Is There An Organic End To Your Mites ? Yes !

[trichcycler]

Lets start with where you think you got them ?

With so many variables to pest control, introduction to the

garden must be put in check, before any controls will give a resolution.

It would do no good to kill all the mites, and then let your buddy bring

you some cool clones from the club for instance. I'll get to the jist of murdering these

little btards and ridding a garden forever! right after this......

 

So where did your come from?

 

clones?

house plants?

winterizing veggies in the cannabis garden?

grower visitors?

lawn maintenance job, soiled clothes, droppy shoes?

 

or??

[phaquetoo]

Im pretty sure I got mine from clones from some one I trust, I still trust this person, but I wont take clones from him again, and we both have agreed to stay out of each others gardens,

 

I Have been thinking of trying predator mites, do you think that is a good fix, I mean even them lay eggs on your girls and poop on them, but they do eat the other 2 types of mites on the girls,

 

If I didnt get them from my c.g than I probably brought them in myself, we have 2 house plants, they needed bigger pots, and instead of purchasing some soil for them I brought some in from the nieghbors garden/farm land! No one else but my c.g has seen my room or given me clones!

 

Peace

[Mickeydee]

Mighty Wash works but you have to be vigilant about multiple applications.  Lady bugs can help with population control but not with eradication in my experience.

[Guanotea1]

First time mites - came from dispensary clones

 

Second time mites - came from seed package I suspect.

 

Mites are actually pretty ubiquitious, they can just show up, when they sniff out their favorite plant.

If you don't have them now, and you don't take in any outside clones or grow stuff, you are probably safe till the winter ends.

 

Personally I never assume I don't have them, and though I see no mites nor signs of their damage right now, I'm releasing some longpipe mite predators tonight as well as some sternimala feltiae for gnats (I see one or two of those though) tonight.

 

Remembering how tiny they are it's, IMO, pretty much impossible to totally keep every last egg/infant/adult from ever entering the grow room. At least that's true of the way I built my garden, and every home garden I've ever seen, it's not really hermetically sealed just pretty well sealed.

 

One of the things we (as mj growers) do - especially in the flower room, is keep it hot and dry all the time. That's the ideal environment for the bad kind of mites, and a poor environment for the good guys. Pushing up the humidity is tricky because of mold, but 10-20 degree downward temp swing absolutely helps a lot as a preventative measure. If I had an active infestation I wouldn't hesitate to go down even a little further (my daytime is 82) maybe even push down to 55F night. That does effect yield a little, but it brings out beautiful colors! 

 

Other than that? Ice-water, showers, predators, cleanliness, removing any damaged tissue, and most importantly growing healthy plants with strong natural defense mechanisms is the key to organic mite control. Follow these steps and mites will never be a problem. Mites are by far, IMO, the best pest to have in your garden.

 

A 20% CO2 concentration for 7 hours will also take care of mites, easily achieved by bagging small plants and displacing the oxygen within the bag using a CO2 bottle. That's probably the quickest way, if you've already got the bottle. I do have an academic reference, if anyone doesn't believe me, but it's easy to try for yourself.

 

Predators: lady bugs, infant mantises, and a number of predatory mites, other general garden predators.

[trichcycler]

I hope people listen to your c02  approach. It works, hands down, and I have personal experience using it this way. Legal, organic, safe, and readily available.

Edited November 22, 2013 by grassmatch

[jointedone]

MITES ARE ON YOUR BODY RIGHT NOW. And in your pillow.

[jimmiej48]

All I can say is mighty wash is the best thing on the market and is not a pesticide.. there is no bugs on my mugs and my plants are healthy cause of it.. pest free plants =healthy plants..

