Oh my --that is so discouraging. We all look forward to our roses after a long winter and it realy is sad when they have a problem.
I just noticed something from a distance that might be RRD and I haven't had the courage to look more closely-----Boo hoo.

Florence

Good to see you here. I am sorry about the roses, but you know you make up for any rose deficits with your wit and charm.

I have them too. They are doing damage, but so is the cool damp weather. I just got an organic catalog in the mail. I may try some thirp predators next. It is discouraging. They do eventually go away.

Hostas are decimated by slugs, which are repellant even if they AREN'T eating your plants. Lilies attract the also-repellant red lily beetles. The beetles themselves aren't ugly, but don't ask about their larvae! So far, clematis don't seem to have attracted anything disgusting.

I also have them, second year now, but this year they are early, I didn't have them until my second bloom cycle last year. My buds are hardly opening and when they do they are so ugly. I'm about to give up too. I do remember that 3 years ago I used the Bayer 2 in 1 granules that you put on the ground around the rose bush's base and that year I did not have thrips but I wanted to try and stay away from chemicals. Buford would you mind sharing the name of the predators and where we can purchase them. thanks

Growing roses is such a trip, heh?? One year is one thing, the next it's something else..but the thrips are guaranteed. We had an early spring and "most" of the roses escaped the damage but they are here now and I'm seeing lots of damage. Some years the storms blow the azalea blooms off in a day or two..roses will bloom again..at least the ones I have.

What if....

IF the sprays arent working...what if you just used the water jet treatment on aphids and just didn't use any insecticides?

I don't spray for bugs here and I have these green spiders on my roses (the ones that would typically have thrips). The thing is....these spiders must be eating them all as my blooms are not destroyed.

I am not an organic nut....but I think because I don't spray I have a balance in the garden.

Just some food for thought...

if only a bug would eat canker. sigh.

Systemic Imidacloprid is the only thing I know of that is supposed to kill the thrips as they feast on the new buds...

They are so tiny inside the buds... I don't see how any other bug could eat them...

I used the systemtic for a few years and it didn't really help with thrips or JBs. I don't think the systematic goes into the petals with enough strength to do anything.

rhonda, I am trying so hard not to spray. I am seeing little grey alligator bugs crawling around, I hope they are predators. I'm going to take a wait and see attitude this year.

Rambling, I haven't done anything yet, but I did get a catalog yesterday (great timing!) called Arbico Organics. It has an page with thrip predators on it. They show 2 types of Thrip Mites and something called a Minute Pirate Bug! The problem is that you need to buy 10,000 minimum and it's about $40-$50 for the mites and $80 for the Pirate Bugs. I'm going to do a bit more research before I do anything. I can just see me releasing them and them all flying away.....

There is also the low tech blue sticky traps.... at $4.95 each I think I'll try that first.

Here's a link....Organics

I feel your pain, I had a terrific first flush going and the aphids got mine and then came the thrips. Hopeing the darker colored roses coming next will be fine as long as the bud worms and rose slugs from last year stay away.

I have daylilies blooming and while I like them it's just not as thrilling as roses:)

Yes, BrotherMalcolm, growing roses is a form of masochism. The same thing happened to me - and I sprayed with Spinosad frequently and all over the bushes. I didn't use Orthene because it is not an "organic". I have birds nesting in my roses, for one thing! But, a guy who wins at the shows says you have to alternate one every day when they start budding in Spring. I may try it next year, but, meanwhile, I am looking forward to the second flush - they don't seem as prevalant. And, I am never, never, never buying another fragrant light colored rose! What's the point - I'll never see it bloom. I'm adding more red roses! Whine, whine!

Oh, I do grow hostas and they look great! Nothing eats them because I put pecan shell mulch down, which supposedly slugs don't like to crawl over.

I would love to have balance in my garden, it would be wonderful if I could go "al naturale". How long does it take to see results if I do nothing about the insects now and just let nature have its way?
I have bees thats for sure, they are constantly flying in my face. I have mosquitoes, grasshoppers, ants, flys, worms, butterflys and lots of spiders.
Thanks Buford for the link.

I'm not going to get too excited, but I think I saw one of these crawling around one of my roses that has thrips on it....

oh boy look at those pretty wings, I wish I could see one of those, that would really make my day. Never thought in my life I would get excited about seeing a bug. LOL Congratulations Buford, it could be the beginning of something good.

Buford, those little grey alligator bugs are Ladybug larva. They are voracious aphid eaters. Whatever you do, don't get rid of them. :o)

I am sorry for your bloom loss from the thrips. I made up my mind several years ago that thrips would not deprive me of a beautiful rose flush in the Spring.
I spray with Merit. Yes, it is an insecticide but used correctly and sparingly it has saved my rose blooms from complete destruction by those darned thrips. TO beging with, I try not to spray the dark reds and dark pink blooms at all and actually the thrips seem to leave them alone. The big target are the light colored blooms of the whites, yellows, light pinks, and apricots.I only spray it lightly on the very top of the bush aiming to hit the buds and try to stay away from the foliage. I spray in the late evening so that the bees and other beneficials are not active when the Merit is still wet on the bush. It dries overnight and will not supposedly harm the bees, just the thrips. I have yet to see any dead bees in my gardens, but I can rest assured after spraying the Merit that the thrip population is drastically reduced. It only takes about one gallon of mixed spray to cover my entire 225 rose bushes.
I try to only spray one time each spring with the first spring flush, but if necessary I will spray a second time if left no other choice. It really depends on how big of a flush we have. From the looks of the bushes this spring, I am going to have a huge spring flush so I will probably end up spraying two times this year. Generally the thrips are gone after the initial flush as it gets closer to July and the heat of summer.
I am just not willing to let insects destroy my lovely rose blooms that I have tried so desperately to produce. So sorry to the died in the wool organic gardners, but this is the road I've decided to follow. It works for me and my roses.
John

John, I sprayed last year and I don't have any problem with anyone spraying. I just wish there was a way too prevent them from coming back year after year.

My spring flush was ok this year, I had some ruined blooms, but it was also due to the cool wet weather. I'm going to try to do it this way this year and see what happens.

I'm also going to try spraying something on the ground this winter to see if that helps.

Thrips and JBs are on top of my hate list.
Something happened here that they didn't arrive on time but they are chewing now. Nasty little ***%$$##$%%^*&&^^&^&***(

Carla

I can feel your pain brother. Here's a bit of experience I had with Thrips a couple of years ago when they were at horrible levels. I do not spray insecticides unless the health of the plant is threatened. However that year was the 2nd year in a row that the Thrips were at unbelievable levels. I decided I would mist the buds with Orthene every 3 days (that's what is recommended for serious infestations). The next day was D-day in my garden. But as luck and the garden gods would have it I was looking at a post on this forum and it mentioned the Minute Pirate Bug, a big time preditor of Thrips. I had noticed in the petals that alongside the Thrips there was this newly arrived tiny little bug. I researched and lo and behold it turned out to be the Minute Pirate Bug. I hadn't seen it in my garden before, but apparently the "Fine Dining" sign was switched on that year because they arrived and chowed down like crazy. Did the Thrips totally disappear? No, but they were reduced to acceptable levels and have remained there since. Before you throw in the towel, you might want to experiment with them. And just so I don't sound too complacent, I try not to grow any rose that's a Thrips magnet. I've taken out some really nice roses before because the blooms were just food for Thrips and not a pleasure for me.

Here is a link that might be useful: Minute Pirate Bug

Hey look what I found today. I was so excited.

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