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  • thrips on tomatoes

    Created by george on May 26, 2017 at 9:58 am

    I am a home gardener recently relocated to North Dallas. I grow tomatos mostly and have western flower thrips every year that I never had in NY. I use green lacewings and soil drench nematodes to help control but sometime these are not always available to me. Is SNS 209 good to use on tomato or pepper plants? Is there any other recommendation you have? I dont have aphid or white fly problem, just thrips. I notice they hide in the tomato blossom and ruin the fruit before it develops. Plants are mostly healthy and TSWV resistant but the damage to the blossom means very limited yield. Are there any plants I can grow with tomato to help repel thrips? Any advice or idea is appreciated.

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  • May 30, 2017 at 4:04 pm #239019

    Eric Vinje
    Keymaster

    Hi George –

    Thrips can definitely be sneaky pests. If your infestation is heavy, I would suggest pyrethrin to knock down the worst of them and then begin to spot treat other heavily infested areas with Garden Insect Spray (Spinosad). The SNS 209 can also be used, however it is only an all natural pesticide, not a certified organic one, so if you’re not trying to grow certified organic tomatoes, I would give that a try. We have information on all of these products on our website as well as an informational page on thrips that can be found here:

    https://www.planetnatural.com/pest-problem-solver/houseplant-pests/thrips-control/

    The only plant I can think of to ward them off would be chrysanthemums. Other than that, just keep an eye on the population of thrips (blue sticky traps work wonders for monitoring).

    Good luck!

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