Disinfect a cannabis grow-room, specially if we recently suffered a pest aslong last growing cycle, is something every grower should do. If we don't proceed with this kind of disinfecting tasks, traces of of it could stay in it, affecting future crops grown in the same place.
Why disinfecting a grow-room?
Pests that affect cannabis are not only fed by plants, depending on each pest, it could occur that this certain pest persists in our growing space in an embryonic state, waiting for good conditions to restart harming plants.
In most of the cases, specially in those where grower recycles the substrate (no matter if coco, soil, pebbles or mapito), pests usually put eggs in it, wich will hatch as soon as enviromental conditions are favorable again.
In cases were pest are fungi-type, we can also be affected due to this kind of fungi can persist in the enviroment for 3-4 weeks.
How to disinfect a grow-room
The main rule when growing indoors is hygiene. It's been demonstrated that those growers who periodically do cleaning tasks suffer less problems related with pests than others, so from SantYerbasi we encourage you to keep your grow-room clean (not only along the growing cycle also from one crop to the next cycle).
You should notice that the main infection is usually the substrate and pots, but you should also pay attention to the ground and walls of your growing area to ensure everything is perfectly clean before placing there more plants.
Substrate
If during our latest cycle we suffered a pest, specially if this has affected the substrate, is highly important to not re-using it again, and proceed to buy new substrate. If, for any reason, we have to re-use the same substrate, it is a must to disinfect it before re-using it again. In a previous post we spoke about substrate recycling for cannabis. We recommend you to read it to learn how to act in those cases, so you don't suffer consequences of a new pest in your grow-room.
The floor
The floor of the grow-room is a key point to maintain. A clean floor, and cleared will not only to move through easily, it will also free us from problems derived from pests (dust usually comes together with high amounts of mites, harmful for plants). One of the best options we have is to sweep, and clean, the floor regularly to avoid dust accumulations. To do so we can use a solution with low quantity of floor cleaner, that keeps the enviroment disinfected.
Walls and ceiling
Even though growers usually take care of keeping clean the grow-room, it doesn't happen as often that they care about walls and ceiling of the area. Specially important is to do so in cases were reflectant film is used to cover walls. In those cases it is recommended to completely remove the reflectant to clean behind it. It is common, when we've suffered a pest, it run to hide behind film, to flee from insecticides applied by grower.
To disinfect walls and ceilings we recommend using the same kind of solution used to clean the floor, but applying it with a foam, so we can rub the walls with it.
Disinfect a cannabis grow-room
Once everything said is done, if we want to be sure the grow-room is completely disinfected it is good to use a "bomb against insects" like Massó Stopa. This type of products only need to be placed in the center of our grow-room and actioned (whit all fans and vents stopped). Once the bomb is actioned the product will be spread all over the grow-room, completely removing any sign of a previous pest. After 24 hours, we can activate the airflow again, and clean any dust produced by the product.
Prevent pests appearance
For now we've talked about disinfecting a grow-room in case of had suffered a pest, but what can we do to prevent the appearance of these anoying guests?
First, and most important, as we said, is to keep the growing space clean.
Said this, another key point, specially for growers who work with cuttings from someone else, is not to place any plant in our garden we are not sure if it's clean from pests (no matter if our source tells us it hasn't, it's always better to spray some products to be sure). If plants have any sign of a pests in their leaves, we should keep spraying them with products until we get rid of it. Once the pest is gone, we can place them in our garden.
Another good tip to prevent pests is to use pollen filters in the intake of our grow-room. These filters not only stop dust and pollen, they will also help us preventing insects to go in (it is not necessary to use them in the outake as most gardeners use carbon filters.
Even a good pollen filter can save us many problems, how can we prevent other kind of pests like fungi or mold? At SantYerbasi we sell different kind of tools that help preventing against mold. Once of the most effective ones are UV lamps:
Manual: Within CleanLight Hobby Unit to light plants 5 minutes per day we can prevent and remove any kind of harmful mold.
Automatic: Using the same type of UV lamp, CleanLight Air will automatically clean al the air from the grow-room taking it from the grow-space, passing through it, and then freeing it again.
There are also other options (in our opinion not as optimal but also good) like ozone generators. Ozonizers free O3 to air, sterilizing it, for a lower price than UV lamps. It sounds great no? The problem in using these tools inside a grow-room is the risk of intoxicating plants due an ozone excess. That's why if we decide to choose this option, it is recommended to conciously control the amount of ozone we are adding to the air.
Apply products against pests
We would like to remind you that, even in cleanest ambients, pests can appear when we are working with plants. From SantYerbasi, we do recommend using products against pests as preventive ways to don't suffer from pests, or to control and remove them if happen. In this and other many cases is much better to act to prevent, than waiting the pests to appear (moment where the resistance of it will be much higher, and harms caused too). Nowadays there are many products, 100% effective, with organic origin, specific for every single pest.
Acaricides: Acaricides are specially formuled to control and remove pests of mites like red spyder mite (common in grow-rooms with low humidities and high temperatures). From the whole range of products we specially recommend these ones: SMC Spidermite Control, Insektu Black Rain and Oleatbio CCK due to its high efficiency.
Insecticides: Wide spectrum insecticides usually control pests derived from insects like white fly, thips, aphids, cochineal... If we detect a presence of bites in the leaves of any of these insects, it is highly important to quickly apply products like: Bioleat CCK, Tec-Fort or Kenpyr, spraying them 1-2 times per week until completely remove the pest.
Fungicides: Fungi and mold, is one of the worst problems when growing indoors. Not only because they propagate easily, also because they fully damage the crop. There are different kind of fungi, so the treatment depends on each one we are suffering. In cases of mildew, i.e., the best option is using products like Oidioprot, CannaCure or Oidy, regularly every 2-3 days until we see the pests has been completely removed. If the fungi is botrytis (gray mold) is better to use a product called Botryprot, that really stops its developement. In any case, the security term before harvest of these products is usually 10 days. If ever happens that our plants are less than a week from harvest, it is better to use products like PM Wash, wich has no security term, and leaves no traces in crop, completely removing fungi.
To dillute mentioned products in water (except PM Wash that should be applied undilluted), we recommend you to use high quality water (when possible RO water, or low-mineralized water). The effectivity of these products can be compromised when using hard water (or with high concentration of chlorine).
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