Thank you for taking the time to answer and clue me in. I *thought* my post had triggered the one I asked about, Im sorry if I came on too strong. I just put myself in the position (mentally) of having to rely on getting my medicine via some other person or place and picture them using DDT or Malathion (spelling error) or something on the plants they mass produce because it *DOES* work - as AVID does - so well its *literally* frightening (to me). And so in this mental game I buy some pesticide ridden medicinal and its good, its relatively cheap, I opt for smoking it over a period of time like 2 months. And three years later I get tumors, leukemia, cell damage, you name it. Its no question that these pesticides *do* cause human deaths - 250,000 a year according to this great book I got called "Hemp Diseases and Pests: Management ond Biological Control" by these New Zealand Ph.d's and experts in the field of botany / crop growth / chemistry / hemp. Its available on Amazon and is the BEST book on the whole topic of diseases and pests and the ways to control them. The figure of 250,000 deaths per year that are established to have been caused by pesticide exposure comes from that book, page 191, citing a 1964 World Health Organization International Agency for Research on Cancer study. So its not a "maybe" its harmful issue its a definately established fact that exposure to pesticides kills. Humans, bees, dogs, fish, you name it.
And then I read a "I have spider mites, what spray should I use" post and people reccomend everything from water mixed with rubbing alcohol and baking soda to home - made nicotine or cinnimon or garlic/hot sauce based sprays to chemicals that you cant legally buy in this state, to chemicals you can buy if you have a certain form of documentation like you need to buy explosives for example. To stuff they just yanked off a Osh shelf and never read past the "spray on plants until wet once every two months as needed" part of the label and dont see the list of organophosphates that are so toxic they are illegal to use on non-ornamental plants. And I want to make them stop and think for a second. Then they are going to do what ever they are going to do, and most will probably want the strongest most effective fastest acting item they can get within 20 miles of their home. And if they do that, and its poisonous then at least I feel I did my part, fulfilled my personal moral obligation to at least have taken the time to warn anyone who cares to read it.
Lazy for having mites huh? I would laugh so hard at that. Its not how lazy or attentive a grower is - the question that is on topic is, "did even one spider mite get in your grow room? If so odds are you will have a problem before you know it. Its not anyone of us being lazy thats the problem, its that spider mites are so hyperactive! And now pesticide resistant. Safers Soap no longer does a thing to a lot of strains, and even AVID is becoming a resisted control measure. Because people dont rotate what they use (as a generalization) and the repeated use over millions of generations create bugs that laugh at our current "organic" and "non-toxic" choices for control. Except manual removal, removal via hydro blasting them (I put infested plants in a shower worked great) are guaranteed to work and not create another resistant strain. So whoever told you that the reason you had mites is you were lazy was obviously speaking from a position of both ignorance and disrespect for your control methods - and even the best of them cant eliminate the possibility of a spidermite blitzkrieg, just reduce the odds.
So I hope you understand where Im coming from, I certainly do not mean to offend anyone (execpt people who knowingly choose to use known toxins to humans and not tell the end user that while they get their medicine they are going to need more because they are literally ingesting poison. Its only a question of scale between that and making a hamburger with cyanide in it and offering it to someone - both cases include knowingly giving someone who is unaware of the fact a chemial compound that is deadly. I think I would opt for the cyanide - at least its fast - cancer Ive seen kill too many relatives, friends, friend's relatives. I am scared of it and want to reduce my exposure to agents that cause it and dissuade anyone I can from getting it or giving it to another because they chose to treat with "That stuff that REALLY works," you know?
OK I think I drove that into the ground. I hope you understand the *why* now if my post seemed a bit zealously anti-pesticide. I have had spidermites more times than I could tell you. I dont mind throwing out plants, they grow back and I keep a frozen stash which will last me through a few complete crop losses. I grow organic hydro method. I try to explain to people why I do it this way, and I have about 20 years of growning experience on which my statements are based. Ive got like 15 or 20 different grow books, books on pests, books on biological solutions (predators) books on how to create my own strain down to backcrossing and the whole deal - "what is an F1? Glad you asked here are 400 pages to read which will tell you."
Its my hobby, its one of my passions, it is my medicine (really. )I dont use medical for entertainment, I use it for my degenerated disks in my back from having been crushed by an 18 wheel truck 15years ago and I did the addiction to Oxycontin and Morphine and Fentanyl and I withdrew cold turkey and it was worse than getting run over in the first place to sweat that crap out of my system after 5 years of abuse and addiction.
I found out that my high school habit of recreational use actually worked for pain and sleep assistance. Its not perfect but if I go without it I dont end up in an ER convulsing from the withdraw symptoms either. And I dont want to risk my happy little mild life in order to kill a few hundred thousand spidermites. And I dont want anyone else to do that, so I give it my best shot, I try to be 100% accurate when I make a fact statement as opposed to an opinion, and I should stop typing now.
Friends, I hope? I denfinately feel much better about you and me and my post and how you felt and why. I hope you understand me a little better now to.
"you can call me Al,"
