UV-C lamps to combat the borg?

[BreezeEazy]

Nothing came up when I searched so maybe this thread can be the start. Some how, some way, I just noticed the borg. I am 4 days from harvest and I'm mad. Trying to figure out how this could be, I've come to the conclusion the borg is like genital warts. Lots of stupid ways you can get 'em so now I'm for way to get rid of them in the future without using chemical sprayers, organic or not.

Plan 1)

I've always wanted UV lights to help keep my grow clean and to increase potency. Turns out UV-B does both. But completely clueless how to use it to get the best of benefits. I've thought of light movers to get one or two of these 'scanning' the grow and also about placing them in a fixed position over the plants.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19508803

http://www.420magazine.com/forums/b...boration-phytochemical-process-makes-thc.html

Plan 2)

I know UV-C can be damaging to both humans and plants, while UV-B might be less or null, but they are popular for sterilization. Potentially more damaging than UV-B to the borg and mold? Saw a portable hand-held unit that one could use on an effected area or possibly clones (that are received from other growers). These units are expensive no doubt. A possible 'snake oil' for $350, but if I can use it on a gifted clone to make sure I'm not bringing in mites or to use on an infected area, that could be worth every single penny.

Any comments or ideas?

 

[messn'n'gommin']

TBH...I would imagine that it would kill them, but, I have no idea whether or not it works. Even then, I would think it damages the plant, too!

 

[exploziv]

Do a search on ebay for uvc lamp/bulbs and you'll find better prices. here i could do it all for about 30 usd by buying an water filter adapter with uvc bulb and just use the bulb.
I'm sure there are better options, even ready made, for you too.

And be careful when operating that. It may fuck up your growroom too, especially plastic parts if they are not made from quality uv-protected plastics. and painted objects will have ambering colour..

Another option: You could gase them with 10% CO2 for a couple of hours. (please note that % will kill humans too) And you need to have or make a 'sealed' space to deploy it. Also you need to repeat after a number of days because CO2 will only kill adult insects, and not their eggs.

 

[Only Ornamental]

Hi there,

UV light tubes (principally a fluorescent light tube without the fluorescent coating) are commonly used in laminar flows and alike. Unfiltered ones give of UVA, -B, and -C. UVC doesn't do much good in most settings as its penetration is very low (about 30 cm in air). All UVs at a given amount and duration are damaging and dangerous to any sort of living organism!
Very close exposure for a few seconds to a UVC tube is likely to give you skin cancer in a dozen years or two. Be careful, UVC cancer would be 'on the skin' (epidermis) whereas cancer caused by UVB lies deeper (dermis) and hence is more problematic (may take 5-10 minutes of 'treatment distance' exposure to initiate but 20 to 40 years to grow).
For UVA/-B a distance of 30 to 50 cm for common tubes is often used during 20 to 30 minutes. Nearly everything living will die except in shaded positions! That means, UV is only good for smooth, clean surfaces like iron or glass but doesn't do much good on wood (except bleaching).

From what I've seen of non-laboratory UV disinfectants (apart from LED based water treatment stuff): they strongly resemble homoeopatic medicine .

You want a clean room without toxic residues? Use 10-30% hydrogen peroxide. It'll bleach certain surfaces (skin included), vapours are not healthy at all for your lungs and eyes but apart from that kills most everything (if you don't ventilate or evacuate, you may be included) and rapidly degrades to water and oxygen.
Like CO2, it is colour-, taste- and odourless but starts itching and scratching in your lungs way before it kills! I wouldn't trust 10% CO2 in my house...

 

[BreezeEazy]

Thanks guys. Yeah, the UV-C would work the best but can damage the plants as well. The UV-B would need longer exposure but it is safer. Since UV-B will also help with mold and mildew if that would ever be a problem since I grow in a dry basement.

The way I look at it is my house is fukked now forever. My house has genital warts lol. Spider mites will always be a concern now so I'm going to start setting up UV-B lamps. I found some 12% UV-B dessert lamps and ballast 48" long, each ballast holds 2 lamps. I'm going to buy 4 units and hang them up in my grow room to run the length of my set up. My setup runs about 10' so I'm hoping a 8' of light will cover the area pretty good, both sides of the plants. I also plan to lollipop my plants every time now which will also help since they like the lower leaves for protection. My hopes is this will at least deter them from wanting to start a home. If they do I'll grab one of the lights and fix it on the location for a targeted dose of UV-B that should zap them good, same with mold or mildew. These things will be my body guards lol. Thankfully the UV light increases THC production in the resin heads and will make for better buds so it wont be a complete waste if it doesn't work for mites. Study swears it will though. Guess we'll see what happens in the future and I'll report back. The chances of them coming back are high since my house has already had them so we'll see.

