Hi! I am wondering what to do with thrip damage on my roses. Most of the roses that managed to bloom have brown-tinged petals. I dumped a few spent blooms onto white paper and noticed the thrip larvae scurrying all over the place. I have not sprayed (except with Cornell mixture for powdery mildew), and I am not sure how to control this problem without having to resort to Orthonex, which is recommended by our nursery.
Curiously, not all of my roses are suffering from the thrip damage. My "About Face", "Apricot Queen", "Gingersnaps" and numerous David Austins are doing fine. The "Karl Lagerfeld", "Stainless Steel", "New Zealand" and "Queen Elizabeth" OTOH look ragged and most of their buds simply do not even open.
One potential non-insecticide method is said to by blue sticky traps (do a Google search). I just purchased some to see if they help at all. Otherwise, they are "supposed to be" seasonal, but I have seen them throughout the season.
