Thrips 101: Introduction to Western Flower Thrips

[Vaporizzando192]

thrips attack in late flowering...just 3 questions

first question : can i use spinosad (or what u suggest?) in the very last days of flowering?
second one : if i just let them...is it safe for the buds?
last one : if i let them playing is it safe to use buds with a Vaporizer ? (i quit smoke)

thx

 

[ganjaments]

thrips attack in late flowering...just 3 questions

first question : can i use spinosad (or what u suggest?) in the very last days of flowering?
second one : if i just let them...is it safe for the buds?
last one : if i let them playing is it safe to use buds with a Vaporizer ? (i quit smoke)

thx

1) I suggest not using spinosad that late. It will make the flowers smoke extremely rough.
2)Yes
3)Yes

 

[Vaporizzando192]

1) I suggest not using spinosad that late. It will make the flowers smoke extremely rough.
2)Yes
3)Yes

ok thx

now i am over thrips
i did not use anything at all and now seems ok

i am wondering :to prevent thrips is it enough to use neem weekly spray foliar from the beginning ?

i could use horsetail and quassia powder too

 

[Mr. Krinkle]

Just ran through this thread, and noticed I saw no mention of Conserve SC.

Conserve SC is a spinosad product whose concentration puts everything else to shame. Monterey and Captain Jack's are 0.5% Spinosad, where as Conserve SC is 11%. It's much more expensive initially at $130-$150 a quart, but you're only using 2.5ml (max) per gallon, as opposed to Monterey and Captain Jack's at 2oz per gallon.

$150 per quart (946.35ml), with a usage rate of 2.5ml/gal = 378.5 treatments at $0.39 cents per treatment

Monterey at $30 per qt (32oz), with a 2oz/gal usage rate = 16 treatments at $2 per treatment.

I'm sure this has been brought up in other threads, but being the "main" thirp thread, I thought it might help here as well. Oh, and there is a product called Conserve Naturalyte that I think I saw posted in the thread, which is another .05%.

i've been noticing monterey and captain jack's not being as effective as in the past

i also read somewhere that thrips are starting to become immune to spinosad....


i can knock them back with the spinosad and control them but it doesn't seem to knock them way back to almost being gone


i've been noticing BT being way more effective now...


anybody else noticing any of this?

 

[Tynehead Tom]

Canadians---->anyone know what the best over the counter killer for thrips is?
I took a long drive (3 hrs LOL) to the nearest grow store and was told spinosad required a pesticide permit and special order.... "if" they could get it.

did I get bullshitted?
been fighting a smallish thrip problem since april but they keep finding a way back. I'm starting to think the grow industry here is inoculating grow media with pests on purpose so their retailers get to keep the cash registers rolling. I'm convinced of this in fact.

need some advice here. been out of the loop for over a decade and thrips are a bug we never had in our rooms from 89 to 2005. Odd that they are so prevalent now..... see my above comment on industry inoculating grow media

 

[chris harris]

I had to order spinosad over the internet as no one I could find stock it in Canada, was no problem getting it. I Just picked up SM90, and mosquito dunks to treat the soil, see which one works better. Local greenhouse's swear by nematodes. Yellow sticky traps also for the fliers.

 

[Dankwolf]

I second that.

I second that.

Canadians---->anyone know what the best over the counter killer for thrips is?
I took a long drive (3 hrs LOL) to the nearest grow store and was told spinosad required a pesticide permit and special order.... "if" they could get it.

did I get bullshitted?
been fighting a smallish thrip problem since april but they keep finding a way back. I'm starting to think the grow industry here is inoculating grow media with pests on purpose so their retailers get to keep the cash registers rolling. I'm convinced of this in fact.

need some advice here. been out of the loop for over a decade and thrips are a bug we never had in our rooms from 89 to 2005. Odd that they are so prevalent now..... see my above comment on industry inoculating grow media

Never seen so many issues with bugs and molds like there is now.

