Oxygen depletion for spider mites?

[gunnaknow]

Hi guys, I was wondering whether spider mites could be controled by sealing one to a few plants in a large plastic bag, with a small candle inside. In theory, so long as the bag or sheeting was properly sealed, the flame of the candle would burn up the available oxygen and the spider mites would suffocate.

How long spider mites can live without oxygen is hard to say but I would have thought that it would be no more than a few minutes. Mammals can only live without oxygen for a few minutes, unless they deliberately store an excess in their blood and lungs, as whales do. How quickly mites would die would depend on their metabolic rate. I think mammals have higher metabolic rates than invertebrates, size for size but smaller creatures tend to have higher metabolic rates in general.

One concern regarding this method is that a flame may not remove all of the oxygen because it may go out once the oxygen levels become too low to support combustion. Perhaps the remaining quantum of oxygen would be enough to continue supporting life. However, even if this were the case, the dramatically increased levels of CO2 and especially carbon monoxide from the combustion should kill the mites after several minutes. The benefit of using this method, if it works is that you could use it all the way through flowering without fear of tainting buds with pesticides or at the risk of causing bud rot. I would like to hear people's thoughts on the possibilty of using this method.

Gunna

 

[Whatever]

Just flush the bag with CO2...much safer and easier with no heat buildup. The mites will die before the plants will but doubt this type of treatment will kill any eggs.

 

[zachrockbadenof]

u need to know only one word... "FLORAMITE"

 

[Whatever]

u need to know only one word... "FLORAMITE"

Sure thing...if you want to use a targeted synthetic poison. I've used Floramite and great stuff. Safer than Avid for sure but Avid works great also but have heard of Avid resistant mites....which some combat my extra heavy doses.

Yes...Floramite works great.

 

[oldtoker]

ive heard of rooms that can retain pressure being filled with c02 to kill the mite's but i doubt the candle can do it.

the trick is to hit the room full with c02 every 2 days to kill the mites that hatch from eggs because even with to much c02 eggs hatch something to consider no doubt

im sierous you cant do this unless your room is perfect or u will just waste a shit load of c02

 

[Whatever]

I honestly really don't know about the CO2 thing. I've seen people bring their closed rooms up to 10,000 ppm and didn't phase the mites. Replacing the 'air' in something like a garbage bag might be a different story. I really think there's better ways to deal with mites. Great to think outside the box but sometimes inside the box works better.

 

[oldtoker]

yep 13,000 ppm is what i read, ive read alot of things though that wernt true.

but the plastic bag thing sounds horrible, if i did it the bag would catch fire.

 

[Whatever]

yep 13,000 ppm is what i read, ive read alot of things though that wernt true.

Have seen the value many talk about as 10,000 ppm. Saw someone do that and...nothing. Also read someone else talk about the 10,000 ppm thing and say it's useless. First I've heard of 13,000 ppm but that's not much different. If you totally displaced the 'air' in a space then waaaaayyy higher than 13,000 ppm.

 

[foomar]

Like the idea but they are tough and it probably wont kill any eggs.

The smoke from two cigarettes in an ashtray in the bottom of a cubic metre cardboard box will by experiment kill all adults and juveniles and some eggs on whatever plants i can fit in.

Some sativas are a little sensitive and leaf curl and twist a little but soon recover with no lasting damage

All over in 15 minutes and probably safer and it really does work , even with mites that are resistant to idimacloprid and bifenthrin that have infested many greenhouses.

Dare not use sprays for fear of mould half the year and find this safer during cold season.

 

[oldtoker]

yea i doubt the eggs would die aswell, i would use flora mite, wash them outside, rub them by hand , use ivory soap, kill them and start over, or 1 of the other 3000 choices before i tried this i was just saying what i read. oh and after some more though the person who said this can work was marc emery i think in a cannabis culture ask ed section he put a note at the end of eds answer sayin you could do the 13,000 ppm to kill everything so now that i think about who is giving the info perhaps i would discredit it.

 

[spiral]

hey there. Oldtoker your right about the magazine article. The thing is, you have to keep the ppm at 10,000 - 13,000, for 1 hour. The room would need to be completely sealed. Also as stated it wouldnt kill the eggs. This method seems interesting though, the cigarette thing looks neat to.

 

[DIGITALHIPPY]

LOL...candle.... u need floromite or avid. ...

 

[Whatever]

The thing is, you have to keep the ppm at 10,000 - 13,000, for 1 hour.

Know of someone that maintained 10,000+ for over 1 hour in a sealed room and...nothing happened. I really don't think this method is effective for mites.

Yes Avid works unless you have Avid resistant mites...and they're out there.

 

[devilgoob]

does high frequency sound work?

 

[jason1388]

Found Floramite by the ounce here, and cheap, got one and its by far the best spider mite killer i've used. Obliterated them all after the first use. Haven't seen em since. Think this is a great thing to have in your arsenal. Free shipping here too.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Floramite-SC-1oz-bottle-FREE-SHIPPING_W0QQitemZ270266459356QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item270266459356&_trkparms=72%3A1071|39%3A1|66%3A2|65%3A12|240%3A1318&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

 

[Fast_Pine]

Im really suprized to hear the high PPM co2 treatments dont work,,,,I figured 10K ppm over night in a sealed room should do it.........But then again, these damn things seem to be imune to half my efforts....<deep sigh>


They really need to make the pyrethrum bombs in a form that kills the fuckin eggs!!!!!

Or some kind of bomb that kills the eggs..... its the constant waves...I cant fuckin get rid of these things!!,,,,My whole room and all my equip is infected(3 car garage), and it would be so rough to disenfect everything,,,,,almost out of the question...There are things in there that cant be fucked with.

How about low temps over night...I know plants can withstand ~30degrees over night...How about I just turn up the airconditioner? Would that kill the borg?

 

[ureapwhatusow]

once im into harvest i wont spray poison, but I have found that mites thrive at different rates in different conditions. You may be able to stave off massive population growth with misting, temp reduction, and or other tweaks

there are some organic recipies that claim kill mites, and while they tend to be ineffective they may reduce how quickly they feed on and reproduce in your crop, so perhaps consider damage control

once past flowering you can treat your moms and room with avid and start

I have found that if the flowers build up a good amount of resin (some strains more than others) will only see damage to sun and shake leaves