Thrip control in Europe?

[naturalistSean]

After moving to Austria I discovered many of my houseplants have dark black thrips. The Anthuriums seem especially hard hit. As all the plants were in close contact I believe I may have a disaster on my hands. Just today I discovered several thrips on a Paph sukhakuii, and fear other orchids are also impacted. Those sneaky little critters are certainly also hiding where I can't see them.

What to do? Here in Europe many of the chemical insectides that people use in the USA are unavailable.

Have any fellow orchid growers in Europe tried something that worked particularly well? Any particular products or techniques? I'm all ears.

[Clawhammer]

Originally Posted by naturalistSean

After moving to Austria I discovered many of my houseplants have dark black thrips. The Anthuriums seem especially hard hit. As all the plants were in close contact I believe I may have a disaster on my hands. Just today I discovered several thrips on a Paph sukhakuii, and fear other orchids are also impacted. Those sneaky little critters are certainly also hiding where I can't see them.

What to do? Here in Europe many of the chemical insectides that people use in the USA are unavailable.

Have any fellow orchid growers in Europe tried something that worked particularly well? Any particular products or techniques? I'm all ears.

Sorry you are dealing with thrips.

I have battled thrips for almost two years, they are a pain in the a$$ but they will not devastate your collection. Also, they will not impact all your plants, they seem to prefer certain plants (catasetinae and cattaleya for me).

Do you have access to Conserve (spinosad)? If yes, its the most effective pesticide. Learn about their lifecylce. You will need to treat the whole plant and the soil.

The damage they do is very specific. You will see gray patches starting at the edge of your flowers. They may also munch catasetum-like leaves, leaving little circular blemishes. If they get out of control they will destroy buds before they get a chance to open.

[naturalistSean]

Thanks Clawhammer (I was just listening to Doc Boggs a few days ago).

It seems Spinosad is not easily available here. It may be available in Italy which is about an hour drive away to the border, no sure how much further to a plant store. Slovenia is equally far away but I don't know about Spinosad regulations there.

[camille1585]

In the Netherlands it is the same, it is very difficult to find any chemical pesticides anymore. However, last week I noticed that my local garden center has a new systemic pesticide, the active ingredient being Flupyradifurone, and apparently it is a new chemical. Being a systemic it should work very well against thrips. Over here it is called Sanium, under the label Protect Garden (Bayer).

[Clawhammer]

Originally Posted by camille1585

In the Netherlands it is the same, it is very difficult to find any chemical pesticides anymore. However, last week I noticed that my local garden center has a new systemic pesticide, the active ingredient being Flupyradifurone, and apparently it is a new chemical. Being a systemic it should work very well against thrips. Over here it is called Sanium, under the label Protect Garden (Bayer).

Definitely worth a try considering the lack of other options. However, systemics generally aren't effective against flower munching thrips. The pesticides to not accumulate in sufficient quantities in the flowers to have the same effect the poison has on leaf suckers. Imidacloprid, a strong systemic, is ineffective against flower thrips in my experience.

[camille1585]

Originally Posted by Clawhammer

Imidacloprid, a strong systemic, is ineffective against flower thrips in my experience.

Part of the problem was likely due to the fact that western flower thrips had developed quite a high level of resistance to imidacloprid over the years.

A 'new' systemic will probably work better (for now) and if reduced accumulation of systemics in floral tissues is indeed an issue, in the case of a widespread infestation like the OP has, and without other options, I wouldn't hesitate to sacrifice all blooms and buds to maximize chances of success...

[Clawhammer]

Originally Posted by camille1585

Part of the problem was likely due to the fact that western flower thrips had developed quite a high level of resistance to imidacloprid over the years.

A 'new' systemic will probably work better (for now) and if reduced accumulation of systemics in floral tissues is indeed an issue, in the case of a widespread infestation like the OP has, and without other options, I wouldn't hesitate to sacrifice all blooms and buds to maximize chances of success...

Absolutely, debudding is helpful. I originally was infected by thrips because I kept my African violet collection in the same room with my orchids. The AV's got infected (Violet Barn) and infected the orchids. I moved the AV's and disbudded them, treated with spinosad / azamax rotation every 4 days and was able to eliminate thrips after about a month. Many more hiding places in orchid pots unfortunately.

Thrips are not resistant to imidacloprid, they don't get to ingest enough to become so. My imidacloprid bottle says exactly that in the instructions: the lack of concentration in the flowers make it ineffective against thrips. That being said, I do use it on my catasetinae because thrips suck the leaves and it has led to less of a problem but not total eradication. Completely ineffective on cattaleya ime.

Spinosad used to be the gold standard, now there is some resistance in the population. My thrips are definitely resistant, but it still works best and doesn't totally destroy bud/flowers in the process. Rotating pesticides helps to get the ones with resistance.

OP: Azamax was also something I found somewhat effective, maybe that will be available as it is a NEEM product.

[jcec1]

What about neem oil? I've personally not used it against thrips but it might do the job.

[Roberta]

Neem oil (or horticultural oil or soap) will kill the ones that it hits - basically all of these just drown them. But it won't touch eggs or larvae. For any pest control, persistence is vital - you have to kill multiple generations of adults to get the numbers of those reproducing down. With a non-pesticide (contact) approach, you will have to be even more persistent, for longer since it will very likely kill fewer each time, and has no lasting effect.

[estación seca]

Thrips are endemic in Florida so impossible to eliminate. Motes Orchids recommends spraying only emerging spikes with an effective pesticide weekly from emergence to flowering. I don't know whether they've used neem oil.