Freezing Clay Pellets to kill Whiteflies?

Redrum

Well-Known Member
Nearing time to clean out my grow room and for the first time need to address a whitefly issue. As it relates to my grow media ""Expanded Clay Pellets' any thoughts on taking a final step and freezing the pellets to ensure all whitefly eggs are dead should they somehow become attached to the media? Thinking 5 full days at below 0 Fahrenheit.

Would rather not spend 300-400 on more media if I could avoid it.

The outbreak was caught and controlled early but as most of us know there is no silver bullet outside of a good old fashioned cleaning.

Thanks for any insight.
 

Cabrone

Well-Known Member
Or bake it in the oven. I was told 400°F for 1 hr. If you are in a cold climate putting outside seems alot easier!
 

Redrum

Well-Known Member
So far winter has bee a bit of a farce but its also rather early. I may bake like you suggest if I can't find room in one of the deep freezers. We have stocked meats and veggies to get us through the 2nd Covid Wave so room is a hot commodity. Prepping is what got me into this whitefly mess to begin with. I cloned some of my outdoor pepper and tomato plants and put them in a detached separate room I had built for Lettuce and Kale (30ish day turnaround). I know that anything coming in from the outside is asking for trouble but I didn't expect a room to room (opposite ends of a basement) contamination. Poor judgement on my part. Will be doing a huge amount of cleaning of both rooms. The only real loss I will have suffered is going to be the Jalapenos, Cajun Bells and my week of cleaning. Everything else will be harvested as usual.

A second lesson was just how much more space a hydro pepper plants needed -vs- outdoor soil. Live and learn I suppose. Thanks to both of you for the input.
 
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