[trichcycler]

 I got a small bottle at a tradeshow and subjected some of my worms to it. They flipped out, and did not like it at all, one died, and I rinsed the other off to survive. It seems innocent enough, "frequency water" and I suspect some botanical oil, maybe lavender, with a bit of something to keep it in solution. I do however place them as suspect, only because they are not divulging the ingredients.. I cant use it here anyway, cuz I love my eneficial's, and the worms would hate me. As long as patients are aware of the use ,shouldn't be a problem right.

All I can say is mighty wash is the best thing on the market and is not a pesticide.. there is no bugs on my mugs and my plants are healthy cause of it.. pest free plants =healthy plants..

[beourbud]

MITES ARE ON YOUR BODY RIGHT NOW. And in your pillow.

 

Boy that made my hair stand straight up,  and of course that tickled the inside of my nose

[trichcycler]

are those body mites the same pricks haunting mj gardens? I know there are many species of mites

[trichcycler]

I'd say "the best thing for mites" would be prevention. The next best thing is C02 saturation.  I drop every living thing in my garden, with the worm farms and plants  removed yearly, or close to it. I come back inside and bum out at all the dead spiders, knowing those are my friends in there, but the fact every air breather is dead in there is comforting. It takes spiders  a month or so to repopulate the rooms, so no worries. I use ac02 generator, but tanks are available too ,for spot plant treatments, and larger ones for room bombs.  As long as they don't take c02 away form us, I see no reason to use ANY grow store follies to kill these things. Those guys aren't required to even list the ingredients on the stuff they sell, scary to me. C02 isn't the poison, it just displaces the oxygen in the room/bag.  

 

happy growing !

[beourbud]

Hey it was a Great Year for mites as well as many other species of insects.  Next year the ladybugs will have a hay day.

 

Lots more green out there growin...lots more awareness...

 

You know, round here they say "Plant a lot for you and a little for the deer....they gonna get it anyway."

 

.we need to expand cultivation of hemp....in a mom and pop kind a way.

[trichcycler]

overgrow the nation ! (I used to hear)

 

after we expose and make changes to policy, what will we do to reconcile with the Nazi politico who oppressed us in the first place ?

[beourbud]

overgrow the nation ! (I used to hear)

 

after we expose and make changes to policy, what will we do to reconcile with the Nazi politico who oppressed us in the first place ?

 

Give them a New Hemp Rope...a token of our appreciation

Edited November 22, 2013 by beourbud

[solabeirtan]

First time mites - came from dispensary clones

 

Second time mites - came from seed package I suspect.

 

Mites are actually pretty ubiquitious, they can just show up, when they sniff out their favorite plant.

If you don't have them now, and you don't take in any outside clones or grow stuff, you are probably safe till the winter ends.

 

Personally I never assume I don't have them, and though I see no mites nor signs of their damage right now, I'm releasing some longpipe mite predators tonight as well as some sternimala feltiae for gnats (I see one or two of those though) tonight.

 

Remembering how tiny they are it's, IMO, pretty much impossible to totally keep every last egg/infant/adult from ever entering the grow room. At least that's true of the way I built my garden, and every home garden I've ever seen, it's not really hermetically sealed just pretty well sealed.

 

One of the things we (as mj growers) do - especially in the flower room, is keep it hot and dry all the time. That's the ideal environment for the bad kind of mites, and a poor environment for the good guys. Pushing up the humidity is tricky because of mold, but 10-20 degree downward temp swing absolutely helps a lot as a preventative measure. If I had an active infestation I wouldn't hesitate to go down even a little further (my daytime is 82) maybe even push down to 55F night. That does effect yield a little, but it brings out beautiful colors! 

 

Other than that? Ice-water, showers, predators, cleanliness, removing any damaged tissue, and most importantly growing healthy plants with strong natural defense mechanisms is the key to organic mite control. Follow these steps and mites will never be a problem. Mites are by far, IMO, the best pest to have in your garden.

 

A 20% CO2 concentration for 7 hours will also take care of mites, easily achieved by bagging small plants and displacing the oxygen within the bag using a CO2 bottle. That's probably the quickest way, if you've already got the bottle. I do have an academic reference, if anyone doesn't believe me, but it's easy to try for yourself.

