Best advice I can give based on my experience is to alternate the beneficials and sprays (without overlap - the sprays and chemical treatments stick around for a significant amount of time after use) until you see things improving. The first time around I wasn't sure what I was witnessing at first and took too long to do anything about it, went completely crazy and chopped back a solid 50% of my plants to stumps or a bunch of props. Now I'm a little more mellow about treatment and I pay closer attention to the obvious tells that thrips leave behind. At the first sign now, I don't hesitate and I treat affected plants immediately. And I use the beneficials in a combo as well - the pirate beetles for active destruction if the infestation isn't too bad, and the mites for longer term prevention. I usually re-order the same thing every 6-8 weeks. If I see an outbreak at any point, I pull out the mostly badly affected plants and do some surgery + chemical treatment, then keep them isolated from my tent until I know they're mostly clean and the chemicals have had time to work and wear off, then I put them back in with the good bugs. That regular cycle has been working a lot better for me, and definitely isn't as time consuming and anxiety-provoking as waiting until a big outbreak occurs.
@theproppist Thanks for the tips, Nick. I'll have to get the nerve to try beneficials, I'm itching at the thought of using them. I did add bonide insecticidal granules to most of the plants, and I am making my way through the rest. I like the idea of being proactive.
Hey there! I talk more about it in the first ~5-10m of this video, and there are links in the description: th-cam.com/video/61pb5sSm6zQ/w-d-xo.html Long story short, in Canada I use GrowLiv Biologicals (www.growliv.com/). There are a few other providers out there too, but I usually get free overnight shipping with GrowLiv (if I spend $100) which works great for getting the bugs here in one piece (or many pieces 😉).
I've been growing for many hears but never had thrips. I never use preventatives for pests so I wonder if they somehow don't like certain environments or if it's just a matter of time
Honestly I think it has to do with a number of factors. First and foremost, how are you acquiring your plants? If you're buying a lot of plants from different sellers and even geographic locations (e.g. ordering online or importing), you're exponentially increasing your risk of bringing in pests like thrips, spider mites, mealybugs, aphids, etc. There are phytosanitary restrictions for importing but if you're bringing things in within-country or even from local greenhouses, pests will follow pretty easily. I brought fungus gnats with me the first time just from buying from a local greenhouse 😈 - they're pretty notorious for that Trading plants or buying from local sellers is also a quick way to bring someone else's pest problem in-house. I can attest to this as well as I'm pretty sure my first thrips infestation came in from buying a local plant from another plant group member. 😉 Second, some of these pests are endemic to various climates and environments. Western flower thrips are pretty common around these parts, as are spider mites within this geographic region, and aphids are super common outside around here, too. They pop in via windows and doors so unless you’re in air conditioning and don’t open your windows, there’s a good chance they can sneak in. I can tell you, however, that I've never had a case of mealybugs ever, yet when I watch plant videos from other TH-camrs, I hear about it quite frequently. Also, if you happen to bring plants indoors from outside and vice-versa depending on the time of year, I think you're probably much more prone to this happening, since your substrate has a good chance of becoming colonized with whatever bugs are common to your local environment within a pretty short amount of time, depending on where you put them outside. Bringing them back in after that is a great way to spread those bugs around to the rest of your collection. At the end of the day, it's possible you're not really doing any of these things, low entropy will likely avoid much of this type of problem. Either that, or you've just been incredibly lucky, in which case - knock on wood and go buy a lottery ticket. 😆
@@theproppist wow that makes perfect sense. Living in the Texas heat, pretty much got AC going most of the year and never really open windows. You just answered a question I've had for so long. I've also never had mealybugs but the one pest that ever plagues me are fungus gnats which I've tackled using mosquito dunks and Steinernema feltiae nematodes
Hey @AceOfSpadesX - sorry, I was editing my comment and a bunch of it got chopped off! I've updated it above with my full reply. Let me know if that helps! On the topic of fungus gnats, I'll probably tackle this in an upcoming "Plant Rant" session, but bottom watering has been my #1 way to prevent these guys. They plague me as well if I do any kind of top-watering or overwatering and it's a real pain in the ass to get rid of them afterwards. 😔
@@theproppist Yes that does help! Thanks for taking the time to write your experiences. From what you said it seems like the fact that my plants never see outside air is the main factor. I do have several online sellers and exporters that I use to source plants but never really buy anything locally. I've never taken special precautions when bringing something new in since they're usually smaller (which might itself play somewhat of a factor). I will be more careful about bringing stuff in because a thrips outbreak sounds like a nightmare.
This is the first year for me. Thrips are the worst. I have tossed a few plants. 😢
Best advice I can give based on my experience is to alternate the beneficials and sprays (without overlap - the sprays and chemical treatments stick around for a significant amount of time after use) until you see things improving.
