broad mites and fabric pots

Does anyone have experience eradicating broad mites and using smart pots?

Could I crank up the thermostat on my water heater and wash them or would I need to buy new pots, I have a lot of pots and would like to keep them(approx 30-5ga,30-10gal,10-15gal)

Thanks any ideas,thoughts,or experience is appreciated.

Cook them in the room, above 120-130F for an hour if you can. Less of a hassle and not as rough on the material as a half dozen+ loads of laundry. Bonus, sanitizes the room.

Awesome idea, didn't think of that.
On another note do you think 6k watts with no ac in a 14x9 room will get me close to that 120f

Shouldn't be a problem, at worst throw a heater in.

Don't have any fans on either. warm air blowing is bad. Water with aspirin 325 mg per gallon. If all the pots are empty, you can launder them but they shrink

TheLearningOne said:

Does anyone have experience eradicating broad mites and using smart pots?

Could I crank up the thermostat on my water heater and wash them or would I need to buy new pots, I have a lot of pots and would like to keep them(approx 30-5ga,30-10gal,10-15gal)

Thanks any ideas,thoughts,or experience is appreciated.

Click to expand...

Running Smart Pots thru washer/dryer is not a good idea and not necessary. The machine washing/drying process degrades/destroys the integrity of the fabric to the extent that the whole idea of the Smart Pot is the root tip "pruning" is no longer possible. Using hot water would simple increase pot damage as it "relaxes" the fabric even more so...

The fabric loosens up to a point where the roots can now grow thru the fabric, thereby rendering the whole Smart Pot theory non-existent. Not to mention the fabric can act like a filter as it will trap minute amounts of whatever detergent you may use and each time you water the pot, it will release more detergent particles.

Sugg-

Rinse out the used pot with a garden hose (outdoors). If you attempt rinsing the pot, even the smaller ones, in your sink, youll just end up plugging the sink drain.

I have had runs where the plants got mites. I remove the soil, rinse the pot and then spray/saturate the entire pot fabric, inside and out with a mix of either Azatrol,or Azamax. (My personal choices). There are a bazillion others along with home remedies but whatever you choose, make sure it has the capability to kill the eggs first. Otherwise, within days, youll be right back where you were. Fill pots with new soil.

If youre sure its Broadmites, I find a sulphur mix is best. Spray the plant initially every 3 days, allowing the mix to drip from the plant, down into the soil/pot. Spray leaf-undersides esp. Caution- seedlings dont do well with the sulphur spray in that it leaves a residue on the leaves they cant handle at such an early stage. Juvenile and adult plants - no problem. I even periodically water the plant(s) with an Azatrol/water mix, right into the soil. (tablespoon per gallon water)

Just a heads-up. People will say - Oh no, not pesticdes, miticides etc. Some will suggest everything from lady bugs to other bugs to eat your bugs and on down to grandmas home recipe. Your call, to each is own. Using the Azatrol, Azamax and other pest controls like it, during veg, will not kill you, the planet or grandma...cc

hmm I've always washed my smart pots in a front loading washing machine with no detergent and with the settings as hot as the machine allows (mine even has a steaming sanitizing option that I use) anyway I don't notice any negative effects on the fabric. definitely dont dry them though

First off, neem and neem based pesticides will not, I REPEAT, WILL NOT kill your broad mites. To totally kill them, which in some circumstances can be in possible, you'll need to use either the gnarly pesticides like avid, shuttle-o, forbid. Or you'll need to use a combo of a few things. (Note: Floramite will not work on broad, cyclamen, or hemp russet mites.) Never heard of sulphur being used to kill them, and it's not recognized as an option for integrated pest management of broad mites for commercial operations, as far as I've read. I am in the process of eradication of these at the moment. I use MET 52 EC along with Swirskii Mites (everwood farms) and this combo has kept them completely under control, with no ill effects on my harvests.

Now, on to sterilizing those pots. CanniDO Cowboy is right, you'll lose the integrity of the smart pot by putting them through the wash. However, it is an easy way to sterilize them, and the minimal integrity loss is irrelevant for some people. I've put mine through a wash dry cycle at the local laundry mat, easy peasy. They did shrink by a small fraction, but I knew that there were no more broad mites on them.

CanniDo Cowboy pointed out that your roots can grow through the pot, causing the air pruning to stop working, I find this statement to be semi-true. Yes, you'll have roots growing through the bottoms and lower sides of the pot, if and only if the conditions are right (developed canopy, source of water for the roots to go and get, etc). For me, this happens every run now and I welcome it with a smile. I run organically amended coco and organic nutes so the runoff is never a high ppm. The ladies just drink the runoff up out of the channels of the 4x4 tray (no waste). I also recycle my coco, which means going through each pot and breaking the roots up, and every single pot came out in one piece, such a pain in the ass to break up all those roots. The reason I mention this is because, while laboring to recover my coco, I get to see the rootballs, and let me tell you, if washing them causes the air pruning to become ineffective I cannot notice a loss in root mass.

Another option to clean your pots is to use bleach. Yes, people will probably say bleach is bad for your plants, and it will remain in the pot slowly killing your plant. I agree, never use bleach on your plants, it will fucking kill them, along with your dog, or Billy down the street, or say broad mites. The reason this happens is because when bleach contacts the surface of anything it immediately begins to oxidize the surface, breaking oxygen molecules off from carbons and hydrogens. For humans, bleach causes a minor burning sensation when it touches the skin, thats the oxidation happening. This is a good thing for us, bad for the mites. Fill up your empty res, or whatever large container you have, with a solution of 10:1 water to bleach. Also fill up a pre-wash bucket, maybe even 2 if your pots are filthy. You'll want to put as clean of a pot as possible into the bleach water, as the bleach will have less sterilizing work to do if there is less organic matter. Dunk your pots in the bleach, swish them around, and let them rest before taking out. After you bring them out, put them on the floor to dry. As they dry, the bleach will continue to oxidize and eventually will completely evaporate away. Note: Only do where you have adequate ventilation, also do not use bleach for laundry, use household bleach without the added detergents in it.


My suggestion for you Calyxxx, is to do some research on integrated pest management for broad mites, specifically look into Swirskii mites as a predatory mite. There are industry standards for a reason. MET 52 EC is about 175 for a litre of it, and although it doesn't say broad mite on the back (only says mites), this shit works, scouts honor. As for cleaning your pots, there are a lot of good options to choose from.

Peace! Happy smoking!

Like Don posted...
Clorox bleach in the water and let it soak overnight. Killing Broad Mites on non-living items is not really difficult. You can use way higher concentrations.

Treat all your cutting when you get them just like professional greenhouses do. !0% solution of 6% bleach and soak for 20 minutes.is a good practice when accepting new cuts or plants.