Frankliniella occidentalis / Thrips tabaci

Thrips are tiny, slender insects that may look insignificant, but their damage is anything but. These sap-feeding pests puncture and suck from leaves, flowers, and fruit, causing silvering, stippling, and scarring that can severely reduce crop quality. Thrips are also efficient vectors of plant viruses such as TSWV (Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus), making them a double threat in any South African home garden. Warm, dry conditions promote rapid multiplication, and their cryptic lifestyle, often hiding in flower buds, makes them especially hard to detect until damage is advanced.

Preventative strategies are far superior to crisis control. Once thrips are established, populations can outpace your interventions, forcing repeated applications and risking harm to beneficial insects. A layered, preventative approach using both soil- and leaf-dwelling predators, along with trap-based monitoring, greatly reduces the chance of infestation. This method is more cost-effective and environmentally sustainable, and ensures healthier, more productive crops.

Culturally, good airflow and avoiding over-fertilization helps reduce the lush growth thrips favor. Remove heavily infested plant parts early, and avoid broad-spectrum insecticides which decimate natural enemies. Preventative releases of predatory mites early in the season, along with sticky traps and targeted organic sprays, build a robust defense system. Begin with predatory mite sachets and back them up with organic insecticides if pressure increases.

• Beneficial Insects

  • Swirskii – Ultimite (Amblyseius swirskii)
    A slow-release sachet of predatory mites that feed on thrips larvae. Also controls whitefly and young mites. Ideal for early season use.

  • Macro-Mite (Soil Predatory Mite)
    A soil-dwelling predator that targets thrips pupae in the growing medium. Introduce early to disrupt the life cycle before adults emerge.

  • Aphid / Mite / Whitefly Package
    Includes Swirskii along with Spidex and Aphipar, offering broad pest suppression with overlap against thrips.

• Traps/Monitoring

  • Horiver Roller Trap
    Long sticky tape system effective against adult thrips. Especially useful in greenhouse or tunnel setups. Place above the canopy early in the season.

  • Sticky Cards
    Bright yellow adhesive cards that attract and capture flying adult thrips. Hang above crop height for monitoring and light population reduction.

• Organics

  • Biogrow Neudosan
    A natural fatty acid contact spray. Controls soft-bodied insects like thrips, mites, and whitefly without harming beneficials. Repeat as needed during pest pressure.