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What are these little things? they're exclusively eating the green layer off my mint leaves. Manchester UK
(lemmy.world)
They like to hide under the leaves but I usually catch a few on the top. Have been turning my mint into patchy grey leaves that eventually wither and fall off.
Grower here: Definitely thrips.
They're very easy to deal with when their numbers are still low, but get considerably more difficult as they continue to breed, and they breed rapidly in the right conditions.
I can offer advice on how to deal with them, but since my experience is with commercial crops, it'll depend on how much work you're willing to put into it or how much you're willing to spend.
EDIT:
Blue sticky traps work very well at trapping them when they've reached the winged stages of their development. This will help slow down the breeding cycle, and also give you an idea of how bad the infestation is.
There are many commercially available predatory insects you can purchase, in varying price ranges, that will help keep their numbers in check.
Spraying with a product that contains the bacterial biological control agent Spinosad can be an effective knock down and it's also been shown to have very low toxicity to the thrips' natural predators.
Brilliant, thank you! Ive used some diluted neem oil in a spray bottle that seems to have helped a bit, but since theyre indoors I wont be able to enlist predatory insects ๐ซ Though at least they appear to be something I can monitor. Thanks,!
Neem works incredibly well too, but if you're spraying that on edible things, you'll have to make sure it's washed very, very thoroughly. It's safe to consume, but it definitely leaves behind a taste.
Brilliant!