How Do I Deal With Thrips?

Table of Contents:

Beneficial Predators for Thrip Control
Measures to Prevent Thrips
Other Ways to Treat Thrip Problems
Final Thoughts...

Wondering how to deal with thrips? Keep reading, I've got great solutions for ya!

I recently had a bad thrip infestation that devastated my plants and left them dead and sad within days.

They especially enjoyed wrecking my millet cover crop, and I was completely surprised to see so much damage as I didn't catch them early enough.

Here we'll delve into what thrips are, what they do, and most importantly - some ways you can actually deal with them.

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thrips on a leaf magnified — Exhibit A: thrips.

Beneficial Predators for Thrip Control

If you're a systems thinker into holistic approaches and ecosystem balance, you're likely asking yourself "what eats thrips?"

We always advocate for balanced systemic approaches here, rather than reactionary chemical use, or futile manual bug-squishing/vacuuming which solve nothing long-term.

Great news! There are MANY creatures which eat thrips and will target them better than you or chemicals ever could.

Let's talk about some of the most common ones that will help balance your ecosystem and keep thrip breakouts under control naturally.

Do Ladybugs Eat Thrips?

Ladybugs or Lady Beetles are a generalist species which will absolutely eat thrips, plus a whole bunch of other pests including but not limited to:

Thrips
Aphids
Mealybugs
Leafhoppers
Alfalfa Weevils
Chinch Bugs
Grape Root Worm
Certain Mites

Thrip pest on a dark green leaf at magnification — *Thrip on a leaf*

Amblyseius Cucumeris Controls Thrips

I like using predatory mites like this for indoor applications, as they will stay in isolated areas better than ladybugs will.

Always check if predatory species are invasive in your area before releasing beneficials outside!

Amblyseius Cucumeris is a great preventative mite because it feeds on immature stages of thrips (larvae) and other obnoxious mites. These include but are not limited to:

Broad Mites
Spider Mites
Russet Mites
Cyclamen Mites

When there aren't adequate pests populations available for your Amblyseius Cucumeris friends, they'll happily switch to pollen as a main food source just like ladybugs.

Be sure to provide numerous choices of flowering plants for your predators to utilize as their backup food source when pest populations dip.

Minute Pirate Bugs

Orius insidiosis, known as the Minute Pirate Bug, is a voracious eater with an appetite for many common garden pests, thrips included.

Also on the menu for pirate bugs are aphids, spider mites, and moth eggs, among others.

Estimates for how many thrips they'll eat range from 10-30 per day, however they kill far more than they eat, sometimes up to 100 thrips per day.

These critters are incredibly effective at thrip control, and I especially love using them in greenhouses, indoor grow tents, and grow rooms where they can be contained so they stick around longer.

Providing supplemental food is a good idea for most predatory insects, so they remain around after most pests are eliminated. This is because pests will inevitably never be fully eliminated and their populations will always bounce back. If you can supplement their diet when pests dwindle, pirate bugs will still be around as thrips bounce back.

Many beneficial insect businesses offer supplemental food options to keep predators well-fed when there aren't enough pests to chow down on.

I also always suggest having flowering plants around for predators to feed on when prey populations drop. Orius species will consume pollen and nectar from flowers when food is scarce.

It's worth mentioning here that Pirate Bugs can and do bite humans and pets, and their bites are reported to not be much fun.

That said, this is likely not much concern outdoors, or in contained greenhouses, grow tents, and grow rooms. It might be a concern if you release them in an open area in your house such as a windowsill herb garden, where they can't be easily contained. Remember, they would still much rather bite thrips than bite you, and I've never had an issue with them before.

Nematodes That Target Thrips

Trips spend their prepupal and a pupal stages in the soil, and the nematode species Steinernema feltiae (SF) is highly effective at stopping thrip pupae in this soil stage.

Adding these nematodes to your soil can help get ahead of the problem, and prevent thrip populations from continuing to grow larger.

While you'll likely have to pair SF nematodes with another beneficial predator species for full control, nematodes can still be a powerful ally in attaining a balanced ecosystem that's not overrun by thrips.

Lacewings

It's not the adult lacewings that feed on thrips, but the lacewing larvae when they're young.

Larvae will crawl up and down plants seeking out thrips, aphids, whiteflies, spider mites, mealybugs, caterpillar eggs, and other pests to devour.

They are voracious, and their appetite earns them a spot on the list of friends of gardeners and farmers.

Adult lacewings subsist off of pollen and nectar, so if you'd like them to reproduce and give you future generations of larvae you'll want to provide a diversity of flowers for them to access, and be sure that you always have something flowering in your garden or greenhouse to keep adult lacewings well-fed and reproducing.