Sulfur vaporizer info, questions

After fighting with powdery mildew for TOO long I finally went out and got a sulfur vaporizer. The problem is that it comes with minimal instructions and there doesn't seem to be much more on the web. This is what I have found so far. The instructions that come with it:

[FONT=&quot]"*·Coverage Area: 1,000 Sq. Ft.
·Placement: Hang the unit by the handle so that it hangs vertically 2-3 feet above the plants. (Air must be able to pass freely through and around the unit).
·The greenhouse evaporator will become quite hot during use. DO NOT TOUCH, Suspend with jack chain. NOT ROPE. Keep the unit away from all combustible material.
·Cup placement in unit – lower the cup down all the way so it rests on the heating element.
·The vaporization should be performed at night.
·Vaporization must be carried out in a wet greenhouse or when there is dew on the leaves.
·No alterations or repairs can be carried out to the vaporizer other than by the manufacture.
·The vaporizer must not be touched during operation. "[/FONT]

Some other info from the web:

[FONT=&quot]" Ideal for medium to large grow rooms and greenhouses. One sulfur burner is capable of treating up to 1000 cu. ft. These are the same type of units used by commercial greenhouse growers all over the world, and it is your best defense against fungus and mildews such as powdery mildew, downey mildew, botrytis (gray mold) and many others.

How it works: The sulfur vapors change the pH on the surface of the plant causing the environment to be unsuitable for fungal growth. The same pH change will significantly slow the reproduction of pests – acting as an effective means of pest control. It is very effective on most flowers and vegetables where powdery mildew and thrips are present.

Features: Heat plate is automatically regulated to ideal vaporizing temperature (140° C); quality construction - aluminum body; safe (outside is not hot to the touch).

Tips on usage: When used indoors, make sure to turn off exhaust fans and lights during operation. For preventative use, turn on the unit for 4-5 hours 2 times per week. For active infestation, turn on the unit 4-5 hours 4 times per week. DO NOT use a sulfur burner around plants that have been sprayed with any type of oil-based products within the last 30 days or the plants will burn. BGH recommends using an Off-Switcher and a 7-Day Digital Timer in conjunction with the Sulfur Vaporizer and your exhaust fans; this will help automate the application and also prevent the fans from coming on during the vaporization period. Automating the application will greatly improve your results, since most people don't have the ability to babysit the system (remembering to plug and unplug the burner and fans, etc.). "[/FONT]

Some more info from a post on a thread somewhere:

[FONT=&quot]"Four hours is way too much. You're going to destroy the new growth on your plants. I turn the vaporizer on and let it warm up with the fans on, so essentially all the vapor is getting sucked out of the room - but so is the heat. When the sulpher is liquid I turn off all the fans for 15 minutes so that the sulpher can get to the leaves. Then I turn off the vaporizer and turn the fans back on.

I only had powdery mildew bad once. The sulpher contolled it and I now use it occasionally as a prophyllactic. When I had it bad, I cut off the affected leaves and the plants didn't seem to mind."[/FONT]


So.... Anyone have experience with these? How long do you run it for?

In the instructions that came with it, it said to use in a wet greenhouse. Does this mean I need to spray all the leaves down with water before use?

Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks.

I am also looking into using the sulfur to control powdery mildew! I heard you dont want to use them on A indoor grow op, I have A DIY unit that I had built and would like to use that instead of the seranade.... There are somany conflicting opinion's about the whole thing and I would like to try it for myself..

Give it A try GG and keep me informed!

Talked to a friend tonight who has been doing this a lot longer than me and who has been doing the sulfur thing for a while too. He says:

Hang about 2 feet above plants, fill cup halfway with sulfur, put cup adjuster on the furthest setting from the heating element. Word is this way the sulfur melts and vaporizes nicely without burning. Start about halfway through the dark cycle and let go for about 4 hours.

He says he does it as late as the 5th week of flowering with no ill effects to taste and says you can do it as late as the 7th if need be. I can personally say I have never tasted anything funny in his product, and I have sampled much of it.

Also, about the plants needing to be wet or have dew, this friend says that is not true. No need to spray down before hand or anything.

I am setup to try it out myself tomorrow while the girls sleep, will report back with any new thoughts after that.

One more thing I forgot to mention in the other post is this: if your aren't using sulfur, forget about serenade, milk is the way to go.

A mixture of milk and water is just as effective on powdery mildew as serenade. In fact, in my personal experience, milk works better. I also tried a serenade, milk, and water mixture but found it to be no more effective than milk and water alone.

It can be any kind of milk, but I have found low fat/skimmed to be preferable because it doesn't create nearly as bad a smell as the whole milk does.

The mixture needs to be at least 10% milk but cannot be more than 30% or you run the risk of fostering new milk loving fungus.

However, milk, like serenade, is still a pain to physically spray on everything and it still needs to be done about every 2 weeks to keep the problem under control. Vaping some sulfur just seems so much easier...

