Thanks, Ann, for pointing out the difference. The traps work for regular Western Flower Thrips (big yellow with black bands), but I don't know about Chili-thrips. Here's a link to large-scale traps to catch trips. After reading it, I think the best one is the big yellow plywood board, painted with sticky petroleum jelly... some fruity scent mixed in would be great. Thrips go nuts after my Honey Bouquet rose (yellow, with floral honey). See the link below: "Yellow sticky boards. To use, place 1 to 4 yellow sticky cards per 300 square metres field area....To make your own sticky trap, spread petroleum jelly or used motor oil on yellow painted plywood, 6 cm x 15 cm in size or 30 cm x 30 cm." Here is a link that might be useful: InfoNet Biovision on traps for insects

This is my second year of battling thrips -- and all i have is a little multiwindowbox flower garden on my tiny fire escape, as well as lots of pots on my windowsill. Anyway, last year they got totally out of control, esp indoors where there were no predators, but outdoors too. I have always tried to be organic -- for my health and the earth's. But I hate thrips so much, I am THIS CLOSE to just beating them back with some big guns like major chemicals this year. What stops me is I read horrible things about the health risks (to people) that I just can't bear to pull the trigger. So I am going to try beneficial insects. In the past when I've looked into getting beneficials, they seems really expensive, esp since shipping always has to be overnight. And getting bunches of diff kinds adds up fast. But I found a source that offers them in little multipacks, so you can get a bunch of diff kinds for a reasonable price, and then just suck up the shipping. So I just ordered the Small Garden Pack from http://hydro-gardens.com/biological_assortments.htm I don't know how my tiny (literally 7 sq ft garden is going to react to having 1000 ladybugs in it (along with a praying mantis, 5000 thrips predators and a million nematodes -- let alone how the people walking on the sidewalk below will react if any of these little guys accidentally fall on their heads...) but I figure there are plenty of pests in NYC. So if the ladybugs don't have enough to eat at my house, they can just fly across the street and visit someone else's fire escape windowboxes. Here is a link that might be useful: Beneficial Insects Multipacks

Chili thrips has been the diagnosis for roses here in Hawaii. If buying roses from the big box stores, which are usually supplied by local nurseries who get bare roots from the mainland, one must make sure to isolate their purchased rose and get rid of whatever problems it has (usually chili thrips and spider mites) before introducing to one's garden. Unfortunately our choices on the islands is limited if on a budget. Monterey has a smaller concentration of spinosad and is more readily available and affordable than the more expensive Conserve. I had mixed results with Monterey because I was following a regime of what i now consider chemical overload (imidacloprid, insecticidal soap, fungicide). Eventually split cost of the Conserve but have only resorted to using it once. I am half convinced though that using it plus the severe hot, humid sun and sporadic rain had caused damage to my generally healthy leaves. These past several months, since Feb or March actually, I've resisted spraying insecticide or fungicide at the first sign of trouble to let them get back to their natural state of defense. For me a steady schedule of chemical warfare doesn't make sense anymore so am glad I am off that cycle. If I get severely infested with chili thrips, I'll cut off the infected sections and use the lower concentration Monterey first. I prefer a foliar spray application because the damage is generally on the new growth and buds.

This winter I sprayed twice with horticultural oil and then waited to see any small sign of them. Then I trimmed off the damage and sprayed with spinosad. So far so good. I no longer have roses that are bigger than I can spray. I have heard that if you use systemics as the growers do, then spray spinosad as well so the thrips dont get immune to the systemic. The critters reproduce every 13 days and insert the eggs into the plant tissue. You CANT wash them off and a huge population develops quickly. They also overwinter in warm areas and that's why I used dormant spray oil. Supposedly, there is a way to interrupt the lifecycle in winter but I am still trying to find out what that is. Chilli Thrips are the worst :(