yellow wormy things won't go away!

[emmpey]

i dunno about neem oil. you should replace the top inch or two of soil from the pots, its got the eggs in. i used nicotine solution made from soaking some nicorette inhalator cartridges in a pint of warm soapy water - i used 6 which was about 60mg - thats about a pack of cigarettes. i then sprayed every three/four days for a couple of weeks. the idea is to stop em breeding cos they don't live long and its the young uns that do most damage to the plant.

[emmpey]

should have said that if you use a pack of cigarettes you need to boil them in the water for a few minutes to kill any tobacco viruses.

[stinkyattic]

nowhere on the spray bottle does it say it is an insecticide. ......all the bottle says is it is for making the leaves nice and shiny. ..... is this a non-pesticidal version of neem oil,...?

No worries, neem is neem is neem. It has lots of uses- pesticide, leaf shine, anti-transpirant, fungicide, and miticide.

[dutch.lover]

good stuff i was worried that i bought the wrong stuff. i mean, if its such a good pesticide- why dont they market it as such?

[razzapiggy]

Is it okay to give younger plants neem oil? Mine are a few weeks old (one week at my house) and just hearing all the stories of pests I am tempted to get some neem oil and do preventative sprayings once a week or so. Anyone care to comment? Best of luck with the problem.

[emmpey]

i mean, if its such a good pesticide- why dont they market it as such?

neem is used as an insect repellent (among other things) which is not the same as a pesticide - i.e. something that is toxic to insects. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neem_oil.

getting back to the thrips, they have now established a life cycle on your plants - they hatch, they grow, they mate and they lay eggs - which means you may be a bit late for a repellent to be effective.

If you still find thrips two weeks after the neem treatment you will need get something that will affect the thrips' metabolism and cause their death and so break their life cycle. nicotine works well as it intefers with insects digestion and respiration - they usually die within a few hours of exposure.

[dutch.lover]

thanks for all the input guys! we used end-all by safers and it seems to have taken care of the problem. unfortunately, the two babies that were attacked the worst looked like they had impatiens necrotic spot virus- which is transmitted thru thrips. because they were only bag seeds we decided not to take any chances so we killed them. im still upset- the little guys are always my favorites and we FINALLY perfected seeding- so they were growing famously!!!! damn thrips!!!!!!!

[kdspecial]

Also try out diatomaceous earth

I tried to get some of this stuff. As of right now it is banned in Canada due to the health code. No store has any left. the grow shop by me said it was toxic so the Government Health board has stopped allowing it into Canada.

Just thought I would let the Canuks know...

I used Need oil to get rid of the bastards. Although I only had larva. I have yet to see an actual adult thrip/ I hope to never see one.

I spray neem every two weeks. Mainly just the soil. im lucky my GirlFriend keeps our apartment spotless. No Dust. No Bugs...

yeah for girlfriends....

kd

[4x5]

flash freeze em'! it should be cold enough where you're at, set your plants outside for 20 minutes (or less, be careful!), all those bugs will die very quickly. do it a couple times over a few days. It may stunt your plants, but stunted growth is better than chewed growth and dead plants.

[stinkyattic]

I tried to get some of this stuff. As of right now it is banned in Canada due to the health code. No store has any left. the grow shop by me said it was toxic so the Government Health board has stopped allowing it into Canada.

yeah for girlfriends....

Heh heh yay for girlfriends!!! You're a lucky one... I'm not all about doing housework... used to get Jeff to do all the laundry because it was down 3 flights of stairs and I was already pooped from carrying buckets of dirt and water up to the attic every day!! I DO cook though!

Anyway about the DE, I know why it was banned... the type used in pool filters is VERY VERY dangerous to anything with lungs. For some reason the body cannot encapsulate the particles or expel them and they cause chronic lung disease. I didn't know that the plain garden DE was hazardous... kind of assumed the dust is no good to breathe but not life threatening for sure!

Hey I'll add that to my list for when I come up to Ontario... I'll trade banned garden supplies with ya... If you can find me a few bottles of No-Damp I'll bring you a lifetime supply of DE... deal?