Hi Adrian. I sprayed with conserve this is my 2nd treatment the lady at the garden center told me to do three treatments a week apart. I also have BS with all the rains we've had especially in the evenings. I trimmed all roses yesterday. The conserve seemed to work but still battling leaf notcher weevils. {{gwi:319079}}

ARRGH!!! is Right! I've got Chilli Thrips, too. I'd only half-paid attention months ago when some folks started talking about them. But over the past month and a half or so I've seen stunted growth, poorly formed flowers, and dried out foliage. And even though some people say you can't see them, I can. They are tiny, perhaps a third to a half the size of the western flower thrips, but definitely there and a pale pale green. I can't really see them on light colored flowers, but I definitely can on red ones.

But what are the treatment options? I understand Conserve appears to the be spray treatment of choice, but I can't exactly fit $150 in my budget at the moment. Are there other options? Is there any way to buy a smaller amount. I've got about 40 small potted roses--not huge bushes. I've been using the same pint size bottle of Banner Max for years, so I don't really want to buy a quart at this high price?

Is Merit worthwhile for these vile creatures? Any other options?

By the way, Susan, that weevil does not look friendly. Glad I don't have those, yet at least. Can we import some frigid winter to kill the thrips?

Mike

There is a Greenlight product with Spinosad as the active ingredient. It was less expensive than the other options.

URH. Regular thrips are bad enough. I hope those don't come up here.

Buford,

Pay close attention and you'll find them on roses at your local nurseries already. I bought a few roses on sale at the Wally-World up in Jefferson NC while I was up there and I found the little critters on the roses.

Susan and Mike,

Spinosad (Conserve) is the only option that truly does the trick; however I'm really afraid of overusing the product and creating super-Chili Thrips, as has been found to be the case in several nurseries in Florida and the Caribbean islands.

Adrian.

Avid also works, but again, way expensive, over $100. Nothing works for long. They adapt. The last time I used Avid it didn't work. I saw something on the Florida forum about using Pantene pro-V clarifying shampoo. 8 drops to a gallon. I thought what the heck, I'll spend $5, if it doesn't work I can always wash my hair with it. I sprayed it 3 times now. The best part is you don't have to get into a suit of armor when it's 95 degrees outside. It really worked well on my Don Juan. I don't have a before picture, but you know the look, black edges, nasty foliage. Here is an after picture,not the best photos but you can see that it is clean, no damage at allexcept for a bit of lingering old damage on a lower leaf.
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It worked well also on Valentine. It didn't work as well on some of the others, Traviata (my worst thrip magnet, even though it is dark red), Belinda's Dream and Disneyland still look bad.

Teka,

I've heard of using shampoo as a spreader sticker but never as an insectacide!

I have to try this if for nothing more than to get that salon quality sheen in my roses (lol).

Thanks.

Yes, shiny roses are all the rage, ha ha. The Pantene Pro-V Clarifying shampoo worked great to get rid of build-up before my last hair color too. Insecticidal soap hasn't worked on the thrips but I had some luck with this particular shampoo.

Other spinosad products include Green Light Bulls Eye, Fertilome Borer, Bagworm, and Monterrey Insect Killer. You really need to alternate with another insecticide labeled for thrips. Find out what ag extension is recommending.

I'll have to look for that shampoo. : )
But I think my next step will be to contact our ag extension. I wonder what eats these things in their native environment.

OK, I talked to our local agricultural extension about the chilli thrips, and they had never heard of it but were interested in what I would tell them about it. hmm...

I went out and bought fertilome with spinosad as recommended above, and Pantene Pro-V (giggle). Then we immediately had several days in a row of torrential rain. Arrgh, again. Things have just dried out, and I sprayed the fertilome Monday. I'll follow that up weekly. Now for the challenge of finding other treatments to alternate with it. Has anyone tried Bayer Insecticide for thrips? That's what I usually spray buds with to treat western flower thrips, and it usually helps significantly. Merit was recommended, but I don't think I can afford $70 for something that is just to be used occasionally as an alternate spray. Why is everything so pricey?

I know the fertilome isn't cheaper than Conserve in the long-run because it is so much less concentrated. But Geesh! $150 is too much to stomach shelling out all at once. Especially if its only part of the cure plan. I'm estimating the fertilome spinosad liquid will last me for 8 treatments for the size of my garden.

The link below offers a ton of info - maybe more than you want to know .

Insecticidal soaps are highly effective when used to control soft bodied insects . Actually , any plain dish soap works well . I avoid Dawn . I've found it can burn some leaves and petals .

Soap works only on contact and has no residual effect . You must hit the insects or no kill . Soapy spray is very safe to use and works well when used often during insect infestations .

Rotate your weapons of insect destruction for the best results . If you use a Pyrethroid such as Ortho Bug-B-Gon Max Lawn & Garden Insect Killer - next time use a Neonicotinoid like Bayer Advanced Rose & Flower Insect Killer . Then try a Spinosad like Bulls-Eye Bioinsecticide . You will get much better results and end up using much less product in the long run .

Here is a link that might be useful: Thrips on Ornamentals