AusBonsai

NathanM wrote:Hey Jamie, thanks dude I’ve sprayed the offenders with confidor after removing leaves, so see how it goes. I’ve got a different species of ficus as well, a virens, that is having other leaf issues. Perhaps something eating them, but I never find any bugs caterpillars ;/ Might grab some pics of both when I get a second (and a cable to get them onto the computer) and make a thread.
In the meantime, will see what happens after the confidor

Speaking of the tobacco tea.... What/where can I find native tobacco plants?? I wouldn't mind giving this a shot!

Hey Nathan, you will usually find Tobacco Bushes in rural areas...where cattle have been and spread their doings...also along creeks in bush areas.
James

Jester wrote:If they ARE thrips James, then I imagine you should be able to see at least one or two. Below is a picture showing a thrip.

Hey there John...yep I remember now from past experience....thats the little critters...sure enough...so it is a thrip problem then, would rather try a non toxic spray so I might give the Tobacco tea a try first....thanks for the pic and sparking my memory....cheers...Ja....ahhh "whats my name again" ....lol
James

Yep, if you wanna give the tobacco leaves a go , why not I suppose. You may want to remove the affected leaves as well. I have read that when thrips create galls, sometimes they can drop off the leaf they first occupied and drop down onto the ground. Having said that, they may also drop onto another leaf so I think removing them is a good idea. If you also believe you have wasps at least now you know you can can get a wasp trap if required.


Good luck


John

Jester wrote:Yep, if you wanna give the tobacco leaves a go , why not I suppose. You may want to remove the affected leaves as well. I have read that when thrips create galls. sometimes they can drop off the leaf they first occupied drop down onto the ground. Having said that, they may also drop onto another leaf so I think removing them is a good idea. If you also believe you have wasps at least now you know you can can get a wasp trap if required.


Good luck


John

Hi again John...i gotta say thanks again for all that trouble you have gone to for my thrip problem, and yes I am starting to remove the leaves and will get a trap, many thanks, happy Bonsaing.
James

senseijames wrote:

Jester wrote:Yep, if you wanna give the tobacco leaves a go , why not I suppose. You may want to remove the affected leaves as well. I have read that when thrips create galls. sometimes they can drop off the leaf they first occupied drop down onto the ground. Having said that, they may also drop onto another leaf so I think removing them is a good idea. If you also believe you have wasps at least now you know you can can get a wasp trap if required.


Good luck


John

Hi again John...i gotta say thanks again for all that trouble you have gone to for my thrip problem, and yes I am starting to remove the leaves and will get a trap, many thanks, happy Bonsaing.
James

No Sensei James....ThankYOU. As I am studying horticulture, you forced me to study an area I did'nt know about and I learnt heaps. By approaching problems this way, when I learn something it sticks in my head and I never forget it (as opposed to just reading about it - if that makes any sense) The most valuable thing I learnt is that like the larvae of Gall Wasps, Thrips can ALSO cause galls only the difference is, they also tend to cause the leaf to curl up more. I also did'nt know that the galls can sometimes drop from one leaf onto another and that the galls themselves can be parasitised by other insects and in turn THESE insects can be parasitised (known as hyperparasitism). I have actually seen thrips attack a very large Viburnum Tinus hedge my neighbour has next door and they had ravaged it like a plague of Locusts. I have taken great pleasure in helping her bring it back to health and it is about to reward us with thousands of flowers.
As you can see, I am often not the quickest to give a diagnosis but I try and be as methodical as possible. My fear is that if I jump to conclusions quickly, I may in fact give you the wrong chemical to treat the problem and you end up killing your beautiful tree. A lot of people , when realising that they have a pest occupying their tree panic and don't realise that waiting a couple of days is not going to make a big difference in most cases.

Good luck to you my friend.


John