 

[Only Ornamental]

...I found some 12% UV-B dessert lamps and ballast 48" long, each ballast holds 2 lamps... If they do I'll grab one of the lights and fix it on the location for a targeted dose of UV-B that should zap them good, same with mold or mildew. These things will be my body guards lol. Thankfully the UV light increases THC production in the resin heads and will make for better buds so it wont be a complete waste if it doesn't work for mites. Study swears it will though. Guess we'll see what happens in the future and I'll report back. The chances of them coming back are high since my house has already had them so we'll see.

UV desert bulb? You mean one used in terraristics, right? They don't produce 12% UV, it's just marketing (as soon as it's for living organisms, they won't be dangerous apart from keratitis in small geckos and alike). Especially the energy saving lamps don't even produce enough for desert animals to prevent rachitis. With HID/CMH etc. you may get damaging amounts of short-wavelength UVA but too close to the blub (you'd first burn everything before you kill it with UV). Additionally, the focus point (where you have most of the UV) is usually very narrow and does not overlap precisely with the one for the visible light.
They may very well be advantageous for your plants (the UVA in them) and increas resin production but in terms of sanitising, just forget it!
You can trust me, I did thorough research on that topic for my bearded dragons .

 

[messn'n'gommin']

I won't tell you not to, but I will tell you, if it were me, I would find an alternative! That stuff can be pretty nasty! Besides, if you're that sure about spider mites in your house, you might want to find another place to grow. TBH...I've never had them (Knock wood!), but every single post I've ever seen about what they can do to even one plant, had nothing good to say about them!

 

[Only Ornamental]

What about a physical or chemical barrier around the grow room/tent?
Not sure if physical works (like a trace of vaseline or teflon spray against cockroaches, ants etc.), as the mites are so small that some are even able to walk over adhesive tape .
Chemical would be a trace of insecticide (for example these tape strips) around the tent. Spider mites don't fly but crawl through the smallest cracks and holes and up to two storeys high. I know that it's feasible with blood mites (similar suckers but on snakes)...
First of all, one needs to get the room clean (mite free). Could also be done by heating (was it 45°C?) the whole room for a few hours (done also with bed bugs); starving them to death (they need plants to feed on); or 'smoking the room out' with a 'mild' acaricide (one with a short half-life to prevent health issues when used indoors -> be aware that many of these kill cats very efficiently).
If you had them once, likely you get them again but not because they persist in your house (except if you have a lot of houseplants) but because they live somewhere close (e.g. garden); it's like with cockroaches and silverfish coming more often than not from the messy neighbours appartment or the surroundings than your own +/- neat home.
Years back we had spider mites first on all second floor balcony plants and then our orchids in the sitting room. After dozen dead plants and in utter despair, I finally used a bunch of insecticides but the lil f*ckers just came back and eventually got resistent against the sprays. It takes about 40 generations or, in case of mites, 1-2 years when insecticides are inappropriately used (what I, against better knowledge, did cause I don't like pesticides). And then I found their way up to the balcony . Just a fine trace of long-acting stuff on the pass up turned it into their personal highway to hell and the matter was settled for good .
But as said, it took me three long years to find the loophole.

 

[messn'n'gommin']

Don't mean to sound like I'm blowing you off, but you might want to start a thread in the Infirmary. You might get an answer to the problem, here, but you would definitely get more responses, there. As I said, I've never had them and those who would know even the least, would still be better than anything from me! Good luck and I hope you find a solution!

 

[justanotherbozo]

...yeah, spider mites can be a pain, but if you stay vigilant and you spot them early they are no big whoop, what you need to do is to educate yourself on the life cycle of the mite so you can plan your attack.

...also, if your only 4 days from chop there is not only little you can do but with only 4 days left there is little damage they can do so i'd not be too worried at this point.

...a couple of things worth noting is first common soap works as an acid on mite shells so in veg you can spray, second, HotShot NoPest Strips will work if you use them correctly.

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?threadid=122627Caution when using "Hot Shot No-Pest Strips."

...this would probably be your best option at this point.

peace, bozo

 

[budleydoright]

I tried all the toxic stuff and found neem oil applied at the proper intervals to be the most effective at complete eradication. Unfortunately, I tried all the big guns first.

