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Inlet Filters- The Unsung Hero of Hydroponics? · Hydroponics Daily

• 0:00
  Hi, welcome back to Hydroponics Daily.
• 0:03
  A short and sweet one today because it's a Sunday evening and I haven't prepared
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  it. I just remembered I've got a podcast I haven't done today.
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  So I thought I'd do an episode on inlet filters and why you should have a filter on your inlet ducting.
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  So obviously people have filters on their outlets to control odors,
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  so you put carbon filters but a inlet
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  filter is equally important in my
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  eyes and that is to keep out unwanted pests and
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  some diseases but not all diseases and not
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  all pests so depending on where it's positioned you could best not to have your
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  inlet coming in from near to ground level because a lot of pests cannot actually
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  fly very high so something like a flea beetle or a things like.
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  The insects i think like carrot flies and things
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  like this they can't fly over like a meter and a half things
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  so you you actually want to position it high up
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  if you can on the highest floor and bring
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  that down if you can whatever's feasible and then
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  you want a mesh filter so this is not a chemical
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  filter this is a mesh filter and the
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  easiest method is to get a pair of tights and
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  cut it up and just tie that over either
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  the the outer section or the inner section of
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  the filter it doesn't really matter you could
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  buy a specialist filter and obviously you
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  if you're a bloke you can borrow your
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  partners or or your mums or anybody
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  you know as long as they're not fishnet tights and
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  that they are the paws are small enough
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  to prevent any insect coming through so you'll you'll prevent butterflies and
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  that's why you don't get caterpillars as a pest moths and moths and butterflies
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  any lepidoptera as they say for butterflies and moths they you'll prevent them
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  by just having any filter really will stop a butterfly and therefore.
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  Caterpillars you obviously you'll prevent flea beetles and
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  the maggots and sort of fly-based pests
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  that you might get outside like you know on cereals you get frit
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  fly which is a fly pest you'll get all the aphids and the aphid type pests so
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  you that's white fly black fly mealy bug scale insect they're all belong to
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  the aphids and you'll prevent all of those by having an inlet filter as long as it's well protected.
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  Now, the one thing you,
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  You'll prevent viruses coming into the grow room in that you won't aphids and thrips particularly.
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  Aphids and thrips are what's called vectors for viruses.
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  So the virus doesn't grow in them, but the insects transfer it from plant to plant.
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  And it's not they've evolved. This is symbiotic because sick plants help pests
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  and being transported helps the virus.
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  So viruses transport vectoring
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  on on aphids and thrips that will be prevented by having
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  an inlet filter viruses can't survive in the air so they don't float around
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  like a spore and so the only other way you're going to get viruses in your grow
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  room is by on infected cutting material like secateurs and knives or on cuttings
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  coming in maybe on some seeds as well now you won't prevent.
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  Mildews and pollen from coming into your grow room with most filters so if you're
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  growing a dioecious crop and you want to keep the females unpollinated then
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  pollen will still come in through most filters you'd have to be a very strong
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  filter and also a very strong,
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  fan to pull the air through that very fine gauge
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  filter it's probably not worth it and it
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  would cause a lot of noise as well and then the same for mildew spores they're
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  about they're under 50 micron certainly and so you so 50 micrometers and so
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  you're not going to get that with something like a tight you know some old tights
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  are not going to prevent spores or pollen from getting through.
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  The other thing to consider is don't leave the doors of your grow room open.
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  Fungus gnats will get in very easily. They can smell the moisture.
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  They're hanging around near the grow room.
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  We find that if you've got houseplants, the fungus gnats will come from the
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  houseplants and congregate near the grow room because they can smell the damp soil inside.
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  That might be a good reason to have a mesh filter on both the inner and outer,
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  part of your inlet piping because if
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  you had to say take the the the
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  mesh off for cleaning or maintenance or for some other reason there
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  could be fungus gnats hanging around in there and
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  they could if you've cleaned out fungus gnats and you've got a fungus gnat
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  free growing environment then obviously you want to keep them out so our our
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  grow rooms at the minute you trema they're all fungus gnat free and so we've
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  got filters on those filters are on second floor and we've also I've also made
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  a contraption that is not health and safety legal,
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  shall we say, that involves a pot of decomposing grow media sat above one of
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  those electrocution units for insects.
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  That seems to be working extremely well for controlling fungus gnats.
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  But as my colleague Matthew says, it is a bit dangerous with the electricity
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  and the water, so I have to keep them separate and we don't leave it on overnight.
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  So that's why we control fungus gnats at the moment but i'd say an inlet filter is a lot safer,
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  if you know of any specialist inlet filters let me know i don't they're not
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  as popular and i don't think there are any commercially available ones but i might be wrong.
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  Maybe there's an added feature you could add to your inlet filter as well as
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  just keeping out pests and diseases it's one to think about i haven't thought
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  about i haven't thought about enough and yeah that's been hydroponics daily for today inlet filters
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  because if you think I've missed anything drastic on that one, let me know.
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  Until then, until tomorrow, thank you very much for listening.