Best Guardian Plants

[Allen42]

So I’m moving out of a tent and into a room so now my only concern is the easy access that bugs will have to my plants... although I am take MANY precautions to make it as difficult as possible on them.
While in my readings of ways to deter bugs I cane across a bundle of “guardian” plants on RQS website.. but I don’t think I need ALL those flowers in my room so if anyone has any experience with this, I’d love to hear your advice. I’m looking for a couple guardian plants, 2-4 plants at most. But I’m the guardian plant I’m looking for will be best at deterring fungus gnats and mites especially. So if anyone has a good guardian plant to deter spider mites then let’s hear it. Thanks,
-Simple

 

[Chris Scorpio]

Not sure Guardian plants work so well inside,never heard it work anyways

nasturtium are a good companion plant, may try some of those

 

[Allen42]

Ya I know they are more for outdoor growing, but I thought u remember someone saying there was 1 or 2 companion plants that help ward off insects due to the smell they emit. I will look into that one you mentioned. Thanks Chris

 

[SmokingWings]

My outdoor plants on the patio had a minimal mite problem. I figure that this was because I also grow just over 20 culinary herbs in pots on the patio. Most of these are Rosemary but there are several Oregano and Thyme. Around the yard are small garden beds with Marigolds, various types of Mint and Sunflowers. I do not kill spiders, wasps, bees because I feel that these will also attack mites when they are not pollinating.

Once an undesirable insect gets into the room, the companion plants will only deter it. They will not kill it. And, in awhile the pest will overcome the deterrence and end up on the plants you are trying to protect.

Mite, like many other pests, tend to be attracted towards and then feed on weak plants. If you have a Marijuana plant that is not doing well you could use that one as a decoy. Spray it down every couple of days as Mites will tend to keep coming back to that one.

You can keep some of these herbs and other companion plants in garden beds or pots by the entry doors and windows. Pests will avoid those areas and that reduces the possibility of them getting into the house and then into the room. During the winter I keep all my herbs in the back room and they survive just fine with minimum light and even when the temperatures in that room occasionally drop to freezing. At the very beginning of spring they then go back outside.

As much as I enjoy growing plants of any kind, indoors or out, I have abandoned indoor companion planting for pest deterrence.

 

[Allen42]

Ya this grow hasn’t even begun yet, and I’m just trying to cross my t’s and dot my i’s if you will... I have ZERO expectation of them killing any bugs, I’m just trying to make it as unpleasant to be in that room as possible for any insects. If they make it passed my deterring measurements then I have everything I need to completely kill any infestation of mites/gnats or whatever... I’m just going to use the companion plants along with spider traps, gnat sticky tubes, rat traps, and I’m going to be keeping classical piano and classic rock playing 24/7 in the room all as a deterrent. I know it’s far from full proof but it’s better then doing nothing right? And I love the idea of moving the companion plants to doorways or areas where there most likely to get in... but my question is, is there a specific companion plant that works better for deterring mites? There’s so many too choose from I don’t know which companion plant would suit my needs best. Thanks for your advice guys.

 

[SmokingWings]

<snipped>
....but my question is, is there a specific companion plant that works better for deterring mites? There’s so many too choose from I don’t know which companion plant would suit my needs best. Thanks for your advice guys.

I do not have any idea of a best one or a better one. When a question like this comes to mind I will often do a general google or web-page search and start skimming through the links that pop up. I just did exactly that using the key words:
companion plants against spider mites
Try that and see if there is a mention of a plant that you might try, or maybe an article that lists a couple of plants together that would interest you.

Just a thought but one thing I noticed was an article that mentioned mixing together the oils from a couple of herbs and then spraying with that as a deterrent. That might be easier than trying to grow the plants inside the room but it probably gets expensive to purchase 2 or 3 small bottles of oil. Purchase the oils and then in the spring start some small garden beds by the doors using several different herbs.

And, you will be able to snip off some of the herbs to be used when making sauces or gravies or glazes over whatever you are having for dinner.

 

[Allen42]

Yes I’ve been doing some research, I just thought I’d ask on here as well to see if anyone else had experience with this. Figured someone would want to jump in but thanks for the advice I’ll do some secondary research and find what works best.

 

[Allen42]

It seems that keeping cilantro in the room can help repel mites, aphids and some other critters.

 

[Allen42]

So I’ve been looking into it, and I’ve decided to buy a humidifier ( because I need one) lol but this Huey can put essential oils in the mix that are designed to deter bugs so I can kill two birds with one stone. Anyone heard of this? I’m gonna give a try, it can’t hurt....Rosemary, eucalyptus, pennyroyal, and peppermint will not just deter mites and other bugs but it can actually kill them as well.

 

[SmokingWings]

So I’ve been looking into it, and I’ve decided to buy a humidifier ( because I need one) lol but this Huey can put essential oils in the mix that are designed to deter bugs so I can kill two birds with one stone. Anyone heard of this? I’m gonna give a try, it can’t hurt....Rosemary, eucalyptus, pennyroyal, and peppermint will not just deter mites and other bugs but it can actually kill them as well.

