Oh now we got bugs. What is it? and what to do?

My partner sent me these photos today. We got bugs! Anyone know what these are?

I recently tackled a thrips infestation at another location. Learning from that, I told my partner to immediately:

-spray down infected areas with insecticidal soap
-add a layer of vermiculite above the peat based media
-remove infected leaves (mostly he said it was on lower leaves)
-get some citric acid which we can dilute to spray with

Soon I can plan to spray it with pyrethoid as well.

But I am still not clear -- what are these damn bugs and how to attack then???

(Sorry for the picture quality, I will try to get more soon)

Overgrowtho said:

My partner sent me these photos today. We got bugs! Anyone know what these are?

I recently tackled a thrips infestation at another location. Learning from that, I told my partner to immediately:

-spray down infected areas with insecticidal soap
-add a layer of vermiculite above the peat based media
-remove infected leaves (mostly he said it was on lower leaves)
-get some citric acid which we can dilute to spray with

Soon I can plan to spray it with pyrethoid as well.

But I am still not clear -- what are these damn bugs and how to attack then???

(Sorry for the picture quality, I will try to get more soon)

Click to expand...

Picture 1,2,4 are thrips various stages.

picture 3 no fucking clue what that is other than some time of chrysalis maybe?

Thanks what do you think of my plan of attack?

Oh yeah, I also:
spray some Beauveria bassiana
add yellow stick traps
reduce soil mosture

Which step might be the most effective? I did follow the above steps all at once in another op and the bugs all died... (not sure which methods were most effective tho).

Are these still in veg?

In a few days it will be 3 weeks into flower

Overgrowtho said:

Thanks what do you think of my plan of attack?

Oh yeah, I also:
spray some Beauveria bassiana
add yellow stick traps
reduce soil mosture

Which step might be the most effective? I did follow the above steps all at once in another op and the bugs all died... (not sure which methods were most effective tho).

Click to expand...

First thing you need to do is correctly identify the invaders.

the pics of thrips I mentioned I am 99.9% sure are thrips but there are many forms of western flower thrips in the world so 100% correct ID is needed.

Secondly you’re in flower so your options are being limited with each passing day.

I would opt for something natural (citric acid is a good choice here) and non toxic.

My IPM begins in veg with a few sprays of neem during the veg growth and a couple of root drenches then nothing during flower other than sticky traps (which never catch anything)

The next thing after identification is work out how the fuck they are getting access to your garden!!!!!

otherwise you can keep knocking them back but if they can get in just as easy then it’s a vicious circle.

Have you considered using predators that you inoculate with During veg maybe 2 or 3 different predators some for the soil (nematodes, hypoaspis miles) then maybe some for the plants (amberselis cucermeris).

Root drenched of what? Neem too?

Overgrowtho said:

Root drenched of what? Neem too?

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Yep. I do it twice during veg.

those kind of look like aphids to me, but close enough...
the beauveria should help, and just taking them outside and spraying them off with as strong a stream of water as they can take without damage will knock a lot of them off.

Have you considered using predators that you inoculate with During veg maybe 2 or 3 different predators some for the soil (nematodes, hypoaspis miles) then maybe some for the plants (amberselis cucermeris).

Click to expand...

I have had great results with minute pirate bugs for thrip control. They might be a little costly, but totally worth it every time I have purchased them. They might be worth a shot even in flower, but you have to watch your spraying regime with them out there.

I read hypoaspis mites work or help they didn't, thrips live on the plants and mites in the medium so they don't meet very often.

I was in the veg when I had them so my options were better, after trying various sprays i got them beat with smoke bombs 1 every 3 days (iirc?) to kill the egg larvae adult cycle.

That was 3 in total.

Those cant be thrips,way to big.Aphids is more likely.

Even if aphids I should continue to attack in same manner e.g. insecticidal soap, citric acid etc?

Pic 1 is 100% thrips

You can see them everywhere

Ipm

I’d revert to veg at this point, solve the problem and flip back into flower. A few weeks of lost time will be worth it, trust me

myke said:

Those cant be thrips,way to big.Aphids is more likely.

Click to expand...

If you zoom in you can see them.

Thrips leave a silvery sheen on the leafs almost like a slug trail, afaik it's the tell tale sign of thrips but double check that.