Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
to facilitate their removal. Compost the old plants if you have an outdoor
garden or place them in plastic garbage bags for disposal. Do not keep
the string, but you can use the plant clips again if you soak them for a
day in a 10% bleach solution. Wipe the walls and ceiling with the same
disinfectant or Virkon. If you are using a Mylar reflective surface on the
walls be sure to clean it thoroughly or better yet remove it and replace it
with new material.
Sterilize the hydroponic unit with a 10% bleach solution. Run the solu-
tion through the system to clean the irrigation lines. Let it sit in the lines
for 24 hours. Then rinse the lines with fresh, clean water several times.
If you find some salt formation in the irrigation lines, flush them with an
acid and water mixture in the ratio of 1 to 50, respectively. Flush the sys-
tem thoroughly several times, and then let it sit for 24 hours before rinsing
with water.
Change the substrate rather than trying to sterilize it. That is much
simpler than trying to sterilize it by baking it in the oven of your stove.
Besides, I find that rockwool and even perlite break down in structure dur-
ing the sterilizing process.
CONTROLLING PESTS AND DISEASES
You may think that it is impossible to get insects and diseases in a well-
protected area like a room or basement of your house, but think again;
nothing keeps these critters out. Certainly, you can reduce such occur-
rences by keeping the room isolated from the outside movement of air
but that will not exclude all pests. Keep a close eye on your plants; learn
to identify the most common insect pests and diseases. Hang some Bug-
Scan cards near the crops (Figure 4.17). These are yellow sticky cards that
attract the insects. They work like the old standard flypaper. Once a week
identify and count the number of each insect stuck to the cards. Keep this
information in a table in a topic so that you can refer to it to determine
the changes in numbers of insects developing over time. As soon as you
discover some pests, you need to take action to reduce or eliminate them,
or they will get out of hand, feeding on your plants leaving little product
for yourself.
Some of the most common pests that you have to identify are white-
fly, aphids, two-spotted red-spider mite, thrips, leaf miners, fungus gnats,
and caterpillars (larvae of butterflies and moths). Whiteflies are by far
the most common pest of tomatoes, eggplants, peppers, and cucumbers
and even lettuce. To learn to identify them correctly and understand how
they develop, refer to topics on pests. Some are given in the references in
Chapter 8. In addition, there are a number of Web sites listed that have
