Using nematodes

Jimmy the vest uk

Well-Known Member
hi all
Im just about to get some nematodes to try and get rid of a thrip problem i been having for some time now.
Any points to consider before i do this as i never done it before.anyone recommend somewhere to get them from? Are there different types? Any info will help me.
Im indoors in soil in pots
Thanks
 

Jimmy the vest uk

Well-Known Member
hi all
Im just about to get some nematodes to try and get rid of a thrip problem i been having for some time now.
Any points to consider before i do this as i never done it before.anyone recommend somewhere to get them from? Are there different types? Any info will help me.
Im indoors in soil in pots
Thanks
Has anyone got any tips or anthing to consider on this subject
 

ChiefRunningPhist

Well-Known Member
SF nematodes is what you want for thrips. You can pick them up on Amazon or eBay from "Natures Good Guys" for cheap.. Ladybugs will eat the adults and they are also cheap and can be found from the same company on both sites. Just add the SF nematodes into your nute water, and water in, they'll do the rest.

Heres a link for a triple nematode blend used for a wide array of pests...
https://www.ebay.com/p/15-Million-Live-Beneficial-Nematodes-Hb-Sc-Sf-Kills-Over-200-Different-Insects/1874534853

You can buy only the SF nematodes for cheaper I think I saw around $7. Just Google SF nematodes..
 
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Jimmy the vest uk

Well-Known Member
SF nematodes is what you want for thrips. You can pick them up on Amazon or eBay from "Natures Good Guys" for cheap.. Ladybugs will eat the adults and they are also cheap and can be found from the same company on both sites. Just add the SF nematodes into your nute water, and water in, they'll do the rest.

Heres a link for a triple nematode blend used for a wide array of pests...
https://www.ebay.com/p/15-Million-Live-Beneficial-Nematodes-Hb-Sc-Sf-Kills-Over-200-Different-Insects/1874534853

You can buy only the SF nematodes for cheaper I think I saw around $7. Just Google SF nematodes..
Thanks for info much appreciated
 

Jimmy the vest uk

Well-Known Member
dipped all the plants yesterday in warm soapy water then left them to dry and then smoked the whole chamber, gonna get these nematodes next couple of days. I fancy smoking them again just to be safe how long after smoking would you wait to add the nematodes to make sure the residue from the smoke bomb doesnt cause any harm to them?
 

Moflow

Well-Known Member
dipped all the plants yesterday in warm soapy water then left them to dry and then smoked the whole chamber, gonna get these nematodes next couple of days. I fancy smoking them again just to be safe how long after smoking would you wait to add the nematodes to make sure the residue from the smoke bomb doesnt cause any harm to them?
I don't know for sure as I've never used the mnemotoads before a couple of days maybe?
 

Moflow

Well-Known Member
I use cucumeris too, but for broadmite prevention. Did not know they were effective with thrip, good find
Yea, there's a couple of different predators available for thrip.
Defenders UK actually import them from Belgium.
Also blue sticky traps rather than the yellow ones, you can get them on eBay.
Thrip are a miner irritant to me but the red spidermites are a different kettle of fish.
For the red spidermite the defender UK used to sell a liquid that you mixed with water and it worked great but they took it off the market a good few years ago now.
Mighty Wash is my go to now. Expensive but if used correctly works
 

ChiefRunningPhist

Well-Known Member
dipped all the plants yesterday in warm soapy water then left them to dry and then smoked the whole chamber, gonna get these nematodes next couple of days. I fancy smoking them again just to be safe how long after smoking would you wait to add the nematodes to make sure the residue from the smoke bomb doesnt cause any harm to them?
I'm not sure about that one, but the amount of nematodes they give you can be split into multiple applications, so I'd just split them up into 5 or 6 doses and water them in every other day or so.
 

ChiefRunningPhist

Well-Known Member
Yea, there's a couple of different predators available for thrip.
Defenders UK actually import them from Belgium.
Also blue sticky traps rather than the yellow ones, you can get them on eBay.
Thrip are a miner irritant to me but the red spidermites are a different kettle of fish.
For the red spidermite the defender UK used to sell a liquid that you mixed with water and it worked great but they took it off the market a good few years ago now.
Mighty Wash is my go to now. Expensive but if used correctly works
I just like watching these vids lol..

I thought I almost heard him try not to laugh...:bigjoint:
 

Jimmy the vest uk

Well-Known Member
Yea, there's a couple of different predators available for thrip.
Defenders UK actually import them from Belgium.
Also blue sticky traps rather than the yellow ones, you can get them on eBay.
Thrip are a miner irritant to me but the red spidermites are a different kettle of fish.
For the red spidermite the defender UK used to sell a liquid that you mixed with water and it worked great but they took it off the market a good few years ago now.
Mighty Wash is my go to now. Expensive but if used correctly works
I agree i had the mites before they made me completely shut down, these thrips are less of a problem but a problem still
 

Jimmy the vest uk

Well-Known Member
I have tried spider mite predators before but they didnt really seem to help me at that time, maybe i was at faullt somewhere and to be fair they was actually against mites not thrips, i think you need to have the right conditions for the predators to live and maybe thats why i havent had good results before but i have decided to be more open to using them again and have regained some faith in them due to your responses.
I feel like i just had a great idea and cannot believe i havent read this before in my search to get rid of these thrip bastards.
So apparently the thrip has 5 life stages, if im thinking right Nematodes are used for when the thrip is in the stage where it goes into the soil and plots up i think its called the pupae stage. So if you focus on eliminating the hatching of the pupae the cycle has to come to an end right?
Which leads me to ask how effective are these nematodes? Would it be ok to focus on destroying the next generation by targeting them just in the pupae stage because this would eliminate the need for any sprays,smoke bombs,predators.
Especially when using pots because they need to lay eggs in soil so it will be easy to make sure you get them all because theres no other soil about.
As moflow said already thrips dont cause as much damage as the mites and i have easily left them to do what they do for a month at a time without culling them and the damage is not that bad, seems they focus down low on the plant and leave the tops alone, so just focusing on the pupae and letting the adults live out there life wont be so bad, or i might get the microscope out and get some predators in to watch some leaf wars.
What you guys think?
 
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