Hollatchaboy
Well-Known Member
Ive used it. It works well. Use a surfactant with it.
Thrips Citric Acid
- Thread starter Avering
- Start date
Samwiseman420
Well-Known Member
Capt. Jacks Dead Bug Brew is best for spraying thrips. Good luck.
Avering
Well-Known Member
Hey yall was I supposed to mix soap with my citric acid ? The plants ain’t doing too bad. Bout to spray them for lights out . Thank you all who have contributed to this thread. I had put a bunch of predatory insects in there ( cucumeris, minute pirate bugs) and ladybugs but I only really see a few ladybugs now and one or two minute pirate bugs. Not sure if they died or went in the soil
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Avering
Well-Known Member
Thank you!
Hollatchaboy
Well-Known Member
Yes, you can and should use soap(surfactant), though if it were me, I'd only use dawn dish soap.
It works by breaking surface tension of water. Individual molecules of water are highly attractive to each other. That's why you get water droplets.
A surfactant makes them less attractive. Therefore, it let's the water cover a surface more evenly.
Most of the insects probably got eaten by the ladybugs. The rest probably died off from lack of food source.
Avering
Well-Known Member
Thank you, I have yucca extract that I was planning on using tonight instead of the soap since I don’t have unscented at the moment. Can’t wait to get rid of these guys, but a few people have told me it will be difficult to kill them off completely
Star Dog
Well-Known Member
Yucca afaik is natural wetting agent that should work fine.
I’ve no experience with thrips and citric but I can tell you citric fks up spider mite good, its used in some pesticides and its said to kill eggs so maybe?
Fingers crossed!
You've got to spray periodically to prevent any new eggs making it to adults.
Good luck!!
I’ve no experience with thrips and citric but I can tell you citric fks up spider mite good, its used in some pesticides and its said to kill eggs so maybe?
Fingers crossed!
You've got to spray periodically to prevent any new eggs making it to adults.
Good luck!!
Hollatchaboy
Well-Known Member
I use yucca for ipm and every watering. Works good and it's organic.
Ive used dr zymes for thrips. It got rid of them, but diluted citric acid is basically the same thing. It should work the same, but you'll need to keep up with ipm for a bit, and if you're introducing anything new to the grow, like medium, compost, ewc, clones, you should be prepared for an outbreak of something.
Avering
Well-Known Member
Thank you. I just finished spraying them. 56 oz of water with 3 teaspoons or so of citric acid and a half teaspoon of yucca extract. I hope I didn’t go overboard with the citric acid. I have a 24” drum fan pointing at them on high with the tent open now. It’s lights off time and I’m a bit worried this could cause mold on the buds if I don’t give them strong wind
Samwiseman420
Well-Known Member
Seems like everyone is getting their bug stuff taken care of. Just remember you only win the battles. The bugs win the wars. We have proven that they come from the mediums and continue to come out of the medium weeks after you wet the soil. Keep soaking the soil surfaces and spraying the leaves. Use paint mesh bags/pantyhose to keep the bugs from escaping the pot and into the grow.
I can spray right thru the mesh bags to kill the trapped bugs coming from the holes in the bottom of the pots. medidedicated has said he sprays right thru the pantyhose wrapped around his pots. Star dog is getting bugs coming from nowhere inside his wrapped pots.
There is no way to completely win unless we find a new medium that has no bugs and is easy to grow in OR we do a full soil soak before planting our seeds/clones.
Full soil soaks done the proper way will work IMO. In my case would be a pain the ass tho. I would need a 4 x 8 just to pre soak my early pots. For guys doing 4 to 8 plants it should be very easy to prefill a few pots, fill with soil, and do the full wash method I wrote up on my fungus gnat experiment thread.
I can spray right thru the mesh bags to kill the trapped bugs coming from the holes in the bottom of the pots. medidedicated has said he sprays right thru the pantyhose wrapped around his pots. Star dog is getting bugs coming from nowhere inside his wrapped pots.
There is no way to completely win unless we find a new medium that has no bugs and is easy to grow in OR we do a full soil soak before planting our seeds/clones.
Full soil soaks done the proper way will work IMO. In my case would be a pain the ass tho. I would need a 4 x 8 just to pre soak my early pots. For guys doing 4 to 8 plants it should be very easy to prefill a few pots, fill with soil, and do the full wash method I wrote up on my fungus gnat experiment thread.
Avering
Well-Known Member
I sprayed the plants with citric acid solution (a bit over 4 teaspoons in a 56 oz spray container) and a quarter teaspoon of yucca powder. It’s some strong stuff. It bubbles when I spray a lot in one spot. The thrips have definitely decreased in numbers and I am not seeing many larvae at all. I haven’t been looking for the predatory insects but I have found a few surviving ladybugs in the tents. The two plants that are deeper into flower were affected the worst. The others have some infestation but very minimal. I may buy the pirate bugs again but I’m scared that the citric acid will just kill them off along with the thrips. I noticed that when I spray the larvae they seem to die instantly, kind of shrinking. I am attaching a picture of my two plants (G13 Genius) from Brothers Grimm and Chernobyl Slymer Cut by Bob Bitchen. The single plant is Campbell County Cheese from Brisco’s Bargain Beans. I may be underfeeding these, I’m scared to go overboard on the Espoma Garden tone. There are also earthworms in the pots and I’m worried the citric acid will hurt them but they seem to be happy and are right at the top layer of soil/mulch.
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Hollatchaboy
Well-Known Member
I usually cover the top of the container before spraying. There's better ways to get rid of whatever is in the soil.
You'll need to spray at least a few more times. You need to break the life cycle.
Avering
Well-Known Member
Thank you, I’m gonna start covering it too. Definitely gonna keep spraying em nightly as long as it takes. Should I be careful about spraying the buds? Not sure if the thrips will squeeze in there
Hollatchaboy
Well-Known Member
Don't spray nightly. Iirc, it's every 3 nights. I haven't had any bugs in 2 years. Maybe a couple gnats, but never more than that now.
Avering
Well-Known Member
Okay, I will leave them alone then for 3 nights. I appreciate your help!
Hollatchaboy
Well-Known Member
So dr zymes suggests spraying 3 days in a row, then switch to once a week. That would be the target I would shoot for.
I believe thrips only feed on the leaves, but you should cover the entire plant. Top and bottom, top side and underside of leaves. Try not to miss anything.
Also, do you know the concentration of your solution?
Avering
Well-Known Member
Gotcha. I have sprayed them the last few days so I’ll take a small break then. I’ve been spraying top and bottom, and even rubbing the leaves with the solution, taking off the thrips by hand. So, it’s okay to spray directly on the buds as well? I’m spraying with dimmed lights just before lights out.
Avering
Well-Known Member
Thanks. I’m gonna grab another sprayer with purified water and hit the buds after I spray with citric acid.