Thrip damage?

[Vince]

I think I have a pretty bad infestation of thrips or at least that is what I think they are. small long winged things, immature ones long no wings, definately not aphids. Never saw these before. I don't think they are spreading tomato spotted wilt virus(although some of the leaves at the end of the top shoots just wilt and die) since I see no spotting like in the pictures in the sticky. Question? Can thrips cause so much damage as to stunt a plants growth or deform new blossums to small pitiful looking things(am seeing alot of this right now). Also do they cause brown brusing on areas of the plant they are feeding on(am seeing this small brown splotchy stuff on stems. From pics I have seen on line these look like western flower thrips (a green varient). Some people have said they use sticky tape to control these buggers, does this work? Thanks.

[Wi-sunflower]

I won't confirm if they are thrips or not. But if you have a bad enough infestation like you say, you need to get rid of whatever they are. Generally "sticky" tape or cards are used more for diagnosing a problem, not control. In the past I've used a combo of insecticidal soap and a light insecticidal oil. (sorry I can't remember exactly what the oil was) Apply ONLY near evening or on a cloudy day as the oil can sometimes "burn" tender plants. For me it worked best to apply on a cloudy day and then about 2-3 hours later come back with a heavy irrigation spray to wash off the soap and oil.

[Vince]

It is to late in the season and I am to lazy to start a spraying regimen but thanks for the suggestion Wi-sunnflower. What I really want is to get a bit of knowledge about fellow tomatovillians experiences with thrip damage to see if it is consistent with what I am observing. Thanks.

[Wi-sunflower]

I still can't remember the exact name of the oil I used, but it did have SUN in the name. While I'm not an organic grower, I used that combo at the time because there aren't much of any chemicals registered for use in the greenhouse for food crops.

It's not like you need to do it a lot either. Once for a lite infestation and maybe 2 or 3 times about 4-7 days apart if it's really bad. I think I only sprayed twice with a backpack sprayer for the problems I had.

I've also done the beneficials. Ladybugs out in the garden and Lacewings in the greenhouse, mainly for aphids.

I believe thrips can do a lot of damage to the growing tips of things. I know that if you grow onions or Glads and see white flecks/spots on the leaves, that's thrip damage that happened when the growth was younger. Speckled flowers on the glads that should be solid color is another indicator of thrip damage.

Thrips are so small they are easy to overlook. If your damage is accompanied by a sooty look or stickiness, chances are it's aphids and not thrips. There are a lot of kinds and sizes of aphids. They also do have a wingless stage.

Whatever it is, getting it under control is to your benefit. If you let it go now, it will likely come back to haunt you next season as they will hide in any crevases or plant trash to re-infest that area.Trust me on this, been there, done that.

[Patrina_Pepperina]

Here's my current infestation - I catch the little blighters by using an electric toothbrush under the blossoms! I'm also using sticky traps but there's a limit to how useful they are because thrips are just sooooo fond of pollen!!! One of my plants is showing early signs of Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus from these pests, and I feel like it's probably a losing battle so early in the season I go out there every day to collect them into vials!



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PP