Ladies and Gents, I present to you - the Thrip-inator!

moosery

moosery

Yeah I should patent that name. 
 
Basic idea is that any bugs loose enough to be able to be "tapped" off a plant are loose enough to be vacuumed off. I always vacuum up spiders (shame on me) so I'm no stranger to the concept. If it works on thrips, it might work well on whitefly, aphids....
 
Vacuum nozzle needs widening in order to reduce vacuum pressure, no point sucking the leaves off the plant! And a jar to see the spoils is essential in the long run too... :)
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But for initial tests, I can miss out the jar.
 
Luckily my vacuum cleaner (yeah we call them hoovers here in the UK...) has a very low suction setting intended for curtains. Or bugs. 
 
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qu6rqUexm0
 
 
....tests ongoing....of course, it's typical that I couldn't find a single thrip today, after picking maybe fifteen off yesterday. Maybe they heard me coming!  :surprised:
 
 
 
This level of ghetto has my name all over it. I love it!
 
I also vacuum up spiders that get in to my house. I know its bad but what ever.
 
SichuaneseFoodFan said:
did this solve your thrip problems?
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Well...problem is my thrip problems are still rather sporadic, I mean, of course thats not a problem!! But it seems the ladybirds are far more effective at dispatching with the thrips than anything I build, so as yet - no solid results! 
 
It's great for dealing with flies in the greenhouse though too :)
 
I think as temps rise I'll get more thrips  :tear: and more chance to test this. At the moment I see maybe one or two a week and I'm just hand squishing and pulling off affected leaves. 
 
Didi it work?
 
From the looks of it I highly doubt it would work on aphids and/or spider mites...them bastards can really stick to one poor peppers leaves.
 
Hope it works out for all your needs! 
 
Great idea.
I doubt it will have much impact on aphids though. My experience with them, and extensive it is this year. They are troublesome to remove with repeated attempts of a stiff bristled artist brush or jettisons of water from a spray bottle directed within millimeters of them.
 
       My neighbors already think I am crazy growing Hot Peppers with a beer in my hand.They are calling the cops if I'm out there with my Dirt Devil. :P
 
I like this itea.  I might try this out for the whiteflys which seem to crop up every year in the greenhouse.  I found that Azamax does wonders, but it does cost, and since I already have a vacuum, hmmmm.  Now to figure out how I can reduce the vacum a bit, since it is one of those 10 or 12 gallon shop vacuums.
 
Anyway, I like the idea
 
bpwilly said:
 Now to figure out how I can reduce the vacum a bit
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That's where a coke bottle cut in half or a soap bottle in my case comes in. Increasing the width will decrease the airflow significantly. If that still doesn't work, cut some holes in the coke bottle "funnel" toward the top. 
 
Just don't try it without the funnel - I tried that, it ripped the leaves off, and gave me a shortcut to what you call "extreme pruning" on these forums!  :P
 
btw - should be ideal for whiteflies - I've actually seen it suggested as a whitefly remedy elsewhere! 
 
Great news and thanks for the tip on how to reduce the airflow.  I don't have a whitefly problem right now, but I can just about count on it as soon as I move the plants from the grow room to the greenhouse.  I will try this out then and let you know how it works!
 
Update...
 
....it doesnt work.
 
At all.
 
LOL
 
But it was a fun experiment. Now I have to find another way to deal with the thrip explosion that I knew was coming eventually, and has inevitably arrived.
 
As a side note, I've found normal sticky tape ("sellotape") to be really effective for manually removing them individually! Also rather therapeutic..
 
well it was a good idea at any rate, and who doesnt love a little sucking action  :rofl:   im sure the plants enjoyed it.  to bad it didnt solve the thrips problem though.
 
Darn, I was hoping someone had finally come up with a failproof solution.
What if the airflow was maintained a bit stronger, but you put a loose mesh on the end to keep foliage from getting sucked in?
 
plaisir8 said:
Darn, I was hoping someone had finally come up with a failproof solution.
What if the airflow was maintained a bit stronger, but you put a loose mesh on the end to keep foliage from getting sucked in?
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thats an idea!! Good thinking, I'll get right onto it...soon as I find some mesh
 
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