I've been using neem as well and it seems to knock them down but not out. I've used the Greenlight mix that has rosemary oil. It can work about as well as neem but the benefit is the odor. Smells spicy and pleasant. Last night I tried Organicide. Probably same outcome but good golly miss molly does this crap stink!!! Contains fish oil so you can imagine the smell. I got so pissed off at the thrips and aphids that I brought out the malathion. It's only marginally effective with thrips...little is effective with them, and it smells awful.

I believe any of these can control but nothing we can purchase legally will erradicate them. Possibly using one of those electrostatically charged foggers may give you a better chance. But they are pretty expensive. It may come to that or burning everything to the ground.

I hate getting these sprays, especially the oil based ones, on the glass of the greenhouse. So it is difficult to get complete coverage on some plants due to being next to the glass.

Have you tried those yellow no-pest strips? They don't recommend you use them in a house but I'm sure I saw them at Lowe's or HD. I wonder if they would work?!?!?!

I use Orthene WP.

I have used a pyrethrin based spray since I had birds in the house (living) and it is the best contact spray ever. It will drop a wasp on the spot and a pile of ants immediately. How about for the greenhouse???

Yellow strips are really only good for monitoring bug populations. They won't get an outbreak under control.

I use mainly neem (cold pressed) but I use carbaryl, Orthene (acephate), pyrethrin, permethrin for different situations at different times during the year. Neem will work on most bugs (though it can take a while) and resistance is practically unheardof, as we have discussed previously. Then there is the good ol' alcohol/Q-tip method, which I use a lot.

SB

The main two chemicals we use are Orthene, which someone mentinoned, and Tristar.

Here is a link that might be useful: Pesticide Database

Something similar to Stressbaby is going over each and every leaf by hand! There are definitely times when mashing some of these little bast#$ds is very satisfying. Sigh... there's a lot of leaves in the greenhouse.

My citrus plants are the main attractions to all pests.

What is Ortene WP? Does Lowe's or HD carry it?

I stopped using it in my garden a few years ago. They bugs built immunity quickly. I remember the Japanese beetles and aphids go on like nothing happened covered with the dust. =:-O

A few plants are easy to use a Q-tip on, an entire GH full of plants is another story. I'm trying not to get discouraged. Instead of the little garden-of-eden I was hoping for in the Rion I have a smelly damp GH with some of the plants looking like hell from bug damage and insecticidal powders. Yesterday I don't know what was worse, the smell of mold/mildew or the smell of Immunox-Plus. I didn't stay out there long.

When you live in an area like I do, a farming area, that was saturated in insecticides for many many years you find the harmful insects are immume to, or quickly develop immunity to, just about everything you try. Spider mites are my biggest problem.

My GH is 8X16' and there is no way anyone can do every leaf and stem and get even half of the spider mites, fungus gnats and now white-flies. Maybe he thinks I only have a few plants.

Thanks. I'm going to go over that site this afternoon. What's so discouraging is the amount of money I'm spending and the risk to myself spraying all this stuff... just to see the insects still there the next day. And of course the plants don't thrive when they're supporting a population of life sapping bugs and insects.

Doubt if Lowe's would have these. You'll have to look at greenhouse supply places. We do a good bit of business with Park's and Wetsel, but we buy wholesale.

As for spider mites, try Floramite.

You'll get better coverage if you use some type of "sticker" to make the spray stay on the leaves better. I normally add a little plain Dawn dishwashing soap to the sprayer. And try to spray UNDER the leaves as well if you're not using a systemic. Everyone's mileage may vary usind different chemicals but we live in a farm area too.

Thanks Tom. I'll see if I can find Floramite locally. I bought a sprayer to spray under the leaves (after the last bug thread) and ad a few drops of Palmolive to the sprayer. After saturating several of the worst tomato plants with Neem oil and the soap, they slowly turned brown and 3 of the 4 died. One is getting new growth but hardly worth trying to save. Oddly enough, the other two. the least infested, I didn't spray much are suddenly going crazy and setting fruit. They may have natural immunity or are somehow resisting mite damage.

Hi
Funny story about "bug control" I raise birds so wondered if the insectivore finches would help. Turned a pair loose ,They caught every aphid and did more damage to the plants than the bugs lol Swithced to a tropical nectivore . They also wiped out every bug,did no damage to the plants. Rats broke in killed the birds. Used praying mantis and lady bugs. They also worked but reproduced like flies lol Put another pair of birds back in ate all the mantis and lady bugs as well as the aphids lol Snake broke in and ate the birds. So what now??? Thinking of those gigatic tropical praying mantis nothing would bother them
much too big for lizards. Wife screams whenever she sees one so they come with a few laughs
Maybe the balanced ecosystem is a myth?? gary

Greenhouser...no way did I mean for you to go after every leaf! Just joshing. That would be quite an exercise. Now I have gotten started on a few leaves on a small plant...found that I really enjoyed smashing and grinding some of these pests. I found myself not able to stop! I wanted to smash them all...to hell with work and dinner...I'm onna roll man!

