Would Like Organic way To Control Thrips And Blackspot

16 years ago

Hi, I'm new on the organic forum, but participate on the Antique Roses Forum.

I have mostly antique roses, the chinas and teas, with a couple of noisettes. Most of these are trouble free, except that a few have been problematic because of thrips.

The other roses I grow are some David Austins, new this year, and not much of a problem so far. Some have thrips, but most don't show the damage too much.

I do have a dozen hybrid teas. They are pretty (without damage), but I am not willing to spray every week or two with chemicals in which I need a respirator and long sleeves, etc., in this awful heat. It's too hot for that even at sunset, and I am tired of it all. Several are infested constantly with thrips.

Are there sprays, or other products that you have used with success, where I will not need to "suit up" to use them?

The chili thrips seem to be gone, or at least drastically reduced now, but I'm still having horrible problems with the "normal" kind. I'm discouraged. I haven't used Orthene, or any other spray since March, and I don't want to, unless it is not harmful to me (so I can spray in my shorts and sleeveless tops),or to the beneficial insects. I am starting to get a balance of beneficial insects, so the main issue at this point is thrips. Orthene has only been used once in the past year, although a couple of times last year I used Conserve.

I'm sure blackspot is lurking, but that can be solved with planting mostly the tough OGRs.

Sandy

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (4)

Zyperiris
16 years ago
I have not used any chemicals this year. Most bugs (a few exceptions)are harmless and another bug comes along and eats it.

On the blackspot..I keep taking off the bad leaves..I also recently put newspaper under my roses and then some mulch..BS is a spore..so I thought if I covered it up.

I have gotten about 5 pounds of coffee grounds from Starbucks for free and added it to my soil. It is true that diseases and bugs attack the weaker roses. I also purchased some Serenade..it is a good bacteria that you spray..and so far not much BS this year
sandy808
Original Author
16 years ago
Thanks! I have done the newspaper and coffee grounds, etc. I guess it's really the hybrid teas that are the worst culprits so far, so maybe I should just remove them. I just do not want to spray. I dread it, I hate it. Gardening should be fun.

I think the worst thrips offenders can be dealt with by way of shovel also, OGR or not.

I'm wondering how to treat the ones that may have a problem once in awhile. Maybe the answer is nothing.

Just curious if anyone has found a product that is reasonably safe that works.

