Is this thrips damage?

b54red · July 31, 2022

Sorry I haven't been on the site lately. It is spider mites and soapy water won't get rid of them by itself. You need a stout dose of Permethrin or something stronger and you need to apply it more than once probably. It is an annual problem here when the hot dry spells last too long. Spider mites will stop almost all tomato production and kill any fruit set once they get bad. Stopping them early is the best action that can be taken otherwise you will lose a lot of leaves and have a big section of your plant that will be totally unproductive. Despite having a large population of ladybugs I had to spray my tomatoes for spider mites yesterday and my Peppers for a sudden influx of Leaf footed bugs that were ruining the fruit of both the peppers and tomatoes.

Bill

July 31, 2022	#6
b54red Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Alabama Posts: 7,068	Sorry I haven't been on the site lately. It is spider mites and soapy water won't get rid of them by itself. You need a stout dose of Permethrin or something stronger and you need to apply it more than once probably. It is an annual problem here when the hot dry spells last too long. Spider mites will stop almost all tomato production and kill any fruit set once they get bad. Stopping them early is the best action that can be taken otherwise you will lose a lot of leaves and have a big section of your plant that will be totally unproductive. Despite having a large population of ladybugs I had to spray my tomatoes for spider mites yesterday and my Peppers for a sudden influx of Leaf footed bugs that were ruining the fruit of both the peppers and tomatoes. Bill