Thrips

Symptoms

Packed clusters of tiny white insects on leaves produce several symptoms. The leaves turn dull green with silvery-white areas, there's distortion of the shoot tips and the buds may fail to open.

Find it on: virtually anything from tomatoes to honeysuckle

Time to act: early spring to autumn

Problem categories

Overview

These miniscule sap-sucking insects multiply rapidly on leaves. Large colonies are immediately evident, as are the symptoms - silvery-white discoloration of the leaves and distorted shoot tips and buds.

Solution

Packed clusters of tiny white insects on leaves produce several symptoms. The leaves turn dull green with silvery-white areas, there's distortion of the shoot tips and the buds may fail to open.

Organic

There are many different species of thrips, but a biological control in the form of a predatory mite can be used on houseplants and in greenhouses to attack the western flower thrips. Organic pesticide sprays are available, which are based on plant oils or pyrethrum.

Chemical

Ornamental plants can be sprayed with insecticides containing imidacloprid with methiocarb, or thiacloprid.

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Talkback: Thrips

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Froginhood 24/11/2011 at 15:28

Re spraying white fly, does ordinary soapy water contain fatty acids. Do you need simple soap solution or can you use a non biological soap powder to make some ?