Which Thrips are in Your Flower Crops (Part II): How to ID and Control Onion Thrips

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Thrips tabaci, or Onion thrips. Photo courtesy of Thrips-ID.com.

If you were at the Canadian Greenhouse Conference (or are regularly reading this blog!) you’d know we’ve recently identified Onion thrips as a pest of floriculture crops in Ontario (see this post).

Outside of Ontario?  Well, this still may apply to you, as a recent study in France also indicated that up to 47% of pest thrips in floriculture greenhouses were Onion thrips.  So, this issue could be wide-spread.

My last post covered the extent of the problem in Ontario’s industry.  This post will help you identify if YOU are dealing with Onion thrips (OT) along with Western flower thrips (WFT), and what to do about it.

 

Continue reading “Which Thrips are in Your Flower Crops (Part II): How to ID and Control Onion Thrips”

Which Thrips Are in Your Flower Crops: When Paradigms Shift (Part 1)

WFT on hibiscus_Caitlin McDonald_1Up until this point, most of Ontario floriculture growers (and me!) assumed the only pest thrips we were dealing with was Western flower thrips (besides Echinothrips in a few crops like gerbera and poinsettia).

But a survey conducted in major commercial operations in 2016-2017, AND recent outbreaks of serious damage have proved us wrong. (You know what they say about assuming!). Keep reading to find out the truth about thrips! Continue reading “Which Thrips Are in Your Flower Crops: When Paradigms Shift (Part 1)”

TSWV sysmptoms in mums

Sorry for the back-to-back posts, but I thought those of you growing chrysanthemums would be interested in this post from MSU on recognizing Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus symptoms in your crop.

To confirm the presence of TSWV, samples can be sent to Lab Services at the University of Guelph.

TSWV is vectored by thrips.  With temperatures between 25 and 28 C for the next 10 days, thrips reproduction will be rapid.  Control of thrips (and elimination of infected plant material) is necessary to reduce virus spread.

Thrips biological control can be achieved in floriculture greenhouses using the predatory mite Amblyseius swirskii and/or A. cucumeris in combination with the parasitic nematode S. felitiae and foliar applications of BotaniGard.  Registered chemicals for thrips in Ontario include:

  • Beleaf
  • BotaniGard
  • DDVP smoke
  • Dursban
  • Kontos
  • Malathion
  • Met 52
  • Pylon
  • Orthene
  • Success