Spinosad for thrips?

[lily99]

I was in a garden supply store and they were selling a product called Spinosad that supposedly kills thrips. Has anyone tried it?

[Brooke]

I've used it outside in my garden but I've never used it on an orchid. I've never had thrips on my orchids it works great on daylilies

Brooke

[Andrew]

I haven't used it for thrips but I've used spinosad (Success) on orchids to control caterpillars. It's effective and I haven't noticed any toxicity to the plants. The orchids I've used it on are Cymbidiums, Dendrobiums, Sarcochilus and Masdevallia; although I've used in on pitcher plants, which are more insecticide sensitive than most orchids, so I imagine you shouldn't have a problem spraying it on most of the commonly grown epiphytes.

[phearamedusa]

Andrew,
what dilution rate did you use?

Thanks, Melanie

[lily99]

I think I am just going to try it and see what happens. Those stupid thrips are stubborn.

[phearamedusa]

Good luck, and let us know how things went for you.

[Jerry Delaney]

Spinosad has it's main use in controlling various army worms and caterpillers. I would check the label carefully to see if thrips are included. I seem to remember that Orthene is labeled for thrips.

[Andrew]

Melanie,
As per the concentrations listed on the label, I use Success at 200 mg/litre for larger species of caterpillars. For problems with smaller species like loopers, I use 50mg/L. I don't know what the recommended rate is for thrips. Check the label.


Jerry,
I've always thought it was primarily for caterpillars and I've only ever used it for this purpose. I use it when BT is ineffective and I want to avoid using carbaryl.

[DavidCampen]

Originally Posted by Jerry Delaney

Spinosad has it's main use in controlling various army worms and caterpillers. I would check the label carefully to see if thrips are included. I seem to remember that Orthene is labeled for thrips.

According to the Dow datasheet, Conserve SC (spinosad) is effective for controlling thrips:
http://msdssearch.dow.com/PublishedL...romPage=GetDoc

Also as mentioned in that datasheet, the Conserve SC label is not required to carry any "signal word".

Pesticide labels have a standard format and one of the standard features is a "signal word" that denotes the level of hazard presented by the particular material. Signal words from most hazardous to least are "Poison", "Danger", "Warning" and "Caution".
http://npic.orst.edu/factsheets/signalwords.pdf

Pesticides carrying "Poison" or "Danger" signal words are generally only available to persons having an applicators license. Pesticides that are generally available mostly carry "Warning" or "Caution" signal words.

Conserve SC (spinosad) though is considered sufficiently non-toxic to mammals that it is not even required to carry a "Caution" signal word- the label only says "keep out of reach of children".
http://www.cdms.net/ldat/ld24P009.pdf

Even OMRI listed pyrethrin carries a "Caution" signal word.
http://www.domyownpestcontrol.com/ms...imen_Label.pdf

Edit:
Monterey Garden brand spinosad also is listed for thrips and also does not carry a signal word on its label:
http://www.montereylawngarden.com/pd...-Bilingual.pdf

[littlefrog]

I have used spinosad for thrips and it seemed to work quite well. Hadn't had any success before that, so anything that knocks them back is good. Didn't see any thrips for a few months after application. That was applied in a mix with azadirachtin, I don't know if that is necessary or not, but it sure worked well.

Label directions on both. No apparent plant or flower damage. I did it twice about 10 days apart, the last time i added in another ingredient and did see a bit of flower damage.