How do you recognize the damage caused by thrips? What countermeasures are there? We reveal what remedies help against thrips and how to get rid of them.
In Germany there are countless names for the thrips (Thysanoptera), well-known names are thrips, bladder pods or even thunderstorm animals. As a rule, these insects do not pose a major problem for the hobby gardener in the garden. However, due to their size, the small insects are spread countless kilometers by the wind and also get into living spaces and greenhouses. Thrips find perfect living conditions there and can quickly become a problem due to their high reproduction rate. Therefore, thrips are typical greenhouse pests. In addition to the adult animals, the larvae suck one plant cell at a time. The affected plants can look very unsightly after a thrips invasion and in some cases viruses are also transmitted to the plants. That's why we show you how you can fight thrips naturally.
Detect thrips
The small plant suckers are mainly found on indoor plants such as orchids (Orchidaceae), rubber trees (Ficus elastica) or the hemp plant (Sansevieria ) apart. The pests are particularly common in the home because they love low humidity. The insects themselves are so small that they are easily missed with the naked eye. So that identification is still possible, you can use the typical damage images.
How to recognize thrips and their eggs
Due to the small size of about two millimeters and the light brown color, the small pests are almost invisible at first glance. If you look very closely, you can see that when the plant is touched, adult animals fly away in a small arc. The larvae of the thrips are light green in color and can sometimes be seen on the underside of the leaf with a magnifying glass.
How to recognize the damage caused by thrips
The typical damage consists of yellow or silvery-grey speckles on leaves and flowers. As the disease progresses, these pinpricks can continuedie off and turn brown. In the case of young leaves, severe infestation can also lead to very unsightly deformations. The silvery-grey speckles in particular are likely to be a false reminder of an infestation by spider mites. To avoid false identification, you should pay attention to two things: First, spider mites often produce threads that are reminiscent of the threads of a spider's web. In addition, spider mites are rounded, while thrips have an elongated body structure. This difference can be seen quite well with a magnifying glass. This deviation is important because spider mites sometimes have to be controlled differently.
Summary: How do you identify a thrips infestation?
- Insects themselves are difficult to spot due to their size
- Typical damage is silvery speckles on the upper side of the leaf or flowers
- Deformations on young leaves
- Difference to spider mites: no spider threads and elongated body
Prevent thrips
First of all, it should be said that prevention against a thrips infestation is almost impossible. This is primarily due to the fact that the wind can carry the animals into every corner. The insects also like to cover smaller distances with their fringed wings. In addition, the animals live very hidden and even a very close-meshed fly net is not an obstacle. If you want to effectively monitor a possible thrips infestation, then blue panels are very well suited for this. The thrips are easy to see on it and the blue color almost magically attracts the little animals. In general, thrips like dry air. So if you have the opportunity, increase the humidity, put your plants in the bathroom for some time or spray the plants regularly. In high humidity, the development of the bladder feet is severely restricted.
Fighting thrips naturally
Infested indoor plants can also be placed outdoors in summer. Most of the time, thrips species that attack indoor plants cannot cope with the weather conditions outside and the problem will resolve itself.
A mild thrips infestation can often be combated with household remedies such as soapy water with olive oil. To do this, mix a liter of water with two tablespoons of olive oil and a squirt of soft soap. Spray your plants with the mixture and repeat until you can no longer see any infestation.
A natural way to get rid of small insects are beneficial insects. The use of beneficial insects is particularly effective in closed rooms, since the beneficial insects cannot migrate. The very effective beneficial species include the predatory mite (Amblyseius cucumeris) and the lacewing (Chrysoperla carnea). During a targeted use of beneficial insects, you should refrain from using pesticides in order not to damage the beneficial insects.
Biological preparations based on rapeseed oil are also available. You should make sure that these agents do not use pyrethrins, as these are quite harmful to beneficial insects. A particularly effective and biological way to combat thrips is with neem-based supplements. They are based on the oil of the neem tree seeds with the herbal active ingredient azadirachtin. The active substance is absorbed by the thrips, disrupts their development and ensures that they stop eating quickly.
Our Plantura organic pest-free neem is based on this effective neem oil and can be used outdoors as well as indoors. The pest-free neem is 100% herbal and not harmful to bees. It is simply mixed with water and sprayed onto the affected plant with a spray bottle. Just 0.3 milliliters of Plantura organic pest-free neem mixed with 200 milliliters of water is enough to treat one square meter. Please note that our organic pest-free neem must be used exactly as specified in the application recommendation: therefore read the package insert before use.
Tip: Plantura Organic Neem Pest Free is also excellent for controlling aphids on indoor plants.
Summary: How Can You Control Thrips Naturally?
- Put infested plants outdoors
- In the case of a mild infestation: home remedies such as soapy water with olive oil can be used
- Use beneficial insects such as predatory mites in protected cultivation
- Preparations based on rapeseed oil, if possible without pyrethrins
- Neem-based preparations, even with a stronger infestation, e.g. our Plantura organic pest-free neem
Other remedies against thrips
Commercially available are synthetic and biological pesticides against thrips. Not all, but many synthetic agents use active ingredients that are harmful to bees and beneficial insects. Substances harmful to bees include, for example, flupyradifuron and deltamethrin, which are used in several synthetic agents.Active ingredients of natural origin such as Abamactin can also be harmful to bees. For this reason we advise against these and instead recommend organic remedies such as our organic pest-free Neem.
Another uninvited guest in the garden, in the apartment or in the greenhouse are aphids. In our special article we will show you how to combat aphids.