Stopping Pests Before They Start

[AccidentalGardener]

In the past, I have used a product around my house to prevent bugs from getting in; a barrier-type spray. It's not safe to use on the plants themselves...but what about on the outside of a tent?

The planets are aligned and I have an opportunity to try an experiment. Unless someone has already done it and can offer advice like right now.
A new tent arrives today and I don't want to move the cockroaches to the new address, lol.

The barrier stuff, Bayer BioAdvanced is a non-organic pesticide and kills the bugs before they get where they want to go.
My grow is in an area away from people, pets and water
Once it's dry, it kills bugs that come near it but not people, plants or pets. There are many precautions about water, but the spray would never come near any water. Just a couple spots outside the tent. should last months, especially since there is no water to worry about washing it away.
What do you think of spraying the outside of the tent after it's up - just the outside of the vents and ports and around the zipper?
Prevention seems like a better way to go than a war down the road.

What do you know? Share please!

[ChadWestport]

Good IPM strategies start with cultural controls. Meaning, don't bring in outside clones, if you do, have a dedicated quarantine tent far from your main room. It also means after you care for those new clones, you change your clothes before going back to your regular grow. It also means sterilizing the clippers when you cut one of those clones and then go back to work with the scissors in your main room. It means absolutely no dirt or leaves are on your grow room floor, there is no standing water either. If you decide to work in your outside veggie garden or going walking through the brush and woods, change all of your cothing before entering your grow, don't use the same tools for outdoor veggies as you do on your indoor garden. Do you kind of understand what I'm getting at there with the cultural controls? There are 5 layers to the IPM pyramid

[AccidentalGardener]

The cats aren't even allowed to go in and out of the house, lol.

[bboyfromwayback]

Spraying the outside of your tent would be no different than spraying the outside of your house. Just don’t spray it on anything you don’t want it in and you’ll be fine. I use the Ortho Home Defense to spray the interior of our house a few times a year. I spray all doors, windows and baseboards inside the house and nobody has dropped dead yet

[AccidentalGardener]

ChadWestport
Oh yeah - I get it! I haven't brought in anything from outside...except a thrip and maybe I didn't even do that. I have a flowering auto in need of an emergency transplant and all I have are containers that are outside. I would rather let that auto die than bring in something that will kill my whole tent.
Different sets of tools...I even have two sets of green twine marked indoors and outdoors. I posted about the importance of keeping the grow area free of clutter and spills, but yeah, you could eat off my tent floors. I live with my adult sons. It's the only place I can keep clean at the moment, lol.
Water doesn't stand, period. I vacuum it out and dump it in the powdah room to reduce humidity. I don't wander in and out of the grow area - just in the morning when the lights come on (my morning, too -so ain't no bugs on me yet...) and before lights-out to make sure things are in good shape. Usually both times in my pajamas, lol. Summer was an outdoor disaster in the PNW and I miraculously didn't track anything in.
Next year, I'll wash the tomatoes outside before I bring them in. Other than that, you'd be proud of me

There ain't nothing wrong with another line of defense. It only takes one bug. I'd like to lessen the odds of needing that war.

[ChadWestport]

Cheers, you are prepared Cold weather is here for us anyhow, hopefully all the nasties go dormant for a few months.