The THRIP! Pepper's enemy

[scarfguy]

So I've got a small infestation of thrips.  Those little bugs sure love peppers!  I've been treating them with the neem oil / castile soap spray with great success so far.... BUT, I have a question that will probably need a bug expert but I'll ask it here anyway.

If you study the life cycle of the thrip, you will see that they lay eggs on the plant. There are two larva stages that feast on the leaves and then there are two other stages that it says, "lives in the soil" before developing into an adult which also eats the plant and lays eggs...  SO, since we don't have soil in our AGs, I also read that thrips can live in water and swim rather well.  So, do I have thrip larvae thriving in my water bowl???

My question is,  do you think it would do any good to add a tablespoon of neem oil to the AG water bowl???

Any ideas as to whether the oil would damage the pump or the sensor? or the roots?

I'm first gonna throw in a little hydrogen peroxide as that always seems to help the plants in general.

[lynnee]

I don't know whether neem oil would damage the pump, but I wouldn't try it unless AG has spare pumps back in stock on its web site.

The water level sensor would probably be okay, because it's just a magnet sealed in plastic. One of mine survived an inadvertent trip through the dishwasher.

Amazon has Sticky Traps for Thrips that might help.

Are your pepper plants producing a lot of peppers? I think that I would discard the plants, disinfect the AG, and start over, rather than risk gumming up my AG pump and grow deck (a Bounty or Farm circulates water through the deck).

If you're determined to save the peppers, have you tried a very thorough rinse and refill, along with gentle rinsing of the roots?

The hydrogen peroxide sounds like a good idea.

[Shawn]

I would not add any oil to the water.  I would be afraid it will damage the pump.

It is said that Lemon Basil with its citrusy notes will repels thrips and disorients hornworm moths.   I have no clue if true, just a tip that is on the forum.  There is also talk of thrips in the Thrips on Strawberry thread.

Have you brought any plants indoors that have dirt in them?  maybe in a garden that had these pests and came in with you?  WIndows open near a garden?  Just one reason I do not bring anything into my home that has been in or is in dirt.

[scarfguy]

I think the thrips came in the window earlier in the spring when I had the window open and before I turned on the air conditioning.  I think I have had them for quite some time and didn't recognize the leaf damage as being from thrips.  The infestation has not been very bad.  I never see more than one or two at a time. I've sprayed the plant with neem oil twice now and I definitely notice an effect.  I think I can eradicate them with a couple of more applications.

[Shawn]

[scarfguy]

SO... I thought I'd provide you all with an update on the evil thrip.  I think I finally got rid of them (cross your fingers).  I thought they were coming in throught the window then I thought they were coming in on the cat. Now that it's winter and the outside thrips go into the soil for the winter, I've decided that it wasn't either of those things as I still have thrips.

So here's what I've learned:

Foliar sprays alone (neem oil, insecticides) do absolutely no good with thrips.  The smart little bastards go into the flowers, buds, and the roots and hide from the spray until the chemicals decompose. You will kill a bunch of them with a spray but they will be back.

Thrips can swim. They love the water and there is enough air space under the deck for them to live their entire life cycle feeding on your roots!  You have to get your treatment into the bowl.

SO... here's what I've done.  I think I've got them this time!

First of all, I threw away all of my peppers from the first round back in august. I thought sanitizing the bowl would be sufficient but they returned when I planted new peppers.  SO.. either the cat brought them in again or they were living in one of my other AGs just waiting for the peppers to return.

Last week, I cut off all of my flowers and buds. That's right, you have to sacrifice the current crop. Don't worry, they will bloom again.

Then you have to kill them in the bowl.  I bit the bullet and put a teaspoon/gallon of azamax in the water. Azamax, sold on amazon, is a concentration of the active ingredient in neem oil, Azadirachtin.  It is only somewhat systemic as a foliar spray but will be taken into the plant through the roots as a stronger systemic. I also added a new product called SNS209.  This is an extract of rosemary.  It is also systemic and thrips as well as other stuff hate the taste of rosemary. It is a bit expensive and can be purchased at:

sierranaturalsciences.com.  Although I was hesitant, and I could find no information as to whether the oils would damage the pump or the sensor. So I gave it a try. So far there is no indication that it is detrimental to my AGs.

The next day it was obvious I was being successful cause I had a whole bunch of adult thrips all over the leaves and fruit.  They were apparently escaping from the chemicals in the bowl !!!

So I finished them off by using a foliar spray of spinosad.  Spinosad is a fairly strong insecticide but is safe to use on vegetables up to the day before harvest.  Spinosad is the active ingredient in "Monterey LG6150 Garden Insect Spray"  another product that can be purchased from amazon.

I haven't seen a thrip for a week now.  My concern is that they are hiding in a different AG just waiting until the peppers get clean!     I'm going to use the benign SNS209 rosemary spray once a week in the hopes that it will deter future infestations.

I hope this is helpful to you if you ever get the little, tiny bugs from hell!

[Shawn]

I am sorry they invaded your plants but and happy you think you got them all.  Fingers crossed they are gone.  Please keep us posted

[lynnee]

Wow! I had no idea that thrips could be so difficult to exterminate. You'd think that disinfecting the bowl would be enough!

What about the effect of the systemic on the fruit? Will the peppers be safe to eat when they grow back?

[scarfguy]

Dec 13, 2022 13:42:07 GMT -5 lynnee said:

Wow! I had no idea that thrips could be so difficult to exterminate. You'd think that disinfecting the bowl would be enough!

What about the effect of the systemic on the fruit? Will the peppers be safe to eat when they grow back?

The azamax and the sns209 products are both organic extracts. Azamax is basically neem oil and sns209 is just rosemary.  My only concern is that the peppers may taste like rosemary!

The only pesticide I'm using is the spinosad.  Spinosad decomposes within 24 hours and can be used up to the day before harvest.  Spinosad is quite benign. It is the active ingredient in a variety of cat and dog flea treatments.  It is used as an ingested pill for your pet.  It is also used as a topical lice medication for children.

Your concern is well founded. Most systemic pesticides cannot be used on fruits and vegetables. Diazanon and malathion would kill the thrips fast but would also kill my family.

[scarfguy]

ADDENDUM:

SO... One of the products I recommended in this thread is Azamax.  I suggested adding it to the AG bowl. Although it didn't damage the pump as I said in my post, I had the occasion to do an R&R on one of my gardens that I had used Azamax on.  Because this is an oil like Neem Oil,  it actually coated the inside of all the items in the bowl with oil.  Makes the bowl a lot more difficult to clean.

SO... I found a new product which should work much better. It is called Azasol.  It is a powder containing the neem oil active ingredient, Azadirachtin.   It is soluble in water and is not oily.  It is recommended for just this application, adding to the water reservoir in hydroponic systems.  It is a bit pricey and Amazon only has a large 8 packet container for a whopping $281 !!!   You can buy a much smaller amount from a variety of sources.  I bought a single .75 oz packet from growgreenmi.com.  I don't know how many applications that will make yet.

Hope you find this information useful.