Help! I have thrips

Hey! I'm new to the site, and am trying to get rid of thrips. How do I kill them and how much time do I have?

You need to get rid of them fast before they infest. Any garden store will sell a spray. Make sure you get all under the leaves too. I use an organic spray that is made from crysthanamums.

Thanks Chiceh,
just wondering, how can you tell when its infested? Right now, whenever I shake a plant, I'll see some flying around... a lot of the leaves have that silver shiny symptom I've heard about...
So far I've put up some of that yellow sticky stuff and used MM2000 to spray the leaves, but am not sure if I'm doing everything that I need to do.

You have too many now, lol. You need a potent spray to rid them. Clean the room good once plants are sprayed too (remove plants while cleaning).

Spray works great to control them... Once the spray is long gone.... I suggest lady bugs to control and eat the eggs. On my last harvest, they took over completely and I used tobacco juice to control and the lady bugs came in and ANNIHILATED the thrips... I don't understand why they are only associated with getting rid of aphids so readily. Hope this helps

drumsinttown said:

Spray works great to control them... Once the spray is long gone.... I suggest lady bugs to control and eat the eggs. On my last harvest, they took over completely and I used tobacco juice to control and the lady bugs came in and ANNIHILATED the thrips... I don't understand why they are only associated with getting rid of aphids so readily. Hope this helps

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yeah man ladybugs are the best

how much tabacco / water did you mix if you dont mind me asking

Thanks for your advice so far guys.

Harrysac, I didn't use tobacco....i used mm 2000 as a spray and sprayed under the leaves and put up those yellow sticky traps all around the room. I'm not too sure if it'll do the trick.

Tomorrow I'm thinking I should buy some ladybugs. Is this the best remedy?
I need these thrips wiped out right away because if I already have a lot, then I don't have much time left.

Any more suggestions guys?

I just bought some ladybugs, do I just let them loose? and what should I spray on the leaves in the meantime?

NEIN! Don't release the lady bugs until after a couple of days after you spray whatever you spray....and be sure to do a couple of treatments.... then spray down the leaves with water to rinse them.... THEN release the ladybugs.... kind of like sending in infantry to occupy and clear the area after carpet bombing....

and here is a cut and paste of the recipe I use

Tobacco Spray for Insect Control
Nicotine is extremely toxic to insects but it's effect is short-lived, only a few hours. This makes it a low hazard to your good insects such as bees and lady bugs.

This is a good defense against aphids, fungus gnats, immature scale, leafhoppers, thrips, leaf miners, and asparagus beetle larvae.

4 cups water
1/4 teaspoon plain liquid dishwashing soap
1/4 cup dried crushed or chewing tobacco or cigarette butts

1.Add the soap to the water and stir to dissolve
2.Soak the tobacco or cigarette butts in the water and soap mixture for 1 hour.
3.Strain through cheesecloth or other fine strainer to remove particles that would clogg your sprayer
Pour into a hand sprayer and spray directly onto pests and undersides of leaves. Use weekly.

Store in tightly closed container. Will keep several weeks.

Note: nicotine can be absorbed into the plant leaves and remain for several weeks. To be safe,
do not use on vegetables and fruits plants sooner than one month before harvest.
Do not use on eggplant, peppers or tomatoes, as these plant suffer from many of the same diseases which tobacco may carry.

Wear gloves and a respirator.... this stuff is pretty bad fer ya

Hi tucker. I had this very same problem like 2 weeks back. Slowed the growth of my plant and left my leafs yellow and brown, saggy and covered with black tiny spots, but I got rid of them all (from what i can see) within days. I suggest you use the same spray i used.

Its called Shultz Garden Safe Fruit and Vegetable Insect spray, its easy to find and I got mine at Home Depot. Best part you can use it just before harvest, it kills all life cycles of Thrips (including the eggs as mentioned in the instructions).

I suggest you put your hand under some of the bigger affected (unhealthy looking) leafs and gently shake the plant. If you see your hand covered (even lightly) of white or yellow/neon green small insects that resemble little grains of rice (long and narrow) then you have the Thrips. Buy the spray and spray the plant while its in its light cycle so the stuff will dry out (wont chemical burn your plant with lights. I tried it already) spray over the leaves, stalks/branches and under every leaf. Try to cover the the whole plant without going over board. Spray any flying one or any thrips you see with the naked eye dirrectly. Let it for a few days and you will see a difference, I did, and my plant is looking alot better and growing again. Hope this helped.

I used Green Light Lawn & Garden with Spinosad. The spray will remain active for 5 days I think, then you need to spray one more time to make sure you got them all. I also added the blue sticky traps to monitor for reoccurrence.
Also, be aware that adults live in the root zone, little fuckers like to run away before they fly. The root zone needs to be treated as well if there is a number of them.

Good luck mate!
Unity

tucker23 said:

I just bought some ladybugs, do I just let them loose? and what should I spray on the leaves in the meantime?

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No you have to wait till the spray is gone about 2 weeks then you can let them go. Anyone else have an opinion on this.

Knock on wood, I let them go when I started on the advise of an old Hand and have never had a bug problem.

Thanks everyone for the tips. I thought about buying that Shultz Garden Insect spray, Silentxelone, but I already purchased from my hydro store, "Safers Trounce" and have used it on my plants earlier today. I also replaced my yellow sticky traps with blue ones and hopefully tomorrow, results will show everything is working. (crossing fingers)

I am wondering tho, they will be in need of water and am not too sure if I should put some MM 2000 in the water I use (I heard it kills the puppas/larvae in soil) Any suggestions, or should I just continue to only spray and observe? I don't want to overdo it and use all these insecticides.

tucker23 said:

Thanks everyone for the tips. I thought about buying that Shultz Garden Insect spray, Silentxelone, but I already purchased from my hydro store, "Safers Trounce" and have used it on my plants earlier today. I also replaced my yellow sticky traps with blue ones and hopefully tomorrow, results will show everything is working. (crossing fingers)

I am wondering tho, they will be in need of water and am not too sure if I should put some MM 2000 in the water I use (I heard it kills the puppas/larvae in soil) Any suggestions, or should I just continue to only spray and observe? I don't want to overdo it and use all these insecticides.

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Less seems to always be better I would start easy and observe, but that's just me

Unity

Ok. I will only observe for now. I also forgot to mention that none of my plants are in the flowering stage, so I figure I can be a little more aggressive using whatever is out there.

Hey tucker, the other thing you can do is pour some garlic powder into some room temperature water, shake it well and spray it on your plants. Garlic is a natural anti-fungal agent and annoys the hell out of the thrips and other bugs. Garlic is actually used as a main ingredient in alot of organic safe pesticides.

so do i ughh damm things can't get rid of

Hands down best pest killer is Hot Shots "No Pest Strip" Not only do I garentee it to work....it will keep working for 4 months. Your thrips wont have a chance and neither will mites or aphids... Just get em and be rid of pest, btw u can score these at lowes