A little bit of a 'cut and paste' post, but these are what I've sprinkled over my plants today to combat a thrip invasion and to protect against any spider mite I may have introduced with my external inputs
Amblyseius californicus 2000
http://www.biobestgroup.com/en/biobest/products/biological-control-4463/beneficial-insects-and-mites-4479/californicus-system-4645/
A spider mite killer in- and outdoors Prey Two-spotted spider mites (Tetranychus urticae) occur on many host plants and can cause a lot of damage. Plant cells are sucked dry, which often show as yellow dots on the upper surface of leaves. Plants get out of physiological balance and present growth inhibition. As well, aesthetic damage, caused by the creation of spider webs, can occur. A typical morphological characteristic of two-spotted spider mites, are the two dark spots on their abdomen. Males are more mobile, smaller and thinner than the oval females. The female deposits its oval eggs, with a diameter of approximately 0,14 mm on the underside of the leaf. From the egg, a larva hatches with 3 pairs of legs. Next, the larva develops into a protonymph, followed by the deutonymph and finally, an adult stage. The different development phases are separated by a rest phase, in which the two-spotted spider mite remains for some time on the leaf with its legs drawn in. When the mite is full-grown, it still takes 0,5 to 3 days before it lays its first eggs (preoviposition period). The total life cycle strongly depends on temperature, humidity and host plant. Especially in case of warm and dry weather spider mites can reproduce very fast. In autumn, when temperature and light decrease, gravid female spider mites go into diapause. These females turn orange-red. They hide in all kinds of splits and cracks in the greenhouse, to return the next spring when the conditions improve. Amblyseius californicus Amblyseius (Neoseiulus) californicus occurs naturally in California, Florida and in the countries surrounding the Mediterranean on strawberries, citrus and ornamentals. The predatory mite Amblyseius californicus feeds mainly on two-spotted spider mites, but also on other harmful mites, such as the fruit tree spider mite (Panonychus ulmi), citrus red mite (Panonychus citri), broad mite (Polyphagotarsonemus latus) and cyclamen mite (Tarsonemus pallides), and also on thrips and pollen. Five different stages can be distinguished: egg, larva, protonymph, deutonymph and adult. A. californicus develops well at high temperatures. This predatory mite better withstands low humidity than other predatory mites. The life cycle can be completed in 4 days at high temperatures (30°C). At the same temperature, the life cycle of spider mites is twice as long as that of A. californicus. The adult predatory mite lives about 20 days. She lays eggs during 14 days (with an average of 3 eggs a day). An adult Amblyseius californicus is able to consume 5 adult spider mites daily and possibly some extra eggs and larvae. Especially in crops where temperature and/or relative humidity can change dramatically, Amblyseius californicus will do better than Phytoseiulus persimilis. Contrary to Phytoseiulus, Amblyseius californicus can survive longer without prey. Amblyseius californicus can survive on a diet of pollen. In crops where it is hard to spot the first two-spotted spider mites, Amblyseius californicus can also be introduced preventively even if no spider mites have been found yet. The nymphs of A. californicus prefer young stages and eggs of the two-spotted spider mite. The female eats all stages. A. californicus is most efficient in cases of a low population density of two-spotted spider mite.
Amblyseius cucumeris 25000
http://www.biobestgroup.com/en/biobest/products/biological-control-4463/beneficial-insects-and-mites-4479/amblyseius-system-4664/
Thrips can cause serious damage in several greenhouse crops. Since the widespread application of substrate cultures, the thrips problem has increased. Soil treatments that made thrips hibernation impossible, are now often omitted in soilless cultures. Amblyseius-System Amblyseius-Breeding-System Thrips Adult thrips are small, elongated insects typically with fringed wings. They measure about 1 mm, and have a greyish or yellow to brown colour. The two most common harmful species are the Onion Thrips (Thrips tabaci) and the Western Flower Thrips (Frankliniella occidentalis). The female thrips deposits eggs in the leaf tissue. The eggs hatch within a few days into very mobile larvae which immediately begin to feed. After the second instar they fall on the ground to pupate. The total development from egg to adult takes from 20 days at 20°C (68°F) to 12 days at 30°C (86°F). At sufficiently high temperatures one female thrips can produce up to 100 descendants. Thrips damage the crop by withdrawing the plant cell fluids. Empty cells are filled with air, causing a silvery appearance, on which dark spots (excrement) are visible. Moreover, there exist many more damage symptoms depending on the crop. In sweet pepper, they cause cosmetic damage on the fruits close to the calyx. In several ornamentals, flower damage through discoloration or deformation occurs. Only a few individual thrips are enough to cause crop damage. Moreover, thrips are important vectors of several viruses (e.g. Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus, TSWV). Amblyseius cucumeris Biology Amblyseius cucumeris is a beige predatory mite of less than 1 mm. As an arachnid it has eight legs. In spite of the modest appearance, it is still quite conspicuous because of its mobility on the underside of a leaf or in the flower. The female mite mates several times. It deposits (a few eggs) daily on hairs close to the veins on the underside of the leaf. The young larvae that emerge have only six legs and do not eat. During the two subsequent nymphal stages and as an adult, they have eight legs. A nymph looks like a smaller adult, so there is no metamorphosis. The development from egg to adult takes 8 - 11 days (at respectively 25°C (77°F) and 20°C (68°F). An adult Amblyseius cucumeris lives for about 3 weeks. Adults pierce their prey and then feed on it. Besides thrips larvae, they might sometimes eat spider mites or eggs or larvae of the spider mite predator Phytoseiulus persimilis. As adult thrips can defend themselves well by striking out their abdomen, Amblyseius prefers first instar thrips. Moreover, they eat pollen, which is a useful characteristic for preventative introduction of Amblyseius cucumeris in pollen bearing crops such as sweet pepper. Application Amblyseius cucumeris has been used for years in several greenhouse vegetable crops such as sweet pepper and eggplant. Also in ornamentals such as gerbera, chrysan-themum, rose and all sorts of pot plants, the interest for this predatory mite has increased during recent years. Although Amblyseius controls thrips well in a wide range of greenhouse crops, the leaf structure or composition of some plants (tomato, geranium) hampers the use of this predatory mite. Therefore, consult your technical advisor for possible applications. A low air humidity (below 65 %) impedes the population build-up of Amblyseius cucumeris as the eggs do not hatch and breeder packs (see below) dry out. Therefore Amblyseius cucumeris is assisted in the summer by other natural enemies of thrips (Orius, Amblyseius degenerans).
I have a question for yah. Is it good to foliar with aloe during flowering? those 2 plants are doing good there on 3rd week of flowering I want to foliar spray it with aloe but not sure if that would be bad for the buds or not..
