Thrips are small sap-feeding insects that damage plants by puncturing leaf and flower tissue. Feeding causes silvering, scarring and distorted growth, particularly on young leaves and flowers. Thrips can also transmit plant viruses, making early detection and control important in protected crops.

• Use blue or yellow sticky traps positioned slightly above the crop canopy to monitor adult activity
• Regularly inspect flowers and young leaves, where thrips tend to feed and hide
• Look for silvery feeding damage, distorted growth and small black specks of frass
• Increase monitoring during warm conditions, when thrips populations develop quickly
  

Early monitoring helps detect thrips before populations build to damaging levels.

Thrips can be managed using a combination of predatory mites, predatory bugs and soil-dwelling biological controls that target different stages of the lifecycle. Introducing beneficials early and maintaining regular monitoring helps keep populations below damaging levels.