Living with thrips

[hard rain]

I have a couple of plant in large pots using a coir and organic fertilizer mix and i water with a weak organic tea. Problem is I've got thrips and being organic and 3 weeks into flower I do not want to spray anything.

My questions are what will happen if I ignore them? How much damage do they actually do to the buds? Can i control them manually by washing them off with water or something like that. Is there any way to make life more difficult for them; reduce numbers to a manageable level. I would consider squashing them if I could see them properly. Please help!

 

[TwinTurboGuy]

I've had a battle with thrips in coco myself. They can be quite troublesome in late flower since spraying anything on the buds can promote mold and fungus. Since you are in the third week of flower, it might be easier to eradicate them at this stage.

You can either go

A.) Purchase an ORGANIC pesticide known as Spinosad (Monterey Garden Spray or search on ebay)

This has solved my Thrips problem while I was in veg. I was very satisfied with the results.

or

B.) If worse comes to worse (especially at late flower), you can just ride it off till harvest. Thrips won't do as much damage in low numbers, however a severe infestation can be a big problem.

 

[HeadyPete]

Yes use the spinosad.

Safe, organic, effective. 1 spray will do it.

Thrips will destroy your leaves ability to photosynthesize, which will harm the plant.

Use the MGS.

 

[bbbiggreen]

at the very least get a few thrip traps there sticky traps colored to attract thrips and hang them among your plants it should help keep the numbers down

 

[Koskesh]

neem oil at 8ml/L with 4-5 drops of dishsoap, spray the pots every 4-5 days, saturate the top of the medium. Adult thrips hang out in the lower to middle leaves, but when they hatch the larvae drop to the medium. You can see babies crawling around the rims of your pots at that stage...
also at only 3 weeks flower you can spray your plants with almost anything if using a fine mist and not spraying to runoff. I don't like to though, and would only spray the pots and lowest leaves.

Neem won't affect anything, and you're not using much.

 

[HeadyPete]

don't use neem. It works slowly, need multiple applications, you will be left with a smelly sticky residue on your leaves.

Kokesh, why do you think this approach is better than an easy, 1 app, no residue solution like MGS? You said it yourself you don't like using neem, why would you suggest it then?

 

[subrob]

have heard nothing but good re: spinosad from folks who know what they are talking about. i battled them for a looong time trying to use all the other certified organic treatments. i used azatrol as a drench for a couple weeks and that almost eliminated them, just started using as a foliar. if i had to do it again, i would prob use the spinosad.
----that being said, ive taken my plants to 70 plus days before without spraying because of how close they were to finish, and the finished product was fine. just prob not as much as i would have had if the leaves had been healthy.

 

[Koskesh]

got no probs with spinosad. he said he doesn't like spraying anything so was just offering a natural solution. yea neem requires multiple apps, i didn't mean to say i don't like using it - i love neem! i just don't like spraying the LEAVES during flower. spraying the pots is totally fine.
if he's willing to use spinosad, hell yes use it

 

[hard rain]

Thanks for the replies. Much appreciated.

I read (most of) the thrips 101 thread before posting this so I have considered spinosad. I was trying to see if i could find a way of just keeping the numbers down for another 6 weeks rather than spray. For some reason I just hate the thought of smoking buds that I know have been sprayed with anything. I worked in the horticultural industry for over 20 years and have seen many "safe" sprays later declared unsafe. If the plants weren't in flower I would definitely use it because I could avoid smoking the sprayed parts. Maybe I'm just being over cautious.

The idea of attacking the larvae in the medium sounds good. I will have to look into their life cycle a bit more.

Had a crazy idea this morning. If, as Koskesh says, the hatched larvae drop to the medium is there any way to then prevent them from climbing back up the stem? Thus breaking the breeding cycle. I'm thinking some sticky substance on the stem? (I'm getting desperate here and possibly going crazy!!!)

Any more ideas greatly appreciated. I will make a decision on whether to use spinosad within the next couple of days. Cheers, hard rain.

 

[HeadyPete]

I understand the caution. Spinosad is 2 proteins derived from a natural soil bacteria that are lethal to certain invertabrates (especially thrips) and nothing else, so consider it safe and natural.

On the other hand if you don't want to spray, beneficial nematodes, while not as quick of a cure, will eradicate over 250 soil pests including thrip larvae and are 100% safe and organic.

Neem is very good for the plant as a nutrient and they use it in toothpaste in India, it is a great product, but as you know, it is sticky and smells a little off, like a weird nut or something...

 

[kokua]

If you do nothing, the thrips aren't going to completly ruin your crop, but they can get out of control very easily and seriously reduce your yield this time and grows in the future.

Eggs are laid in plant tissue and hatch in 3-5 days; nymphs feed for 1-3 weeks on your foliage, then rest in the soil or on leaves until they molt into adult form in 1-2 weeks. Spraying neem on soil or pots is pointless. Really, using anything other than spinosad is a waste of resources.

The active ingredient in spinosad is made from naturally occuring soil microbes. As natural as it gets.

There are microbes all over your buds already. If you didn't already know it...microbes are everywhere. The key to health and harmony is to have good microbes around at all times. Spinosad is a solid dose of good microbes that just so happens to completely eliminate your target pest.

I wouldn't tell you something was good to use on early flowers if I hadn't already used it myself. I've used spinosad in flower with no residual problems...others have done the same.

There isn't any need to worry about the problem though...you know the solution. Now it's just a matter of when you use it.

 

[HeadyPete]

Sorry to be technical but Spinosad is proteins (2 actually, Spinosyn A and D, hence Spinosad) derived from microbes, not the microbes themselves. Nothing in spinosad is living or alive.

Spinosad, a reduced-risk insecticide, contains primarily two active compounds, spinosyns A and D that are fermentation products of bacterium Saccharopolyspora spinosa

http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=15984534

 

[kokua]

The problem with nematodes is that pupation is the only stage that (may) involve your soil. And, some pupation takes place on the plant, where there obviously aren’t any nematodes. SO...if pupation takes place on the plant, then the entire life of thrips is above the soil line.

I can tell you from a lot of experience with thrips and a lot of wasted time and money invested...use spinosad then tell a friend.

 

[HeadyPete]

I agree with everything you said, kokua.

I too had total wipeout of thrips (light infestation) with only 1 application of Monterey Garden Insect Spray on 2 different occasions.

 

[kokua]

yeah your right, I don't always remember that. THanks for the technical correction.

Isolated protiens from broken down microbes.

So...'technically' it's protien and water.

It still freaks me out to think of microbes being all over everything... Good thing we can't see them.

 

[Charg5152]

Spinosad.....works like a charm....really.

 

[Koskesh]

Spraying neem on soil or pots is pointless. Really, using anything other than spinosad is a waste of resources.

erm....LOL.