 

Predators: lady bugs, infant mantises, and a number of predatory mites, other general garden predators.

 

I much prefer your predatory control methods vs the co2. I feel it's a much safer and more natural system for pest control than co2. I must admit it is a newly established policy for me until proper precautions are taken. If you have any 'academic references' I think they would benefit the entire community, including myself. I have a few too. They are not specific to our industry as these are difficult to find. 

 

One of the reasons I bought my co2 generator was with the intention to use it primarily for pest control and it's still NOT hooked up. One of the reasons is I dont have a suitable environment to run it and not compromise my living area. Actually Im not even growing at all currently... and have no insect problems. Rarely even see one this time a yr...

 

My point is that nobody has mentioned that co2 is a seriously toxic gas to US also. It has a risk of causing serious problems if precautions are not taken. Be forewarned.

 

Changing atmospheres is one of the main/best methods of pest control for agricultural and food industries. These are methods have prescribed procedures that are subject to strict controls by trained personnel with proper process equipment.

 

heres an interesting ref:

 

Safety precautions

 

Adequate precautions should be taken when working in areas close to controlled atmospheres or on entering storages that have been treated to avoid any harmful effects. Carbon dioxide produces respiratory discomfort, lightheadedness and nausea, and unconsciousness may occur in less than five minutes in 9 percent CO2. In any case, where unconsciousness or respiratory distress occurs through exposure to a controlled atmosphere, the victim must be taken immediately to fresh air.

 

Portable oxygen monitors or carbon dioxide analysers should be available on the work site as well as air-line or self-contained breathing apparatus. Gas masks with canisters provide no protection against low oxygen or high carbon dioxide atmospheres. All enclosed working areas close to controlled atmospheres should be well ventilated and gas reservoirs should be kept outside if possible (Banks and Annis, 1977).

 

The use and manipulation of natural components of the atmosphere

 

 

[trichcycler]

I saw the epa/osha allows us to work in the same saturations as necessary to suffocate pests. "CO₂ is an asphyxiant gas and not classified as toxic or harmful in accordance with Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals standards of United Nations Economic Commission for Europe by using the OECD Guidelines for the Testing of Chemicals. In concentrations up to 1% (10,000 ppm), it will make some people feel drowsy.^[81] Concentrations of 7% to 10% may cause suffocation, even in the presence of sufficient oxygen, manifesting as dizziness, headache, visual and hearing dysfunction, and unconsciousness within a few minutes to an hour.^[83]

 

^its function is not to gas the bugs, but to displace the oxygen they breathe. I run for a couple hours, to around 10000 ppm and bugs drop, I can enter the room immediately and smell the c02 with no worries.

[solabeirtan]

Table 2 Symptoms from Low to High Concentrations of CO2 

 

%CO2      Symptoms 

2 to 3        Shortness of breath, deep breathing 

5               Breathing becomes heavy, sweating, pulse quickens 

7.5            Headaches, dizziness, restlessness, breathlessness, 

                    increased heart rate and blood pressure, visual distortion 

10             Impaired hearing, nausea, vomiting, loss of 

                    consciousness 

30            Coma, convulsions, death 

 

http://www.blm.gov/pgdata/etc/medialib/blm/wy/information/NEPA/cfodocs/howell.Par.2800.File.dat/25apxC.pdf

 

At CO2 levels greater than 0.5%, adverse health affects are present in humans, animals, and 

plants. Plants utilize CO2 as a primary ingredient in photosynthesis and depend on the gas for 

survival.

 

However, under concentrated conditions, plant roots can actually be suffocated, which 

inhibits the uptake of nutrients, and subsequently kills the plants (Farrar et al. 1999; NIOSH 

1976).

 

This phenomenon was noted in Mammoth, California, recognized for infrequent, yet 

recent volcanic activity.

