Hi everyone,
Dealing with summer pests over here and this year we got a new one...
thrips!
Thrips is a pest I've been able to avoid... until now. I've dealt with spider mites, aphids, fungus gnats. Since all my pests are soft bodied I usually use insecticidal soap and rotate it with organishield. For spider mites I might use Azamax and for fungus gnats I either sprinkle mosquito bits or use solutions containing Bacillus thuringiensis products.
I was a happy and naive orchid grower, with the head in the clouds, feeling invincible until I saw it... a slender insect resting on the petals of a newly opened white Phalaenopsis, one of those with big flowers. "This is not a fungus gnat," I thought, and there I had it, the first 'visible' thrip, finally paying that long-dreaded visit and making me face my destiny...
When moving plants to be treated I notice two things: they fly, and they dislodge pretty easily (I would think they're drunk). Spinosad-based soil drenches seem to be useless on flowers and I'm not especially excited about spraying flowers, even with water, and cause who knows what kind of unsightly damage. I also grow indoors, so even though the "big guns" can be used for some plants (esp if I treat outside). I would prefer to work inside.
Does anyone have suggestions on:
- Using Beauveria bassiana products against thrips.
- Spraying on flowers, would alcohol perhaps work without causing flower damage?
- For growing area control and to manage flying thrips, has anyone tried Pyrethrin products? A product like Stryker 54 aerosol is labeled for residential use as a "space spray" some other synthetic pyrethrin products are labeled as "residuals" for flies. But none are labeled to be used direct on plants and they could leave residue on the leaves, not to mention on the flowers.
- Has anyone tried a spinosad product or concentrate that sprayed on flowers left them relatively unharmed?
Just a reminder that I'm looking for products labeled to use indoors! Unless absolutely necessary to bring plants outside
Thrips
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