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My poor, once-thriving calathea has been struggling with thrips for… | Pests, diseases and problems | Planta-community

Jackie H

My poor, once-thriving calathea has been struggling with thrips for months. I’ve been using a spray of water, isopropyl alcohol (70%), hydrogen peroxide (3%), and tea tree and peppermint castile soap, which is working well on the thrips but also seems to be killing the plant. She spat out a whole bunch of new leaves (the smaller ones at the base) but now even they’re starting to die. I tried water blasting and repotting previously but the thrips came back in force. This spray is the only thing I’ve found that actually seems to stop them, though they do just keep. Coming. Back. I’ve been spraying twice per week for the last couple weeks and I try to make sure everything is covered but as lightly as possible. I’m a houseplant noob and I REALLY want this one to live! Please help me save her!

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6 reacties

  1. Phil

    My calatheas seem to do well on Bonide systemic. May be too late to work for this plant but for future reference. Systemics take a week to start working. Sorry I couldn’t offer help for this plant.

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    • Jackie H

      I’d never even heard of this before but I’ll definitely look into it!

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  2. c.cat

    neem oil can cause burning if it is applied and left in the sun, so when you spray, try moving it from the window and see if it stops yellowing so much. def cut off the dead leaves, as these dont help the plants anymore, and MIGHT prolong the thrips infestation (i read that pests like yellow leaves, feel free to fact check me tho) also, i dont know if the isopropl alchohol would do much, as i tend to think of it as a disinfectant rather than an insecticide, but that very well could just be me! good luck!!

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  3. Zoe

    I am currently in a battle against thrips myself! Here is what I am doing: • Place the plant into a ziplock bag and drench the whole of the plant in insecticidal neem oil, leaving on (away from sunlight) for 5-10 minutes. Ensure to zip the seal after spraying the neem oil to raise humidity. • Repeat the treatment again and leave for a further 5 minutes. • Wash off the plant thoroughly with jet of water and allow the plant to sit and airdry. • Place a sticky bug trap into soil. • After a couple of days have passed place the plant back into the CLEAN ziplock bag to again raise humidity (thrips cannot tolerate humidity of 70%+) • Periodically check on plant throughout the week and then repeat the cycle every week for 5 weeks minimum as you need to tackle each time the eggs and larvae grow TIP: Cover the soil with tin foil or other to prevent overwatering. Treatment MUST be repeated for minimum 5 weeks (preferably more) as neem oil only impacts the adults. NOTE: If you’re noticing that you plant is not handling high humidity then don’t leave inside the bag for longer than a day or two

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  4. Zoe

    Here is a photograph of my setup. Linked to the comment above ⬆️ I also recommend you prune away any very damaged leaves as you want the plant to divert the nutrients into new growth, not to continue supplying leaves that are too far gone to recover

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  5. Jake

    I second Bonide Systemic. I had all of my calatheas infected and used neem oil, alcohol wipe, water sprayed and none of those worked. Definitely try Systemic

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