I know I only have regular thrips (frankinwhatever) but I had them BAAAAD and maybe some of you will find this worth a try. I tried spraying with something nasty once 4 years ago- (it worked, temporarily) but decided quickly it wasn't worth the health of myself and the planet to spray my garden routinely for thrips and so last year I switched to organic soaps only and added nematodes to the soil. It helped to a degree. But I started this year with a pretty bad infestation (leaves more yellow from stippling, than green- all flowers scarred or just unable to open) and after watching my purchased lady bugs fly off, again, I decided I needed to quit killing aphids with the soap so the ladybugs would stay and lay some eggs, so then the lady bug nymps (alligators! who can't fly!) would be there eventually and eat the thrips. ... and doing nothing worked great. I also had a bunch of minute pirate bugs and lacewings adopt my garden (yay! first time ever) and the thrips now have predators to eat them and seem to be gone. No more nose full of bugs when I sniff. I look to make sure there isn't pirate in there ready to bite me now tho! But No more ruined blooms. I did a google search on "aphids and thrips" and found that some people agree- you need aphids to get rid of thrips. The aphids do so little damage, and they've been eaten up anyway now too. So- I know I didn't have chili thrips, but I found that even the soap left me worse off than before for the regular thrips since it was removing all predators of thrips. I don't have any other problem bugs in the garden I can't squish (no JB, no sawflies etc.) so I understand my solution isn't for everyone- just tossing this out for those who may only have a severe flower thrip problem.

Oh, thanks so much, Do you know anything to put in this particular garden that would help. There was scale last year and now something is eating the leaves of the datura. The fungus has now appeared on these snapdragons. Everything seems to go wrong in this garden. Is there some ammendment I could add to help. Thanks ever so much. Happy Easter !!

Yes chilli thrips may be a real problem on many levels. It will be interesting to see how it plays out the next few years. BTW, I am not convinced that imidacloprid does not transfer to flowers and is not toxic to bees and butterflies, etc.. "As a systemic pesticide, imidacloprid translocates or moves readily in the xylem of plants from the soil into the leaves, fruit, flowers, pollen, nectar, and guttation fluid of plants. Bees may be exposed to imidacloprid when they feed on the nectar, pollen, and guttation fluid of imidacloprid-treated plants. "Experts believe there are many possible causes of bee decline, including imidacloprid, and a recent bee malady termed colony collapse disorder (CCD). In 2011." Years ago I applied imidacloprid to daylilies that were covered with aphids. Weeks later I read about using daylily buds in salads. Wondering what they tasted like I popped one in my mouth. Yuk -- strong insecticide taste!!! I spit it out quick, but my tongue held the horrible taste for some time. At that point I decided not to use systemics anymore ... LOL. Later I stopped spraying insecticides on plants. After a couple of years of going chemical free I was really surprised how little insect damage the plants experienced by letting nature balance itself with good bugs taking care of bad bugs, hand picking, beneficial nematoes, and other non toxic remedies. Unfortunately, that may not happen for awhile with chilli thrips. So in the meantime we just do the best we can. Here is a link that might be useful: About imidacloprid ...

Ive been fighting thrips on my blueberry bushes for 3 years now in South Houston. They reck shop on new growth late in the fall season and thats the growth that produces your flower buds for spring fruit. Ive been using spinosad for 3 years and try not to spray untill after harvest. They seem to peek in Aug and Sept in my area. Ive done alittle research on them and kaolin clay (surround) is suppost to be pretty effective on thrips plus it helps plants deal with heat which is a bonus in my area. I ordered some surround this spring and will start using it after harvest this year. Hopefully I wont have to spray spinosad anymore. I did notice after spraying spinosad it would knock them back for a couple weeks then seemed like they came back even stronger. It does kill beneficials as well. Dont believe every thing you read on those labels. The lady bugs and lace wings were no where to be found after spraying for months! Dont use it unless you have too. I believe it does more harm than good. A healthy population of lace wings and lady bugs I think can possibably keep there numbers in check but Im afraid they are here to stay. The only plants I dont see alot of damage on here from thrips are rabbiteye blueberries, okra and tomatoes. They do hit the rabbiteyes but not very much at all. Bellpepper, black berry, strawberry, Southern High Bush Blueberry all get attacked in a bad way.