I've had an ongoing battle with thrips. They seem to like to appear when I'm in the midst of flower. They aren't too bad, just annoying and I know they can affect yield. I use sand in top of my soil... I've disinfected my tent several times and even tried a new tent... the weird thing is I never see the mature flying version, just the larvae on the leaves. I have the blue sticky strips and nothing is on them. I'm assuming they are in the promix. Any safe ways to treat the soil besides baking it? Sent from my iPhone using Grasscity Forum
why dont you just spray them with something that has Spinosad in it? Monterey Garden Insect Spray or Captain Jack's Dead Bug Spray. They will all die if you use Spinosad. And it is safe for the flowers. Just apply two applications and make sure you get all the plants tops and bottoms. two applications five days apart (to kill off the ones that just hatched and didnt die as eggs..)
Spinosad is a brutal chemical. That’s why. You’re right, it takes a shit load of thrips to really have a big impact on the plant. Where are you hanging the sticky traps? They are really poor fliers so the traps should be hung down closer to the ground and bottom leaves. For future, introduce Stratiolaelaps scimitus to your seedlings/new planting’s and they’ll persist for the life of the plant feeding on pupating thrips, as well as springtails, fungus gnats, overwintering spider mites, root aphids, etc. Best bang for the buck and should lower your thrips issue by 80% by itself. You can try other beneficials like Cucumeris which feed on the immature larvae on the leaves. Those two mites plus sticky traps and the thrips should be below detectable levels.