Elucas,
I used a Bayer Product with "imadacloprid" or something thats sounds/spells like that. It killed the thrips and then made spider mites multiply like crazy. I would not use that product again for that purpose. My first choice is neem oil for insect control.

Do you think neem oil is more effective than insecticidal soap? I tried the soap and it isn't controlling them enough.

Nevermind what I said about spider mites, Emily. I think you still need something else for those (neem?), but spinosad does work very well for thrips. It's a biological agent though I've read that it's often combined with chemicals, too.

When I checked at a local nursery they had several products that contained spinosad and their formulas probably vary a bit for different applications. The nice thing is the spinosad isn't particularly harmful to mammals or some beneficial insects.

I sprayed the remainder of my bottle of insecticidal soap last night as the whitefly damage is getting noticable. Hate to say it, but we could use a hard freeze next winter to kill some of these nasties off!

Elucas,

Thrips are a big problem at my house, too. Right now I have them on every single one of my plumeria as well as on everything else that I grow. It's a frustratingly persistent problem. All of my plumies are putting out misshapen leaves :(

You have to control them immediately, though, because many species of thrips will attack the inflos as well as the foliage. In one of the posts I put up recently, there's a photo of a giant inflo on my Haleakala--that same inflo eventually shriveled, and I just cut it off yesterday...so sad. But it was thrips that caused it, and the fault, I've decided, was that I did not control the problem soon enough (they do the damage when the plant part is very tiny).

I concur with K that chemical pesticides will disappoint in the end--plus, I have found that imidicloprid and acetamiprid have a tendency to burn plumie leaves.

I also agree with him that weekly, diligent application of neem is the way to go.

I would add two things:
1) IMO, adding ProTekt to every watering, plus foliar spraying once a week with the same, will make your plants more resilient to thrips.
2) My thrips problem is so bad that neem once a week is necessary, but not sufficient; I also find that, nearly daily, I must spray down all tips, foliage, and inflos of all development stages with a strong stream of water with a drop of dish soap (I also add a small splash of white vinegar and a few drops of rubbing alcohol). If you look for the tiny black specks, spray them directly and they'll usually let go.

Ever since I've been doing these things regularly, I have found that, while I still have thrips present (and probably always will), they do not destroy new growth the way they had been.

Hope that helps.

Greg

Thanks so much for the responses everyone, this is VERY helpful! Luckily, I waited to hear from you guys before I sprayed the stuff with the imidacloprid in it! It sounds like it will cause more problems than it will solve.

I'll definitely be getting some of the products you all recommended without a doubt!

I know I definitely have thrips from the type of damage to the plants, but I've seen 2 different types of bugs and I don't know if they're both thrips or different things. I finally actually saw the black thrips. But I also have a ton of something I can only describe as a "tan looking flea" type thing. It looks like a tiny tan oval. You can't see any legs or wings, I do not see them jump or anything, just crawling like crazy. Is that a thrip too???

This morning I saw quite a bit of bleeding sap and damage on an established plant - I may have more critters than I even realize. I feel like I'm being invaded! Today on my lunch break I will be going to the nursery and checking out their supply.

Hi Emily,

Thought i would share a mix that works well..

Thanks AL!!

In spray bottle..

16 oz of hot water
a few drops of Murphys Oil Soap
1 tsp of Neem Oil

Add together, shake well...then add...

Add 16 oz of Isopropyl Rubbing Alcohol

Spray weekly as needed

I like to spray on a cloudy day or after the sun goes down in the evening...

Hope this helps..

: )

Laura

Laura, just to clarify: Are you using equal amounts of hot water and alcohol? Is the Murphy's the concentrate, the stuff you mix at home yourself to dilute? Thanks!

Hey Jen,

Yes it is 16 oz of hot water and 16 oz of Alcohol. I just looked a my Murphys Oil Soap and its just the reg 16 oz size brand that is the normal cleaner. You would dilute this mix 1/4 cup to a gallon when cleaning floors etc.

Hope this is what you were looking for.

I just saw some spider mites on some trees, so im mixing some up right now and going to spray...

Its a cloudy day so im off to work on these critters.. Uggg!

Take care,

Laura

Elucas,
I was starting to see thrip damage too. I came home from a trip and found my Royal Hawaiian and a Celadine with heavy thrip damage. I might loose one tip on the RH and the Celadine inflos have brown flower petals, etc. While assessing what was going on I had to give myself a blood transfusion after the mosquitos had their way on me.

Long story short; in a fit of itchy rage against the mosquitos I used a bottle of "Cutter Backyard Bug Control" which connects to the garden hose and hosed everything down and it looks like it knocked the thrip population back down to manageable levels. It has a different active ingredient than the other products and does mention thrip in the product label. We will see if there is any blowback from this product but as of right now its looking good.

Yes, please let me know how it works! Those things are relentless and very hard to kill! I shelved the Bayer product before I used it after the advice here, and I went ahead and used Spinosad because I've got to reduce the numbers enough to manage. I sprayed last week and they are due to be sprayed again - I'm really hoping this helps. I looked at a couple of established plants the day after I sprayed and could still see a ton of them, but it did say it could take up to 2 days to actually kill them. I'll look again before I spray today or tomorrow.

I also ordered some Neem and ProTekt so I can start using those to help the plants be strong and resilient. And because I'm spraying a lot of things lately and will be even more, and my hands hurt from it, I treated myself to a hand held pump pressure sprayer! LOL!

Just as an experiment (and because I was too lazy to mix up Laura's recipe) I sprayed Ortho Rose Pride on a few of my plumies that seem to be under attack by something and was careful to avoid those plumies that seem to have insect "protectors" on them. Those with these little critters on them have little or no damage that I can see:

I don't know what these are, and they come in all kinds of colors, but they seem to be insectavores so I leave them alone.

Maui Sweetheart has very odd and complete leaf damage by something but I can't see anything except whiteflies on it. One JL Tornado seedling has nothing but malformed leaves, too, so those two got sprayed all over. I checked for the active ingredient in Rose Pride and it's not imadacloprid but it does specifically attack thrips, mites and whitefly.

I also added seaweed to my water can to boost their resistance to the chewing critters so I'll let you know if I see any changes in their new foliage.

Laura,

What strength isopropyl alcohol do you use? Are you using pure Neem oil? Does this mix hurt the inflos at all?

(Sorry for all the questions!)

My new DSP has thrips - argh!

Hi Daogirl,

The strenght on the bottle of Isopropyl Alcohol is 70%.

The Neem Oil i use is the Neem Oil Extract from Garden Safe
I have used another brand from Dyna Gro called pure Neem Oil) I like both.

When i spray, i tend to avoid spraying directly on the open inflos.. I just spray the leaves upper and under. If the inflo looks like it have alot of infestation, i will spray them. Especially if they haven't fully opened. I am just one who likes to avoid the inflos to enjoy longer.
Again, i do try and most of the time avoid spraying an open bloom.

I hope you have success.

Those Thrips are nasty little critters.

Hope this helps..

Remember to use on a cloudy day.. i like to use in the evening when i know the next day will be overcast. I worry about using anything when the sun is as strong here on the coast. But...sometimes those critters need to be kept under control!!

Laura

As a follow-up, the Rose Pride did take care of some of my whitefly problem, but they are still around in reduced numbers. It also made a lot of leaves turn spotty and fall off, so I don't recommend this for plumies.