pesticides

Actually I am a bit biased.
As a biodynamic fruit farmer, what other farmers spray on their plants, is not overly concerning to me.
So if your thread isn't about weed growing, but about pesticide use in horticulture, then I can give you a little insight.
When I have worked with conventional farmers growing vegetables, mainly brassica, they would maybe spray once, or at most twice in the plants life.
After all if you sprayed all the time, Monsanto would get your profit, and you would lose the farm.
Just because the with-holding period is a week, doesn't mean every farmer drenches his farm in poison, up until a week before harvest.
And to the farmer who had to continuously spray chems I would say
Maybe have a look at why your plants are refusing to thrive.
 
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Biodynamic fruit farmer hey kept that one quite!!

Im not looking to sling shit here and that aint going to help people understand anything...

Can you share what pesticide was being used on the farms? and why they had to use it?

See my plants aint refusing to thrive they are good and vigorous as long as i keep broad mite in check,do you have experience with broad mite? If i gave you broad mite your plants wouldn't be able to withstand there damage!!
Or you saying they can?
 
They are mainly spraying to stop cauliflower moth catapillar.
Dieldrin or 2-4-d used to be the go, until it was a proved link to cancer and nuerological disorders.
I am lucky, as we don't have broad mite here in Western Australia.
It seems bio growers have less issue than hydro.
Hydro is certainly more convenient to the grower, but I can't see that keeping a plant alive is all their is to it.
Medicine is starting to understand the link between abdominal flora ( gut bugs) in humans and its effects on chronic health.
If you feed the soil, then you don't have to worry about more than the plants roots.
The rest takes care off itself.
Every thing is about natural balance.
When you farm in artificial light, you use lights that have been designed to emmit lummen. As ultra violet is not visible, it is ' wasted' in a grow light, as if the spectrum contains it, the light would be weaker in lum/watt stats.
So most companies advertise the lum/watt as a selling point as to how powerful their lights are.
Some more progressive companies produce UV spectrum grow lights.
It is certainly a brave new world.
I hope you get the mite situation eradicated, but until then, every thing you can do to increase your plants vitality, can only benefit you.
There is no such thing as a monoculture.
Cannabis+artificial light+hydroponics may seem intimate, but the mites crashed that party, and now your room is an ecosystem.
Mites+weed not too good an ecosystem unfortunately.
 
Bison, I had a think on your situation, and thought through a bit of sasolution.
So you are forced to use stronger treatments in your tissue library , so I am assuming your donors are shot with the BM.
Also assuming you can't burn down your house, sell up and move, so how to start.
This may not be practical but here goes.
There is no way to stop the infestation between donor and clone, so that is why you are using the predators, right?

Well if you can take clones from your parent stock, and purify them some how, by maybe soaking them as bare rooted veglings.
As far as I understand the little buggers don't enjoy the warmth.
So get your cleaned clones and transfer them to a mates house.
Then destroy all your plants.
Pull your flowers n burn your parents.
Totally sanatize your house with your poison ( can a commercial pesticide guy do it?)
Then bring your hopefully still clean genetics back home.
Couple of things I don't quite get though.
If these mites are so hardcore, that merely brushing an infected bud gives you an undefeatable hoard in your grow, how is it that everyone's grow is not infested 100% of the time?
Are the mites attracted to any other host?
If they live out side, how could you ever hope to get rid of them?
With out beating the UV drum, I would seriously look at that option.
If you got a 10000k rated MH, or a heap of T5, and I mean a good 1000-1200 watt of globe, then I can't see it not helping.
You would have to wear sunglasses, a hat and sunscreen inside, if working with your plants.
Got a fair chance those bugs will feel crook, or maybe not too horny.
Either way I can't see it would be business as usual for them.
But if they are as easy to catch, and impossible to eradicate, as you say, how could you ever hope to become mite free?
Maybe you will have to move to a warmer environment.
The UV lights might not work overnight, but your problem is ongoing, so is it reasonable to expect an instant solution?
 
