Systemic is best for thrips imo. I suggest you try that, especially with such a large collection. Also, get that plant away from those other plants immediately as adult thrips (black ones) can fly. ❤ And treat others that were around it with systemic as well. They lay eggs inside the leaf tissue. So just sprays or cleaning them with alcohol will not be completely effective.
Ugh…thrips scare me. My daughter dealt with a thrips outbreak all summer long. I have never dealt with thrips. (knock on wood) The best way to make sure you get rid of thrips is to treat your plant with systemic granules for a few months. It takes about 3-4 weeks for the insecticide to travel throughout your plant. Thrips can live in plant tissue for a while before emerging that’s why they seem to come out of nowhere.
I totally understand your fear! Thrips can be quite sneaky. It's great that you're taking preventative measures, and I hope your plants stay thrip-free!
@ Me too cupcake! I had the start of mealys on a couple of Hoyas a couple of months ago but I think I nipped it in the butt early on. I still check my plants very regularly.
Mealy bugs on large collection of tropical plants. Started out with cotton swab soaked in 70% isopropyl alcohol but too time consuming so filled spray bottle with alcohol and water and sprsyed all plants eith solution. Really helped!
After buying a 6’ natal mahogany and finding out what spider mites are, I treat all plants I bring in as if they have something. I treat all plants just in case for a couple months. I wash the plants in the sink or shower and follow with a cold pressed neem oil every week. I also use granules in the soil if the plant or fruit is not edible. Don’t trust any source. I went back to the large nursery and saw spider mites on most of the other natal mahogany plants and a 15’ indoor palm in their greenhouse. Luckily I was misting the leaves within days of bringing my plant home and webbing appeared. The small yellow pin spots were also starting to appear. It took months of carrying it outside to hose down and spray to get rid of them. Luckily I got them before a fan or draft spread them to another plant. Always treat new plants! Then I usually go a few months between treatments if there were no problems or new plants. Also, isolate new plants when bringing them home for several weeks
It sounds like you have a solid plan for keeping your plants safe! Prevention is definitely key when it comes to pests. Your routine of washing and treating new plants is a great practice!
Do you have any care tips other than the humidity? I just got mine and she is struggling.. also it does look like a crawler to me but apparently it's a climber in nature?
Absolutely! In addition to humidity, make sure you're providing indirect light and not overwatering. These plants thrive with a little extra love and attention. They are crawlers, in fact they're slow crawlers. REALLY slow lol. They're considered one of the most challenging philos to grow, so just have patience
@PlantswithKevin that is encouraging to hear it looked bad for the first year but then you were able to make it thrive! I was so worried mine was gonna die.. thank you so much for your reply and advice! :)
Mosquito bits worked for me. Just soak them in your water before watering for a few times. The granules say they work on larva them as does neem oil soil drenches, but I have not tried those personally for gnats
Systemic is best for thrips imo. I suggest you try that, especially with such a large collection. Also, get that plant away from those other plants immediately as adult thrips (black ones) can fly. ❤ And treat others that were around it with systemic as well. They lay eggs inside the leaf tissue. So just sprays or cleaning them with alcohol will not be completely effective.
Ugh…thrips scare me. My daughter dealt with a thrips outbreak all summer long. I have never dealt with thrips. (knock on wood) The best way to make sure you get rid of thrips is to treat your plant with systemic granules for a few months. It takes about 3-4 weeks for the insecticide to travel throughout your plant. Thrips can live in plant tissue for a while before emerging that’s why they seem to come out of nowhere.
I totally understand your fear! Thrips can be quite sneaky. It's great that you're taking preventative measures, and I hope your plants stay thrip-free!
@ Me too cupcake! I had the start of mealys on a couple of Hoyas a couple of months ago but I think I nipped it in the butt early on. I still check my plants very regularly.
Mealy bugs on large collection of tropical plants. Started out with cotton swab soaked in 70% isopropyl alcohol but too time consuming so filled spray bottle with alcohol and water and sprsyed all plants eith solution. Really helped!
Awesome, glad to hear the spray helped! Sometimes you just gotta go all in and blast those little pests away!
After buying a 6’ natal mahogany and finding out what spider mites are, I treat all plants I bring in as if they have something. I treat all plants just in case for a couple months. I wash the plants in the sink or shower and follow with a cold pressed neem oil every week. I also use granules in the soil if the plant or fruit is not edible. Don’t trust any source. I went back to the large nursery and saw spider mites on most of the other natal mahogany plants and a 15’ indoor palm in their greenhouse. Luckily I was misting the leaves within days of bringing my plant home and webbing appeared. The small yellow pin spots were also starting to appear. It took months of carrying it outside to hose down and spray to get rid of them. Luckily I got them before a fan or draft spread them to another plant. Always treat new plants! Then I usually go a few months between treatments if there were no problems or new plants. Also, isolate new plants when bringing them home for several weeks
It sounds like you have a solid plan for keeping your plants safe! Prevention is definitely key when it comes to pests. Your routine of washing and treating new plants is a great practice!
Good luck. You got this
LOL! Mission accomplished! :-)
Do you have any care tips other than the humidity? I just got mine and she is struggling.. also it does look like a crawler to me but apparently it's a climber in nature?
Absolutely! In addition to humidity, make sure you're providing indirect light and not overwatering. These plants thrive with a little extra love and attention. They are crawlers, in fact they're slow crawlers. REALLY slow lol. They're considered one of the most challenging philos to grow, so just have patience
@PlantswithKevin that is encouraging to hear it looked bad for the first year but then you were able to make it thrive! I was so worried mine was gonna die.. thank you so much for your reply and advice! :)
💚
:-)
Spider mites on outdoor clematis. Ughh
Spider mites can be such a hassle! Have you tried any treatments to help your clematis?
Fungus gnats 😢
They’re sooo annoying! Those yellow sticky traps always help tho!
@ What about cinnamon?? Canada 🇨🇦
Mosquito bits worked for me. Just soak them in your water before watering for a few times. The granules say they work on larva them as does neem oil soil drenches, but I have not tried those personally for gnats
Unfortunately, as long as we have plants, we're going to have some kind of pest.
You are so right! But hopefully, we can keep them under control! 😉
Funny I watched right after I finished treating my maranta for mealybugs. Ugh cotton swab with alcohol and tgen soapy water.