Do any of you have a strategy yet? I saw these on roses at a shopping center near my house. Driving around, I saw damage on roses and on the new growth of pomegranates. Other hosts include citrus, peaches, Japanese plums, maples, figs, grapes, tomatoes, peppers, strawberries and many others. I was thinking of cutting my pomegranate low this winter so I could remove any thrip populations before they get out of control and spread around. Maybe they just come in anyway from someone else's yard. My plums are large and I don't think I could spray them. The potted maples could be protected with a systemic because bees don't go to them.

Yes, it does make sense. Still, if you are concerned about expense you can take inexpensive preventative measures. Do you have a good sprayer? I purchased a good one that fits on my back and I was able to find a long extension to put at the end of it from a citrus supplier. I can get to and under almost anything with it. If you spray the roses and the plants nearby with horticultural oil right after they start really putting out new growth (after pruning) you will kill virtually all the thrips that are there. If you repeat about two weeks after with some spinosad that should pretty much do it. Shouldn't be too expensive. On my property the only plants they really attacked were the roses. Thrips are bad right after the first spurt of growth. If you get them then they probably won't be much of a problem afterwards. The thrips didn't seem to bother the OGRs much, just the hybrid teas. What I did is include the insecticide with spinosad in it with the other chemicals that one uses to spray roses for the first two or three times I sprayed and then after that it was enough--still needed to spray the HTs to control black spot, which is really bad here in humid Florida.

How is your weather? If it is starting to cool off and a little more rainy, that might be the end of the season for thrips for you. I made the mistake the first year before I knew about anything about the little suckers and cut all of my roses. That encouraged new growth and well, it was an all they can eat buffet. 2 roses died. The next year as I started trying to figure this problem out, I was better about spraying but still by August thrips were around. Not a horrible infestation but still some damage. Nothing died. This year I used a systemic on the Arboricola hedge and all the roses. The hedge is the first place I noticed the damage that then spreads to the roses. I had one small area with some damage but it stayed confined to that area. This year I only had to deal with the normal rose fungus type aggravation. I think systemics might be a better way to go in general if only to prevent an occurrence. Also, I found another thread for keeping healthy roses that discussed the use of calcium with the though being healthier roses will be better at fending off infestations of bugs or disease. I am trying that too. Funny, I have neglected all of my roses since the hurricane and they are doing great! Our weather has changed to slightly cooler and less humid. I hope you and your roses catch a break soon.

My response to Chili Thrips is to take no action. (That is my response to all diseases and pests that inhabit my garden) I love my roses and it was devastating to watch my roses defoliate and grow twisted sickly leaves. Even my Belinda's Dreams were decimated. I have always said that if I have to spray to grow roses, then I will stop growing roses. Spraying is never a one time deal, pests are never eradicated, only kept under control, and before you know it you know have a "spray program". Now 2 months later, some of my roses show no damage at all, mainly the antiques. Belinda's Dream continues to show damage, but if I was not looking for it, I wouldn't see it. The most heavily damaged, were the roses in my "Buck Rose" collection. As of now, Polonaise and Aunt Honey are almost totally clean. Quietness, Carefree Beauty, Golden Unicorn, Prairie Breeze and Earth Song still have damage but are much improved. Some of my weaker Bucks, as well as some other of my marginally healthy roses, continue to have extreme Chili Thrip damage and may need to be removed. Chili thrips are here to stay, we can only talk about control, not eradication. The good thing about Chili thrips is that even though they are an import, there are native beneficial organisms that attack them.