equipment from a contaminated grow

[captain1]

Curious as to your thoughts I have some freebies that I need comming and the guy that im getting them from has a spider mite problem any steps that you can think of before allowing them in my house would be great. We have cleaned everything with bleach/water. And I was thinking about leaving the stuff in the garage for a couple of days due to the cold weather around 40 degrees. Do you think thats enough? I have a spotless area dont want an infestation.

 

[smokingjoe]

Is there anyway you can significantly increase the humidity in the storage space?

Spider Mites don't fare too well in high humidity.

Another alternative is to place all the grow equipment in a relatively sealed environment and fumigate the little buggers.

If you have access to an agricultural supply or nursery supply shop you should be able to get some decent foggers.

You can make your own by obtaining some formalin and putting 1/2 teaspoon of Permanganate of Potash (Condes Crystals) into about 45ml of formalin. This will form formaldehyde gas and take care of the little buggers. Ensure you wear appropriate safety gear when handling these types of fumigators.

 

[captain1]

Its 2 lights and ballasts all the buckets and lids I need I figure I can wash the lids and buckets real well then use alcohol to re-clean the fixtures and ballasts. I have a small hunidifier for my bed room could put the fixtures in a bag with the humidifier running just dont want to ruin 2 1000w ballast. He has currently been treating with perithyum and extreme co2 alch. mix you name it hes doing.

 

[captain1]

Anyone else? got it comming to day.

 

[Droopy Dog]

Its 2 lights and ballasts all the buckets and lids I need I figure I can wash the lids and buckets real well then use alcohol to re-clean the fixtures and ballasts. I have a small hunidifier for my bed room could put the fixtures in a bag with the humidifier running just dont want to ruin 2 1000w ballast. He has currently been treating with perithyum and extreme co2 alch. mix you name it hes doing.

The wash and the alcohol rub down sounds good and the enclosed area with the foggers +1 also. I would use the ones that make smoke (the ones you add water to). The smoke penetrates well. The other ones just shoot a mist into the air and wherever it lands gets treated, but really doesn't penetrate into anything.

Putting ballast in high humidity doesn't sound like a really good idea.:holysheep: Electronics and electrical stuff just doesn't mix too well with water.:hubba: Besides, there isn't a lot of food for mites inside a ballast.

DD

 

[Budders Keeper]

I believe the temp & humidity extremes will just cause them to go dormant and stop reproducing until conditions are right for them to thrive...and out they come. To eliminate them you will need to use the other chemical methods also...IMO