Thrips

[Guest]

I think I may have eliminated a thrips infestation, I intesley search everyday for signs of life but see nothing for about a week now, no new damage, no larvae, nothing.

This is how I did it:

Turned the temps down to about 62-65 during night cycle, 70-75 during day,
Underwatered the plants so the soil was way too dry too support bug life,

I made a spray with a very simple mix of mostly water, a bit of dishsoap, and a few tbls. of canola oil, sprayed twice in one week.

The plants are young clones so I took advantage of that to experiment with these changes to see if I could kill the thrips, they are heading into flower now and the temps are up, the soil is damp, and the stretch is on.

So now that the temp has risen, (74-78) the soil is damp, and conditions are not so extreme, we'll see if they show their faces again.

I have a friend who has a thrips problem too, he is much more experienced than I am at growing and I don't think he beleives that I have eliminated them :wink: so easily.

as the girls head into flower we will see if I have killed them off.

If I have, dont be so quick to run off to the store for bio soy-I and neem oil!

This newbie may have lucked out, but, time will tell, hopefully I will not be responding to this thread stickin my foot in my mouth!

I will update this thread and let you know if my methods were a success.
As of now, no signs of bug life at all.

 

[Verite]

Best of luck, my dealings with thrips found they didnt go that easy.

 

[jaypee89]

i was battling a colony of vicious leafminers.....boy that shet fuct up some of my leaves haha.

i mixed up a 50/50 Water/ISO solution. SPrayed it on the leaves and the tunnels they were digging are now empty =)

 

[jonnybgood29]

i found that diatomaceas earth works very effectively against thrips.... two applications 1 week apart and theyll be gone for good, at least until some more find their way into the house again!

 

[Core]

does H2o2 also work for thrips ? or only exoscelotan bugs or somethun....

 

[jonnybgood29]

peroxide will help control at root level, but the diatoms will cause them to die above ground, and on soil surface. it pierces their shin and causes them to "dleed" out. it litterally sucks the moisture from their bodiies!

 

[Core]

ahah... again something learnd....

 

[Guest]

doesn't peroxide kill all the good and bad life in the soil?

what effect does that have on the roots?

 

[jonnybgood29]

peroxide doesnt damage the roots as long as its used properly, it will however help to dissolve/remove any roots killed by insects etc to help diminish the places for pythium to take hold and cause further damage to your root system. it also gives the roots a dose of oxygen that they love. yes it does kill a lot of things including some of the beneficials, but again if it is not used too strong, the impact is minimal and they recover quickly, as most beneficial bacteria rely on oxygen as well. the anerobic bacteria are killed quickly, which is a major plus!

 

[Guest]

Update

Update

Still no bugs in sight.

Use less oil than I did OR wash the leaves off after a couple of days or less.

The fan leaves that had visible oil stain now have visible heat stress, so use with caution.

 

[mark6699331]

Did you cover the whole plant in DT or just the soil base? I'm trying the soil base to get rid of gnats and thrips. I figure it will get in the rez and kill every soil bug??


-M

 

[Guest]

Covered the whole plant.
and the topsoil.

Don't let the leaves soak in oil, if you use the spray like I did, wash the leaves off or use less oil, some of my fan leaves soaked up the oil, the undersides especially around the edges looked like a greasy paper bag, it seems fine at first, but after a few weeks, they start "claw-ing" and die off.

Looks similar to a phos. deficiency, but it's heat stress, I know this because only the leaves that soaked up oil are showing these symptoms. Oil+1000wHPS=fried leaves.
So use less oil.

Still no bugs though.

 

[Guest]

UPDATE!

UPDATE!

Made it through a whole grow---------NO BUGS!

early on not only were there thrips, but spider mites too, after using this spray in veg, no bugs in flower.

but like I said already, use less oil, like say a teaspoon per spray bottle, this way your fan leaves will not get fried like some of mine did due to oil retention.

Fresh air, cool temps at night (60-63) and homemade bug spray.
8 week flower, no thrips, no mites, suck it storebought bug shit!

 

[bartender187]

Gratz on makin it through with no bugs... Keep on it... better to make sure your clean then to risk a re-infestion with more resistant buggers. Mites to me are the worst. they will make or break many growers. prevention is easier then erradication.