# I have thrips...



## Scooby5757 (Jan 10, 2009)

So this past summer I went to Germany for a semester abroad. Fun, exciting, and the beer was out of this world (and cheaper than soda, they know how life should be). Before I left, in order to put early strike in any fungal problems I sprayed with a copper based spray. Well, when I got back there were obvious problems that had gone unnoticed by my "hired gardener"...my father. Leaves were "bleached" white, a groups of seedlings looked like it had been "fried", other plants had the same issue.

Last night I was going through the grow area at around 11:30, later than usual, and that's when I found them. Lurking on the beginnings of a new sheath on one of my phrags were two little black "strips", then they moved. 

It all makes sense now. The bleached areas had all been chewed away with the little black dots of thrip poop. I had never had them before, I just didn't recognize the symptoms. 

So now what? I can't use one of Leo's cocktails because this is in my basement, insecticidal soap may be as effective as dish soap, and doing this individually with alcohol and cotton swabs is not an option. 

I never know what to do when pests show up.  But I wanna be brutal. :evil:


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## likespaphs (Jan 10, 2009)

if you want to be brutal, you need three pesticide and to rotate between them... 
otherwise, conserve is typically very good but there are now some resistant thrips out there. 
i don't like soaps as they seem to have phytotoxicicity.
hort oil isn't too bad.
some of the new generation neonicotinoids are effective but they can be very expensive...


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## Heather (Jan 10, 2009)

Conserve is good, but mine were not all destroyed by it. Bayer worked for about a minute. Mine (yeah, they were like my pets!) were much more attracted to my Phrags (the thinner leaves maybe?) than my Paphs - what are yours on?


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## cnycharles (Jan 10, 2009)

we occasionally get conserve proof thrips (and resistant to even orthene and other things) and they are a pain. pyrethrins can irritate them so that they fly and move around more, and you can use yellow and blue sticky cards (used often for monitoring insect population levels) hanging right in with your plants and they will move to the cards and get stuck. one creative method I read about involved a moving watering boom that had air jets blowing down from the boom to stir them up, and then either vacuums or sticky cards attached just behind them to catch the bugs as they were flying.

there are some insect predators that you can buy for thrip; don't know details. for a small collection heck you can vacuum around the plants where the bugs are collecting; they fly when disturbed unless they are having a nice meal down in a flower in which case you have to squish the flower a bit. systemic imidacloprid is supposed to work somewhat for thrip, but as a suppression not cure, and the chemical doesn't move into the flowers or if you have a very slow-growing flower stem or plant section then not enough may move up into the plant if you apply to the pot. there are translaminar types of it that can be applied to leaves and will move through the leaf. if the weather is nice, you could take things outdoors and spray everything with a fine water mist to get them flying around and then take back indoors, or could mist in your shower to get crawlers and eggs washed off a bit. sadly I don't know of a good killer of thrip except for a flamethrower


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## Scooby5757 (Jan 11, 2009)

For hort oil, do you mean Neem?


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## Scooby5757 (Jan 11, 2009)

Heather said:


> Conserve is good, but mine were not all destroyed by it. Bayer worked for about a minute. Mine (yeah, they were like my pets!) were much more attracted to my Phrags (the thinner leaves maybe?) than my Paphs - what are yours on?



Can you use Conserve indoors?

Oh yeah, phrags. That's what I noticed it on. I have a spike starting on the Phrag. Mem. Estelle Getty. That's where I saw the dark, long slender bodies. They didn't fly though...but when I looked up symptoms online I had the rasped leaves and the little black poo dots. They also liked the taste of the sobralia.

So I poured alcohol in the crown on the two plants with spikes in low sheath. Then rinsed well with water. Then the only thing I had on hand was Garden Safe Insecticidal Soap in concentrate and I mixed up a gallon and a half and spray the hell out of everything. I won't see the plants for several days, so we'll see. 

So I haven't seen them fly, should I have? The little guys were about 1.5 mm long and maybe 1/5 that in width, maybe even narrower...You think I made the right diagnosis?


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## biothanasis (Jan 11, 2009)

I have no idea, but I wish you good luck...!!!!


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## Heather (Jan 11, 2009)

I don't think they fly. They crawl, and they tend to go into the hardest places to get to. People always told me they liked buds and flowers best but when I had them they were always in the leaf axils and sheaths.

