…short of a limited nuclear device?
I raise gesneriads (African violets and relatives) indoors under lights, and thrips cause leaf and flower damage which looks unsightly. I’ve tried recommended pesticides (including but not limited to insecticidal soap, Neem oil and spinosad) and the tiny little bastids are still happily roaming around.
Perhaps Dope growers could share their secrets?
I’d go a little more nuclear than that and try Avid or Forbid 4F since you don’t have to worry about anyone consuming the plant matter. I figure if it fucks up spider mites it’ll fuck up basically anything. Orthene (acephate) is supposed to be good on thrips as well but I’ve found that to be too phytotoxic for my comfort although violets might not care as much. I’d also toss a pyrethrum fogger into the room to get whatever’s hanging around waiting to suck too.
Ladybugs
Spritz them lightly with sugared soda before you release them. It mucks up thie wings for a while making it harder for them to scatter quickly.
Since those are specifically formulated as miticides I doubt they’ll kill thrips, but thanks for the suggestion.
There’s a limit on how nuclear to get since I have to live in the same house as the thrips.
Looked up the package inserts and they’re both specific for thrips as well. And neither is all that nuclear unless you’re talking use on cannabis plants that people expect to burn and inhale. As I said, you don’t have that issue. Big advantage is that both are systemic, so you get the knockdown effect then the plant itself becomes toxic to the bugs for about four weeks.
Thanks, I’ll look into that.
You might want to try those glue traps as an additional countermeasure. A thrip stuck on a trap may survive a while, but they won’t be chewing on your violets in the meantime. Some cursory research indicates that those colored yellow are good all-purpose lures, but the blue ones are particularly effective against thrips.