Treating Coco for possible bugs before use

[Elements001]

I'm starting to think the bugs I have came from the Botanicare Coco I got at the hydro shop. I was just wondering what the best way to treat it before use was.

I figured I would soak it in hot water for about 5-10 minutes, then let it drain off and store it until I need it. Only thing is it'd be pretty saturated, and I'm not sure how to get that water out to store the coco while I use it. I suppose I could try to plan it where I used to whole bag at once, or maybe keep the coco in a separate place far form the grow until treated. (Thought it would be nice to have it clean and ready.)

You think hot tap water (about 120-140F) is enough to kill off any kind of gnat/broad mite?

I'm not sure it came from the coco, but I'm trying to do any and everything I can to stop any bugs from getting in. About to break everything down and start over.

 

[Shoots]

I am really new to coco and i used botanicare ready gro moisture.

Did not see any bugs but I went ahead and treated the transplant water with a mosquito dunk in the water and bubbled for 24 hours. this will take care of gnat larvae. and yellow stickies will get the flyers. gnats should be easy peezy to take care of the broad mites or root aphids thats a whole other ball game.

What kind of coco is it from botanicare is it the cocogro or ready gro?

 

[Elements001]

It's their "Slacker" moisture formula (there's also an aeration one). It's supposed to be a hybrid medium I think, but I consider it much more coco like.

It seems like I've always had the gnats and they aint bad at all. Been using the Dunks and sticky paper to control em. I went into the hydro shop one day though and the guy kinda scared the crap outta me, saying BM can get in on gnats. I havnt seen a confirmed BM yet, but my plants keep having weird shit happen that looks like deficiencies/burn and I cant figure out wtf is causing it. Random pistils turning brown early, and some even falling off laying on a leaf next to the bud looking like they were chomped right off. I have seen what looked like a predator mite though, just can't see what he was going for.

Since I can't find and BM or aphids I'm just finishing what I have, then starting over fresh with some improvements that'll hopefully keep everything out.

 

[medicalmj]

It's their "Slacker" moisture formula (there's also an aeration one). It's supposed to be a hybrid medium I think, but I consider it much more coco like.

It seems like I've always had the gnats and they aint bad at all. Been using the Dunks and sticky paper to control em. I went into the hydro shop one day though and the guy kinda scared the crap outta me, saying BM can get in on gnats. I havnt seen a confirmed BM yet, but my plants keep having weird shit happen that looks like deficiencies/burn and I cant figure out wtf is causing it. Random pistils turning brown early, and some even falling off laying on a leaf next to the bud looking like they were chomped right off. I have seen what looked like a predator mite though, just can't see what he was going for.

Since I can't find and BM or aphids I'm just finishing what I have, then starting over fresh with some improvements that'll hopefully keep everything out.

I posted on your other thread "what bug is this" and didn't read that you had FGs. Putting 2 and 2 together I am pretty confident I know what's going on. First of all I opened a bag of coco not long ago and examined samples under my 40x stereoscope and found Springtails.

So yeah they have bugs in them. The easiest method to kill everything is solarization. Put the bag of coco (unopened) inside a black trash bag and put it in direct sunlight for a couple days (flip it over for day 2). Otherwise the oven or microwave depending on quantity. The least desirable is the boiling water method. It will kill your bugs but I just seem to make a fucking huge mess.

To address the issue at hand though, FG's eat roots that then decay. Mites are attracted to the decaying matter (they want the dead rotting stuff created by the FGs). Mites are also phoretic. Phoresy is the act of hitching a ride on other things to get from food source to food source. There are some cool pics out there of mites clinging to the legs of FGs. The real problem comes about when decay leads to microbial infection. Then the FGs help spread the disease and the mites eat it up. Everyone's happy but you and your girl.

 

[Elements001]

Nice, thanks for the info man. I'll definitely do the sun thing once the weather gets a little better here. I was thinking I would maybe buy my coco and keep it in a sealed trash can somewhere far from the grow. Then when I need, get a pot ready with however much coco, then drench with hot tap water for about 5-10 minutes. Should also flush anything out of the coco that might be in there.

Maybe I'll get a bucket bigger than the pot and after the tap water heats up the coco initially, put it in there so it can soak. Then hopefully I can just lift em out, let em drain and be good to go.

 

[Dropped Cat]

Good thread.

I have had the root aphids in my coco grows. I grow micro
so the infestation really set my perpetual back by weeks.

I almost ran out of smoke, I got passed it and even saved
all my genetics.

I boil my coco the same day I pot up, because I once let
the boiled coco air dry and possibly re-infested that batch.

I use a rice cooker to get the coco boiled, strain and cool
in the fridge.

Been using this method for almost 5 months, no bugs.
Totally worth the trouble, in my opinion.

