Sticky card traps come in both yellow and blue. Blue cards tend to attract only thrips, while yellow cards attract a variety of garden pests. You can find both at your local garden supply store. These traps work especially well in an indoor garden or greenhouse. You can use these traps to figure out how severe your thrips problem is.
These predatory bugs exist naturally in some gardens. To welcome these predators into your space, include a variety of different plant species in your garden.
You can apply reflective mulch at the beginning of the season, before any crops sprout. If possible, opt for a silver or gray reflective mulch. You can typically find this product at your local home improvement or garden supply center.
If you’re looking for a more natural insecticide option, try spinosad. If you have them set up, use your sticky traps to monitor the population of thrips in your garden while you use insecticides.
Be careful with insecticides—even if you’re killing off the thrips, you might also be killing off valuable bug species in the process. Neem oil is also a natural insecticide treatment against thrips. [7] X Research source
Thrips target a variety of crops and flowers; however, they aren’t attracted to shrubs or trees. Additionally, these pests aren’t specific to a single climate or gardening area. Unfortunately, there’s no way to reverse thrips damage to plants.
For instance, trim off any twisted branches from an Indian laurel fig tree during the winter months, so thrips won’t infest the plant later on.
For instance, if you plant sun-dependent flowers like pansies in a shady, darker area, they may be more susceptible to thrips. Avoid using too much nitrogen-based fertilizer, as this can encourage more thrips to infest your garden.
