Thrips! Help!

[OzoneNY]

Im losing ground against thrips. I hoped to get them under control but it seems they are winning. Any suggestions for any product available online or at HD/Lowes that will at least give me a fighting chance?

[Mallori]

Following. It seems like any time I try to put anything on my plants, it rains and washes it all off.

[Patihum]

Spinosad or neem oil can both help control them.

[kurt]

Spinosad is great for non flowering applications where beneficials will not come in contact(read MSDS and toxicity to beneficial pollinators i.e.BEES)Neem oil coats the plant(note the up to 90% canola oils sticker content)Monterey Take Down has pyrethrin which is probaly the lessor of all the evils with insecticides providing proper use.Now Lady Bugs and green lacewings,some parasitic wasps are the safest way to go IMO.Hirts Gardens and Arbico has them avaliable and some reliable people you can contact for any questions.

[rnewste]

I am using these 2 products on an alternating weekend application routine:



Raybo

[Kikaida]

I controlled my thrips with neem oil...Don't mix it in cold water, use warm water but not warm enough to hurt your plants and be consistent with your thorough soakings...Follow your label instructions for frequency of application and stick to it...Hitting the surrounding soil helped and I applied in the evening to avoid bees and possible sun damage. I seem to just have a few here and there, not enough to warrant spraying at this point.

[OzoneNY]

It's been so rainy here that every time I apply anything, its gone in less than 12 hrs. I ordered the Montery Garden Spray, should be here this week. I hope to save the plants and possibly save the season from an early end.

[heirloomtomaguy]

I have tried everything and spinosad helps....but this year i an going with beneficial nematodes. Im hoping to kill them in the pupae stage before they have a chance to suck the life out of my plants and spread TSWV

[rhines81]

I've never even heard of a Thrip ... so I guess I never had problems with them.

[Lee]

Yellow french marigolds... They'll be attracted to them and will leave your tomato plants alone.
Plus, they don't wash away with rain! And they're safe, even helpful, to the pollinator population.... Win Win

Lee

[VC Scott]

To combat thrips, you have to understand their life cycle. They go through from egg to two larval stages and two pupal stages and then an adult stage. In hot weather, all of this happens in two weeks. The two pupal stages live underground so you can't attack them at that stage. Thrips actively feed in the two larval stages. You typically find them under the leaves and inside the flowers. The thrips feeding inside the flowers are hard to reach with insecticide.

If you hit the plant with insecticide, you might kill a good percentage of the larval stage thrips. You might even kill some adults. The problem is, a couple days later eggs hatch and the pupal stages become adults and fly up from the ground and lay more eggs. You have to spray more than once and more frequently than you might want to. Like rnewste, I alternate Take Down and a spinosad product. If you have a bad infestation, I would hit with spinosad on day 1, Take Down on day 5 and then go once per week.

Another reason to use more than one product is that thrips have the ability to become immune to insecticides. If you use only spinosad, you might end up with spinosad resistant thrips.

If you have a bad infestation and a long growing year, you can consider removing open flowers from the plant before you spray. That way you can get rid of the thrips inside the flowers where the insecticide can't reach.

To help prevent infestation, remove all weeds from the area of the garden. In particular, get rid of weeds with yellow flowers. In my area, mustard is the native host for thrips.

[ginger2778]

For thrips, which are strongly attracted to the blue color, I use blue sticky traps. Just hang them up and they last the whole season. I love them, and yellow sticky traps for whiteflies and leafminer flies.
https://www.1000bulbs.com/product/92...FQGVfgodIjIAJg

[heirloomtomaguy]

Originally Posted by ginger2778

For thrips, which are strongly attracted to the blue color, I use blue sticky traps. Just hang them up and they last the whole season. I love them, and yellow sticky traps for whiteflies and leafminer flies.
https://www.1000bulbs.com/product/92...FQGVfgodIjIAJg

I will also have to try these traps. I really hate these blasted thrips.

[OzoneNY]

Looks like I may lose this battle. Seems TSWV is setting in now on 2 of my 10 plants. <sigh>

[heirloomtomaguy]

Originally Posted by OzoneNY

Looks like I may lose this battle. Seems TSWV is setting in now on 2 of my 10 plants. <sigh>

I know your pain. Last year i lost 104 of my 120 plants. But i saved seed from the ones that powered through and am growing them in segregation this year in hopes for some resistance. Hopefully your plants pull through.