So I just realised that 43 of my 45 plants are infested with thrips. Especislly the bigger ones look pretty bad. I don’t know how it has gotten so far without noticing. I must have been in denial, thinking the leaves turn a little yellow due to the low light in winter. I‘m not 100% sure it is thrips in all the plants.
I have had some of my plants for over 10 years and I think I will throw them all out except for some smaller ones that I might be able to save.
First 5 pics is my plant collection, the rest some of the infected leaves. I feel so lost!
by Pizzi314
31 Comments
If 43 out of 45 have thrips, they probably all do, you just dont see them yet. I personally would try some pesticides before I threw them all out.
If you dont, Id definitely quarantine the other two you think dont have thirps, because they might already have eggs in the soil before you introduce any new plants in.
I had thrips spreading through my tropicals and I just wiped down or removed the leaves that were especially bad and blasted them with insecticidal soap a few times until I stopped seeing them.
I’d rather be gentle with things like neem oil, but I was not gonna stand for that nonsense.
Might work for you!
Also, if you think there are plants without thrips (tbh they probably do have them too), I’d isolate them. But if they are infected, they’re probably the most likely to recover with minimal damage, so start treating them immediately regardless. It won’t hurt them.
One of my plants looks like that how do i get rid of it before it spreads 😟
If you have a patio (meaning solid concrete floor or similar, not soil) get them outside and use liquid systemic insecticide on them, take all precautions (face and eye protection, gloves) and blast them. If you follow the instructions on the package they’ll be alright in a week and ALL pests will be gone, I guarantee you. 45 plants are too much to follow the more organic remedies. Otherwise you have to start from zero.
Time for systemic insecticide!
My condolences.
I once released 1,000 ladybugs into my house when I had a bad thrips infection on my plant collection. I left my window screen off and cracked the window and once they had devoured every last thrip they just found their way outside and left. It was awesome.
So I’ve started dousing my plants with 70% alcohol if they show signs of pests and it’s been very effective for me. Even daintier leaved plants like my begonia have benefited from this. Just make sure you do it at night and shut the lights off long enough to dry. I let them dry over night to ensure they won’t be scorched when lights come back on or window light.
Hope this helps your gorgeous collection!!
Predatory mites saved my plants when they had thrips! I don’t know how expensive they are where you are but they work really will. They come in little bags (sachets?) and you just put the bags in the plants and let them do the work
ID on the pretty lady on the top shelf middle?
So sorry to hear that… Been dealing with these lil demon Flys since last summer. The moment I think have them extinguished well hmmm… 🫢i guess i just got jokes for days lemme tell ya lol. Its low key traumatizing fr its literally just added to my PTSD and has my anxiety at an all time high no joke. Hope you figure it out op cause i wouldnt wish this on my worst enemy. Good luck op😊
this is their house now
Oh man. My deepest sympathy
Thrips really arent that bad if you dont mind using systemics
Systemic all the way!! I have been dealing with a thrips infestation and systemic insecticide has been a lifesaver. Just be extremely cautious if you have pets!
Predatory mites are your most cost effective and easy treatment
Does anyone know how long thrip live on your walls and plant pots after the plants have been treated?
I’m struggling with this now and my plants look waaaay worse than yours. I ordered some predatory mites, it’s really easy, you just hang the pouches on each of the plants and they feed on the thrips lava. Supposedly will be all cleared up in 6 weeks – it’s worth a shot!
To echo previous replies, predatory mites. You can even breed them on pollen to keep a population on the go when their food source is dwindling.
completely unrelated, but where the hell is that turtles uv-b light? if there is one it’s gotta be a coil/MVB. if a) get a tube uv-b light and fixture according to your species needs. if b) get rid of the coil light. coil lights put on very inconsistent uv-b levels that are usually orders of magnitude weaker than advertised, same with mercury vapor bulbs except they fluctuate and can go from too high to too low.
Bonide granules kill thrips
Predatory bugs saved my plants with thrips last season. This month I’m ordering more as a preventative and will do it 2-3 times before winter.
You can neat them, dont let them win! Peppermint soap in a foam soap bottle on EVERYTHING!
I had thrips in my greenhouse and I used Captain Jacks Dead Bug – one applications and they’re gone and haven’t returned. I’ll prob do another application now that it’s been a couple weeks to knockout any stragglers but I was impressed how well it worked.
get yellow plastic cups and cover the inside and outside with thick vaseline. place those in or around your plants. you can mount them with a stick or utensil or anything tbh. the thrips love yellow and will jump to it but will get stuck in the vaseline
Beneficial bugs are the way forward!
Nature’s Good Guys are my go to for beneficial bugs. I’m in Cali and they are based out of Oregon, so it works well for me. They have bugs based on your pest issue.
https://www.naturesgoodguys.com/
Get a pack of predatory mite sachets
https://naturalenemies.com/swirskii-ulti-mite-sachets-amblyseius-swirskii/
I’m sorry!
https://a.co/d/0bQ2yOgO this on the leaves every 5-7 days and rinsing/wiping the leaves a day or so before spraying. I had to do this 3x to get the situation under control.
I had an infestation in one of my bathrooms (12 plants) but treated everything in my house to be sure. I caught it a few months in so the damage was not too bad.
I did one treatment of Bonide systemic granules and I was surprised it did the trick. Hard to get a hold of though! But it’s been 8 months and I haven’t seen a resurgence. Some plants lost a few leaves but overall I got off lightly.
Don’t throw them out yet. I have been having the same issue – basically almost all my plants infected – and (knock on wood) they’re hanging in there. Decide if you’re going to go the live predator route or the insecticide route. If you go the insecticide route, use systemic granules (they are on ebay and will be delivered regardless of state, again knocking on wood) and spray like your life depends on it. Just try! Please!
I ended up throwing away two plants and one is on it’s last legs (which is sad because I do have an emotional attachment to it) but I figured I’d rather just try than throw everything away preemptively. Some of mine were / are bigger than your big boys and they’re hanging on fighting.