Thrips - photo and fight against them on flower crops

I need advice on this issue: thrips, photos and the fight against them. First, I noticed something was wrong with the pelargoniums. When I touch them with my hand while watering, some small midges fly up, and the leaves become white. I sprayed it with soapy water, washed off most of it, but after a couple of weeks again a whole colony of pests stuck to the poor bushes. And now they have moved to indoor roses. Insects are very similar to thrips. How can I save my flowers?

A pair of these tiny insects can breed 15 generations of new offspring per year, laying a hundred eggs at a time. Thrips, photos and the fight against them are a burning issue for all gardeners, florists and gardeners. Not only that, pests multiply very quickly. They live in large colonies and destroy almost all vegetation in their habitat. And when the food runs out, they migrate to neighboring plants. At the same time, thrips do not disdain flowers, vegetables or berries, sucking juice from all parts of the crops. In addition, they also adapt well to habitat conditions and easily find refuge for themselves for the winter under the bark, in the ground or in dry conditions. With such pests, there is only one "conversation" - complete destruction, otherwise they themselves will destroy cultural plantings.

Thrips - photo and fight with them

Most often, thrips bother flower growers, encroaching on indoor flowers. For insects, the most comfortable conditions are where there is moisture, and in flower pots it is always there. They also prefer dry air, which in most cases is available in apartments during the heating season. Plus, food in the form of juicy leaves, stems and flower buds is always "at hand".

It is difficult to see the pest with the naked eye - it is very small. In indoor conditions, thrips live mainly with a length of no more than 1.5 mm. They have an elongated oval body with narrow porches that allow them to fly over a short distance. Thrips have large eyes, small antennae and a mouth with bristles and a sucking tube. The bristles pierce the leaf, and with the help of a tube, pests extract juice from the plants. Suction cups on the short legs of thrips help to easily move on the back side of the leaves, where they live.

Types of thrips

There are up to half a thousand varieties of this pest. But in room conditions, you can most often find thrips:

• variegated (they eat everything in a row, and flowers, and vegetables, and berries);
• decorative (like cacti, chrysanthemums, begonias);
• rose-colored (live in roses);
• tobacco (feed on ornamental plants);
• dracene (prefer palms, hibiscus, ficuses);
• bulbous (live in bulbous crops, and garden, and flower).

The named pests are almost all brown-brown, except for tobacco and bulbous thrips. They are lighter, yellowish.

Control methods

Whatever folk methods are recommended, if a whole colony has already taken root on the plants, they will not help. Only chemical preparations give the maximum effect.

First of all, the affected plants must be separated from others. Then treat them at least 2 times with a break with one of the insecticides:

• Fitoverm;
• Agravertine;
• Aktara.

If the pests just appeared and did not have time to multiply, you can try the sparing folk method. This is a sprinkling of garlic infusion. Also, thrips do not like the smell of tomato tops, marigolds, celandine.

How to deal with thrips on indoor flowers