt order ladybugs for the longest time. If they are available all Winter I will be laughing...


I have used them before but cant get them anymore... I think I used them for thrips though. The problem with most beneficials is that they need a fairly high relative humidity... I like to keep my room at 40%.


I have used habaneros pepper spray, never with garlic though. You most have caught them right away. I dont like that it probably kills a lot of beneficial insects? natural remedies grown in the same garden, so not sure it kills other beneficials but certainly something to look further into. I like habanero and maybe fresh aloe as alternative

One thing I always wonder is if ladybugs also feed on predatory mites or not.
 

Vnsmkr

Well-Known Member
though I think the best way to control mites is to not get them in the first place. I am pretty sure that the majority of us have experienced mites at some point though and know how to manage them if they do decide to rear their ugly heads
 

GreenSanta

Well-Known Member
Like I said, its been a perpetual grow for years, and I use compost and soil from outside, so soon or later you might introduce pest that way. To nuke the whole container with a bug killer whether orgasmic or not before placing in the grow room goes against the ROLS philosophy in my opinion. As you can see on the pictures, the flower room always has plants at all stage of growth so spraying anything in those conditions isnt ideal.

MissJack = Senora Ampero X Pennywise
The plants in the very corner of the room are a cross of ((Chemo X Respect) X Ancient OG) Smells like blueberry probably from the blueberry in the lineage of Snow Lotus... my one keeper at this point.
 

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