Table of contents:
- Features of thrips as plant pests
- The nature of plant damage by thrips
- Prevention
- Ways to deal with thrips
Video: Fighting Thrips! How To Get Rid Of Indoor Plants, Flowers, In The Garden. Photo
2024 Author: Ava Durham | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 00:23
Thrips is one of the most common pests of ornamental, agricultural and indoor crops. Perhaps, it will not be possible to name a single plant on which certain species of these insects would not feed. In the conditions of large greenhouse farms, it is almost impossible to destroy thrips. At best, their numbers are kept at a level that would not affect the commercial properties of the products (flowers or fruits).
Content:
- Features of thrips as plant pests
- The nature of plant damage by thrips
- Prevention
- Ways to deal with thrips
Features of thrips as plant pests
Thrips, or bubbly (Latin Thysanoptera) - small insects, common on all continents. There are about 2000 known species belonging to more than a hundred genera. On the territory of the post-Soviet space, there are more than 300 species.
The body of thrips is elongated, length from 0.5 to 14 mm (usually 1-2 mm). Mouth organs of the piercing-sucking type. Legs in most species are slender, running. The paws have a tooth and a suction bubble-shaped device. Development takes place like this: egg, larva, pronymph, nymph, imago. Larvae and nymphs have several instars.
The color of adult insects is inconspicuous: black, gray and brown colors prevail. Thrips larvae are white-yellow, grayish.
The identification of thrips species is difficult due to their small size and intraspecific variability. The most widespread are variegated, decorative, dracaena, rose, tobacco, bulbous, and some other types of thrips.
Several hundred species of small herbivorous thrips are currently considered very dangerous pests of cultivated plants. They suck sap from leaves, flowers and fruits, carry viruses, pollute plants with their secretions. Many species of thrips are characterized by a hidden lifestyle and group development of larvae. Thrips can be found on only one plant among a whole group, so it is difficult to detect the first foci of their appearance.
The nature of plant damage by thrips
Larvae and adults of thrips suck out cell sap from plant tissue. Initially, this causes the appearance of yellow or discolored spots, streaks, or a peculiar streak; gradually these strokes and spots merge. Damaged plant tissue dies off, resulting in holes; the leaves wilt and fall off. Flowers lose their decorative effect and fall off prematurely.
In case of mass colonization, the plants show "silvery" areas, and curvature of the stems is often noted. Damage to the flower buds causes deformation of the flowers. Thrips-affected plants show traces of excrement.
Thrips are also dangerous because they are carriers of dangerous plant diseases. Most thrips are polyphages, that is, they damage almost all plants.
Prevention
Excessive dryness in the room or greenhouse should be avoided. It is recommended to periodically arrange shower for the plants.
Inspect flowers and leaves of plants regularly. On the underside of the leaf you can see light (white-yellow or grayish) wingless thrips larvae, which, nevertheless, are able to move very quickly. You can also find adults, nondescript brownish or yellowish color, sometimes with transverse stripes.
Sticky traps - blue or yellow strips of paper hanging among the plants - help not only detect this pest in time, but also reduce its number.
Ways to deal with thrips
Thrips are particularly persistent pests! They multiply very quickly - at optimal temperatures for them (and for many species this is just room temperature - + 20 … + 25 ° С) they can double their numbers in 4-6 days.
If thrips are found on plants, it is necessary to inspect nearby plants, since thrips easily move to neighboring plants.
If possible, it is better to isolate affected plants from healthy ones. Transfer the plants very carefully: when you shake the transferred plants, the larvae of thrips and adults easily fall from the leaves and can wait a long time for the moment to re-settle on the plants.
The place where the plants affected by thrips stood should be thoroughly cleaned, as well as the topmost layer of potting soil from the treated plants should be removed.
Shower the plant before using an insecticide. If at the moment you do not have an insecticide, then you can wash the plant with a sponge and laundry soap, however, this is a temporary measure, and it does not ensure the removal of thrips.
Thrips control chemicals
- Fitoverm: dissolve 2 ml in 200 ml of water. Spray the affected plant with the resulting solution, after spraying, put a transparent plastic bag on the plant, it can be removed after a day.
- Vertimek: dissolve 2.5 ml of the drug in 10 liters of water. Spray the affected plant with the resulting solution, after spraying, put a transparent plastic bag on the plant, the bag can be removed after a day.
- Agravertine: consumption rate: 5 ml per 0.5 l of water. At temperatures below +18 degrees, it poorly penetrates into plant tissues. Spray the affected plant with the resulting solution, after spraying, put a transparent plastic bag on the plant, the bag can be removed after a day.
- Aktelik: dissolve the ampoule in 1 liter of water (has a very pungent odor). Spray the affected plant with the resulting solution, after spraying, put a transparent plastic bag on the plant, the bag can be removed after a day.
- Karate: consumption rate: 0.5 ml per 2.5 liters of water (in a 2 ml ampoule).
- Confidor: the solution should not be sprayed, but the substrate should be shed from the infected plant.
- Karbofos: consumption rate: 15 g per 2 liters. water (packs of 60 and 30 grams).
- Intavir: consumption rate: dissolve 1 tablet in 10 liters. water. Spray the affected plant with the resulting solution, after spraying, put a transparent plastic bag on the plant, the bag can be removed after a day.
Processing must be done at least twice with an interval of 7-10 days, since larvae gradually hatch from the eggs laid in the tissue of the leaves.
Folk remedies against thrips
Various folk remedies help with small damage to the plant with thrips, but if the defeat is massive, then it is necessary to apply various systemic insecticides that penetrate the plant and act already through the plant tissue on thrips.
Decoctions are used: creeping mustard, Sarepta mustard, paprika, tobacco, yarrow, celandine.
In addition to insecticides, predatory mites can be used to control thrips: Amblyseius cucumeris, Amblyseius barken, Amblyseius degenerans, predatory bugs Orius laevigatus, Orius majusculus.
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