I have a big problem with trips on my Chrysanthemum I usually sp=
ray and drench the soil every two weeks with vermicompost tea.
James
--- On Sun, 1/22/12, Tatia Veltkamp <tatiav_at_comcast.net> wrote:
From: Tatia Veltkamp <tatiav_at_comcast.net>
Subject: RE: [compost_tea] Thrips
To: compost_tea_at_yahoogroups.com
Date: Sunday, January 22, 2012, 2:29 PM
They are definitely thrips. They are western flower thrips.=
Someone from my extension office came out last summer and actually sent=
them off to be tested. I can actually see the thrips. I have s=
ome pretty good pictures of them that I took thru my microscope. But =
the symptoms too are typical of thrips, where there are parts of the plant =
leaves that have kind of silvery lines or spots, where they have eaten and =
I can see where they have pooped – black dots sort of. I have=
been making compost tea and spraying on the leaves but also soil drenching=
. I know you can’t do too much of that, but I wasn’t =
sure how often I should do that or if that would help at all. They ar=
e not exploding in growth like in the summer, but my greenhouse gets pretty=
warm and humid this time of year, so the thrips like that. It cools =
down a lot at night, too, so I think that is helping to stunt their populat=
ion. I see them on my hollyhock also, but they
really like the milkweed. Tatia From: compost_tea_at_yahoogroups.=
com [mailto:compost_tea_at_yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Bill Wyatt
Sent: Sunday, January 22, 2012 3:03 PM
To: compost_tea_at_yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [compost_tea] Thrips Aphids or thrips? I se=
e lots of aphids on milkweed but have never heard of thrips on them althoug=
h 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 don’t get to follow everything on these posts and am still very m=
uch a newbie, but am learning a lot on here. I grow milkweed in 1 gal=
lon and 4” 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 predators that take care of the thrips if I mov=
e the plants outside. But I have to grow almost year round and find t=
he 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 f=
or the caterpillars, although I’ve tried some of them too and they =
don’t work. I’ve done some soaping and that helps (a little=
), but I’m wondering about using compost tea as a foliar feed if th=
at would help. Since part of the thrips’ life cycle is in the=
soil, I’m also wondering if I should be adding worm castings or co=
mpost to the top layer of the soil to help with any microbes that might
attack them there.
I realize that I am not going to get rid of the thrips. But I=
m trying to learn how to control them, so they don’t 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 Mon Jan 23 2012 - 04:55:59 EST
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