Texas Agricultural college says that either white, yellow or blue sticky traps will work for thrips. There are different types of thrips and I would think that since rose thrips are attracted to light colored roses, I would try the white traps first, which can be done by simply buying white plastic plates and covering the surface with Vasoline. If that didn't work well I might try adding sugar to the Vasoline to encourage the thrips to come and feed and stick to the trap. At Texas Agricultural and M., sugar has been found useful in insecticidal sprays to attract aphids to feed on it. Here is my recipe for garlic spray: I used this a few years ago and it worked well, though its' a bit of a bother to make. Thrip-be-gone spray Put a gallon of hot water in a large pot or bowl. add: 12 cloves of garlic. You don't need to peel the cloves, because it's going in the blender 1 chopped onion 7 Jalepeno peppers, split lengthwise. (Tabasco and chilli pepper sauce was not effective, when I tried substituting them for the jalapenos) 1 tsp soap (heck after reading your freinds advice I'd use Palmolive) 1 T. canola oil to make it stick to the leaves. Canola oil will disperse in oil, unlike many other oils. Let this sit for at least 24 hours, up to 48 hours. then strain and spray.I had spray left over, and it kept for a week in my fridge. Marin county rose website reccomends flooding the soil in spring after rose thrips first show up, in order to drown thrip pupae. No information about how much water to use, but more than saturation. I've never heard this advice before and would like to ask an entomologist more about it. die thrips die! , ooops I meant R.I.P..thrips, may angels sing thee to thy rest. Lux.

I used Neem this spring and I've seen 8 dead and dying bumblebees on our rosebushes, within the last 6 weeks. There are several recent newspaper articles about a greatly increased mortality rate of bees in NOrth America. I wonder if the increased awareness of the harmful effects of artificial pesticides has led to an increased use of Neem,which is made from a culinary herb, and if Neem is what is killing the bees. I've gone back to using Cornell spray. I use a garlic, jalepeno,onion spray against thrips on my white and light pink and yellow roses. Luxrosa Cornell Spray. Prevents mildew, rust and b.s.. baking soda 1 to 2 tsps. I use 2 on the few roses which require the extra amount. 1 tsp. of canola oil ( it disperses in water) Thrip spray. 1/2 head of garlic (you don't need to peel it. 1/2 onion 2 whole jalepenos. 1 quart water. 1 tsp canola oil. Blend everything, let sit for 4 hours at room temp. Strain with cloth twice. Keep any extra in the refrigerator. Lux.

Thank you for your kind reply. You are using systematic and I believe meaning, systemic. A systemic pesticide is one absorbed by the plant and undergoes a variety of means by which it will translocate. By the way, not all systemics translocate beyond their point of entry. While azadirachtin is considered to be fungicidal, and it is recognized that Neem oil maintains the same potential, it is not my go-to choice when dealing with the powdery mildew fungi. Here in Oregon we contend with over 5 different species of powdery mildew. And, I am told that they can happen altogether on the same plant. Some are more resistant to others and thereby make it a huge challenge to control. This season I started using Serenade - Garden Fungicide. It contains a strain [QST 713] of Bacillus subtillis. It is considered to be a preventative which implies you must apply it before you detect an actual outbreak. While my gardening neighbors are complaining of the early on-set of this disease, my susceptible plants are symptom free. I attribute this to a number of factors such as soil health, proper cultivar selection and sanitation along with balanced fertility and water management...But, I do recognize that this biologic fungicide is very helpful because I have and do use it in a slightly different form. I'm reminded of how the vineyard managers here use the tea rose to aid in the detection of powdery mildew in their plantings. It speaks to a constant vigilance and proactive decisions that help to thwart many of these diseases. I have also used potassium carbonate for control, but found it to be weak in its protection while also leaving behind a noticeable residue. Lastly, I combined both azadirachtin [Azatin-O] with Serenade the other day and came back the next day to search for any problems. None were found so I am trusting when properly applied [meaning, by the label directions] no phyto-toxic consequence resulted. My response to your earlier statement of using dish soap reminded me of a time when I gave a lecture to a class of 15 year old's and all they asked me was if I knew how to grow marijuana. I finally said to the room, "Yes, I know how to grow it. But, the law prohibits me from sharing that information with you." The chaperons all smiled, the kid's were bummed and I moved along in presenting my talk which was meant to encourage the younger set to consider horticulture as an occupation. Rules are rule. I'll look forward to your future sharing as it is clear how this forum stimulates and contributes to my learning. Of which I am very grateful.

I have experienced this phenomenon myself a couple of times. Once it was just a missing pair of scissors, this was before I had scissors all over the house and I needed that pair of scissors and they were not in the drawer. I searched the house numerous times and looked in that drawer at least 10 times. My husband searched and also looked in the drawer several times. Two or three days later, the scissors were back in the drawer. A few weeks ago, we went to take a shower and when we came back there was a beach towel sitting on the arm of the loveseat. I asked him why he put the beach towel there and he said he didn't know anything about it and he looked at it, puzzled. I was even more puzzled because I knew I had not put it there and in fact, I had not seen that beach towel in months. We kept trying to come up with a reason why it appeared there and we could not figure it out. It kind of bothered me for several days. We never did figure it out. I now call it the haunted towel. The other day, there was a bathmat laying on that same arm of the loveseat and I started to panic just a little bit until my husband told me that he had put it there. LOL