Thrips thrips thrips….first case ever and I have questions for those that have dealt with them. I have yet to actually see one just the effect of them…just one plant so far from what I can tell. How in the heck am I suppose to know if other have them before they cause damage? How close do plants have to be in order for transfer? Is it worth all the hassle to try and rid the plant of them…or should trash be the quickest way? This is a Gloriousium also…about 4 years old.
If other plants are in the same room…assume they all are infected. Thrips can fly short distances, so the plants don’t need to be touching to transfer. Treating vs trashing is going to be up to you. Thrips have a 21ish day life cycle, they lay eggs in the leaves (which protects them from any topical treatments), then they drop to the soil, develop, and crawl back onto your plants. So to effectively get rid of them you need to treat both the plants and soil at the same time. Get a good chemical spray that lists thrips on it. Don’t waste your time with natural treatments for thrips. Spray your plants every 5-7 days for at LEAST 21 days. My rule, if I see 1 pest then I start back at day 1. Use diatomaceous earth and cover the entire soil surface with a decent layer, this will deal with any larvae dropping to the soil. Try your best to keep that dry as it’s not very effective if it’s wet. I know watering with systemic granules is very effective for soil treatment, I just don’t have access to that where I live.
0 likesAlso, cut off any leaves you see that have thrips damage to mitigate larvae.
0 likes Thank you so very much!!! I will grab some DE as like this better than chemicals. Leaves are about to be clipped too. The plant was 10 feet away from all others but I will spray to make doubly sure. I have yet to see a thrip.
0 likes That is thrip damage right?
Had a thrips battle last year. Lost a few, and a several survived. I alternated between Dead Bug Brew and a home mix of water, dish, soap and alcohol/peroxide. Daily wipedowns with alcohol. I also put each plant into small clear trash bags with blue sticky to make sure they didn’t jump. Would reduce watering if you do this. Only untie to water. Some plants loved the extra humidity. On my leafy plants, there would be silver streaks. On my succulents, the damage would be brown spotty indents like something was eating away at it. On my hoyas, there would be a ton of grey/black spots before scabbing to a tan. The damage is mostly found around where the stem meets the leaf, but can be anywhere on the leaf.
1 likeAlso do not use systemics if you have pets that chew on plants!
1 like