Those of us who garden outdoors also are always exposed to Deer Ticks and there are more than one type depending on where we live. I have been a magnet for these little creatures again here in the fall and take the appropriate actions for removal and hope I don’t get sick, generally that is the case, When tending outdoor gardens or doing anything in the woods its just now part of things. Regarding Aphids, I know we have some good information here on OG about how to wash them away with water and pure Castile Soap, my question is how do we get them in the grow room? If we take out plants outside and then bring them in at night, is this a risk?
Bringing plants in and out is very risky! Also just your shoes or clothes can bring them into your controlled area. Many people don’t like clones for this reason. Here’s a great way to cleanse your plants before bringing them in. Maybe not for your situation of just bringing them in at night though.
Courtesy of @JoeCrowe
And there’s many types of ticks out there.
Deer ticks, dog ticks, lone star ticks, winter ticks…
Just depends on the area of the world you live in. Not all carry the same diseases.
Lyme disease is named after a town called old Lyme, which is near plumb island, a bioresearch facility that a former Nazi Dr, Erik Traube, if memory serves, researched transmission of diseases through ticks. It’s not well documented, but kind of a crazy rabbit hole.
I would say yes, it is a risk. Bringing outside anything into your indoor grow space is a risk. If I have outdoor work to do, I shower, change clothes, and go barefoot or change shoes before visiting my indoor area. My shoes for outdoor work are only for that, outdoor work! In the time I did guerrilla grows in the bush we would duct tape ankles, wrists, usually wore hoodies. Always checked for ticks when we got back. My daughter had Lyme disease and still occasionally feels the effects.
The risk is in bringing aphids, thrips, spider mites, caterpillars, or fungus gnats to a place without their natural enemies. Of course beneficials can come in with you as well!
Having lost a indoor crop to spider mites many years ago, I just don’t want a problem like that again if I can help it!
I just had to cut the remains of one out of my arm with an exacto knife, I have been looking at it for a couple of days thinking it was a skin tag.
This afternoon it was getting sore, so I had a closer look, and it had doubled it’s size and I could see its legs. I have some tweezers I have specifically bent to grab these little barstards by the head and pull them off the dog and myself. The first of 8 this year to actually dig in.
I only managed to get the back half out with the tweezers as it was in a difficult place to reach. So out came the scalpel.
Ouch! I got some tick removers at the Pharmacy (Wal Mart) they have the right size and design to pull them out and not leave any behind. You did as good a job as Urgent Care!
Try some Vaseline on them will suffocate and back out cuz the rest of the body is gone.
Every time a plant exits your grow and goes outside, the probability of it getting infested is >0. Probability 0 is what we are aiming for! If you transport a clone to your friends house sealed in a plastic container, that’s a different story. Only if your clone is already infested can it transmit disease. Germ theory of disease for the win.
You have to be careful with ticks, if you stress them they can thow up a load of bacteria like Lyme into your body so a quick grad below the body as close to the head as possible, normally I get them out of the dog with heaD attached with a bit of skin in its mouth.
I’m in the field often and encounter ticks daily. This year has had surprisingly low density of ticks compared to previous years. I don’t like permitherin, bit it’s very effective at preventing lots of pets bites including ticks. Be wary though and follow the directions. It’s a neurotoxin to cats and only “safe” for humans when fully dry. So we spray it on an outside line and keep those clothes in the garage where the cats don’t go.
I’m sure my wife could tell you all about ticks though.
Plenty of pesticides available that can kill ticks in your yard or outdoor area.
Granules and spray, available at every big box hardware store.
Mow and eliminate weeds.
