How to Get Rid of Thrips

Last updated: November 2026

To get rid of thrips, combine three things for at least three weeks: blue or yellow sticky cards to catch adults, sprays or predatory mites for the larvae on leaves, and a soil treatment for the pupae that drop to the ground.^1,3 Treating only the leaves rarely works, because a large part of every thrips generation spends several days hidden in the soil.^2,4

This plan covers houseplants, greenhouses and outdoor crops.

How to recognize thrips

Thrips are slender insects only 1 to 2 mm long, pale yellow to dark brown, with fringed wings.^1,2 You often notice the damage before the insects:

• Silvery or bronze patches on leaves, sprinkled with tiny black dots of excrement.^1,2
• Distorted, streaked or browned flower petals and buds that fail to open.^1,2
• Scarred or deformed fruit on peppers, cucumbers and strawberries.¹

Tap a flower or leaf over a sheet of white paper: thrips show up as tiny moving dashes.^1,2 For species details, see our pages on thrips and western flower thrips, the most common greenhouse species.

Why thrips are hard to control

Females insert eggs inside leaf and petal tissue, out of reach of sprays.² Larvae feed in tight spaces such as flower buds and leaf folds.² Most species then drop to the soil or growing medium to pupate before emerging as adults.^1,4 In warm conditions the whole cycle takes only about two to three weeks, so a single spray leaves eggs and pupae untouched and the population returns within days.^1,2 Thrips can also transmit plant viruses, which is why greenhouse growers act at the first sign.^2,4

Step-by-step plan

1. Isolate and inspect. Move infested houseplants away from others, and check new plants for two weeks before mixing them with your collection.²
2. Remove damaged flowers and buds, where many larvae hide, and bag them.^1,2
3. Hang sticky cards just above the plant canopy to trap adults and track numbers week by week.²
4. Treat the foliage. Spray insecticidal soap, horticultural oil or neem oil, covering leaf undersides and flowers.¹ Repeat every 5 to 7 days for three rounds to catch larvae as they hatch. Spinosad is a common option for heavier pressure; rotate it with products from a different group to slow resistance.^1,2,6
5. Treat the soil stage. Beneficial nematodes (Steinernema feltiae) or soil-dwelling predatory mites target pupae in the growing medium.³ A layer of sand on top of pots also makes pupation harder.
6. Release predators in greenhouses and grow rooms (see below).³
7. Keep checking the cards for two to three weeks after the last thrips appears.

Blue or yellow sticky cards?

Use roughly one card per few square meters in a greenhouse, and one per plant group indoors. Cards reduce adult numbers but do not reach eggs or larvae, so they work as part of the plan, not alone.²

Biological control in greenhouses

Predatory mites are the backbone of thrips control in commercial greenhouses.^2,3 Neoseiulus cucumeris and Amblyseius swirskii feed on young thrips larvae on leaves; swirskii prefers warmer conditions.³ In the growing medium, Stratiolaelaps scimitus (formerly Hypoaspis) and rove beetles target pupae.³ Minute pirate bugs (Orius) feed on adults and larvae in flowers.³ Release predators early, at low thrips numbers, and avoid broad-spectrum sprays that would harm them.^1,3 Our predatory mites guide explains release rates and conditions.

Thrips on outdoor crops

Outdoors, thrips build up in hot, dry weather and on crops such as onions, beans, peppers and roses.^1,4,5 Overhead irrigation or a water spray lowers numbers, and weedy margins can act as a reservoir, so keep field edges mowed and remove crop residue promptly after harvest, since it can shelter pupae and adults.^4,5 Rows next to grain fields often see migrations at harvest.^4,5 Follow the scouting routine in our integrated pest management basics.