Kill pm with uv light???

[iliketolearn]

I have had to deal with powdery mildew the last couple of years in my grow room. First with a hempy bucket grow and now with a hydro grow. Then I heard from a friend that you can kill mold spores with UV light. They do it in hospitals and on some fruits and vegetable. I have heard of people using UV lights as a supplemental grow light.

I've already read an article stating that this method would work.

http://urbangardenmagazine.com/2009/08/ultra-violet-uvc-the-new-weapon-against-indoor-garden-pests/

What I need to know is if anyone knows or has any idea about how many watts you would need and what exposure time would be necessary for the light to be effective???

Thank you

World Peace,
ILL

 

[bicycle racer]

interesting i have found pm hates direct sunlight which has uv light obviously so i would think this would work. too much uv screws with plants though so the proper amount would be critical. there are plenty of various wattage reptile specific uv lights which should work.

 

[LBZ Farmer]

Where is the proof that too much UV screws with the plants? I am curious because there is a ton of UV in the sunlight and I doubt we could easily outdo the sun. Wonder mainly because I am incorporating UV into my lights. We don't see it but plants definately do.

 

[Captain ChroniK]

I always treat my pm with UV-light!!
The trick is to act quick cuz it only works in the first stages of the disease.
Just give them 20min of UV light every day for 1 week and I guarantee all your mildew will be gone!
I use 1000watts of UV to treat all my moms every now and then without any problems.. I don't think u will top that so don't worry bout messing with the plants.

Prevention is the best cure though so you could also consider installing a permanent UV-light in you growroom if you have pm issues too often.
I don't have any experience with this however..

This is the most biological way of killing spores and it kinda amazes me that not all bio-growers do this?
You could also use this method in combination with spraying the plants with milk dilluted with water.
And there you have it... biological mildew rehab.
Time to catch my flight to a sunnier place now :004:

Greets

 

[iliketolearn]

Read the article I posted!

It does state that too much UV light can be harmful to your plants.

It also says to use a particular spectrum of UV light called UV-C. I didn't think that any UV light would work but Cap'n Chron you say that you use UV to kill pm spores? What type of UV light do you use exactly?

 

[justiceman]

Since UV kills PM I wonder if more HPS users have PM then MH users since MH is supposedly suppose to give off UV

 

[Jalisco Kid]

I always treat my pm with UV-light!!
The trick is to act quick cuz it only works in the first stages of the disease.
Just give them 20min of UV light every day for 1 week and I guarantee all your mildew will be gone!
I use 1000watts of UV to treat all my moms every now and then without any problems.. I don't think u will top that so don't worry bout messing with the plants.

Prevention is the best cure though so you could also consider installing a permanent UV-light in you growroom if you have pm issues too often.
I don't have any experience with this however..

This is the most biological way of killing spores and it kinda amazes me that not all bio-growers do this?
You could also use this method in combination with spraying the plants with milk dilluted with water.
And there you have it... biological mildew rehab.
Time to catch my flight to a sunnier place now :004:

Greets

What bulb are you using? I have 100w uvb's to supplement my hids. I would have thought uvc would be what you would use to kill the spores. 1000 w would seem a lot of bulb/light to have around only to use for sterilization. Suerte JK

 

[revolutionseeds]

I would think if it was intense enough to kill the spores it would also damage the plant tissue...I could be wrong, just a guess. I don't see this as a viable way to kill spores in air...they do use uv to purify water though.

 

[thefabman]

UV light for sterilization are used at high wattage. Usually circulated through ducting with light mounted inside for concentration.

 

[LBZ Farmer]

It would be much easier to kill the spores in the air... A fan circulating air through a duct or chamber where the uv light is since UV is harmful to us... Plus I think UV can kill smell as well...

 

[Jalisco Kid]

UV light for sterilization are used at high wattage. Usually circulated through ducting with light mounted inside for concentration.

That would make sense as in hvac systems. I have set up a maintenance where there is serious ducting and bigger rooms with a modified ozone gen that puts out some grams of ozone. Used only when people will be gone for a while as it pits metal. JK

 

[Captain ChroniK]

Waddup peeps..
UVC light can hurt planttissue IF the plant is constantly exposed to a high dose of it.
But in our case we are only giving them a couple of minutes of UVA+B light daily for a short period of time..