 

[BreezeEazy]

UV desert bulb? You mean one used in terraristics, right? They don't produce 12% UV, it's just marketing (as soon as it's for living organisms, they won't be dangerous apart from keratitis in small geckos and alike). Especially the energy saving lamps don't even produce enough for desert animals to prevent rachitis. With HID/CMH etc. you may get damaging amounts of short-wavelength UVA but too close to the blub (you'd first burn everything before you kill it with UV). Additionally, the focus point (where you have most of the UV) is usually very narrow and does not overlap precisely with the one for the visible light.
They may very well be advantageous for your plants (the UVA in them) and increas resin production but in terms of sanitising, just forget it!
You can trust me, I did thorough research on that topic for my bearded dragons .

http://www.lightyourreptiles.com/48hot5dobufi3.html

^Those have gotten good reviews. One guy recommended them specifically and he had a UV digi meter to test lights.

http://www.tanninglamps4less.com/grow.html

^other option, sunhorse light kit. Significantly shorter, more lights but also should work.

I'm more into the arcadia ones since I saw a picture with a guy using them and testing them with a digi meter. Plus they are longer, perfect for my next setup and I can also get a reflector.

 

[BreezeEazy]

By the way, harvest went great! No idea on total weight yet but the bud smoke is killer. I smoked a bud that was dry enough and the taste and smoothness is great. Can't wait for it to be finished. Can't wait to try these new lights out. I had one plant that was all cola. Seriously, I think the main cola is 2-3oz with some side nugs that could be an 8th. I need to get my clone game on, would have loved to clone that beast. Going to try and get a picture later today.

 

[Ready4]

I know you don't want to use any sprays but .....
I understand the frustration of the borg, had a very tough time eliminating them.
I used Mighty Wash. It worked and it worked great. You have to be diligent and spray more than once. Mighty Wash is a contact killer, you have to spray plant form top to bottom, underneath every leaf and stem.
I watched it succeed where many others failed.
Mite free for over 1 1/2 years, hope to never see those evil critters again ! Wish you the best of luck in eliminating them.

 

[Only Ornamental]

http://www.lightyourreptiles.com/48hot5dobufi3.html

^Those have gotten good reviews. One guy recommended them specifically and he had a UV digi meter to test lights.

http://www.tanninglamps4less.com/grow.html

^other option, sunhorse light kit. Significantly shorter, more lights but also should work.

I'm more into the arcadia ones since I saw a picture with a guy using them and testing them with a digi meter. Plus they are longer, perfect for my next setup and I can also get a reflector.

Darn, just deletet my whole post *grmbl*!
So again, I don't know exactly what to say...
You shouldn't believe too much in those % values cause with 12% UVB and 30% UVA there won't be much visible light left BUT there are really some products with a considerable amount of UV (like Arkadia but not Exo Terra). Some manufacturers calculate the used energy for the % and don't state the emitted % but that's maybe already nitpicking with regard to what you want.
You should really check THIS site out, likely the best page about UV lights ever! Unfortunately, the 'survey' is temporarily down due to an update... (Do you understand German? I happen to have two other good supplementary sites for you regarding terraria UV lights.)
But long story short, terraria lights don't give off DNA damaging wavelengths (so not helpful against bugs/mould etc.) but more or less what's used for vitamin D synthesis and mainly longer wavelengths like UVA. Plants use and respond to long wavelength UVA (and most animals also see it) and there you are fine also with 'bad' products (from a terrarophile point of view) as that part of the spectrum is easy to obtain.
Now, your harvest will profit from a nice UV spectrum. Seems like cannabis produces more resin under UV (from what I can tell, but I can be wrong, it's mainly UVA). You could as well put your plants outside for an hour or two over noon cause the amount of UV the sun gives off even with a not perfectly blue sky in winter is more than most bulbs could ever manage (obviously, I'm not talking about the North Pole but for example Central Europe).
Also, short wavelength UVB damages not only DNA but also secondary metabolites and causes for example polyphenols to polymeris. Therefore, using high intensity UV light (and I mean 'real' UV light, not fluorescent tubes) on living plants should be done for just a few minutes and towards the end of their life (due to DNA damages); a friend of mine found an altered secondary metabolite profil already after 1-2 days post UV treatment also in cannabis (but didn't look at cannabinoids). I guess he used those tubes used for TLC plate visualisation at 254 nm (clear tubes, 'full' UV spectrum) or less likely at 366 nm ('black light')...

Again concerning pest control;, you won't profit from UV tubes even if it's the stronger tanning version cause those have a good UVB/C cut-off and give off mostly long wavelength UVA to forestall any sort of problems (e.g. skin cancer, althoug solarium addicts still get it).

Lastly, the use of professional sterilisation lights is dangerous and can usually not be adapted to DIY whatsoever and the users only imagine themselfs to be safe... UVA/B properly used is a powerful weapon but usually you can't use it properly (and then again, it is f*cking dangerous if you don't protect yourself sufficiently when handling this sort of equipment).
PLEASE forget UV tubes!! Buy yourself a 'common UV tube/HID' to make your plants feel better and get something else for the pest control!!!