Grow room sanitation

[Big Brother]

All,

I'm curious what lengths you growers go to to keep contaminants out of your garden.

I have filters on my air intakes.

Have a contamination prevention room I enter and put on a set of scrubs before I enter the grow room.

I make it a point to shower after entering other peoples gardens.

 

[theTinker]

(indoor grower)
I don't take any preventive measures other than staying away from all other peoples grows.

I was invited to check out a plant yesterday because they wanted a second opinion if it had a nute def a disease... I declined...

I clean my water bucket, can, and hands before watering.
Also every few weeks. I pull all my plants out into the spare room. (Only 8 plants). and give the room a quick scrub with disinfectant. Loose soil, spill stains, odd small dead leaf turn up every now and again no matter how clean i am in the room.

After the upcoming harvest. Ill completely sanatise the room and use clean pots.

My venting is not filtered at the moment.

Im very sterile when it comes to my clones though. Everything is cleaned and i wear plastic gloves, clean blades, root powder on a plate, and filtered water.

 

[Seamaiden]

I filter my venting, hair gets tied back whenever I'm in any garden, I tend to be a handwasher, so... Anyway, I don't visit many other gardens, if I do, those clothes are not worn to another 'unrelated' garden. I don't practice any other QT protocol other than keeping anything green, growing and new to me separate from everything else for one month. 30 days disease free and it's (generally good to go).

Tools get cleaned with soap and water unless I have a reason to think I need more. Since I never bring in anything from others without keeping it separated and observing that it's clean for the full 30 days, I have been able to keep things under control so far.

 

[psychoactive]

Filter on my intake. Filter in the room.

Purchased and utilize full body tyvek suits(i'll get them with hoods next time).

Quarantine even the idea of a cut or clone new to the mix.

Always hit the moms and veg room first thing in the a.m. I'm showered, and they are clean. That's the most important place to keep clean imo, and not that we should be prioritizing :-) Keep it all clean!

Check, check, and triple check. I can see mite activity from 3' away in a windy room halfway down a 4' tall plant.................At night. Jk :-)

Got a fogger. They are more effective than a sprayer, make things easier, and they make things easier :-) (I like things not to be made difficult.) Whether you are interested in foliar feeding or evenly distributing your favourite anti bug concoction, a fogger is the way to go in this guys opinion.

I use latex gloves like they are going out of style. Cloning, spraying, feeding, trimming. Gloves.

I don't grow at home anymore, but if I did, same rule would be in order..... No Pets in the gardening area. They are designed to carry bugs. Why people let their pets in their garden, ESPECIALLY around maturing flowers or processing areas, is absolutely beyond me. I am allergic to cats and will not partake of anything that comes close to pet/animal dander.

Clean the floors, pots, bulbs, filters(dehuey&a/c), cloner, tents, reservoirs, and drain trays between runs, and/or often.

I want another glass of wine and some more bubba. That ought to do it for now.

If I think of anything else I'll post it. I do have pics of my suits I'll post sometime.

Peace.Love.And Cleanliness!

 

[Big Brother]

Filter on my intake. Filter in the room.

Purchased and utilize full body tyvek suits(i'll get them with hoods next time).

Quarantine even the idea of a cut or clone new to the mix.

Always hit the moms and veg room first thing in the a.m. I'm showered, and they are clean. That's the most important place to keep clean imo, and not that we should be prioritizing :-) Keep it all clean!

Check, check, and triple check. I can see mite activity from 3' away in a windy room halfway down a 4' tall plant.................At night. Jk :-)

Got a fogger. They are more effective than a sprayer, make things easier, and they make things easier :-) (I like things not to be made difficult.) Whether you are interested in foliar feeding or evenly distributing your favourite anti bug concoction, a fogger is the way to go in this guys opinion.

I use latex gloves like they are going out of style. Cloning, spraying, feeding, trimming. Gloves.

I don't grow at home anymore, but if I did, same rule would be in order..... No Pets in the gardening area. They are designed to carry bugs. Why people let their pets in their garden, ESPECIALLY around maturing flowers or processing areas, is absolutely beyond me. I am allergic to cats and will not partake of anything that comes close to pet/animal dander.

Clean the floors, pots, bulbs, filters(dehuey&a/c), cloner, tents, reservoirs, and drain trays between runs, and/or often.

I want another glass of wine and some more bubba. That ought to do it for now.

If I think of anything else I'll post it. I do have pics of my suits I'll post sometime.

Peace.Love.And Cleanliness!

Very detailed and informative. I would love to see some pics of your suits.

Regards

 

[LBH]

I put a screen over mine,lmao


I really don't do anything other than keep the room spotless and vacuumed. All my supplies, tools etc are all stored very neatly and are very organized and clean.

No filters, no wash down prep,...shit, my cat lies around in there all day. With the heat and wind, she thinks she's on the savannah,lol.

My attitude could bite me in the ass one day but since day 1, yrs ago, I always had the attitude that ......it's a weed. A hearty, durable, resilient weed. Touch it, manipulate it, bend it, throw wind at it........it's a weed. It was made to live in the outoors and my closets are far cleaner than my yard,lol.

