Thrips are one of the more difficult-to-detect pests for gardeners because the damage they cause often appears to be the result of a nutrient deficiency or a disease rather than an insect infestation. There are more than 6,000 thrips species sucking the life from plants all over the world.
A common pest found in greenhouses and indoor/ outdoor gardens, thrips damage plants by sucking their juices and scraping at fruits, flowers and leaves. Plant leaves may turn pale, splotchy, and silvery, then die. Injured plants are twisted, discolored and scarred.
Adults are very small (less than 1/25 inch) straw-colored or black slender insects with two pairs of feathery wings. Without the use of a hand lens, they resemble tiny dark threads.
Thrips are tiny insects about the size of a sewing needle that feed on a variety of plants. Thrips, also known as thysanoptera or thunderflies, are sucking insects that can cause damage to plants. But when they spread viruses to plants, the damage they cause can multiply exponentially.
Despite having mouthparts made for piercing and sucking plant juices, thrips are too small to pierce human skin and are not drawn to bite people because they do not feed on blood.
Thrips are tiny insects that can cause serious damage to basket grass plants. Getting rid of thrips in basket grass requires some effort, but it can be done through a combination of preventative measures and treatment options. In this comprehensive guide, we’ll cover everything you need to know about identifying, preventing, and eliminating thrips from basket grass plants.
What Are Thrips?
Thrips are very small insects, usually measuring between 1/25 to 1/8 inch in length. There are over 6000 species of thrips worldwide. Some of the most common thrips that affect basket grasses include chilli thrips flower thrips and grass thrips.
Adult thrips can be various colors like black brown or yellow. Nymphs are often light yellow or green. Thrips have long, slender bodies and two pairs of fringed wings. They move very quickly, making them hard to spot.
How Do Thrips Damage Basket Grass?
Thrips use their sharp mouths to pierce plant cells and feed on the contents. This causes silvery spots, discolored streaks, and blotchy patches on the leaves and stems of the grass. Heavily infested basket grass may become stunted and malformed.
Thrips can also spread viruses as they feed, including the destructive tomato spotted wilt virus. Viral infections cause serious decline in basket grasses.
Signs of Thrips on Basket Grass
Here are the most common signs of a thrips infestation on basket grass plants:
- Silvery specks or streaks on leaves
- White or yellow blotches on leaves
- Leaf tips turning brown
- Distorted, stunted new growth
- Flowers damaged and pollen eaten
- Black dots of thrips excrement
Thrips Prevention Tips
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure when it comes to thrips. Here are some tips to help prevent thrips from ever gaining a foothold in your basket grass:
-
Quarantine new plants – Check for signs of thrips and isolate new plants for 1-2 weeks before introducing to existing plants
-
Remove weeds – Eliminate alternate thrips hosts like white clover and wildflowers
-
Use reflective mulch – The shiny surface repels thrips
-
Apply beneficial nematodes – These parasites kill thrips larvae in the soil
-
Use yellow sticky traps – The color attracts adult thrips looking for flowers
-
Avoid overfertilizing – Excess nitrogen encourages thrips
-
Keep plants healthy – Thrips target stressed, weak plants
How to Get Rid of Thrips on Basket Grass
If prevention fails and basket grass becomes infested, swift action is needed to get the invasion under control. Here are some effective, safe ways to get rid of thrips on basket grass:
Insecticidal Soap
Insecticidal soap sprayed on plants disrupts thrips’ cell membranes on contact, killing them. It’s safe for most plants. Spray every 5-7 days until thrips are gone.
Neem Oil
Neem oil smothers and kills thrips larvae and eggs. Add a teaspoon of pure neem oil + a few drops of dish soap to a quart of water, then spray plants. Reapply every 1-2 weeks.
Natural Predators
Release ladybugs, lacewings, minute pirate bugs, and predatory mites onto infested plants. They will feed on thrips. Apply every 2-4 weeks until thrips population declines.
Horticultural Oil
These refined oils smother thrips’ breathing pores when sprayed directly on insects. Oils won’t kill eggs, so repeat applications are needed.
Pyrethrin Spray
Pyrethrin insecticides derived from chrysanthemum flowers quickly kill adult thrips. Use per label instructions. Reapply in 5-7 days.
How to Prevent Thrips from Returning
After treating and eliminating thrips, continue monitoring your basket grass closely. Implement preventative measures to avoid repeats of thrips problems in the future:
-
Keep plants consistently moist – drought stressed plants attract thrips
-
Apply mulch – maintains soil moisture and deters thrips
-
Prune damaged growth – removes potential thrips shelters
-
Rotate insecticides – avoids resistance buildup in thrips
-
Clean up debris – eliminates thrips hiding spots
With persistence and diligence, thrips can be controlled in basket grass plants. A combination of preventative strategies and prompt treatment at the first sign of infestation is key to protecting basket grasses from these tiny pests.
How to Identify Thrips
Adult thrips are 1/50 to 1/25 inches long and slender. They may be yellow, brown, or even black, and if you approach them too closely, they will probably leap or fly away. Their wings are narrow and fringed.
The nymphs resemble even smaller adults, though they are lighter green or yellow in color rather than darker in color. Sometimes their eyes will be red, and their wings won’t be fully developed.
The thrips that are on your plants will look like very small, dark slivers. It’s difficult to see their bodies without a magnifying glass, but they resemble lobsters up close. To see them clearly, shake them onto a white background.
Since there are various different types of thrips, they may differ slightly from one another.
Adults of the western flower thrips and onion thrips are significantly larger than adults of the avocado and citrus thrips, so their mature body size helps to differentiate them when they co-occur on the same host plant.
Inspect and Monitor Plants
Inspect all plants you import into the garden for signs of thrips or their damage. Discard any infested plants by securely bagging and putting in the trash.
If found, use the Bug Blaster to hose off plants with a strong, encompassing spray of water to reduce pest numbers. Blue sticky traps are also helpful for monitoring adult populations and for identification.
How to Get Rid of Thrips (4 Easy Steps)
FAQ
What is the best way to kill thrips on plants?
What is the best spray for thrips on indoor plants?
Should I throw away a plant with thrips?
What is the best product for thrips?
How do you get rid of thrips on flowers?
Thrips on flowers can be eliminated as soon as you see signs of damage by using a mild insecticide like insecticidal soap or neem oil, or by pruning away the flowers. You never want to shear your plants because the new growth caused by shearing will attract even more thrips than you had before shearing the plant.
How do you get rid of thrips?
To keep thrips populations under control, try using yellow or blue sticky traps. Shaking branches to remove the thrips and catching them on a cloth underneath is one easy way to quickly remove the thrips from your plants.
How to control thrips organically?
Another common pest control method you can use for controlling thrips organically is sticky traps. Different colors attract different types of insect pests (blue and yellow for thrip insects). These can be readily purchased from garden centers, shops, and online. Besides, they are easy to hang near any infected plants, inside or outside the house.
Do thrips kill plants?
Thrips are tiny, winged insects that do tremendous damage to plants. These common pests feed on the sap and juices of houseplants, garden plants, and greenhouse crops. Thrip infestations can damage plants so much that leaves lose color, and plants eventually die. Thrips are challenging to get rid of.