Sounds like the best of both worlds. I especially like the idea of being able to add the oils to the mix.

 

[Allen42]

Sounds like the best of both worlds. I especially like the idea of being able to add the oils to the mix.

Yup and you can add in several oils that help prevent different types of bugs... I have a small one running right now just to test it out, I filled it up with lemon balm, peppermint, lavender, camomile, and eucalyptus... all of which gnats, mites, and the like hate with a passion so I think I’m gonna give this route a go. I’m not afraid to experiment, worse case it fails... best case, we all have new way of fighting off bugs without spraying harmful chemicals. I just ordered a more heavy duty one, that will be capable of misting the whole room just in case. After researching it, I came to the conclusion that essential oils would be much more efficient and easy to care for. I’m glad you like my idea

 

[SmokingWings]

I have a mite problem and have learned to live with it. If I tried your idea and the mite population dropped and continued to drop would help determine how successful this method is. Only problem is that a humidifier in the grow room would also increase the humidity in the basement.

Will you have to add an emulsifier to the oils when you put them into the humidifier?

 

[Southerncough]

Adding a neem oil foliar treatment helps deter bugs by making the plants taste bad. Also, using silica toughens up the cell walls making plants a not so easy treat. Or if you're doing the decoy method use neem and silica on your prize plants and the weakling decoy is even more appealing to the pests. I've tried ladybugs indoors and that was a mess LOL

 

[SmokingWings]

Adding a neem oil foliar treatment helps deter bugs by making the plants taste bad. Also, using silica toughens up the cell walls making plants a not so easy treat. Or if you're doing the decoy method use neem and silica on your prize plants and the weakling decoy is even more appealing to the pests. I've tried ladybugs indoors and that was a mess LOL

And, the decoy plant does not have to be a Marijuana plant. A couple of Swiss Chard plants in a small pot should work.

I have found dead Lady Bugs inside some of my LED light fixtures.

The Lady Bugs started to disappear right after I let them loose. Just a few hung around feeding off the mites. Within several days they had all disappeared. Going the Lady Bug route is probably best for greenhouses and outdoor grows.

 

[Southerncough]

So the ladybugs come refrigerated to trick them into hibernating and in my experience once they warmed up and became active... 1/3 wandered off, 1/3 wanted to f*ck, 1/6 went into my fixtures and fans and 1/6 went looking for food LOL

 

[Allen42]

I have a mite problem and have learned to live with it. If I tried your idea and the mite population dropped and continued to drop would help determine how successful this method is. Only problem is that a humidifier in the grow room would also increase the humidity in the basement.

Will you have to add an emulsifier to the oils when you put them into the humidifier?

I would refuse to live with a mite problem... you need to take care of that. My essential oil is just a deterrent, and alternative method. I’m just trying something new, by no means will this kill your mite infestation. If I get mites, im spraying the living the shit out of everything with neem oil and safe fungicidal soaps. The essential oil is just a deterrent, and I’m only using the humidifier when I need to raise the humidity, otherwise it will not be running, if I need to lower humidity then I use the dehuey... I’m just using the essential oils as an experiment when I need to humidify my room. I’m not using it 24/7 to prevent bugs, it just has that ability so why not use it ya know?

 

[Allen42]

You never know if something is going to work unless you try it, that’s all this is. An interesting experiment.

 

[Southerncough]

I would refuse to live with a mite problem... you need to take care of that. My essential oil is just a deterrent, and alternative method. I’m just trying something new, by no means will this kill your mite infestation. If I get mites, im spraying the living the shit out of everything with neem oil and safe fungicidal soaps. The essential oil is just a deterrent, and I’m only using the humidifier when I need to raise the humidity, otherwise it will not be running, if I need to lower humidity then I use the dehuey... I’m just using the essential oils as an experiment when I need to humidify my room. I’m not using it 24/7 to prevent bugs, it just has that ability so why not use it ya know?

I'm really interested to see how the oils work out. Especially if they are household aromas like mint or rosemary

 

[Runway420]

I have no illusions that companion plants not only work but are happy campers
View media item 1732524
This is Mary Gold...the Marigold I started at seed with my skunk. Companions until flip. She would have attracted any bugs away from the skunk if I had had any. Shes a monster!

 

[Allen42]

I'm really interested to see how the oils work out. Especially if they are household aromas like mint or rosemary

Yes I will be using different aromas, peppermint is one of the main ones. Rosemary is another I read about.. I have notebook full of notes on the best ones to use when I get home I will update this on the ones I will be using. I will be using this method on my next grow in a large room to test it out. I have a smaller diffuser letting off eucalyptus and peppermint in a 5x5 right now and the seedlings are doing great. I don’t think this is going to effect plants very much, it’s just terpenes from natural flowers... some flowers spiders hate so if we take that flowers terpenes and fill the room with it, it should deter spiders from entering the room... atleast that’s my idea behind this.