Proven Methods for Thrip Control

Thrips are common garden insect pests that are attached to outdoor and indoor gardens and can also be found in greenhouses, thrips are among the group of sucking insects that feed on the plant’s fluids. The extraction of the plant’s fluids leads to plant injury and if quick action ( control measures) is not implemented can lead to plant death. A small number of thrip species have also been known to be the carriers of disease that transfer from the thrip to the host plant as they feed. Thrips’ constant feeding will cause discoloration, distortion, and shedding of leaves, flower buds, and flowers followed by premature dying.  We will be discussing how to bring control to these disease-carrying pests to give your outdoor and indoor garden as well as your greenhouse plants a fighting chance to survive so that your plants can bounce back to good health.

I have dealt with thrips many times, I remember a time when I faced an issue with serious thrip issue, it was a bed of hibiscus that was infested, the challenge for me at that time was seeing the damage but not being able to see the thrip insects because how small they were. The bed of Hibiscus had really suffered the attack but once I identified what the issues were I was able to bring control and the bed of Hibiscus bounced back from that infestation.

Thrip Identification

Common garden thrips are tiny rice-shaped insects with slender bodies that are often 1/32 to 1/20 inch long therefore it’s important to use a hand lens or a magnifying glass to make spotting them easier. Adults vary in colors from brown, black, translucent amber, or pale. They have two pairs of wings fringed with distinctive, featherlike hairs. Wingless nymphs are small and lighter in color.

Signs of Thrip Damage

Besides what was mentioned earlier signs of thrip damage include damage appearing on the upper leaves even though they feed on the leaf’s undersides, small lines or silvery white specks are visible. The leaves will become wrinkled or crinkled followed by leaf drop. The fruits of fruit trees that are infested with thrips turn from healthy looking and become deformed scabby or scarred.

Methods to Control Thrips in an Outdoor Garden

There are several ways to control thrips depending on the damage.

• If the damage is server especially if parts of the plant are dead then remove dead branches with a hand pruner or lopping shares depending on the size of the limbs or branches. Prune plant parts should be sealed in a garbage bag and properly disposed of. Apply insecticidal soap, make sure to get total coverage of the entire plant, the spray solution should come out fine and misty to ensure total coverage. Coarse droppings are not effective
• Apply Sevin Insect Killer Ready To Use shake the bottle well and apply a thin, uniform layer of dust to the plant’s leaves. flowers and stems. Treat plants as soon as thrips or their damage is seen.
• Seven Insect Killer Read to Use2 can be used to treat garden plants that are infected when spraying ensure that the solution comes out misty to get total coverage of fruits, buds, and the leaves underside.
• Seven Insect Killer Concentrate can be used to treat ornamental plants as well as edible (vegetable) crops. Ensure to get total coverage for thrip control.

Methods of Thrip Control in an Indoor Garden

Thrips are difficult to manage therefore repeated applications may be needed to bring control.

• If you discover that you have a thrip issue then the first step to control is the removal of the infected plant to discourage the spread of thrips to healthy plants. The infected plant should be isolated for about 2-3 weeks or a bit longer.
• Place the infected plant in the shower or the sink and give it a good washing, this will remove thrips that are present, make sure to pay close attention to the leaf’s undersides because thrips love to hide in this area.
• Leaves and stems that are infected should be removed with a hand pruner and disposed of in the trash can.
• Treat the entire plant with insecticidal soap or neem oil and repeat as needed, before applying spray applications read and follow the manufacturer’s directions for the best results. Some plants are sensitive to pesticides so test a small portion of the plants like a few of the lower leaves. Wait for about 3 days to about 1 week, if the plant shows no sight of being sensitive then go ahead and spray the entire plant.
• The use of sticky traps near plants will help to reduce thrip population bringing control.

 

Tips to Prevent thrips

• Newly brought plants should be inspected, and isolated for a few weeks to ensure they are pests-free.
• Make sure that your garden plants are healthy at all times because healthy plants’ survival rate is higher if affected by insect pests or disease but still need to be treated if signs or symptoms of disease or insect pests are evident.
• Choose a resistant variety of plants that can ward off thrips
• Keeping your garden clean and tidy at all times will discourage the presence of insect pests and disease, remove fallen leaves, and keep your garden free of weeds as much as possible because insect pests use weeds as a harbourage.
• Don’t over-fertilize your plants because over-fertilizing is not only damaging to the plant’s health but will encourage tender growth that will attract garden insect pests.
• Thrips hate the odor of garlic, oregano, and basil, so why not consider using these herbs as a barrier by installing them around plants that are vulnerable to thrips?

Conclusion

The control of thrips can be a task but the good news is with the right information you can reduce their population bringing total elimination, this guide will help you to accomplish just that or why not contact us and let us help you to put a plan in place for thrip control to give your garden plants a fighting chance to grow and thrive their best.