I have a no spray rose garden, use no insecticides, and haven't for the past 5 years. Don't know if it because of the balance of nature in my garden or just luck but I haven't had a thrip problem in years, nor midge, or most destructive insects. Those I do have I ignore.

Karl, do you treat blackspot? What do you do about Rose slugs?

This year, nasturtium started growing in my garden, apparently volunteers from a neighbor across the street. I have had very little problems with bugs of any kind this year, including thrips and aphids. I read that nasturtium planted below roses keeps the bugs away. Anyone else with this experience?

I do know that nasturtiums and chrysanthemums are both touted as having properties that protect plants from insects, at aleast to an extent. curlydoc, I wouldn't be surpised at all if the nasturtiums are helping.

Dependent on where you live and grow your roses, thrips will either be present for a few weeks or not. If you live in an agricultural area where wheat is grown, you will have them. If not, you likely will not. As far as I know, there is no non-spray solution for them. When you are treating for thrips, you are not spraying the whole bush, just the buds, so the treatment can be done with a spray bottle, and on the buds only.

zyperiris
Due to the difficulty I have hauling my sprayer around behind my scooter, I haven't treated for blackspot in over two years. Even then it was spotty at most. My frequent overhead watering seems to keep the blackspot spores washed off the leaves.
No spores on the leaves to germinate, no blackspot. My foliage is clean.

As far as rose slugs, although I have some, I figure they have to eat too.
This, plus not having a "Perfect Leaf Phobia" keeps me sane. Perfect leaves are not important for me.
The larval stage of many good predatory insects and butterflies eat foliage. Killing them gets rid of any good they can do when they mature. They're part of Integrated Pest Management (IPM). Keeping insect eating birds and predatory insects around involves them having a food source.
One solution to rose slugs is to plant more roses. More roses means you may not notice the rose slug damage.
Even mole damage in my yard is tolerated as they devour lots of grubs. I just run over the mole runs with the rear wheel of my garden tractor to push them back down.
Relax, life's too short! Don't sweat the small stuff. Believe me insect damage, on the scale of life's problems, is small stuff.

I don't know what kind of thrips you have in Chicago, but in Florida we have been invaded with Chili thrips. The only thing I have found to work is Spinosad, which is the active ingredient in Conserve.

I agree with Tom, I have chili thrips too, and they are horrible, but Conserve works wonders, and I dont detect a nasty smell like other products.

insect damage, on the scale of life's problems, is small stuff.

*** GO KARL!!! :-)

Jeri

Have you tried Neem oil? Not sure if it would harm leaves/blooms, but it's an 'organic' solution anyway! :)

BTW, I don't spray my surviving roses with anything, and have guineas that eat most of the bugs, but not thrips. :(

At what stage in a bud's development do the thrips find their way inside? Do they get in even before the sepals begin to separate? My PJPII just popped the sepals on it's second flush, and it looks like the tip of the bloom already shows some thrip damage.

I absolutely KNOW the damage is minor in the big scheme of things, and that if PJPII is the only one that ever gets them I should just SP the bush. *cries a little*

But I am curious about them, and might consider spot-treatment with a non-toxic if they confine themselves mainly to one bush. But, I have to know when they get in, to be effective!