Finally figured out that I have thrips not spider mites, so can I get rid of them organically. Looked all over the net and found a couple of things including predator nematodes. Has anyone ever tried them and how effective were they. Also, where did you get them from.
Some local nurseries carry them. And there are many mail order insectaries that supply them. (Below is a link to just one source.) Just be sure to get nematodes labelled specifically for thrips.
I bought nematodes from nematodary.com because they were the best prices from everyone I researched. I got every type because I wasn't sure which ones worked best for thrips. They arrived in a cooler and need to stay cold. I put them int he fridge and applied half of them so far. (The say to break it up into two release times). It has only been a little over a week but I heard it takes a few weeks to start noticing results. A few questions:
How long has it taken for anyone else to see results?
Can you use pyrithrin, insecticidal, or neem sprays (or other organic spray solutions) in the meantime to fight the thrip population?
Most of the bugs seem to bve living in the top few inches of the soil and kill of the bottoms of the plants. I am not positive they are thrips because I am new to this but am pretty sure that's what they most sound like.
Any advice would be really helpful from anyone else with the same experiences.
Whoops! I'm sorry I was so long in checking this one again, but here I am.
Rozanna, those nematodes should live on just fine if they're in garden soil that is kept watered in the usual manner. The population will fuctuate with the supply of food they find.
