Aphids or thrips? I see lots of aphids on milkweed but have never heard of
thrips on them although it is certainly possible since they target many
hosts. What are the symptoms? What type thrips if they are thrips?
On 1/22/12 1:44 PM, "Tatia Veltkamp" <tatiav_at_comcast.net> wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
> Hi,
> I donıt get to follow everything on these posts and am still very much =
a
> newbie, but am learning a lot on here. I grow milkweed in 1 gallon and=
4²
> pots to feed Monarch caterpillars. I have trouble (LOTS) with thrips.=
They
> also love the milkweed. I found in the summer there are plenty of pred=
ators
> that take care of the thrips if I move the plants outside. But I have =
to grow
> almost year round and find the thrips appearing at about 6-8 weeks on the
> plants (I grow from seed) in the greenhouse. I cannot use chemicals=
so the
> plants are safe for the caterpillars, although Iıve tried some of them =
too and
> they donıt work. Iıve done some soaping and that helps (a little), bu=
t Iım
> wondering about using compost tea as a foliar feed if that would help. =
Since
> part of the thripsı life cycle is in the soil, Iım also wondering if =
I should
> be adding worm castings or compost to the top layer of the soil to help w=
ith
> any microbes that might attack them there.
>
> I realize that I am not going to get rid of the thrips. But Iım tryi=
ng to
> learn how to control them, so they donıt take over. Has anyone dealt=
with
> thrips successfully in a greenhouse?
>
> Thanks so much for any insight you might have!
>
> Tatia
> Albuquerque, NM
>
Received on Sun Jan 22 2012 - 17:11:58 EST
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