Hey all, I've got a thrip problem. When I first bought my 4'x4'x6.5' grow tent this past summer, I immediately started seeing silvery blotches appear in week 1 of veg. Within days, the blotches were spreading and I managed to snap pictures and a video of the pests as one crawled across a leaf. After doing some homework, I made the conclusion that I definitely had thrips. I tried a cheap insecticidal soap spray from Wal Mart with no luck. That grow was further plagued by a few other (and worse) problems, so I ended up starting from scratch. A few times. The thrips kept appearing. They never got out of control, but they were also NEVER dying completely. Eventually I declared war on that tent. After I scrapped another batch of plants, I did things to that tent with insecticide - and isopropyl alcohol - that were straight up unholy. I guarantee I broke at least a half dozen war crimes in that ~104 cubic foot space. I turned that grow tent into a nuclear fallout zone that pests would tremble as they spoke of in fear for generations to come. Anyway, the tent remained inactive for a few weeks (completely sealed with those chemicals), while I waited the coming of winter. I planted new seeds in late October, and they took off (Image 1). This time, they passed clean through seedling stage with no hiccups. They entered vegetative smoothly. I started to rejoice. They tripled in size every other day. The November (and now December) air coming into the tent was chilly, so I attributed the lack of pests this time due to winter. The plants are now in their final week or two of veg (Image 2). They're in 5 gallon fabric pots of 3/1 coco/perlite mix. General Hydroponics Flora Series nutes daily, with added CalMag. Ph balanced between 5.5 - 6.5 and quality tester to 600-700PPM. Yesterday, I saw something I had been dreading. Something I had hoped never to see again (Image 3 and 4). They're back. Those little bastards are back. I acted right away. I checked over all five plants very closely, and so far only see bites on one part of one single plant. I've isolated that plant inside the "infected" grow tent under a 400w MH bulb. The rest (showing no thrip marks) are now sitting happily inside a bedroom closet under their own 600w MH bulb. What do I do now? I don't want to try the insecticidal soap again, since it only slowed them down last time and really beat up my seedlings. I want to try ladybugs, but for the life of me I can't find anywhere here (in ON, Canada) that sells them this time of year. Amazon US carries them, but won't ship to Canada and Amazon CA doesn't carry them. Even the top pest control breeders' websites are out of stock. Should I try neem oil? How do I apply it? When? I'm at a loss here. I went over a month thrip-free, and suddenly and inexplicably - in the middle of winter - they're back.
Enjoyed that read! Well written. It's a pain but does happen - I would use wasps or lady bugs too but if you cant, your best bet is neem oil mate Least u are still in veg and have a good chance of success. Google neem oil to kill thrips and u should be golden Good luck pal.
insecticidal soap shouldn't 'beat up' your seedlings. Are you using simple soap like castille or are you using dish soap? Anything with de-greaser in is a no no,.
I use lady bugs, they eat em'. Neem Oil, you spray top and bottom of the leaves every couple days to finally kill em and the young before they can hatch new eggs
If you can get preditor great but preditor will need right conditions like lady birds dont work on less than 12 hrs lol Tho id say ya best bet would be spinosad its awsome use it every 3 days for 2 weeks all visible thrips will be dead in 24 hrs but eggs will continue to hatch. And you cant use neem in flower its more a deterant. Spino can be used in flower Also thrips love blue so blue sticky traps work well. And id also if you have a steam cleaner go over your tent in the seems ect.
Yes to biocontrol, but no to ladybugs. Common misconception. Ladybugs, ironically, are a very poor beneficial insect to buy. There are many more specialist predators readily available, especially in Ontario. Contact Stacey at Natural Insect Control in Stevensville/Niagara area. She's the leading expert in the area. Thrips are easily managed with a combination of traps (yellow or blue sticky traps) and predators, such as Cucumeris and Stratiolaelaps. Cucumeris eat the mobile stages on the foliage, Stratiolaelaps eat the pupae in the soil. If you go with chemicals the same things is going to happen. They just don't work anymore. Get these scenarios every day.
I'd recommend researching Integrated Pest Management. It employs a variety of things all at the same time, consistently throughout the grow, that makes your grow environment inhospitable for pests. Check out Evergreen Growers Supply or a company offering similar products near you. They supply predators for your specific pest. I've recently released Nemasys - Steinernema feltiae, Hypoaspis (Stratiolaelaps scimitus Womersley), and Amblyseius cucumeris. Good and proper IPM takes regular effort, but it's worth the balanced grow environment.
Except spinosad does not being a chemical tho people think it is and lady bird lava would be better than the adult there hungry little fuckers Lady bird adults just collect in your light and then die. Or fly into hps Pyemethrin wont work well these days tho it can supress them but wonrt irradicate them
Lady beetles in general are hungry and eat a lot, but they also never eradicate a pest problem. They'll always leave some behind for their offspring, and continue to do so. The adults leave, and die. Then you need to buy them again and again. This is why they're not in the arsenal for professional biocontrol programs. This is why Stratiolaelaps is key because it will persist in the soil for the life of the crop. Cucumeris can survive on pollen and can stay established for months. I don't like spinosad, being a nerve toxin. But one thing is for sure -- if you go the chemical route for this crop, stay with it. Don't try to go back to beneficial insects after. You will just waste your money. Its one or the other.
Nerve toxin to insects mammals it has very little effect unless you were eating it like candy and youd need a kg or more very very nontoxic in humans infact you can spray on a fruit crop and eat the same day Its not a chemical and is endoresd by many organic groups as a natural insecticide. But yeah dont go insect the. Chemical or something designed to kill insects as it cant differentiate between good or bad insect. Also.another tip is sprinkle crushed ouster shell on the soil work some in to the soil. Shell will slice and dice insects trying to move through it