The pinned topic in here on Thrips is very useful and correct (they seem to fucking thrive on any pesticides I use)....does anyone have any experience they can recount on the use of predators for these bud-munching buggers? ie Amblyseius.

Thoughts and or comments please cos I'm fed of sitting in my growroom and killing them individually...as the top predator in my environment I might be less than than effective.
cheers
Lupes

Hypoaspis Miles, nematodes (Steinernemia feltiae) sprayed directly onto the leaves rather than compost, SBPI, Scott's Bug Clear, Abamectin, Ivermectin, Beauveria bassiana, Amblyseius swirskii.

Any of those predators or insecticides will do the job

Thanks for the heads-up..your fun with fungi thread cured my lsf so I'm certainly looking into these.
cheers bud buddy


lupes

neem oil is very effective but be careful as it is aggressive and excess usage can rupture cell walls in the leaf

ive had thrips before and they are a bastard to keep under control ! when i think i've got rid of them then theres always a few that survive and multiply again ! i used blue sticky traps , sprayed my vegging plants with some bug spray cant remember the name and then let some orius predator bugs in ! you should see those babies in action , they kill all the bugs they find and if they dont find the thrips they attack each other, very ferocius , ive been nipped by them a few times too ! the trick i used was to keep topping up with the orius so the fuckers didnt have a chance . i eventually got rid of them but that was after i hit them from every angle !

Thank you Lupes,

Depends what stage the plants are at, if they are small enough then you can be fairly sure to drench the entire plant with a good contact spray and follow up with a second and maybe third spraying to mop up any survivors or recently emerging young, that should finish them off. If the plants are getting to a size where complete covage is going to be an issue then it might be worth considering an initial Abamectin/Ivermectin spray followed up with either Steinernema feltiae or Hypoaspis Miles if growing in compost.

Apparently Steinernema feltiae can also be applied as a drench to the leaf surfaces and will act like a contact spray killing any thrips they touch. The only draw back with this is you will get a deposit of the carrying clay on the leaf surfaces.

BT (Bacillus thuringiensis) toxin might also be worth looking at but I've never used it myself.

I like the sound of these..cheers for the info mate
Lupes

Thanks Dam...a mate gave me a bottle of preprared neem...it didn't complete the job...but that was probably down to not having enough for 2nd and 3rd drenchings..and like you said..I was afraid of it damaging the plants as I have seen what neem can do...cheers

Lupes

i had thrips on my plant the other day, i used scotts bug clear gun, (the ready made one) the next day they seemed to be all dead, well its been a few days on now, and still cant see any. so im assuming it killed them all.