I have a large collection of (big) moms that need a lot of maintenance and I don't like to give out cuts that are fucked up..this is why I made my own lighthood with 5 100w UVA bulbs and 5 UVB's.
The main reason I use such a high wattage is because I need to cover a large area of plants and also have enough light-penetration to reach the lower foliage..

When treating pm on your plants make sure u clean your growroom too! (especially when ur having a plague) you're just killing the spores on the plant itself.. theres still a lot of shit in your growroom!
Before I treat them I clean my room with Dettol, afterwards I spray them with milkwater and I'm done for 1-2 months.
I like to give them a treatment every month just to kill any nasty bacteria even tho I might not have pm issues.

I wish I could explain more about the wavelength's of the different types of UV-light and why it is so benificial for our plants.. not just to kill fungus.
Yes, I'm a believer! do you think the sun produces that spectrum just for fun? it HAS a purpose.
And even if you are convinced it doesn't have a particular purpose keep this in mind: the sun produced tons of UV light since the beginning of times, back then even more than now! The evolution of plants took place under UV light, so you can't tell me it doesn't play a role in overall flora life.. from weed to cacti.
Thats why I have a lil UV-lightsource in one of my main growroom too, not for pm but because I noticed my plants like it!

Too bad my english vocabulary won't allow me to go deeper into the subject.. too much fancy words..especially when I'm this high ;)
Please trust me on this one or do some research/testing and come to the same conclusion as I did.


Greets

 

[LBZ Farmer]

I am glad to hear you are having success with UV, I did a lot of research and concluded that There is a definate use for UV in Photosyntisis, After all we are replicating Nature. I am also glad to learn UV kills PM spores... It is just nice to know I am on the right track. Thank you for the insight.

 

[Jalisco Kid]

I use the phillips t1 100w in my flower room.And I like to use eyes blue in my veg only and run a mix in my flower room. It definitely makes for a more complex flavor.JK

 

[rdbrizz]

Well that suck and I would have to ask what the temp you keep your room at? And do you keep all your old setup shit in there with it? The humed temp is what I guess is going to keep that shit coming back find the side it shows the most fungus it mayb where u live outside air getting in or how you drain I had ideas for a self drainin system but that prob came to mind so desopse of all waste far from my room but that's my country livin ha ha:fighting0040::rock

 

[Captain ChroniK]

^

Well that suck

nahh I :rock
The lights are already mounted in between my normal CMH lights and with a simple flick of a switch I can turn em on or off.
I DONT run em at the same time! and I only give em the treatment the first 20/30 mins of daytime.

The humed temp is what I guess is going to keep that shit coming back

I didn't say anything about having a reoccuring pm plage?
Prevention is the best cure, especially with moms your planning to keep for a long time.
I have filters on all my air intakes, no spores will enter thru there!
Chances are higher that I'm the guilty one carrying the shit in! I don't know about you, but I get in contact with other peeps plants too.
And if it's not other peoples plants it could also be any outdoor plant vulnerable to mildew.
Thats why it's nice to have a lil tool in your growroom to prevent such small amounts of spores to colonize and ruin your precious plants.
Nuff said.

Peace

 

[matamus]

Captian Chronik you have a pic of your uv light hood you have me very curious, like you said prevention is key, Easier to prevent than to battle the shit forsure.

 

[zoeronerer]

UV light for sterilization are used at high wattage. Usually circulated through ducting with light mounted inside for concentration.

i use them ... to kill airborne spores virus etc.... i dont run high wattage ... just 48" uvc works great ... they sell them at home depot as well that bolt inside of ac units for home use they are under $100 work greeaaaat.. use em kids ,,, sealed room works wonders if used correctly ..

 

[Gaval]

zoeronerer

do you leave the 48" uvc in your rooms turned on 24/7 or do you use them at certain times of the day?

 

[sands]

Eagle 20

I use eagle 20 its the only thing i have come across that i spray 1 time and that shit is K.Oed. Its systemic for 45 days but i always spray right b4 I switch to flower and i havent seen that stuff since I started using it. i run a sealed room an Rh levels tend to get high so I was havin problems for a long time with it. My mother room had all my girls covered in this demon shit and I herd about the Eagle 20 out of Tampa ag and i sprayed them 1 time and gone. I know alot of ppl dont like using sprays like that but, with a grow as big as mine I cant afford to take chances. Hope i could help