Oh, and no, Conserve OUTside! (sorry, we have a puppy and the phrase of the week is "good potty OUTSIDE!")


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## likespaphs (Jan 11, 2009)

yup. they can fly but not terribly well, i don't think...
i thought there was something on the label about spraying in interiorscapes, but i didn't see anything...
neem oil is not the same thing as horticultural oil like ultra-fine pdf.
neem also has anti-feedant and other properties, ultra-fine and the like are suffocants... they suffocate the little s.o.b.'s...


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## cnycharles (Jan 11, 2009)

there are all sorts of oils that fall under horticultural oil. usually they can be mineral oil, vegetable oil things like that. thrip do fly, and I remember that since they are so small it's hard to follow them once they take off from a plant/flower. i've swallow them walking or riding my bike down the boardwalk between greenhouses and have seen clouds of them in spots. I can ask someone at work what may be listed for thrip and interiorscapes, though I can't say that there are many things that really kill thrip dead. probably many things will knock them down a bit but not for long. I would try neem sprays and use a bunch of sticky cards to catch them, and to mist/wash everything off if you can. I think you could probabaly suffocate/drown some, especially if you can mix a little soap with water being sprayed over your plants to break the surface tension so that they can't walk/float on top of the water. I've seen shore flies and fungus gnats on the surface of water so a good way to catch them off guard is to use chemicals in the water that makes them sink! (greenshield works well for floors because the shoreflies will drop into the puddle instead of float on top)

and yes, heather is right they really like to hide, so if you spray or use anything to try and suffocate them, you'll have to make a special effort to open sheaths and wiggle growths around so that the liquid will get everywhere


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## cnycharles (Jan 11, 2009)

Scooby5757 said:


> So this past summer I went to Germany for a semester abroad. Fun, exciting, and the beer was out of this world (and cheaper than soda, they know how life should be). Before I left, in order to put early strike in any fungal problems I sprayed with a copper based spray. Well, when I got back there were obvious problems that had gone unnoticed by my "hired gardener"...my father. Leaves were "bleached" white, a groups of seedlings looked like it had been "fried", other plants had the same issue.



you know, you may very well have thrip but copper sprays are known for burning plants if you aren't careful or the plants are sensitive. I was going to mention this before but forgot. it could be you had 'some' thrip but didn't notice them until you saw the burn, or else they are finding the plants more attractive now that they are stressed by the damage.


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## Tazman (Feb 15, 2009)

Scooby5757 said:


> So this past summer I went to Germany for a semester abroad. Fun, exciting, and the beer was out of this world (and cheaper than soda, they know how life should be). Before I left, in order to put early strike in any fungal problems I sprayed with a copper based spray. Well, when I got back there were obvious problems that had gone unnoticed by my "hired gardener"...my father. Leaves were "bleached" white, a groups of seedlings looked like it had been "fried", other plants had the same issue.
> 
> Last night I was going through the grow area at around 11:30, later than usual, and that's when I found them. Lurking on the beginnings of a new sheath on one of my phrags were two little black "strips", then they moved.
> 
> ...


If you can get your hands on something with thiamethoxam, it is relatively non-toxic to humans, cats and dogs and, being systemic, will kill all chewing and sucking insects by paralyzing their "mouth parts". Here in Switzerland you find it under the name of Actara, as it is also called in the states. But it is also called Flagship and Platinum. Good luck.


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## SlipperFan (Feb 15, 2009)

Welcome to Slippertalk, Tazman.

I was wondering if there was a systemic that worked for thrips.


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## Inverness (Feb 16, 2009)

*Thrip Info*

Here's a link to a wide range of info concerning thrips.


http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7429.html


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## Inverness (Feb 16, 2009)

*Pesticide Evaluation*

There are often concerns voiced about the suitability of using various pesticides in home areas. If a commerical pesticide (in contrast to most products sold in home centers) is labeled for use on plants in office spaces, atriums etc. it has the word interiorscape (or something very similar) stated on the label. It may not always be in the most obvious location, but if it's there, the manufacturer has obtained legal clearence to use it in that type of situation. When used according to label directions, this may help you make a choice.

Ken B.


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## Scooby5757 (Feb 16, 2009)

Thanks Inverness! I have been doing the old standard of Neem on them. Ive done three apps. now and there seems to be less of a situation. Not much activity is seen and new growths are looking free of markings. Though I still can't wait to take them outside when the weather warms up and zonk them with some hard core stuff. :evil:


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