Cyclamen has thrips!
My #Cyclamen has thrips, and while I’ve been able to manage thrips in the past I’m wondering if I can force the plant into early dormancy by cutting back the foliage. I don’t want to disrupt its cycle but I also don’t want to battle thrips just to have all the leaves die off in a month anyways.
1ft to light, direct
4” pot without drainage
Last watered 3 weeks ago
4
Best Answer
Yes, if you cut it back you basically take away the thrips food source and locations for laying their eggs (they prefer the newest growth). Preventing a potential thrips outbreak is definitely the lesser of two evils here. Are you seeing thrips poop, the larvae, leaf damage...? Just wondering what made you realize you were dealing with thrips again, since that can determine how long they've been around and the likelihood that other plants are also infested.
@magicthyme87 yes, that's definitely thrips poop. If the things you saw moving around on the leaves looked like tiny white sesame seeds, those aren't adults, they're one of thrips two larval stages. Adults are very thin winged creatures that kinda look like eyelashes (only time I've ever seen an adult thrip was on a sticky trap lol). Since you already have a fair amount of poop on those leaves, the thrips have probably been around for a while 😕 Scorched earth is always the most effective strategy, which in this case would be totally cutting back the plant to the soil. If you don't want to go that route, you'll have to start the month-long treatment plan for eradicating them. Either way, I'd definitely isolate it and do a thorough inspection of any other plants.
How long since you last dealt with thrips? What treatment did you use, and for how long? It's possible you didn't completely get rid of them the last time and this isn't an entirely new infestation.
How long since you last dealt with thrips? What treatment did you use, and for how long? It's possible you didn't completely get rid of them the last time and this isn't an entirely new infestation.
@stephonicle last time I dealt with thrips I didn’t see any adults, just the white larvae. This time they were larger and black and moving much faster than the larvae I had previously seen. My treatment was with insecticidal soap sprayed weekly on infected plants and increasing humidity. That was about 4 months ago in a different room. I cut back this plant and set it into early dormancy for the summer away from other plants. Unfortunately I have spotted another one on my variegated string of hearts which I am not so willing to cut back. What do you recommend for this?? Thank you so much for your help and advice!
