I pose this question regarding home growers who’ve experienced the dreaded powdery mildew.
Family circumstances have caused me to divert a lot of attention away from my home grow and due to my own inattention and half-efforts, I have of course seem to have caused a powdery mildew infection in my plants. I know how I did it and I know how to prevent it. I’m a super experienced grower, and I knew that I was risking this infection as I was going through. My life is returning to normal and I can focus attention back on it.
So due to my own attention I know that this problem has more than likely spread itself ALL OVER my space. The spores go everywhere and I know that it’d tske DAYS to clean the entire space, all the equipment, all the supplies, the walls, ceilings, lights, etc. So I am considering a sulfur bomb for the whole space, each room and everything in it.
Has anyone ever used a sulfur bomb or sulfur gas? Is it really that effective? Is it going to make the entire house or the entire yard smell like a volcanic vent? What do I need to do after? Clean the sulfur residue off everything?
What am I in for here?
I appreciate the help. 
This is a little more work but its a no rinse solution. We brewers look for easy cleaning.
Just spray and let it dry. You will never rid the area of all spores, but you can knock down the population in the immediate area.
I have never done a sulfur treatment of any kind.
Will it be effective on 500 square feet? Like ceilings, shelves, bottles, and stuff like that?
It is used diluted at 1oz to 5 gallons and only requires 1 minute of contact to sanitize. Its main purpose in brewing is to clean bottles and equipment by dipping and letting air dry. Other types of sanitizer need to be rinsed off. This is used even by large brewers. This is like a lifetime supply as it makes like 160 gallons of cleaner…Lol
That sounds FANTASTIC.
So i spray it all over everything and that’s basically it?! That sounds awesome. I will definitely get that and use it for my surfaces and spaces. One of the other issues I have is that some of my plants still have some. I was considering the sulfur because it can effectively deal with plant PM infections in veg and very early flowering plants. I’m definitely more concerned about the contamination of the space itself because I can manage the plants’ problems but ideally I would obviously like to get rid of the plan PM if possible.
Any thoughts or advice on that?
You can read the label here in amazon. Notice the 92% 5 star reviews
https://www.amazon.com/Star-San-B0064O7YFA-San-32/dp/B0064O7YFA?th=1
There are some threads on that.
I hear some use hydrogen peroxide mixed with water to spray the plants.
Peroxide degrades into water and oxygen so its safe for plants.
https://ilgmforum.com/search?q=powdery%20mildew
I’ve been using an ozone generator to “disinfect” my spaces. It supposedly kills/neutralizes everything.
Of course there can’t be people, pets, or anything living (like plants) in the space while it’s running, but it’s not like you’d be around with a sulphur bomber either.
As an added bonus it leaves everything smelling fresh like after a thunderstorm.
That is for SURE a product that I am going to buy like, THIS afternoon. Thank you so much for sharing that.
Thanks for your help!
Do you run that regularly as a preventative?
To clear out a room/tent before I put anything new in there, yes. I’m taking the “nuke the space” approach.
Although some theorize that wpm spores are everywhere and inoculating is the best route.
Damned if I know.
I like the “nuke the space” mindset. Any suggestions for ozone generator brands or models or things that I should be looking for?
@Drinkslinger you are correct , spores are so prevalent in nature you cant get rid of them completely. I read about a test done once in a multi story building where certain spores were released and in like ten minutes it was 5 floors up already.
I have an ozone generator but I get a headache when its been used. Even the tiny ones the size of glade plug ins make me ill. But they do work well on spores and odors.
PM sucks about as much as pollen does.
I don’t even allow those words to be spoken in my house. Lol
This is the one I bought. Not ridiculously expensive in case it was t effective. Large enough for any room or tent.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07GQWY7SC/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Hi! I’m currently in your exact position. Experience grower but medical issues and I couldn’t give the barn enough attention as I should have. Plenty of experience. I just wanted to know how the sulphur bomb worked for you or if the PM ever came back. My crop was destroyed by PM back in November and I decided to just shut the barn down for a few months and let things settle. It’s been clean several times with bleach but I know the spores are still out there and this sounds like the perfect idea since I can’t get any of my electronics wet. If you could let me know I’d really appreciate it!
I’ve been plagued with rust at some level with nearly every grow with not much luck using Neems or citric acid. I’ve just applied some fine milled sulfur misted on and it seems to have stopped the spread. I don’t want to bomb the space, but I intend to mist down all non-electrical surfaces in the area.