End of June in North East Florida, and I’m back to fighting chilli thrips.
It was quiet on the front up to recently, but with temperatures always close to the 90s, I noticed that almost all my roses (about 150) have become prey to chilli thrips.
I have been spraying Spinosad (once a week) but it seems to be of little to no effect.
Today, I decided to trim aggressively all infected roses.
I heard about a mysterious pesticide called hachi hachi that is supposedly 100% effective, but I cannot find it in the market.
Has anybody heard about this product?
Hachi Hachi is an industrial, commercial product you likely aren’t licensed to purchase. The website lists “thrips, including Western Flower Thrips” but doesn’t specify Chilli Thrips which are an entirely different critter. Spraying only Spinosad is unwise as it allows the thrips to build a resistance to that product. That’s why so many source recommend using a cocktail of Spinosad AND Imidacloprid or other suggested systemic insecticide. The second link is to an Integrated Pest Management site dealing with Chilli Thrips.
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Even though I could have bought Hachi-Hachi, (I have a commercial pesticide license), I would not buy it because of the Danger label, can be fatal if inhaled! However, for your chili thrip problem some research suggests Lambda-cyhalothrin, or Captiva Prime (oil )(Gowan), Proud (thyme oil) showed better efficacy than Avid & Conserve (Spinosad).
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Thanks to all for your replies.
I will try these cocktails, with alternating recipes.
I have successfully fought off Chili Thrips using a combination of Abamectin and (wettable) Orthene.
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Late to the game but Monterey Horticultural oil was suggested on the Rose Chat podcast. From what I understand it is safe to spray in temps up to 90 degrees due to it’s finer disbursement saturation pattern(hope that makes sense, can’t remember how they worded it). They did recommend stripping all new growth as the Chili thrips have weak mouths & are only able to eat tender new growth.
One month later, the Belinda and Beverly roses are blooming like crazy. I tried the recommended cocktails and what seems to be working fine is the combination Lambda-Cyhalothrin + Orthene.
Most importantly, the many pollinators that are around (bees + butterflies) don’t seem to mind much.
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