I also help new growers at our patient advocacy coalition and often visit the students grows. (I do not encourage them to be like me, I do teach cleanliness and how to sanitize tools, etc) I've yet to drag home any unwanteds but at the same time, I would certainly take precautions before returning to my grow if I went to someones house to find out their plants were loaded with mites.

So I guess, in short, it's life as usual around here. Not much respect for my lazy ass I'm sure,lol I'm really not lazy, I have an intense full time job and volunteer with handicapped kids for the foundation I'm a board member of but when it comes to the grow rooms, I do my best but even there, most of my time lately has gone to the patients. So far, so good, but I know I'm more vulnerable than many of you who take the time.

psychoactive- could you link me to the fogger you use please?

 

[Buddy Hemphill]

I take cuttings and put them under a dome with a no pest strip in it for seven days. Spinosad on the first day, also. I haven't caught anything, but I take a trash bag...spread it out on the floor and put the tray/dome in the middle...then put a ring of tanlgefoot around it and let it sit.

Worked so far...I just erradicated the borg and I am queering up pretty hard about clones coming in from now on.

I also take a sprayer and go around all the outside of the grow with neem...all cracks and bases...and then do the same on the inside.

Never throw dead leaf material on the floor.

Just like a car....keep all the filters fresh and clean.

I wash hands and my wife and I have "garden shoes" that are just that....only inside the rooms.

We also started taking our shoes off when we come inside the house...it has made a HUGE difference in how clean the floor stays. More than I would have imagned.

And NO FRIGGIN DOGS!!!!....lol.....

 

[LBH]

We also started taking our shoes off when we come inside the house...it has made a HUGE difference in how clean the floor stays. More than I would have imagned.

not weed related but AMEN to that! lol I had a black and white tiled floor, 1' squares, EVERYTHING showed UGH

 

[Buddy Hemphill]

not weed related but AMEN to that! lol I had a black and white tiled floor, 1' squares, EVERYTHING showed UGH

Right....

I do it for the garden though...the less creepy crawlies inside the better.

We started the habit for grow room sanitation, but we will never wear our shoes inside the house even if (yeah right) we decide to stop growing. Its just cleaner. Who knows what the fuck I step in across a day....lol

 

[Seamaiden]

We tried leaving our shoes by the front door, but the dog kept stealing them. Damn dawg!

Buddy, if you're walking outdoors in public at all, you're probably walking on spit. EWWWWW!!!! (I just grossed myself out.)

 

[psychoactive]

I understand not doing anything too. I went that route long enough for it to bit me in the butt.

In the last 10 years I've encountered every problem under the bulb: mites, gnats, thrips, whiteflies, powdery mildew, bud rot, and bolting just to name a few.

That list is longer but.... who wants to hear me complain? :-)

Anyways. I am rather process oriented as a result. I just make a change once and then it never happens again(hopefully!). I have an arsenal of things to combat everything listed above. The true aim is not to have to utilize any of it :-)

Here is a link to the fogger I have used for the last 3 years. For the small-mid size gardener it is perfect imo.



I would like to purchase a back pack fogger in the future allowing me to mix once, not worrying about the res feeding the fogger properly while fogging "upside down" when getting to the under sides and back sides of everything.

Here is a pic of one of the tyvek suits. I bought a case of them...I think that's like 30 or more. I like being clean when after I spray, even though I shower anyways.

In the unlikely event I have a stray pest on me when heading in to the flower room, the suit prevents it from getting to my ladies. Additionally..I don't stink like a skunk when I get back in my vehicle and go home :-)

I used to have some romantic notion with getting stinky and sticky. Today I do not :-)

Glad there was some interest in my post describing some of my ocd :-)

I hope this helps someone avoid something sometime!

Peace.Love.And prevention.

 

[Jalisco Kid]

Following clean procedures is good,never wear street shoes in your room.
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
JK

 

[Tesseract]

I usually don't pay attention to my cloths, other then the fact that they don't have mud on them and other signs of contaminates. Wearing a suit would be sweet though! I do have a white clean lab coat in my room for kicks! makes me feel like a scientist...hehe.

My pets never enter the room.

You have to go through the laundry room to enter the grow space and it, being a laundry room, is usually pretty clean. I am mindful of what I wear on my feet, but have graced the room with my regular kicks and sandals which stay pretty clean.

I make sure to throw away all dead organic matter into a bag and keep the room picked up and organized. Its a tight fit so having shit everywhere would make me go mad!
I clean up any water spilled because water spreads bacteria.
I pour fresh tap water all over my tables to "sweep" any stagnant water away every week. I clean my reservoirs with antibacterial soap every 5-7 days and scrub down the room with either physan20 or bleach between grows

My room is a sealed microclimate, so It helps to keep spores down to a minimum. I do have a 1900 series filter on my dehumidifier in the room. Since the dehumidifier is the thing in the room that displaces air and is on the most, I decided to make it into a clean filter as well. The 1900 series helps in the prevention of fungus spores, spider mites, allergens, ect... Its the most $$ filter I could buy at Lowes @ $20 and seems to keep the room very fresh.

I use clearex which helps remove buildup in the system and send h2o2 down the system to clean it between grows.


This is a great thread!

T

 

[Big Brother]

Lots of great info. Definitely getting a suit.