dray86man
Active Member
Been doing a lot reading in this Bugs subforum on spider mites; thanks to everyone who's posted a lot of good information.
I keep coming back to threads that just rave about the Hot Shot No Pest Strips, and wanted to add a bit about how they work and how many to use.
HOW MANY PEST STRIPS SHOULD I USE ?
I kept my mother plants in a grow closet overnight this summer when they weren't out on the deck in full sun. The were placed in this 200 cubic foot closet that contained TWO pest strips (shown here w/ only one of the plants):
The HotShot Pest Strip packaging states the product is effective in 900-1200 cubic foot. Assuming 1000 cubic feet as a recommended volume since it's a nice round number, two HotShots in my 200 cubic foot closet is TEN TIMES the recommended dosage.
1000/200 = 5 times a concentrated for one strip.
Wow. That's really gassing the shit out of the plants. Little wonder I never saw a mite.
THEN, I moved the three mother plants into my main grow room that contained only two HotShots:
Within a week, a sharp-eyed neighbor spotted....SPIDER MITES on one of the plants. If one plant is infected, what do you think the chances are that all three are infected? Pretty substantial.
Hmmmmm....how big is the grow room? It's about 800 cubic feet, and only contained two HotShots, so I did a bit of an experiment.
I brought the visibly infected plant back up to the grow closet and, treated once w/ Aza Max, and let it sit in there for a week, w/ 18 hours of light and full ventilation. For 6 hours a day, the lights & ventilation would shut off, leaving the plant to get the shit gassed out of it, which is illustrated in the first pic in this post.
The main grow room plants? I did nothing but place four, FRESH new Hot Shots in the room, and stuffed two old ones into the room's supply air duct. We know that for every 200 cubic feet of space, one Hot Shot strip provides FIVE times the recommended dose, so the four fresh HotShots provided five times the recommended doseage during the six hours of no lights/no ventilation, and a bit less during lights and ventilation due to the air exhaust.
Results? Both the main grow room plants and the grow closet plants are completely mite free.
TO SUMMARIZE
1. Hot Shot No Pest Strips are an effective spider mite control if used correctly.
2. Using one strip per 200 cubic feet of grow space seems to provides good overall mite control. Infected plants can be treated w/ an appropriate spray and then isolated in a smaller space that contains two strips per 200 cubic feet of grow space.
3. The active ingredient in Hot Shot No Pest Strips is Dichlorovos, an organophosphate insecticide. The strips work by evaporating/off gassing the Dichlorovos into the room air. Rate of of gassing is dependent upon temperature, humidity, and air movement. These strips are designed for use in ENCLOSED spaces such as closets, garages, attics, etc., so a ventilated room (like our grow rooms) will cause the Dichlorovos to evaporate more quickly. Instructions state user should change every four months, or when effectiveness wanes. I'm changing mine very 8 weeks.
3. Toxicity: Dichlorovos is absorbed through inhalation, ingestion, and skin absorption. Wash hands thoroughly after handling. Packaging recommends spending NO MORE than four hours per day in a room being treated w/ Hot Shots No Pest Strips, however we are using them at higher concentrations, so here's the recommendation:
IF USING ONE STRIP PER 200 CUBIC FEET: Limit time in unventilated grow room to 45 MINUTES.
IF USING TWO STRIPS PER 200 CUBIC FEET: The exposure time is halved to about 20 MINUTES.
(Just don't hang out in the grow room doing bong hits and admiring your buds. Get the work done and get out.)
Overexposure symptoms are weakness, headache, tightness in chest, blurred vision, salivation, sweating, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and abdominal cramps
More on Dichlorovos:
http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/healthguidelines/dichlorvos/recognition.html
I keep coming back to threads that just rave about the Hot Shot No Pest Strips, and wanted to add a bit about how they work and how many to use.
HOW MANY PEST STRIPS SHOULD I USE ?
I kept my mother plants in a grow closet overnight this summer when they weren't out on the deck in full sun. The were placed in this 200 cubic foot closet that contained TWO pest strips (shown here w/ only one of the plants):
The HotShot Pest Strip packaging states the product is effective in 900-1200 cubic foot. Assuming 1000 cubic feet as a recommended volume since it's a nice round number, two HotShots in my 200 cubic foot closet is TEN TIMES the recommended dosage.
1000/200 = 5 times a concentrated for one strip.
Wow. That's really gassing the shit out of the plants. Little wonder I never saw a mite.
THEN, I moved the three mother plants into my main grow room that contained only two HotShots:
Within a week, a sharp-eyed neighbor spotted....SPIDER MITES on one of the plants. If one plant is infected, what do you think the chances are that all three are infected? Pretty substantial.
Hmmmmm....how big is the grow room? It's about 800 cubic feet, and only contained two HotShots, so I did a bit of an experiment.
I brought the visibly infected plant back up to the grow closet and, treated once w/ Aza Max, and let it sit in there for a week, w/ 18 hours of light and full ventilation. For 6 hours a day, the lights & ventilation would shut off, leaving the plant to get the shit gassed out of it, which is illustrated in the first pic in this post.
The main grow room plants? I did nothing but place four, FRESH new Hot Shots in the room, and stuffed two old ones into the room's supply air duct. We know that for every 200 cubic feet of space, one Hot Shot strip provides FIVE times the recommended dose, so the four fresh HotShots provided five times the recommended doseage during the six hours of no lights/no ventilation, and a bit less during lights and ventilation due to the air exhaust.
Results? Both the main grow room plants and the grow closet plants are completely mite free.
TO SUMMARIZE
1. Hot Shot No Pest Strips are an effective spider mite control if used correctly.
2. Using one strip per 200 cubic feet of grow space seems to provides good overall mite control. Infected plants can be treated w/ an appropriate spray and then isolated in a smaller space that contains two strips per 200 cubic feet of grow space.
3. The active ingredient in Hot Shot No Pest Strips is Dichlorovos, an organophosphate insecticide. The strips work by evaporating/off gassing the Dichlorovos into the room air. Rate of of gassing is dependent upon temperature, humidity, and air movement. These strips are designed for use in ENCLOSED spaces such as closets, garages, attics, etc., so a ventilated room (like our grow rooms) will cause the Dichlorovos to evaporate more quickly. Instructions state user should change every four months, or when effectiveness wanes. I'm changing mine very 8 weeks.
3. Toxicity: Dichlorovos is absorbed through inhalation, ingestion, and skin absorption. Wash hands thoroughly after handling. Packaging recommends spending NO MORE than four hours per day in a room being treated w/ Hot Shots No Pest Strips, however we are using them at higher concentrations, so here's the recommendation:
IF USING ONE STRIP PER 200 CUBIC FEET: Limit time in unventilated grow room to 45 MINUTES.
IF USING TWO STRIPS PER 200 CUBIC FEET: The exposure time is halved to about 20 MINUTES.
(Just don't hang out in the grow room doing bong hits and admiring your buds. Get the work done and get out.)
Overexposure symptoms are weakness, headache, tightness in chest, blurred vision, salivation, sweating, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and abdominal cramps
More on Dichlorovos:
http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/healthguidelines/dichlorvos/recognition.html
