>> From: phil@WIGHT.COM(Philip F. Wight)
>>
>> I have a bad case of thrips in two of my lowland Nepenthes terrariums.
>> What would you experts recommend for a general spray for
>> the tanks that would kill the thrips but not damage the plants? How often
>> should I apply it?
>
>Phil,
>
> Place a whole bunch of P.moranensis(sp?) and various hybrids
>in there, thrips, moths, larvae of insects and even scale (I
>have to place the scale on them) are gobbled up by mine. Thrips
>live in the soil, I think, and come out, jump onto the plants to
>feed. So spraying the plants themselves would have minimal effect.
>But when they jump/fly onto a Mexican butterwort, forget it.
>Do I have good solution or will eat the butterworts as well, when
>their numbers are high enough?
>
>Dave Evans
Dave, I think you may be confusing springtails (live in damp places, jump
around alot) with thrips (nasty little sap sucking mosters, usually larger
than springtails). Thrips have caused so much damage in my collection in the
past, I would hesitate to risk my Mexican pings near them.
To spray for thrips, I think it would be best to remove them from the
terrarium, and clean then terrarium out as well. I have only used Safers
insecticidal soap in the past. You need to spray once or twice a week to
really get them all.
I remember reading on the list one or two years ago, that many people on
the list all across the US were experiencing thrip trouble in their
collections. The following weekend, I did a thorough inspection of my
plants, and discovered all my Sarr.s were under attack. I was amazed that
so many people across a continent had an infestation of the same sort of
insect.
Happy growing,
John Phillips Email: phillips@library.ucsf.edu
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