A couple of my brugs are being attacked by thrips now. Two of my roses had thrip damage in June and they seems to have found the brugs. I didn't know what they looked like. Thanks to a couple of bug smart people here I'll now be able to go after the little pests. I was seeing beige splotches on the blooms and looking inside the blooms saw sliver sized insects.
Monika tells me they are virus spreaders so they are first on my priority list to get rid of.
Take a peek inside your blooms before you sniff. lol
Thrips
Thrips love flowers and also love warm temps, so they seem to explode this time of year. I hope you get rid of them Liz.
Liz:
Can you post some photographs of the damage and the insects? What will you use to eradicate this pest?
Im curious too, about what you will use.
delecie, I'm having a bit of a SanDisk issue right now so can't post a pic yet.
Shelly apparrently there is a whole range of stuff I can use. All the way from Tracey's alcohol mixture, imidocloprid, diazanon, Avid and Safer's soap.
I hate bugs!
Susie taught me the alcohol treatment and I have to say it works very good, every three days, for three weeks.
I'm with you Kell! Although bugs have their place, it should not be on our flowers with the intent to destroy them!
This is thrip damage on a daylily bloom.
Oh my! Thank-you for the photograph poppysue. Will the thrip damage eventually kill the flower?
What is the alcohol treatment? Is that the 1:10 mix?
Tracie, what is the alcohol treatment? Do you just drink enough that you no longer care about the thrips? ;-) I hate thrips. Fortunately, in my area we get them in the spring, by mid-summer they're not very noticeable. Haven't had any problems with them on brugs... yet.
Delicie, I think the main risk from thrips is that they spread plant viruses. Aside from that, they can severely damage the appearance of your flowers and make them look so ugly you just want to cut them off. Roses, gladiolus, and daylilies seem especially susceptible.
The alcohol recipe is 50-50 alcohol to water and a dash of dish soap, every three days for 3 weeks.
Why don't I know about this bug? Great another insect to battle. My mantis take care of the big ones, it's the little ones that drive me batty. Hope you get them under control quickly.
Thanks Liz
Thank-you Liz and Tom for the additional information. Tom, I'm still laughing at your alcohol treatment.
LOLOLOL, Tom........... your bad!