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Major thrip infestation in every room!!

daisywaisydaisywaisy Posts: 1
in Problem solving
Hello all,

I have been keeping houseplants for over 40 years, and on the whole apart from one or two unwanted visitors along the way, everything has been fine.

However, after discovering three Adanson's Monstera (grouped together) were looking pale and sickly I noticed black creatures on the leaves. Realised they were thrips and before I knew it I was checking plants nearby and in other rooms etc, and I can confirm every room has thrips. Which leaves only one room in the house that doesn't contain a plant!

I have trialled showering, then spraying with soapy water, then rinsing on two of the worst affected plants, and although there are fewer insects, I am disappointed they are still on the plants.

I don't want to use chemicals, and online advise I think is quite vague and not always about indoor plants. I have blue sticky strips on order, I'm just wondering if anyone out there has successfully stopped an infestation?

I am very depressed about it all really, some of these plants I have had for a very long time.

Posts

  • Pete.8Pete.8 Posts: 11,340
    edited October 2021
    I'm no houseplant expert, but I have had some experience of thrips on herbs outside, and I wonder if they are thrips on your plants.
    They move (jump) very fast and I have only ever caught a glimpse of one occasionally.
    If there are thrips on a leaf as soon as you touch the leaf, they'll be gone - I suppose a bit like a tiny cricket.
    I think they can fly too - but not sure about that.

    Do the bugs on your plants move like that?
    Would you be able to get a pic?

    Ps - they may be fungus gnats - do these look similar?
    https://www.google.com/search?q=fungus+gnats&sxsrf=AOaemvLiP0CbsUMnjE0x02N8DFxkzWwD7A:1635060329920&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjHq5qxwuLzAhWLyIUKHXdjCn0Q_AUoAXoECAEQAw&biw=1920&bih=1057&dpr=1


    Billericay - Essex

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  • Zoe P2Zoe P2 Posts: 848
    Hi daisywaisy, I'm not an expert but perhaps this is helpful.

    https://anaturalcuriosity.org/how-to-identify-and-eliminate-thrips-on-your-houseplants/



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      Martin Luther King

  • chrispower1987chrispower1987 Posts: 4
    Hi daisywaisy, I'm not an housepalnt expert too,  but I have the same problem as you, my roses were destroyed by thrips. I have searched on google for information on thrips removal perhaps this is helpful.



  • zugeniezugenie Posts: 831
    You can get predatory mites for thrips
  • AlchemistAlchemist Posts: 273
    If indoors, it’s very difficult to eradicate thrips due to lack of predators etc. We have a large monstera (9 ft+) that was decimated and many of the leaves turned limp and brown. Only thing that saved it was a vine weevil killer soil drench + spray. Due to their size it’s very hard to wash etc. And wiping the leaves with diluted oils didn’t do much. If you have other house plants, chances are it’s got some level of infestation too so best treated together. Since the treatment a year ago the plant is doing well with no further treatment required. As vine weevil killers are neonicotinoids, they should not be used outside due to the not targeted mode of action. But indoors they should not cause any harm to pollinators etc. I know you don’t want to  use chemicals but sharing in case your other approaches fail and you need another option. 
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