 

[Tynehead Tom]

I remember back in the beginning (89 to 93) , the bugs I was taught to deal with were spider mites, mealy bugs and such. We just didn't have thrips, whiteflys ect on any noticeable scale, indoors or out. (BC lowermainland, Canada)
After 93, I was rrunning my own rooms and again, spider mites were about the only pest that were of concern. It was somewhere in the mid 2000's that powdery mildew became an epidemic , even in hand water sunshine mix grows, not just the hydro shows with the extra humidity ect.
Now fast forward to today..... these fucking thrips or whatever they are are like nothing I have dealt with. At least I am assuming they are in fact thrips......
the bugs I keep getting everytime I get new media are a small light brown , very fast bug, that almost look like a small sliver of wood dust. They run for their lives if disturbed.
On the underside of the leaf, tucked right into the veins one occasionaly finds a slightly slower version of the same bug, but it is a bit smaller and paler in color. Very hard to spot either bug without a magnifier. The topside of the leaves where the brown version seems to hang out, to the naked eye at close range they just look like bits of dust debris from the media..... then they scatter.
I hate using strong stuff to wipe these out and even leaving the fresh bale outside in -20C temps, didn't kill nuthin. I just potted up 40 seeds into brand new fresh media on the 27th, in a sterile environment and today, just a few short days later, I'm seeing 3 and 4 of these fuggen bugs in the tops of every seedling.
The oddest thing is there are never any adults, never, not a winged insect in my filters or sticky traps or seen flying in the air. So I'm questioning if they are indeed thrips but yet they appear under 30x magnification to in fact be thrips.
I'm so fuggen pissed off right now it's not even funny.
I think I'm going to completely gut my process and go back to rockwools and hydroton.
BC Canada sunshine mix 4 is contaminated, either on purpose or not who knows but every bale has brought me thrips over the past year, despite rigorous protocols to rid the plants of them.

 

[Mr. Krinkle]

i've only seen them start to fly in the summer when my temps get on the higher side - otherwise, they don't fly....so if you're in a nice controlled environment where you don't really ever get above 80 degrees, i don't think they start to fly - at least that's what ive seen


go pickup some Vital Fish from the vital garden supply guys - you can floiar and feed with it and the BT in it knocks them way back

http://vitallandscaping.com/product/vital-fish-powder-15-0-0-5/


you'll be surprised at how effective it is for thrips

 

[NorthernFarmer]

Bug B Gon seems to be working better than any of the chemicals being sold in the shops here in BC. I was totally surprised after using the expensive sprays and systemic soaks with no results. I tried it on a whim because it's organic and wouldn't hurt my mothers. It was the best push back on Thrips I saw in over a year or two. Been keeping on it and it seems to be winning the battle. It has ingredients that use to work 15 years ago on Thrips like pyrethrin and I think it smells a lot like Neem. All that stuff stopped working long ago but it seems the bugs I have are definitely not resistant to this cocktail at this point. Easy to find and cheap but I leaned the hard way about cloning a day or two after spraying.... had leaves rot off really easy under the domes.

 

[Hashishh]

I live in Canada and I'm battling thrips at the moment. Luckily it doesn't look bad and it's only isolated to 1 plant of the 3.
Spinosad and Pyrethrin are both banned and I understand neem oil isn't very effective at killing them.
So far I've done a foliar and soil drench with peroxide and dusted the top of the soil with diatomaceous earth. I've ordered neem oil and it'll be here sometime during the week but I only have about a week or two before I flip to 12/12.

What would you guys do without Pyrethrin or Spinosad? Even neem has to be bought online.

 

[DenverJim]

Id move to a country that not a nanny state.
Since I grew up with DDT and real pesticides. Modern day ones don't bother me. Read some of the assumptions the government makes about human exposure its a joke. I am using everything possible neem, pyrethrin, spinosad and am waiting for amazon to deliver abamectin ( shoud have ordered floramite. It lasts 28 days ).