I would imagine a larger grow could use a couple 5 gallon
cookers instead of the little 2 quart one I use.

 

[Garyoutlaw]

I always put my new bags of coco straight from the grow shop in the deep freezer for a few days then give it the Black bag treatment to thaw before even going into my garden.
Killing bugs before they get indoors has been a huge benefit to me.

 

[Folate]

Karanja or Neem meal might be a solution. I amend my coco with 1tlbs/gallon Karanja meal. It works in the medium as well as systemically in the plant/root zone. A suggestion off the beaten path, but worth considering. There is a poster here Ozzie-something that has a thread or two on the topic of neem meal being a systemic/ overall benefits resulting from.
Folate

 

[shroomyshroom]

just boil it with water............... nothing is gonna survive a 30 min boil trust me....

 

[Critter]

Bingo...bugs coming in the coco. I boil water put unhydrated coco in a five gal bucket in tub poor almost roiling boing water in let sit at least an hour stirring alittle insulate and/or top to use the stem as well to kill any thing crawling up side. Rinse coco repeat with new untreated...gets old but does the trick for me....so far knock on wood

 

[Coconutz]

Buy a brick
Hydrate with sm90
Peace

 

[Elements001]

Right on guys, thank you so much for all the different ideas. I'll probably do a combo of storing cold in a freezer or something, then black bagging it in the sun, then treating with some boiling water.

I'll be done with this round in about a month or so, then hopefully I'll be able to clean and disinfect everything and start over legitimately clean.

By winter I should have a pretty damn clean grow as long as I dont get lazy (I dont see that happening again, bugs are a pain in the ass..).

 

[ozzieAI]

There is a poster here Ozzie-something that has a thread or two on the topic of neem meal being a systemic/ overall benefits resulting from.

neem cake as a preventative and/or neem oil as a drench during the grow and dealing with pests directly...

 

[120Octane]

You can pasturize coir to kill bugs in it before use. 2 ways can do it either put it in the oven in a safe container and put temp on 160 degrees and wait 30 minutes, stick in meat thermometer and check temp in center of the pile needs to be atleast 140 in the center. Once it is at temp let it go for 4 hours. yes hydrate the coir first just get it wet squeeze till just a drop of water comes out of it when its squeezed.

Another way is to us a cooler and hot water you are doing the same thing but takes longer to do it with cooler since can keep temp constant.

Gnat issues go to any place that has water fountian supplys big box stores ect or a nuresurey, get a package of mosquito dunks and put 1/4 of one in you water the nite before and water with it, yes you can use it with nutes and not hurt the PPM or PH.
The dunks have a bactillus strain( bacteria) that will kill the gnats, its essiantly coats thier stomach and intestines and they starve to death, yes takes couple days to work but within a week it will take care of them.

 

[120Octane]

man sorry cant edit posts for some reason the cooler takes longer because you CANNOT maintain water temp as easy

 

[Elements001]

I got the gnats pretty much under control with some mosquito dunks, and I bought a chest freezer a couple weeks ago for making bubble hash.

I bought some more coco today and threw it in there. I suppose I'll leave it in there for a few days to make sure it fully freezes, (on lowest setting, I dont believe it's a "deep freeze") then put it out in the sun for a few more days in the black bags.

I was considering possibly putting the coco into some of those orange 5 gallon buckets from home depot, then sealing them with lids to make sure bugs dont somehow bite through the plastic or anything like that.

Does that seem a bit unnecessary, or not as beneficial as the black bags in any way(i know black traps a lot more heat, and quicker)?

I should probably use neem just in case, but I wanted to see how this went first.

 

[stoned40yrs]

Waste of time trying to freeze bugs Especially their eggs.

The short lifecycle of fungus gnats make it difficult to control them once their populations are large, since new larvae seem to be constantly emerging. Gardeners may reason that freezing the infested soil is the only way to end their torment at the hand of these bugs, but it could take a lot of ice cubes to kill fungus gnats. An Alaskan researcher discovered that the fungus gnat Exechia nugatoria is easily revived when frozen to minus 25 degrees Fahrenheit, and some members of the species may even come back when frozen to temperatures approaching minus 60 degrees.

 

[Elements001]

Little bastards. Interesting, thank you for the information. I figure it wont hurt, and I have the freezer sitting empty anyway. There could be who knows what other bugs in it, so I'll freeze for a week, then place contained & sealed in the hot sun. When I need some I will put the desired amount in a 5 gallon bucket and submerge with boiling water. I will be using mosquito dunks indefinitely as well, they really work well.

 

[Elements001]

Hah, this was the first thing that popped up on google. Copy and paste eh? lol

 

[Shoots]

Haha!