White spots, no bugs

[Sandy1107]

Hi Team - I'm going bananas. I've got white spots just like mites, maybe even thrips. The spots are on all leaves top to bottom of mother's and clones. There aren't bugs - period; and it's not septoria. WTF are these spots? I've actually sprayed (Endall) 5 times. Still no bugs and still the spots appear. Please help.

 

[Emilya Green]

Thrips... and spraying or not, they are there. You must have missed a spot where there is an infestation. They could be hiding anywhere in the room.

 

[Sandy1107]

Thanks Emilya - what's the best route? Should I spray again and bomb the room at the same time? Once, or twice or ??

Buggers....we are very thorough with the spray.

 

[Emilya Green]

are you sure you are looking at new damage since the spray?

 

[Sandy1107]

Yep - that's a brand new fan leaf from the top and is only days old. Sprayed three times on three day intervals about a month ago. And just sprayed twice on three day intervals a couple weeks ago. I've looked and looked for bugs with a loop and a microscope.

 

[Emilya Green]

They are hiding in there somewhere. I hate thrips... so hard to get rid of sometimes. You may just be dealing with the next generation that has now hatched out. Get these too and hopefully this time you will have broken the life cycle for good.

 

[nivek]

never had thrips,, knockin on wood here,, but i have had fungus gnats,, and spider mites,, and that looks more like gnats than mites,, gnats are in the soil mostly,, as larvae and adults that will soon be flying around,, so small, unreal small

try isopropyl alcohol and water mixed 50/50

karma sent friend

 

[Mark Gordan Smith]

Are Thrips too much for a fleet of LadyBugs to handle?

 

[Emilya Green]

I think a thrip might be able to beat up, or certainly outrun a ladybug, which love eating mites. How many are in a fleet?

 

[Carcass]

Well,there's 2 fleets to a $hitload,so...

 

[Sandy1107]

OK - so I had another go at this. I laid out some white paper and took one of the mothers and shook it quite hard over the paper. Yep, thrip larvae. Not many but they were there. And very small. I had to use the hand microscope to see them well enough to identify them as thrip larvae. Not sure how they evaded all the spraying. Spraying again and more thoroughly. I've sprayed so many times now with insecticidal soap that the plants are getting pissed off.

Would have never believed that bugs could survive all that spray if I hadn't seen it myself. At least now I know.

Shaking the plant over paper gave me my answer in a matter of seconds and it has had me baffled for months. I'll use that trick again.

 

[Dogwash]

Looks like spider mite damage to me

These fellas work for that

Producer of beneficial insects for biological pest control