How Do You Control Tomato Thrips

Sprays. Organic soap-based sprays are the best “first strike” against thrips because they are free of chemicals, notes garden author Barbara Damrosch. She recommends using a commercial product rather than making your own from dish soap because homemade products may be too strong and cause foliage damage.

What is the best way to kill thrips?

Use blue sticky traps: Use these traps are helpful for controlling adult thrips. Spray: If an infestation is out of control, you will have to spray with an insecticide. Use a pyrethrin spray or another type of oil-based spray. This type of spray combines an insecticide with fatty oils to smother and poison thrips.

What does thrip damage look like on tomatoes?

The primary damage caused by thrips to tomatoes is the vectoring of Tomato spotted wilt virus. … High numbers of thrips can cause damage with their feeding, which distorts plant growth, deforms flowers, and causes white-to-silvery patches on emerging leaves that often have tiny black fecal specks in them.