 

Researchers investigating this phenomenon discovered concentrations 

as high as 95% CO2 by volume from magmatic emissions (Farrar et al. 1999).

 

These elevated  concentrations were measured in pits in the snow and soil, buildings with poor ventilation, and in 

belowground valve boxes in the vicinity of Mammoth Mountain.

 

Accumulation in pits and wells 

occurs due to the fact that CO2 is denser than air and may slowly accumulate (IVHHN 2005). 

 

Specifically, soil gas levels of CO2 in a snow well in Mammoth were measured at 70% after the 

death of a skier in the vicinity of the well (Farrar et al. 1999; IVHHN 2005). 

 

Edited November 23, 2013 by solabeirtan

[phaquetoo]

MITES ARE ON YOUR BODY RIGHT NOW. And in your pillow.

oh your so mean!  im sleeping out side tonite and leaving my pillow in the house!

 

Now I have the creepy crawly's ugh.

 

Peace

[solabeirtan]

[trichcycler]

Whats necessary in a grow room takes a very short time, and usually its not a whole room to be treated, but a bag instead can be used, even a mattress bag with many plants. I worry more about the propane tank that feeds the flame, and the flame itself. I have a c02 monitor, oxygen depletion monitor, but my room is kept at 1500ppm's 12 hours daily, I spend an hour in there at a time, at most, never felt anything but garden bliss.

I have gassed my room three times in 6 years. once in the beginning with nothing in it for a trial. and the two year following that. I like bugs now, and let them thrive in my worm farms, and corners. I have never seen a mite, and have nothing in there eating my roots or plants. I've seen the predators at work, and then they die, and ladybugs stink all over buds. I hold tight to prevention as the key.

 

I know there are exceptions, but every mite room I've been privy to takes only a few minutes to find inadequate atmosphere controls, or bad gardening habits, or both.

I read a lot and see the owners of gardens with mites(and mold) always seeking growing advice from those also suffering with mites(and mold). Seems logical to me to look in the direction of those who are able to avoid these issues. Mite owners have dozens of opinions and trials of dozens of things that don't work for long term options.

Yet, all the growers that avoid them always have just a few key garden parameters to guard. Not sure why divorcing people see advice from their divorced friends, rather than the successfully married ones either. maybe a park in driveways and drive in parkways thing, dunno...

I fortunately followed grow room parameters and instruction from only one grower, and have a happy balanced successful garden with no issues, except massive power usage, and a damned ac unit that runs in the dead of winter ! Such was the cost to repeat success I figured, and well worth it to me. Without patients I would be growing in a closet, in my home, in a grow tent once again, it was dirt cheap to do so.

 

nice vid.

Edited November 23, 2013 by grassmatch

[solabeirtan]

Is your room sealed? Air tight? Maybe you could elaborate more about what a successful system would require? 

 

As for co2 only being an asphixiant is maybe misleading since:

 

 It's Only An Asphixiant ?

 

Ordinarily, carbon dioxide is not poisonous. It diffuses from your cells into your bloodstream and from there out via your lungs, yet it is always present throughout your body.

 

However, if you breathe high concentrations of carbon dioxide or re-breathe air (such as from a plastic bag or tent), you may be at risk for carbon dioxide intoxication or even carbon dioxide poisoning. Carbon dioxide intoxication and carbon dioxide poisoning are independent of oxygen concentration, so you may have enough oxygen present to support life, yet still suffer from the effects of rising carbon dioxide concentration in your blood and tissues.

Edited November 23, 2013 by solabeirtan

[trichcycler]

my rooms  are sealed, but no not air tight surely. I leave the door open when loading and unloading equipment with no worries. I say sealed to imply that I don not bring in or exhaust out any air purposely. I suppose its as "sealed" as my house is. My room are in an outside dedicated building also, so no worries of propane or even gas c02 from there. I would use it in a sealed room inside my home also, but would put the propane tanks outside my home.