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Phytoremediation

Bison, I did not mean to come off high and mighty. Vlad's suggestions were the right way to go and keep it clean. I just believe in a living soil and I understand that cannabis is one of the greatest plants on the planet for phytoremediation which is why they have been growing it in Chernobyl to clean up the radiation. Because this plant has this characteristic and I only want organic healthy stuff in my medicine. Anyone can notice a big difference between commercially grown cannabis and true clean green cannabis. I know that you know this along with everyone else on here because that is why we grow our own. I feel if earthworms are not growing in the soil I do not want to consume anything that does. Sorry, I am a little heavy against pesticides and salts as these are the things that made sick people sick.
MM11
 
I am with Vlad on this one, mostly. Bison your only solution is to do a shut down and eradication operation with the mothers drenched and placed into quarantine.
If you use propper hygiene practices into the future and remove all entry vectors ie clean and showered, clean clothes and shoes, cleaning of any material entering the garden, filters on the inlets and quarantine all genetics, or better still start from seed, you should never have a problem. No this isn't a fairy tale but fact, it takes alot of effort and dedication but is really an investment. This is one of the reasons I converted to a bio-active rockwool system so as to remove several entry vectors from my system. Soils, coir and organic amendments often harbour more than is advertised.
On another note Organic doesn't automatically mean "safe" there are some pretty nasty offerings identified with organic and will still do you harm so continue to do your research which it sounds like you have Bison. Targeted biological controls are generally safer for us ie fungi-yeasts, bacteria, predators etc
I do think though Vlad, that saying that plants that get infested arent strong enough to defend themselves from an insect attack is a bit simplistic. In a dynamic ecosystem that is biologically diverse this is certainly relevant but in the sterile void we create indoors the scales are tilted against us. If the mites have made their way into a garden they will feed on whatever source of food they can. Sure some varieties are more resistant than others but they certainly wont turn their backs and move out.
"Ok boys let's go, this shit is just too healthy for us to eat" said no mite ever.
 
Too true JJ.
Of course there is no organic Arcadia, where the plants are super units, defying all pathogens or predators. And I certainly wasn't trying to disregard the advantages of hydro.
The point I was trying to make was that just because a plant is robust, doesn't mean it is virile. In vegetable growing it is common to grow large healthy looking plants that are easily attacked by nasties.
Bio seems to offer a buffer, be it pH, or under/over feeding.
It may be easier to create a symbiotic relationship with soil life too.
But I didn't mean to say soil good, non organic bad.
Organic vegies are renowned for high nitrite levels.
So it really is all about balance, and respecting nature, even if we do attempt unnatural gardening methods.
 
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Yes it seems nothing short of taking a cherry can to the local gas station and igniting myself and home and all parent stock will suffice...

I am that guy that would shower and steam iron all my clothes before entering my room , i even covered my entire family car with diatomaceous earth to prevent cross contamination you know that shit for chicken pens like talc impossible to get off ,i looked like a fucking ghost buster when i turned up to the rooms lol....

I appriciate all the help and suggestions, but having first hand experience with these fuckers I've come to understand them..and i honestly believe they just can't be totally eradicated just managed but if you are efficient and meticulous with prevention you won't even see signs of there exisistance.

i believe they lay eggs that are already fertilised as in one can start a fucking colony.... the best looking prevention I've seen over at icmag is a product called OG bio war a organic fungal brew that grows inside any exoskeleton.The only down side to this product is that once the humidity levels drop it becomes totally useless..and my climate is dry

A blend of fish extract, guano, earthworm castings, yucca, krill, alfalfa and volcanic ash make up 50% of my feed the other 50% is synthetic i use this formula to cut down on salt build ups and and improve flavour and quality. Without compromising of the yield.
Thats done in a coco perlite mix just to be clear on my methods

oh yeah i did loose my tomato aubergines and peas out doors because of my ignorants to the dreaded BM.
To my understanding BM is doing the rounds across our community and is a massive problem world wide from almonds in california to mangos in India they just use different names..
 
A Ghostbuster....lol that is fukin hilarious
Well you obviously have a good handle on the grow room hygiene and are doing the right things.
The controls, OG bio war and predators, sound like your last vestige. I must admit that I don't understand how serious the broad mite is I have only read alot of really sorry tales from growers in the states. I'm glad we don't have them here.
Im sure a well planned napalming is worth a try but it comes at the cost of production. It is alot easier if it is only up to you but it sounds like you are part of a bigger picture. If you are part of the bigger scene short of entering through a bleach bath you may never really be clean. I wish you luck in the battle
 
I am having good results with dog flea and tick shampoo.
I tried many products and they didn't work as advertised.All I was doing was filling up hydro shop pickets.
Look for shampoo with Sumithrin or phenothrin,I'd suggest Sumithrin phenothrin because it's patented and there are derivatives of it but derivatives aren't the same.
It kills much more than fleas and ticks.Its used by dust croppers on food crops.

Great thing about shampoo is just apply it like dish soap in a spray bottle and drench plants,containers,sides of walls,everything and no more flyers or creepy crawlers.
It's made from flowers so it's mother natures kitchen.
 
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