I still don't have the leaf damage that is the classic sign. I only see the larvae with a 100x active eye. The only damage on new growth. Visually develpping buds have a yellow/brown color with no white pistils. I grow purple so its even harder to see on those plants. Some plants are chopped and placed in clear plastic bags and left to bake in the sun for days. I am now spraying the dirt. I also covered the dirt with newspaper. i am growing long flowering sativas ( hunk, hmbb, swazicitral, ciski, napalma) i also am growing clones in pots with light dep.

 

[MedicalMonkey]

What's worked for me is a combination of things and much patience and frustration. I'm canadian too so can't get certain products easily.

White oil works very very well if you make sure to spray every 3-5 days for AT LEAST 2 weeks. I think I used a 4:1 ratio of mineral oil and murphy oil soap.

Also, mixing 1-2 tbsp of DE to water and spray or soak the plants will leave a residue when dry that will help get rid of them.

Plain hot water from the tap works well too. Fill a bucket and dunk the plant. Can do container, roots, and all, or just dip the plant. Kills adults and larvae but won't get all the eggs so follow that with oil treatment just be careful not to use oil right after the hot water and spray with cool water first of you can cause damage (as i found out the hard way).

Oh, and broken up mosquito dunks spread on top of pots helps too.

Still a pain in the ass battle, but winnable if you're persistent and don't stop until they're done.

 

[MedicalMonkey]

Sorry, the white oil is 4:1 oil and soap, but then has to be DILUTED. Use 1-2 tsp per litre.

 

[MedicalMonkey]

If trying the hot water most taps should put out water around 100-120 degrees. That is the correct range. Hotter could kill your plants so to be safe check the temperature. And if you do treat the container/soil/roots just soak until the center of the rootball gets to around 100 degrees and then be sure to feed with room temp water/food and adjust the ph after because the hot water will more than likely mess that stuff up. Sorry for posting three times but I can't edit my first to add all this

 

[Nannymouse]

I didn't read the entire thread, but am interested in any info on reproducing the spinosad bacteria in a home method. Can one just drench a large soil bin and it will propagate itself?

 

[Nannymouse]

Also, i cannot find any info on whether or not spinosad will survive freezing during shipping. Anybuddy?

 

[buzzmobile]

Also, i cannot find any info on whether or not spinosad will survive freezing during shipping. Anybuddy?

http://www.biconet.com/botanicals/infosheets/MontereySprayLabel.pdf
The right hand column DIRECTIONS FOR USE It is a violation of Federal law to use this product in a manner inconsistent with its labeling. Read all Directions for Use carefully before applying. SHAKE WELL BEFORE USE. AVOID FREEZING

Of course the Internet being the internet there is this anecdotal evidence:
https://growingfruit.org/t/spinosad-storage-issues/11948

I just shelled out $30.00 for the large bottle of spinosad and didn’t know whether I’d waste my investment (as well as my apples) storing it in our garage. The good people at Monterey Garden Spray sent me this information:

If the product freezes, just warm it up and shake well and it will be fine. This product has a 5 year shelf life.
We are located in Fresno, CA and in the summer our warehouse reaches temperatures in excess of 100° so the heat will not affect this product.<<

The link below contradicts the "information" about heat mentioned above. DiPel and Thuricide are the trade names that contain spinosad and both warn against storing at high temps.
https://extension.missouri.edu/publications/g1921

 

[imiubu]

Also, i cannot find any info on whether or not spinosad will survive freezing during shipping. Anybuddy?

I will never purchase any commercial pest control again.
For a couple of years now, I've used only a simple recipe of 'house hold' items when pests think they're going to be moving in.

ISO/ H202 (3%)/ veg oil/ liquid SOAP and water to spray plants. Kills all soft bodied pests on contact. Can be applied up to 3 wks. from harvest.

Inexpensive too.

 

[Nannymouse]

imiubu, is that all mixed together?