Thrips parvispinus: Know Thy Enemy‘s Behaviour

This post written by Jessie deHaan (M.Sc.), Research Technician in the Biocontrol Lab at the Vineland Research and Innovation Centre.

Recent collaborative research from Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Agri-Business (OMAFA), Agriculture & Agri Food Canada (AAFC), and Vineland Research and Innovation Centre (Vineland) has helped reveal some key components of Thrips parvispinus ecology and behaviour.

This has helped us to develop monitoring approaches for this pest in greenhouse floriculture, and is helping to point us towards optimized control strategies.

This research was covered in a recent webinar hosted by Flowers Canada Growers (linked to in the post below). But if you’d rather read than watch, this post summarizes our findings!

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Effective Mass Trapping For Summer Thrips, Part 3: Should You Add Lures?

*Kendra van der Wier positioning a mass trapping card with a thrips lure. Photo by OMAFA.*

This post was written by Kendra van der Wier, Greenhouse Floriculture Summer Research Student for OMAFA.

Parts 1&2, written by Dr. Sarah Jandricic, covered why to trap and when, as well as ways to improve mass trapping by choosing the right colour and placement.

This post covers my summer research project looking into the utility of thrips lures. What kinds of lures are there, and do they work on multiple thrips species? And are they worth the extra expense?

This post helps answer these questions for 2 common pest thrips species – western flower thrips and onion thrips.

Stay tuned for more work on lures for mass trapping Thrips parvispinus, another aspect of my research project.

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Dip, cool or steam? Clean Start treatments for Thrips parvispinus

Mandevilla cuttings in propagation with different treatment tags in them.

This post written by Ashley Summerfield (M.Sc.), Senior Research Technician in the Biocontrol Lab at the Vineland Research and Innovation Centre.

They say that “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of the cure” and nowhere is this truer than in IPM. Reducing the incoming number of invading pests will inevitably improve the success of any pest management strategy.

This post covers recent research advances made by Vineland Research on treatments of propagative plant material to help control Thrips parvisipinus. This includes effects of treatments on all thrips life stages, including eggs, as well as potential phytotoxicity of treatments on tropical plants.

This post also includes a link to the recent webinar on starting clean for Parvi recorded by Flowers Canada Growers, if you prefer that format!

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Effective Mass Trapping For Summer Thrips, Part 2: Colour, Placement and Duration

*Yellow or blue – that is the question. Photo by A. Summerfield.*

Part 1 last week covered WHY to trap and WHEN to it’s best to put up your cards. This post goes over trap colour and placement to optimize thrips catches while reducing effects on natural enemies.

Although I’ve talked about this in older posts, I’ve put this data in context of what we know now, in terms of the various thrips species that invade Niagara greenhouses. I’ll also be sharing some data on card duration.

If that isn’t exciting enough for you, next week’s Part 3 will discuss whether or not using lures is worth it to increase thrips catches.

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Mass Trapping For Summer Thrips, Part 1: Why Trap and When to Start (Answer: This Week!)

Sometimes your thrips biocontrol program is working great. Other times, it seems to get completely overwhelmed. Thrips can get out of control in Summer, when fall crop production is ramping up. This is where mass trapping can really help.

This post will cover where thrips come from, which species we find on cards, and when the best time is to add mass trapping to your thrips IPM program.

And stay tuned for Part 2, which will cover ways to optimize your mass trapping!

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Growing Roses? Export Rules to the U.S. Have Changed.

In the efforts to prevent a quarantinable strain of Ralstonia from entering the United States, USDA-APHIS has changed importation rules for rose material for planting. This includes rose material coming from Canada.

Under the new federal order, roses (Rosa spp.) grown in Canada must now have been grown entirely within Canada or the U.S.. This includes root stock and graft material.

This is to reduce a potential pathway for Ralstonia solanacearum Race 3 biovar 2 (Rs R3bv2) into the U.S., which can devastate solanaceous crops such as potato and tomato, as well as geraniums.

Read on for more details about RS R3bv2 and the new export regulations.

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Controlling Parvispinus, Oleander Aphid and Spider Mites in Mandevilla: Part 2 – Spider Mite Resistance Management.

Last week, I posted an updated IPM plan for Mandevilla that balances Thrips parvispinus (“Parvi”) control while taking into consideration other pests, as well as costs. The last post covered propagation in detail, including biocontrols and chemicals.

This week I’ll be going over the best way to balance control of Thrips parvispinus (“Parvi”) and two-spotted spider mite (TSSM) in production. I’ll provide a working Parvi spray program that gives you high-quality plants by sale, but also makes sure spider mites don’t walk away with your crop (or your wallet!).

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How To Manage Parvispinus, Oleander Aphid and Spider Mites Effectively in Mandevilla: Part 1 – Propagation.

When Thrips parvispinus first came on the scene in Ontario, our one goal was to knock back this pest any way we could. Four years later, we are suffering the effects of an all-chemical program. This includes high costs, along with insecticide resistance developing in two-spotted spider mite, which used to be managed biologically before Parvipsinus came along.

Based on OMAFA’s work with commercial farms, along with input from technical reps from biocontrol companies, we’ve come up with a more refined IPM program for Mandevilla that balances Parvispinus control while taking into consideration other pests, as well as costs.

I’ll be going over this program in detail over a 3 part series, so buckle up!

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In Case You Missed It: Two-Spot Cotton Leafhopper – a New Pest of Hibiscus.

*Fig. 1.* *Two-spot cotton leafhopper. Photo by A. Revynthi, University of Florida.*

Just when we think we have Thrips parvispinus under control, a new pest is threatening tropical ornamentals. The two-spot cotton leafhopper (Amrasca biguttula) is mainly a pest of – you guessed it, COTTON – but also attacks hibiscus. Growers in Ontario should be aware of this pest if importing hibiscus cuttings from the Southern U.S., where this pest has currently invaded.

There’s been lots of good information shared on this pest recently. Read on for a summary relevant to ornamental growers, including what to look for, effective pesticides and what actions you should take NOW.

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Common Issues and Practical Solutions: Disease Prevention & Crop Uniformity

Welcome to this blog series, where we will discuss common production issues and practical solutions you can consider implementing in your own greenhouse.

In this post, we’ll focus on preventing disease and increasing crop uniformity. We’ll discuss two key practices that can help both issues: selecting the right growing media and maintaining greenhouse sanitation. Small changes in these areas can reduce the risk of disease and shrink, while promoting more consistent growth across your crop and prevent things like plant stunting.

Throughout this post I’ll use Kalanchoe production as an example. Even if you are not a Kalanchoe grower, there will relevant information that you can apply to your own crops. Read on for more details.

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