Really! Now I did try the milk thing and it didn't help 1 bit, and then I tried the baking soda and water and that helped but it also left some baking soda res on the leafs..... My buddy is going the sulfur route I just found out, and he has been using it for 6 months and it is working flawless. Now I just need to get mine going.

trouble9039 said:

Really! Now I did try the milk thing and it didn't help 1 bit, and then I tried the baking soda and water and that helped but it also left some baking soda res on the leafs.....

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Wow.. I wonder why we had such dramatically different results with milk?

Did the sulfur thing today and all went well. A few last important tidbits to add is this. First, I almost vaped without an exhaust vent then thought wiser of marking my house as the one that smells like sulfur in the neighborhood and picked up an organic air "the fresh maker". Just something to think about...

Last, and probably most helpful, is a rule from another friend of mine: It's the 1-2-3 rule.

Always wait at least 1 hour after your lights go off to make sure the stoma are closed so you don't hurt the girls.

Vape for at least 2 hours to be effective, and...

Exhaust for another 3 hours before the lights come back on to make sure no sulfur is left when the stoma open up.

It still looks like there is powdery everywhere, but presumably it's all dead. I will post here again if for some reason it is still alive. Other than that, I hope this brief thread helps some others with basic sulfur info.

trouble9039: glad to hear you are headed toward sulfur too. It really is simple and effective...

Glad to hear GG! Ya I am gonna get off my dead butt soon and set it up! My room has very high exhaust so no problems there with that issue! I was told to wait 3 hrs after the light go out to start it! I guess it really wouldn't matter between 1 and 3 as long as the lights are out.. Keep me posted GG if you don't mind!!

How is your exp. going GG? I am gonna get the sulfur this weekend and get it running..... Here is a question for you GG, how much sulfur and how much water in the can?

can you just sprinkle sulpher on your plants

hey guys, just a thought, ive never had to battle mildew but wouldnt a dehumidifer be easier and probably cheaper? if im wrong=my bad lol

intensive said:

hey guys, just a thought, ive never had to battle mildew but wouldnt a dehumidifer be easier and probably cheaper? if im wrong=my bad lol

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Sulfur vaporizer between $99.00 & $150.00 depending who you buy from

Dehumidifier upwards of $200.00 +! You do the math!

after doing a sulfur "burn off" with vaporizer. What do you look for to access the burn off? Will the powdery mildew disappear from leaves & buds after using the vaporizer? I guess I wanna know how to determine if "burn off" was a success or not?

Have P.M. infestation. will harvest in 5-10 days. has anyone used sulfur this late into flowering. I assume I would have to use it a few days to be effective. How long after final application should I wait to harvest.

Any updates on this thread? There is such a serious lack of information on sulfur burning and it would be nice to get your experiences... Thanks!

Dehumid will not take care of your prob...my room I have does not get over 30% and I its still there. It is in the plant like herpes and comes out at opportune moments. A multi level attack is the only way to combat once its set in. google diy sulfur burner, its super cheap...could do it for $30...I just bought a can-light and screwed a ceramic reptile heat element from a petstore and it works great, cost me $50 for everything and thats with a $30 heat element...it would work just as well with a 100-150w flood light but you would need to cover the light with foil to black it out or get a green light that gets hot enough to melt the sulfur.

The sulfur vap is your best route! Or the best is get rid of those that have it, then clean your room real good with a light bleach solution.

Ive been dealing with PM for too long now and have been looking into some sort of small sulfur burner.
the problem is, I grow indoor in a 3x2ft cabinet.
would a sulfur burner be practical?

Sulfer Burner works pretty good to help control PM and its organic, although it has the ability to effect the taste of your buds if done in flowering and if done too strong.

If you've been dealing with PM and want to insure that you get rid of it from the clone stage, i dunk all clones in Spectracide Immunox (Myclobutanil), and not only does it get rid of any PM, it CURES the PM systemically in the plant. Something Sulfur cannot do.

My advice is to use Immunox before flowering and you'll never see PM ever again. I've taken infected plants, and put them in a room with healthy girls after using Immunox and it never spreads, ever.

YES you can use a sulfur burner inside BUT it is not needed (imo) if your room is smaller then 10'x10'. I personally only use sulfur evaporators in outdoor garden / greenhouse. INSIDE i would recommend potassium bicarbonate. Mix 1 tbs (5ml) of potassium bicarbonate in 1/4 gallon (1 quart) of warm water and stir so it dissolves completely. Add mixture to 3/4 gallon (3 quarts) of cool water to bring temperature to room temp. Apply this in with a pump sprayer that mist or any spray bottle you can find. Potassium bicarbonate does a similar action to sulfur but instead of lowering ph of leaf surface it raises the ph to undesirable levels at which pm cannot survive. The absolute best thing for organic pm control is rotating between acid and base. Use potassium bicarbonate Then use a organic foliar spray like ancient amber from roots organics (its pretty acidic) 10ml per gallon.

I read somewhere that vaporizing sulfur releases SO3 gas, I know Im diving into some geeky stuff but I cant find the answer anywhere.... Anyone know what exactly is released from vaporizing it?