Thrip control...help

[Guest]

I have a medium thrip infestation. Some leaves are showing those white spots that look like trails on the leaf and I saw those little white pests walking around the leaves.

I have miticide, (I know, it's for mites) and it didn't seem to do anything.
I read the following would work in the infirmary sticky by Stitch but I want to know what members here have used with most success and less impact to the plants. I've seen pyrethrin burn the hell out of plants before and am scare to use that. Any suggestions...

Chemicals
Hot Pepper Wax,Safer Yard & Garden Insecticide (which can be used right to the day of harvest),GNATROL( used in hydro in the water as well as soil),Doc's Neem Pest Soap,Safer Sticky Stakes,TR-11000 Pyrethrum.

PS- I'm in the first week of flower...


THanks ahead of time!

 

[2buds]

I don't have one in front of me to read the package but the NoPest strips at the hardware stores seem to send most critters running. They're cheap, around $5 and you just sit it in the grow. If your inside your house growing the strips are not recommended indoors where people are inhabiting the area. Recommended uses are sheds, storage buildings, barns, etc...
So far the strips have kept aphids away for me.
Good luck.

 

[Guest]

Thanks, 2Buds! - They are indoors, and I heard something similar, are they ok in the flowering stage, and if no-one lives in the same room?

Anyone else have any suggestions? I want to go to the hydro store today!

Thanks!

 

[sproutco]

I had thrips on my portulaca plants this summer. There piercing the leaves actually caused fungus to strike. I had good luck with safer soap. Use less than recommended on the bottle and thoroughly cover the plants till dripping.

 

[brightside]

you can get preditor for thrips - its different from psquared mite preditor but sorry - I can't remember the name -

 

[piebald]

hi am just trying organic method of scotts bonnet chilli pepper so will let you no what happens in next couple of days

 

[Guest]

problem with the little gits is they fly about

I recommend finding a treatment which you can use frequently (like every three days)

with thrips you can't assume that you can just wait till the next generation to hatch out, as even when you have just sprayed there are bound to be some still flying about that you have missed

I am about to have a try with the Biobizz "Buzz Off", in combination with their "Leaf Coat"

I already have the yellow sheets up etc. and they are catching some

thrippy little gits

Neem Oil will be up next

 

[Guest]

Sweet, Sproutco, I'm seriously leaning towards that. Did it burn the plants at all? Thanks

Brightside, I used some biological warfare with the thrip predators (5,000 of them) for these dang things last time they struck, unfortunately some survived the war it appears and are back this crop, that's why I'm ready for the chemical warfare, LOL.

Namkha - Very interesting, I'm probably going to try one of these, hopefully they don't burn the plants, I guess I'll check the ingredients for oils etc and use the least aggressive one in terms of plant and human side effects.

I don't want to use neem in flower and from what I've studied it is more of a preventative measure, and to actually wipe out existing colonies, it would take too long versus knocking 'em good. Does this sound right?

Quick Note - I'm digging the NEW ICmag, I'm getting alot of quick responses, and I think the influx of OG crew is beginning to become apparent and has helped the website now that the trolls are being weeded out. I'm seeing way less unanswered threads.....THANKS EVERYONE!

 

[Guest]

yeh, once I have vanquished the thrippy little gits I reckon it is time to get a good preventative routine going

discipline and punish!


lol

Namkha

 

[Guest]

*SIRENS*"STUDEDNT-WARNING:I am just learning so please be warned I am a Student Grower.....Please ok anything I have said or any method I might mention With someone who is an expert or who has alot more knowlegde in the subject ...So in this Case Please consult with a expert before using Neem OIL on your flowering plants"*SIRENS*.....ok Student-Warning over...."*

Please look into this but I think Neem oil can be used two weeks into flowering.....I believe Soma uses this method....But other then that WARNING(WARNINGlease read warning again)...and maybe a little burn...Strait Neem Oil works for me...Make sure it is 100% neem oil...I have seen some Neem Concentrate that had other stuff in it...Do not get that stuff...Get pure neem oil and I am think you can feed it to them 2 weeks into flowering I think ...The neem Oil will Burn the Plants if you use to much....So please make sure you use a real light solution since your in flowering...Plus you can do a spray treatment too...No taste change from what I hear if used before two weeks....and I think a little extra Flush might kick out any taste that might be left in there....But no Buggys...good luck...And Please Read the STUDENT-WARNING one more time for good measure....

