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Thrip-O-Rama

AccidentalGardener

AccidentalGardener

New member
After about 60 seconds on the GWE site, I believe my veg tent has the thrips. Tiny white dots on leaves, shiny patches, and a bug that isn't a fungus gnat.

I feel like I caught an STD, lol.

Fortunately, there is hardly anything in the veg tent - two young plants from seed (a GSC and a Purple Kush) and a clone I made months ago. Last week I cleaned out the rest of the veg plants, which were also clones I made - so nothing has come in from elsewhere on a plant. But, thrips are tiny and one could have ridden in on me or anyone else for that matter. There is one sock vent open and that is a possibility.

No matter, though. I had insecticidal soap. Whatever it was, it is now dying a horrible death. Either they are drowning, drying out or exploding, but whatever - tis happening in the dark.
I'll turn the lights back on in about 8 hours.
 

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I've been at war with the little devils for about a month. It seems being on vacation the last week where I could hose down the girls with Lost Coast Plant Therapy alternating with Dr. Bronner's every time I found a live one is the thing that finally knocked them out.
 
I may not need to worry. The operation was a success but the patient is hurting. The GSC is already showing signs that it didn't like the bug soap at all. Bottom set of 5-finger fans totally wilted. . :doubtful: Brought it in and rinsed all the leaves off and stuck it back in the tent. Next time will be 50% or less iso at the very least, spinosad, or a new GSC seed if I snuffed this one.
I am bummed. I hate hurting my plants.
 
We've always used Dr. Bronner's peppermint just TBSP or so in a pint of water to get rid of pests but haven't needed it in the closet for a long time. For some reason, after reading about a 1:1 bronner water solution I used it on my kitchen herb garden and killed the whole lot. I knew better and am just happy I killed my basil and cilantro and not my weed. Be careful about the info you find because lots of it is wrong. It's why I like this site, I don't think I've heard outright bs here on the forums and definitely not on the pushed info side with Nebula and Sirius.
 
Thrips are a pain and should be eliminated. Them hanging out on the plants and eating a little isn't the worst thing in the world, BUT, huge but here, they are very well known for carrying pathogens and viruses from plant to plant. When they chew into it, they can effect the plants. So, for the sake of keeping disease away from your plants, get those thrips hard!
 
I almost killed my mother plants attacking with a solution of Neem oil and Dawn. First mistake was using Dawn - only use natural soaps as surfactants. Second mistake was not reading enough to realize that you can't keep the lights on after spraying with Neem oil. The LCPT is gentle enough to kill thrips and retard secondary infections while the Dr. Bronner's with or without iso alcohol will get the ones LCPT misses, even the eggs. I tried using cayenne pepper in that mix and wish I hadn't - the cayenne wasn't ground finely enough and clogs my sprayer.
 
The peppermint has got to smell better. If I'm going to kill my plants, I want them minty-fresh while I do it, lol. That seems like a very high concentration of peppermint oil for a pint of water unless you were using it someplace that is inorganic-like setting it in a closet, but man, that's a lot of peppermint. Making my eyes water. I'd be gagging and hating Christmas forever. Glad you didn't kill your weed either!
 
Boooo! I just keep the rule of thumb - anything I spray on the leaves to kill a pest-WPM, bugs, thrips, has to be done after the sun goes down. Anything that goes in the dirt happens at lights-on. And the more I read about Neem, the more convinced I am that I'd throw plants out before using something on them I don't want to put in my body. If I'm going to throw myself under the bus, it's gonna be for Ben and Jerrys, not Neem oil :)
 
Hit him with that stinky Neem if he isn’t budding
I think all exes should chronically smell like garlic and moody oranges
 
I stopped using neem oil on the plants. Ever brand I found and bought is just too strong. Killing my plants.
Switched to alcohol and my plants doesn’t notice the treatment.
Also sprayed in my top layer of soil - nothing happened to the roots or plants
 
I’m so surprised to hear about everyone’s experience with Neem oil! I’ve been spraying it weekly in veg on everything, including clones and seedlings with no signs of damage. My plants actually seem to like it?
 
Yes, that's crazy strong and I can't believe I used it like that, Like I said I normally use about a tbls/quart for all kinds of things, it even makes an ok mosquito repellent.
 
GAH! The thrips just used the soap to get cleaned up....
Hit them with iso/H2o and turned off the light and fan till they dried -just left the tent open for a bit, then turned it all back on.
If a week of this doesn't kill the bugs, not the end of the world. Currently the only inhabitants of this tent are a GSC that got too tall for her own good and this Purple Kush that seems to be the breakfast of champions for something. I could put them in the trash, disinfect the tent and start over. At $13 per seed (what I paid for these two) its still less of a headache for me to pitch them and start over than to try to kill these damn things for the next couple months.
Hopefully a daily bath in rubbing alcohol mixed with water will do the trick.
 

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