On a serious note...I wanted to put a couple of small lizards in there. They would be perfect for fungus gnats and/or whiteflies. My wife is afraid of them so that idea for me is out.

When the days start getting longer, I plan on trying pirate bugs. Even though they bite...and it hurts, I'm willing to try them for the thrips.

Gary, sounds like you should just seal up your GH better, what species of finches did you release in to the gh btw?

Ohiojay, I could deal with some little lizards; actually, I think they're really cute. I know my son wouldn't let me put his bearded dragon out there, so would have to get my own ... Do you know what kind would be suitable and any other needs they'd have? I really don't expect anyone at a pet shop to be able to quite wrap their heads around the idea of buying lizards and setting them free in a greenhouse.

Diane

I believe just a common Anole lizard will do. Here's a link. You should find them at any pet store. They are usually the least expensive of all. Bill Whitman put them in his greenhouse for whiteflies and end of problem.
http://www.corkscrew.audubon.org/Wildlife/Lizards.html

I'm not against natural systems at all but haven't had much luck with them myself. Some people have success apparently, but no one I ever knew. There was a thread on another forum some years ago by posters who bought praying mantis and lady bugs, opened the package and every one vanished in hours. Even composting... I still have to add fertilizer if I want a good garden.

You can get orthene WP at your CO-OP. I get mine there.

Thrips were easy for me to get rid of with a few good sprayings of a systemic. My African Violets had them a few years back.

To: ohio

What temp is the GH? Those little lizards like it warm.

Thanks. I'll try there next time I'm in the city. I'm nowheres near a co-op.

How would you keep the lizards from escaping out the vents or door? Or out of the fans or heaters? Last spring we had house wrens nest in a geranium in the HFGH. I had to leave the plant there until she raised her babies. They went in and out the vents during the day and were locked in at night.

I already found them in both GHs this year when the vents and/or doors were open. It's too early for nesting so I have no idea why they were in the GHs.

My impatiens and tomatoes are the biggest pest draws in my GH. Next fall I may switch and keep all the impatiens in the small HFGH. That may help with the mite problems.

I have screens over any openings. Fans and heaters? I guess they would only make that mistake once. I have a couple of small tree frogs and I found one hunkered down in front of the heater and on top of it before...probably felt pretty good. I mentioned getting a couple of lizards and I was told I would not be able to go into the greenhouse thru the home! Nor would my wife ever step into the greenhouse again. None for me I guess. As for temp? I think I read that they can handle night temps of 65. Might start getting a bit lethargic below that.

I can't use sestemics. All my plants are fruit trees.

I have a lot of catching up to do. I've been away from my computer for awhile.

Interesting concept to put lizards in your greenhouse to dispose of bugs. I'm a little afraid of lizards but if I ever had problems with bugs in my greenhouse I may be persuaded to try them. I was reading through a few websites and they (anoles) will tolerate temperatures of 55 - 60 but thrive in temperatures 60 or higher.

Tj

Brendan
Had damage from Wilma so last year I "loosened "it up rather than tightened.lol Took everything off the roof except 4 inch vinyl lattice. Going to use vines for shade come summer.
The first time I used Zebra finches ,second time orange cheek waxbills.. These didn't work at all for several reasons besides being killed by rats lol The runaway best
has been Honeycreepers. No mess of seed eaters and since I water every third day liquid droppings are no problem. They are voracious insect eaters main problem with keeping them in cages.. One small problem they ate EVERY insect so had to supply pinhead crickets. Again no problem as I keep Anoles ,geckoes and two skinks. They ate all the lady bugs as well as the mantis which is why if I try it again thought I'd go up to those tropical GIANTS lol.
It's kind of fun to try to get it balanced out but I fear impossible in susch a small area.
Warning for those thinking of using Anoles.lol Given good conditions your pair will turn into hundreds lol. Besides what happens when you run out of bugs?? They will starve. I let them come and go as they choose as they are quite common here in florida so if they run out of food they just go outside. Now that the roof is open again I'm attracting wild birds. Which solves some problems creates others. lol Of couse this means I can't keep domestic birds
I'm going to try the honeycreepers again not so much for the bug eating but because two clutches would pay for the entire remake of the shadehouse And also they are my favorite bird. Nothing more beautiful than a male in full color. Wilma almost wiped out my bird collection and was thinking of giving them up. except in the dedicated aviary.
There are soooooo many problems with keeping birds and I'm getting old lol I added some California and button quail to the aviary as a method of weed control. Too soon for results but they are delightful to watch and they do clean up the floor.
Rats and snakes are just minor problems in aviculture unfortuneately . If your thinking of using finches for bug control I could make some suggestions or at leat tell you which ones to avoid lol gary

We sometimes get those little tree frogs come into the house on the plants in the fall. They stay in the plants so we leave them alone. I haven't seen any in the GHs yet. I did see a toad in the Rion last summer but when the GH hit 120F it left and never came back.