Here is a good link...http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=4485

 

[sproutco]

Did it burn the plants at all? Thanks

Safer soap works on alot of insects. Like I mentioned before, use less than stated on the bottle and go for thorough coverage.

 

[Verite]

Thrips dont pierce the leaf like mites do they rasp it open. Safers is also too weak for the avg infestation of either thrips or mites. Pyrethins are about the best knockout spray but you need to be aware that not only as someone else mentioned, adult thrips have fully functional wings, they also have two life cycle stages where they are in/under the soil level where sprays dont seem to work well or at all. Pyrethins are fine and dont burn at all as long as you pull the lights back a few inches.

As far as the sprays working, pyrethins knock out thrips twice as easy as mites but you have to use them more frequently to get the ones that come out of the soil to feed.

 

[Guest]

Thanks Verite, I'll use the pyrethrins if the safer spray I have doesn't do the job in keeping them under control, I also still have some sticky traps my hydro guy gave me, For this crop, I'll use the two together and see what happens.
I'm guessing the lights being too close is what fried dude's plants, and I got scared of them. They were those pyrethrin gas bombs he used...another friend of mine at the hydro store said the fuckers were almost impossible to eradicate.

 

[the couch]

NEEM
Had thrips going wild at my job for a while, we tried several different products... all of them worked to control the thrips, but never got rid of them all. Tried a different type of neem oil (the one we tried before was an extract of neem) and they are GONE and haven't come back! Spray neem every 4-5 days until they are gone. Safe to use in bloom, but go lightly around the buds.
Find a neem oil containing azadirachtin, a lot do not...

 

[piebald]

succses with the bonnet, today went through my garden could only find 2 thrips

 

[Verite]

Best plans of action work when knowing your enemies life cycle.

... The life cycle of a thrip is complex and varies according to thrip species, host plant and temperature. The whole cycle may take from 11 to 40 days from egg to adult. In general, there are several stages including an egg, two to four larval stages, a prepupa, pupa and adult. Pupation occurs in the soil. The following diagram illustrates the Melon thrip life cycle.

http://coop.co.pinellas.fl.us/Commhort/IPM/pinellas/Thrips.htm

 

[the couch]

succses with the bonnet, today went through my garden could only find 2 thrips

Good to know, I've never tried the pepper wax sprays...

 

[Guest]

Thanks for all the input everyone, . I think these solutions all are good. I think Verite has some important info on larva, so I got some predatory nematodes that my hydro store ordered for me and I used the half bottle of Safer Soap Insect Spray I had on the leaves.I think that should hold me through this crop, but before my next batch, I will probably use some pyrethrins to knock them for good. I don't want leftovers...

Sproutco - How do I apply "less than stated on bottle" , if the bottle says to go for thorough coverage as you suggest....

Like I mentioned before, use less than stated on the bottle and go for thorough coverage.

Verite - I lifted the lights (2 X 600 HPS) like you reminded me to, and they seem fine today, no burn. I'll try that also with the pyrethrin in the future. Do you suggest liquid pyrethrin sprays or go for the gas bombs??


Couch - Neem seems like a great barrier in the veg stages, specially since I use T5s, and are not hot. I hate fried leaves. I guess so many years with no pests got me complacent. I need a preventive measure also and neem in veg seems like a good one.

2 Buds - I grabbed some pest strips also, just for the extra monitoring and help, but I don't think those would do the job alone.

Piebald - Thanks for the follow up, sounds great, do you think it killed the bugs or did it scare them away due to the pepper taste etc..repellent?

Respect - Right on with the neem info! thx

Here's a picture of the girls right before I sprayed them, the lights had just gone on, as you can see, it's not completely attacked. There is still some green hehe. This is one week into flower.

Reservoir Seeds - Sour Diesel and one bagseed Kush in the back





and some LST action on the babies

 

[Verite]

I would use the sprays. The bombs are ok as long as you are fully aware of all open flame locations in close proximity to the grow room. The bug bombs release a flamable gas for however long it takes the can to empty and the gas to settle in the room. If the can you got is too big for the room its going to vent and probably flow along the floor line.

If it ignites the only good news is it will probably kill all the bugs instantly.

 

[caljim]

If they are past week two of flower spraying anything should be done with great caution .

On the otherhand the "no pest strips" are easy and will kill them in a couple days. Thats from personal experience.

Good luck, thrips suck.