The first time around I wasn't sure what I was witnessing at first and took too long to do anything about it, went completely crazy and chopped back a solid 50% of my plants to stumps or a bunch of props. Now I'm a little more mellow about treatment and I pay closer attention to the obvious tells that thrips leave behind. At the first sign now, I don't hesitate and I treat affected plants immediately. And I use the beneficials in a combo as well - the pirate beetles for active destruction if the infestation isn't too bad, and the mites for longer term prevention. I usually re-order the same thing every 6-8 weeks. If I see an outbreak at any point, I pull out the mostly badly affected plants and do some surgery + chemical treatment, then keep them isolated from my tent until I know they're mostly clean and the chemicals have had time to work and wear off, then I put them back in with the good bugs.
That regular cycle has been working a lot better for me, and definitely isn't as time consuming and anxiety-provoking as waiting until a big outbreak occurs.
@theproppist Thanks for the tips, Nick. I'll have to get the nerve to try beneficials, I'm itching at the thought of using them. I did add bonide insecticidal granules to most of the plants, and I am making my way through the rest. I like the idea of being proactive.
Where did you go? Lol. I hope all is well with you and your family! Blessings in the new year!
I agree@@planttherapy1860
Where can you get the beneficials in Canada?
Hey there! I talk more about it in the first ~5-10m of this video, and there are links in the description:
th-cam.com/video/61pb5sSm6zQ/w-d-xo.html
Long story short, in Canada I use GrowLiv Biologicals (www.growliv.com/). There are a few other providers out there too, but I usually get free overnight shipping with GrowLiv (if I spend $100) which works great for getting the bugs here in one piece (or many pieces 😉).
I've been growing for many hears but never had thrips. I never use preventatives for pests so I wonder if they somehow don't like certain environments or if it's just a matter of time
Honestly I think it has to do with a number of factors.
First and foremost, how are you acquiring your plants? If you're buying a lot of plants from different sellers and even geographic locations (e.g. ordering online or importing), you're exponentially increasing your risk of bringing in pests like thrips, spider mites, mealybugs, aphids, etc. There are phytosanitary restrictions for importing but if you're bringing things in within-country or even from local greenhouses, pests will follow pretty easily. I brought fungus gnats with me the first time just from buying from a local greenhouse 😈 - they're pretty notorious for that
Trading plants or buying from local sellers is also a quick way to bring someone else's pest problem in-house. I can attest to this as well as I'm pretty sure my first thrips infestation came in from buying a local plant from another plant group member. 😉
Second, some of these pests are endemic to various climates and environments. Western flower thrips are pretty common around these parts, as are spider mites within this geographic region, and aphids are super common outside around here, too. They pop in via windows and doors so unless you’re in air conditioning and don’t open your windows, there’s a good chance they can sneak in. I can tell you, however, that I've never had a case of mealybugs ever, yet when I watch plant videos from other TH-camrs, I hear about it quite frequently.
Also, if you happen to bring plants indoors from outside and vice-versa depending on the time of year, I think you're probably much more prone to this happening, since your substrate has a good chance of becoming colonized with whatever bugs are common to your local environment within a pretty short amount of time, depending on where you put them outside. Bringing them back in after that is a great way to spread those bugs around to the rest of your collection.
At the end of the day, it's possible you're not really doing any of these things, low entropy will likely avoid much of this type of problem. Either that, or you've just been incredibly lucky, in which case - knock on wood and go buy a lottery ticket. 😆
@@theproppist wow that makes perfect sense. Living in the Texas heat, pretty much got AC going most of the year and never really open windows. You just answered a question I've had for so long. I've also never had mealybugs but the one pest that ever plagues me are fungus gnats which I've tackled using mosquito dunks and Steinernema feltiae nematodes
Hey @AceOfSpadesX - sorry, I was editing my comment and a bunch of it got chopped off! I've updated it above with my full reply. Let me know if that helps!
On the topic of fungus gnats, I'll probably tackle this in an upcoming "Plant Rant" session, but bottom watering has been my #1 way to prevent these guys. They plague me as well if I do any kind of top-watering or overwatering and it's a real pain in the ass to get rid of them afterwards. 😔
@@theproppist Yes that does help! Thanks for taking the time to write your experiences. From what you said it seems like the fact that my plants never see outside air is the main factor. I do have several online sellers and exporters that I use to source plants but never really buy anything locally. I've never taken special precautions when bringing something new in since they're usually smaller (which might itself play somewhat of a factor). I will be more careful about bringing stuff in because a thrips outbreak sounds like a nightmare.