Pests and mold problems

UV C(you know, the cancer kind lol) is much more effective than B as a disinfectant but both are pretty well useless beyond surface exposure. It has no penitration. It's not gonna reach where it's needed most. Waste of time.

there is nothing effective out there for white powdery mildew.. anything that 'looks' clean will simply grow back within a few days because it never left.. there are anatomy bits below the surface that are still there even if you cannot see it with the naked eye. Amputate bits with wpm and fix your environment, as that is likely the cause -- high humidity or worse, condensation repeatedly occurring. the stuff large commercial farms is 25-33% effective... a vineyard was testing a machine that uses uvb, i believe.. can google it and it'll be easy to find. Must be done shortly after it gets dark or is also ineffective. if it is riddled with wpm, throw it out. If it's isolated, try to prune it off and pray it hasn't spread. by the time you can see it with the naked eye, it's already propagating. There are several anecdotal foliar sprays, like the "cornell formula" that has absolutely nothing to do with the college itself. These sprays do not work. If it looks clean on the surface for a few days after, that is not mean it is effective or did anything useful. The fungus is still there, it just has to re-grow from the hyphae that are subsurface. Plus, these sprays just spread it around and now you have wpm on stems and anything else it dripped upon. try to treat it, but it it continues to progress ... you are shit out of luck. Hopefully you have a less aggressive species that can easily be stamped out. It's not impossible, but not likely also. gnats - use Bti. Start using it pre-emptively. You never know how the substrate you bought was stored or transported. they often come with larva in it. Bti used preemptively will avoid gnat issues.. even if loaded with larva might see 1-2 gnats at any one time and never get worse. It is a bacteria that has been safely used on the worlds food supplies for a century? definitely many many decades. it's safe and effective.

If you have gnats you have been watering too often and the soil is staying too wet. Stop watering! Wait until the top two inches are dry. Water slowly, several minutes per plant until 10 to 20 percent of the solution runs out of the bottom. If you have gnats yellow sticky traps will help catch the adults flying around and then you will need some Diatomaceous earth to sprinkle around the top of the soil to prevent any more larvae from hatching.

Regalia won't prevent PM from what I've seen. The most effective foliar I've seen for PM is sulfur. It works best as a pretreatment preventative right before the flip. If you're already getting active outbreaks then sprays are mostly a bandaid solution though. Once they start up they keep coming back. I wouldn't stress the gnats too much. It's gonna take a serious infestation before it's ever gonna affect your plants really. They're just annoying. Or go straight bucket hydro. No fungus = no fungus gnats.

I love nematodes or hypoaspis miles. Never had an issue again.

One adult fungus gnat can lay up to 300 eggs in one week, so every one you get rid of makes a huge dent in the future population. Gnats, particularly fungus gnats, are attracted to sweet substances like sugar, and this can be used to create effective traps. Get some strong ass double strength vinegar place in container add some sugar to lure them to the vinegar, squirt of dish soap will form a layer on top as it settles, they can go in but wont get out. While that's happening, you need to attack the soil where they lay eggs too, dry up your environment, and sprinkle a little cinnamon powder through the soil if they happen to be fungus gnats- strong natural fungicide. Ground cloves are also effective. A nuclear option, if needed, is Isopropyl alcohol with a high concentration (90%) typically evaporates very fast, leaving no trace it was there. Rubbing alcohol is very effective for soft-bodied pests, including mealybugs, scale, spider mites, and aphids. It's especially popular for pests with a waxy coating because that coating makes them difficult to kill with other pest treatments. Instakill. Direct Spray: Mix half a cup of water, half a cup of isopropyl alcohol, and a teaspoon of dish liquid in a spray bottle, then spray the mixture directly on the gnats. Soil Treatment: Dilute isopropyl alcohol with water (e.g., an 8:1 ratio of water to alcohol) and spray the soil where gnats are breeding, ensuring the top few inches of soil stay dry. UV-B irradiation, particularly at night, can suppress powdery mildew, UV-B irradiance around 1 W/m2 for approximately 5-10 minutes per night has shown significant results. UV-B inhibits germination, infection, colony expansion, and sporulation of powdery mildew pathogens. Exposure during the night is more effective as it circumvents the counteracting effects of blue light and UV-A radiation. It's important to note that excessive UV-B exposure can be phytotoxic, so it's crucial to limit exposure time and intensity if you do decide to use it. long-term solution, PM no more. Goodluck.

Hi, Here are some tips for effective control and don't Ned pesticide Let the soil dry: Fungus gnats love moist soil. Let the top layer of soil dry thoroughly before watering again. Quartz sand: A thin layer of quartz sand on the potting soil prevents the gnats from laying their eggs. Yellow sticky sticky sticky sticky sticks attract and trap adult fungus gnats. This is what i use and the Nematodes Nematodes: These are small roundworms that feed on the fungus gnat larvae. You can buy them at garden centers and apply them with the water you use to water your plants. This work very well.

side note. In Canada and I think a few other places they are banning Neem products for food crops. so don't use it out of safety. The main active ingredient in it has a lot of issues. and for WPM its the oil on the leaf that provides the benifit any oil will do.

Gnats use BTi or neamatoads 100% kill rate when use correctly and its super safe. WPM or PM is an issue you need to control with RH/temps and air circulation. Look into dew point as it part of it.

For pesticides I usually use Jack's Copper Fungicide if needed or neem oil. PM can really be a PITA. I have some magnolias that have traveled with me WAY out of their zone, and they get PM annually. It is a battle. Be sure to get the entire surface area, and know that it likely won't be one and done. For gnats you need to address the issue of giving them the environment they need to thrive (likely watering habits). As far as the next step you can go IPM or not, it might be overkill to order an army to combat the gnats if some sticky paper would work. Gnats are likely the best pest you could have in your tents - fix the humidity and soil moisture issues if present, possibly use some powerful fans and sticky tape. If you need to go further seek out EXPERT advice. I suggest KiS Organics. He is down to earth and is likely one of the most knowledgeable people when it comes to this stuff. If he doesn't know then he knows who does. IPM IMO can be complex in the same way that tending living soil webs can be, there are a lot of variables and most people would benefit from a bespoke approach depending at least on their environment, geography, and cultivars. Like for example, some folks claiming to be IPM experts online will gladly sell you bugs that are not acceptable to ship to some locations - that is a terrible oversight and something someone in this field for the right reasons will simply not do under any circumstance.