I've had thrips in and out for about a year. Seems like I get them under control then they come back. I've had much better success controlling them now with systemic granulars. Curious what you use to control pest in your environment?
I've had thrips in and out for about a year. Seems like I get them under control then they come back. I've had much better success controlling them now with systemic granulars. Curious what you use to control pest in your environment?
Be careful with systemic granulars, they really hurt outdoor pollinators (bees & butterflys and then the whole ecosystem) and should never be used outside. Also healthy soil is alive with tons of microorganism and this can hurt the good guys in your soil. And finally it basically eventually ends up in our drinking water (although probably more due to commercial use). But its banned in Canada and Europe so it should make you think twice.
So thrips can be tricky due to the fact they lay eggs in the plant tissue that can remain dormant all the way to the next season. My best advice is to be vigilant checking your plants. I like to use a 20x pocket microscope because it helps me to really see whats going on, you can even see the eggs. If a plant is heavily infested isolate and prune pretty aggressively. Spray with Captain Jacks or any other spinosad spray and spray weekly since a thrip can go from egg to egg laying adult in as little as 9 days. An adult thrip can live 45 days so at a minimum you would need to continue treatment for 7 weeks. If it seems like you have them under control just keep repeating treatment or spray plants down with water jets because it always helps to really make sure you got them all. Or you can try beneficial insects at this stage, although I find benefical bugs are a better solution in greenhouse conditions as they don't really reproduce at ambient and can get expensive.
