Thrips damage on Robert's Delight 'Garnet Beauty' spike
 

I believe that thrips are damaging the spike of my Robert's Delight 'Garnet Beauty' this is the first time that this little guy has spiked for me and I was really excited until I noticed little bugs on the spike. I have not been able to take a good photo of these little pests (aka little buggers) but I have been able to remove them from the spike. I know that when it blooms, one of the flowers will likely be damaged but I would like to try and save some of the blooms. :fight

I grow my Vandas in pots with bark. What product should I use to treat this Vanda and do I treat the entire plant (leaves, roots and spike) will this affect the spike? I also have four other Vandas currently in spike - so far they look ok :pray: - is it ever too early to start treating a spike? My Vandas never go outside and I want to ensure that treatment for the thrips will not pose any risk to my dogs.

I will post a picture of the spike on the Garnet Beauty so that you can confirm if it is thrips. Thanks for reading this - any help you could provide would be greatly appreciated.

If they are thrips, they can be very damaging to the buds and flowers. I would give the flowers a good spray of rubbing alcohol (70% isopropyl alcohol). That should serve as an interim treatment.

Thanks for the suggestion. Here are some photos - sorry for how blurry they are but I think they give you some idea of what I am facing:
http://www.orchidboard.com/community...69&ppuser=5339

I know lots of people on this site use alcohol for mealy bug and thrip. I don't like it because it can be dehydrating for that portion of the plant. I like to KILL vermin and to that end I use POISON! Ortho's Orthenex (Acephate) works great except it does have an odor. Of course your choice of methods has to be inline with the location of your plant and the presents of kids/animals, etc.

Very interesting comment about the dehydrating effect of alcohol. I guess with the high humidity in Hawaii, we don't think of it as a problem. I'll be more observant the next time I use it on my flowers.

Sunshine, alcohol is hydrophilic; that is it "adsorbs" water. This is how it works as a disinfectant by desiccating the cell wall of bacteria causing them to die. However, with your level of humidity, I would agree it probably isn't an issue or a consideration.

Very hard to see a thrip. All my vanda blooms were deformed until I started spraying them with orthene as soon as buds formed. then watching closely and re spraying at the sign on any problem 5 have blomed beautifully since I started doing the above. hope this helps.

What did you use on your plant and how did it respond? Imidacloprid works against thrips (it's a systemic) but I never used it on a Vanda.

Nicole

I agree with you there ......I break out the big guns when the bugs invade or anything eles for that matter LOL.A good systemic is great but sometimes I find it necessary to spray the entire area and not just my plants.

especially if they are outdoors.