Sandy
Related Discussions
Thrip Control
Q
Comments (20)
Thank you! Yes, they totally do come in colors: solids, stripes and a wide assortment of sizes! Even different color coded end hooks, plastic and metal. Ones small enough to wrap around your ponytail to keep your hair up. (Yes, I have done this) In my past life I was a vendor on Grateful Dead tour, which evolved into vending my work at various large music festivals all over the country. My whole display was built of bungees, ez-ups and spring clamps! My stockpile of bungees and clamps is huge. They fill at least 2 of those big plastic storage bins you get at the big box stores. I will say I have been know to wear both bungees and clamps. Spring clamps hanging off the tails of my shirts clamped in chains and bungees round my neck at the ready to build the booth. During those said shows I would be found with at least a dozen clothes pins clipped to my fanny pack and shirt tails. Also high fashion. I might not be the best rose gardener (yet, I am still hoping..), but give me a box of bungees, clamps, a couple tarps and a few poles and I could build a shelter that would survive hurricane and snow, and remain standing till the sun came out, for sure. A spare roll of duct tape and some zip ties are always handy, too. With all my past experience I know I could whip up an excellent PVC and plastic Hoop house greenhouse. Unfortunately I have not one square foot of available space to do so or I would have already done it.
...See More
Organic ways for pest control on roses
Q
Comments (15)
I went no-spray many years ago. Encouraging birds, lizards, toads & frogs helped a lot. The rose area has a couple of bird feeders, three waters, including one big plant platter on the ground that the frogs love to soak in. Has some large rocks in it so tiny birds feel safe using it for baths & drinking. Please, NO OFFENSE intended, but I didn't have outdoor cats or dogs, which helps if you're trying to establish a wildlife-friendly yard. Yes, I LOVE pets!!! If you have outdoor pets, maybe you can place feeders & water in more raised or sheltered locations. Hang a few bird houses in sheltered places & I'm careful not to disturb bird nests in nearby shrubs & trees. My dad's fruit trees (also native species) attract birds, too. They sample a bit, but do little harm. A few overturned broken pots under shrubs make good toad hideouts. I have sprayed the veggies & some herbs that were getting gobbled. Used a solution of blender-shredded artemisia leaves--bitterest stuff I could think of--& it seemed to work. So now I clip stems & leaves to mulch them around the affected plants. Good luck.
...See More
What level of blackspot control can really be achieved w/sulfur?
Q
Comments (16)
My understanding is that if you go with the less effective sprays like sulfur, you need to spray EVERY WEEK from the beginning of the season to the end. Older gardeners (before the coming of Bayer Advanced Disease Control) used to religiously repeat that you must begin spraying at the beginning of the season. One major reason why gardeners were happy to give up sulfur in place of Bayer is that sulfur is so labor intensive. With Bayer, I wait until after the first bloom cycle--when 1 or 2 spots are seen--and spray a couple times with Bayer (2 weeks apart). That often is enough to get my roses through a good portion of the summer. Then it gets so hot here that even blackspot can't survive. With fall cooler temps, I spray with Bayer a couple more times (2-3 weeks apart)--and that usually covers it for the year. Lot easier than spraying weekly with sulfur every week for 9 months of the year. And no, I do not live in a low-pressure BS region. I just spray wisely and thus sparingly (and buy only disease-resistant roses). : ) Kate
...See More
Garden Consultant for Pest control organic way
Q
Comments (20)
I was going to get around to ants (eventually); but since you ask we can deal with them here and now. To begin with, here is a quote on how to get rid of ants. "Rid your garden of aphids, whiteflies and mealybugs. These sap-feeding insects excrete "honeydew," a sugary favorite of ants.' Elsewhere, a similar site advises to get rid of aphids, "rid your garden of ants!" The connection (almost a symbiosis!) between ants and aphids is quite established. I got rid of aphids on some crepe myrtles by getting rid of the ants and leaving the rest to the lady bugs. Please do not ask what I used. (I wonder what would happen to the aphids population if lady bugs ate up ants.) And now we have to ponder "organic" methods of getting rid of ants. I am in favor of soap and water. Long ago and far away, I read that one should treat a lawn in a similar fashion as one treats her / his hair - cut / mow; comb / rake and shampoo / soap. At that time I was tempted to try anything. (Flower child and all that.) So I used to spray the front yard with a strong soap solution every month. It worked to keep the lawn free of insects. The soap was quite 'hard' - almost caustic. I kept a cake (bar) of it in a jam jar full of water. I would pour off the liquid into a hose end sprayer (modified paint sprayer) and hose down the lawn each month. I regularly use the "soap flush" method to determine insect infestation on lawns. I am quite confident that if the property (walls to fence) were to be sprayed with a solution of lemon flavored dishwashing liquid (one tablespoon per gallon through a Gilmour 00362 hose end sprayer) every 4 weeks, it will keep the landscape free of a build up of harmful insects. Did I forget to note that "mention of any trade name or commercial product does not constitute endorsement or recommendation of this product by me"? All of this has been an attempt to illustrate the use of another tool to "organically" control pests. Manipulation of the environment to reduce infestation or infection. The other tool so far, was Encourage the presence of predators to control a pest Do you wonder why I put quotation marks around words that are rooted in the term "organic"?
...See More
roseleaf
16 years ago
Sandy,

There is a commercial organic product called ÂFungus PharmÂ that uses soybean oil as the active ingredient. IÂve not used it, but have made a similar spray solution to treat my Flori, HTs, Austins since mid June. I like what I see so far. Black Cherry has been spotless, and so is the florist rose Monica. Othe HTs such as Peace improves, although still spotty. Molineux and Jude are also clean. No foliage burn in 90F+ temp. Still I will need more time to observe them as the air is very humid, and we only get little rain (drought!).

From what I read in horticulture articles, soybean oil is more effective to control blackspot than other horticulture oils, so I wanted to give it a try. The advantage of using the commercial product is that it has long shelved life and is convenient. But if you want to try and like to mix your own, I can post my formula.

I also like to experiment with systemic biocontrol using beneficial fungi, maybe sometimes next year.

The bulk of my rose garden will still be carefree and disease resistant roses, although itÂs nice to grow few HTs for cut flowers, or expanding my Tea roses collection.

Here is a link that might be useful: Fungus Pharm
Krista_5NY
16 years ago
Jungle Rain Clean Leaf Spray is a really easy to use spray, it's available pre-mixed or in a concentrate.

It contains castile soap and citrus oils. It has almost no scent to it, and is not too heavy.

The makers of Fungus Pharm also make Flower Pharm and Rose Pharm sprays for insects.

The Rose Pharm contains Peppermint Oil and the Flower Pharm contains Cinnamon Oil, plus they have glycerin and cottonseed oil.

Would Like Organic way To Control Thrips And Blackspot

Comments (4)

Zyperiris

sandy808
Original Author

Related Discussions

roseleaf

Krista_5NY

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

Would Like Organic way To Control Thrips And Blackspot

Comments (4)

Zyperiris

sandy808Original Author

Related Discussions

roseleaf

Krista_5NY

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

sandy808
Original Author