I bought permethrin granules for next year, easier to apply than a spray.
if you have some land build a little coop and get yourself some guinea hens! These wonderful birds will roam your land and devestate the local tick population, be forwarned some people find thier noises to be a tad annoying! To me it just makes smile knowing how many ticks they ate
I do have land and had chickens and guineas and some show chickens my kids had for the fair Mille Fleur and you know at that time we had no ticks they were in Long Island, NY, well they have moved to the west and upstate like everything else is doing. We watched a nice Buck looking at us yesterday and there was a doe with her fawns, big now. We have all the ingredients. I am happy for indoor growing for sure and the only animal I have is a dog, did have fun all those years with lots of rural stuff
aint nothing to it but to do it😁
Keep your indoor plants indoors is about the only thing I can think of. Sure that suns tempting on a nice day but it’s not worth the risk of infestation. I don’t let my indoor cats outside either.
yep fully agree, The revolutionary LED lighting has changed the game, such beautiful plants indoors now. I do love my outdoor grow though, just thinking about this coming season for outdoors
I was a tick ecology and tick born disease educator. Never put anything like Vaseline, or a match or anything else on the tick. It will cause them to regurgitate. Only use a tweezer or tick tool to remove them. You need to get the tool or tweezer as close to your body as possible and slowly put upward pressure on the tick to remove it’s mouth part. The tick doesn’t want it’s mouth part ripped off but must dissolve the epoxy like substance that keeps the mouth part in place. That’s why you have to be patient with pressure increasing slowly, not yank it out.
The nymph is the real challenge. They are very small, hard to see without magnification, and easy to miss. If you live in a tick area, like a forest environment, you should become familiar with the species of ticks you have in your area and the potential diseases associated with them. When I work outside in tick country I tuck my pants into my socks and spray my work boots with permethrin. I always check my clothes, shower and inspect my body when I get home. I’ve been bit at least 50 or 60 times, had Lyme a couple times and anaplasmosis once. No long term issues I’m aware of, just a script or three of nasty antibiotics to address the invasions before it had a chance to invade other, difficult locations beyond the reach of ordinary antibiotics.
The research says that the mouth parts rarely represent a disease threat when left behind. It should be treated like any splinter. Usually your body with push it out or deal with it in another way. Washing it and putting a disinfectant on it should be fine.
The disease threat depends on long it was attached and whether or not the earlier larvae got some pathogen in its first feeding. The deer tick isn’t born infected (very rare) it gets its pathogens from its first meal. Other ticks, like the Lone Star tick, can be born with an infection so even larvae ticks are threatening.
You can buy treated clothes or spray them yourself. I used to wear just treated socks and spray my shoes. Research says it prevents most of them from climbing aboard. I sprayed my lower pants with deet or permethrin and let them dry before putting them on.
I said “born” but I meant when a tick lays her eggs, there’s usually about 2,500 of the little bastards so if you get just 4 ticks around the house that complete their reproductive cycle, that could mean up to 10,000 larvae looking for a blood meal.
They came into our area around 2000. They were really bad for about 10 years. Drought and floods take a toll on them so now we have isolated areas where there’s leaves and shade where the numbers are still high.
Very useful info @PilgrimProgress!
The Lone Star tick recently arrived on Cape Cod adding to our already bad infestation. The Saintly Spouse and I hike the surrounding woods and cranberry bogs almost daily and it is a big concern. I also fish the salt marshes and normally wear gaiters even when it’s hot because you can brush the ticks off after every session walking through the salt grass.
I’ve been bit a half dozen times, but I removed them just as you described and haven’t yet gotten any of the foul diseases they carry. I use permethrin in my orchard fogger to spray a set of clothes, shoes to shirt, when I have any serious outdoors work to do.
My advice to anyone whose region is newly home to tick infestation is to take it very seriously. Lymes and the other nasty infections can ruin your life.
Paz y amor hermanos.
Absolute good advice, take ticks seriously. I know a man who is an expert Atlantic Salmon Spey Rod Fisherman (Flies). His fingers are now all curled and locked up from Lyme Disease which he contracted at Cape Cod whilst fishing the surf for Stripers. I also know a radiologist whose entire family save him have the disease from ticks in Conn. We practice all the aforementioned by Pilgrims Progress and yourself
Spey casting: The Master of the Long Wand! beautiful to watch. I got a Japanese Tenkara fly rod to play with, thirteen feet long, but it collapses into a three foot case!
Hooking up with a feisty striped bass on a 7wt fly rod is a rush not soon forgotten.
And that’s a good thing because those salt marshes are Tick Heaven.