 

Its actually not specialized at all, with a couple different ways of accomplishing. I would suggest spot treatments with a rented tank, and a plastic bag. seal the bag around a vacuum, and remove as much air as you can, then crack the valve open on a c02 canister and fill the bag, seal it, and watch the bugs die. when they stop moving, wait some more, open the bag and rinse the plant off to remove the casualties, shake it, return it to a controlled room.

 

Bottled c02 can be used in a room also. Meters capable of going to 10kppm are expensive, so if not affordable---I'd cut away an infected bud sample and place in a container or bag inside the room. For precision I'd search the production capability of your generator, and math that with the size of your room, to decide how long it will take your gen to achieve 10,000ppm saturation. its not scary at all, and will happen quickly, if the doors are closed, fans off, lights on. some say lights off, I say lights on, your choice, both work. or..       periodically check in on the sample cut of mites in the open container. keep the container near your worst infestation. when they die, let them die some more, until you feel confident you've won. You may have to do this a couple times, depending on your room configuration, gardening habits, etc. A single flame pilot light keeps my room at 1500ppm except for opened doors, and a couple full burns during the day for reference. mine are pretty tight, with seams and corners silicone, but not air tight I think. Two people sweeping in my room are able to raise the ppm's to 1500ppms also, some heavy breathing near your meter will show you the same results. 10000 ppm has little noticeable effect on me in the 30 seconds it takes to check in,  but kills all the bugs.  I don't hang out in their mind you, and my wife would surely notice the smell if it was inside the house, but its not like its propane, and is a lot less harmful to the user than ANY pesticide, and presents ZERO harm to the patients using the meds. that's what cinched it for me. It Is not necessary to spend one minute in the room, It can be exhausted if needs, on a timer even. a small plexi window with a dedicated bug test container is a cool option for another person I know.  

[solabeirtan]

here's a 0 - 10,000 co2 sensor for $52.95. needs a little calibration, some more wire, etc...it might work. 0-10k co2 sensor

 

Here's one in the works...

eventually incorporating something like this maybe

just thought I'd add that that co2 bottle should be outside of the living area. As recommended back there somewhere ... in the last page Edited November 23, 2013 by solabeirtan

[trichcycler]

keep  in mind that if that bottle was cracked open in a kitchen, nobody would suffer in the home. If it was tipped over, and broke open, it could take a leg off.

the gas is not an evil thing at all. c02 poisoning has never been an issue in the greenhouse/grow rooms I think. Electrocution, commercial nutrient and heavy metal exposure, UV exposure, eye damage, police intervention, and mold however have been.

If you grow in a home your ambient c02 will be around 400 ppms. Plants will grow, and the more you can replace the air at every leaf surface the better. Inside though its impossible to keep a 400ppm like this, and plants will only grow to their weakest resource. If all else is perfect, the plant is silently suffering without the amount of c02 it can actually use.

Outside ambient @ 400 is different, because of the constant air replacement at plant surfaces. If a plant is expected to be all it can be, c02 augmentation is necessary indoors. Once applied, all answers are provided, with increased harvest weights, increased terpene profiles, faster finishes, a more developed flowers, assuming all other needs are accurately met.

Don't fear the Co2, it is our friend. Common sense, like with any bottled gases,  should be used. My gens have redundant safety measures towering over any gas furnace I've seen. With a couple meters on the wall, all is good. I can monitor my rooms from my home, and even see temps, c02 saturation, water alarm, electricity usage, bulb failure, ballast failures, etc, hell, I should be able to stay out for days at a time....but who could do that, I'm drawn in like a bee to an iris.

 

[Restorium2]

Once you have an infested room you have to keep dumping CO2 every few days until harvest. Going into this thinking you can kill them for good with just CO2 is unrealistic. You could get lucky like that, but don't count on it. Done right, you can save a crop with CO2. It's a great tool but it has it's limitations.