Here’s how you protect your marijuana grow room. © Copyright, Gary Anderson, 2016Marijuana growers hate spider mites, broad mites, thrips, aphids, whiteflies, scale, fungus gnats, gray mold, and other attackers that harm or kill marijuana plants.
We’re giving you information about protecting your marijuana grow room to block these attackers.
- In our previous article, we gave strategies for armoring grow rooms so attackers can’t get in.
I like to picture my marijuana grow room as similar to “clean rooms” where computer microchips are made.
Before entering, you might be required to shower with antimicrobial soap and put on a sterile suit and gloves.
Some clean rooms have an air lock that further isolates the clean room from the real world.
You can’t do all of this for a marijuana grow op, but if you’ve ever had mites, other insects, molds, or diseases ruin a crop of buds that would have sold for $10,000, you’ll do whatever you can to make sure it never happens again!
- Inspect anything that touches your plants’ roots.
Water quality is of utmost importance.
Most water carries organisms, elements, or compounds that aren’t good for your plants.
If you’re not certain your water supply is totally pure, use reverse osmosis, such as the Stealth RO system.
- Unless you’re using pure aeroponics or NFT with zero root-zone material, you have rockwool, clay pellets, perlite, peat soilless mix, soil mix, or some other material around your roots.
If you use any root zone media that has natural materials in it, examine the materials closely.
There are many reports of dangerous pests and pathogens in soil and other root zone materials purchased from retail stores.
And whether it’s pruners, pH meters, root-zone media, clones, pots, irrigation tubing or other things you bring into your grow room, your job is to inspect and sterilize—so none transfer pests, pathogens or toxins into your marijuana grow room.
- You can protect your roots while enhancing root growth and nutrient uptake.
This involves using liquid beneficial bacteria, fungi and enzymes in your root zone.
Beneficial fungi and bacteria armor your roots and assist their intake of moisture and nutrients.
They increase overall root mass and health.
Hydroponics enzymes decompose organic materials into forms that can be taken in as nutrients.
They cleanse the root zone, making it a less attractive place for pathogens.
I recommend the products Voodoo Juice, Tarantula, Piranha, and SensiZym.
They give you the total package of beneficial microbes and enzymes, and they’re the only products of their type designed for use in a marijuana grow room.
- Your cannabis plants can be harmed by chemicals in tubing, plastics and grow chamber materials.
Beginning about ten years ago, growers started noticing deformed leaves, slow growth and in some cases plant death in their hydroponics operations.
Researchers say irrigation tubing and grow chambers were off-gassing or otherwise transferring toxins into their grow environments and their plants.
The culprit appeared to be a toxin called diisobutyl phthalate (DIBP), along with related toxins that are often used in plastics, vinyl and similar materials.
These materials harm people and plants.
Whenever you’re purchasing a grow chamber, irrigation tubing or similar materials, ask the manufacturer about the presence and transferability of toxins in their products.
This article is part two of a series. Keep coming back to BigBudsMag.com so you find out more about protecting your marijuana grow room.
