How to Treat Thrips on Monstera?

There are many pests that affect the health of a monstera plant. One pest that causes major damage is thrips, which feed on the sap produced by plants and create unsightly brown spots on leaves. This blog post will tell you how to get rid of thrips and save your monstera!

How to Treat Thrips on Monstera?

There are a few different ways to treat thrips on monstera plants:

  1. The first step is always to spray the thrips off with water – this technique works best if you have access to a hose and nozzle that shoots out an extremely fine mist!

  2. To get rid of these nasty pests for good, you should use neem oil diluted in water (50:50 ratio). This chemical will suffocate the insects by clogging their breathing tubes, but be careful not to get it near any other plants, since neem oil also kills beneficial bugs such as ladybugs.

  3. Using neem oil alone can be helpful for some insect problems, but may not remove an infestation. For serious infestations that are undeterred by these methods, an insecticidal soap can have a stronger effect.

  4. Apply the insecticidal soap over the whole plant, making sure not to miss an inch. Continue to do this for 7-10 days, and you should no longer see any thrips on your monstera plant. Top tip – apply the insecticide in the evening time, otherwise the sun can burn a plant that’s been treated with insecticide.

What are Thrips?

Thrips are a type of flying insect that can be found in gardens. They feed on plants by sucking out the juices and then excrete them as waste. Thrips are very small and can be difficult to see with the naked eye, and it is important to treat for them before they cause any serious damage.

Thrips multiply quickly so an infestation will happen if left untreated. In addition, thrips are also known vectors of many pathogens that infect plants, such as tomato spotted wilt virus or avocado sunblotch viroid.

Once these pests have infiltrated your house plants, you will need significant amounts of neem oil and patience while waiting for the population to die off naturally. The thrips will eventually starve themselves if there is no food source around.

Thrips are not a serious concern unless they become present in large numbers, which is uncommon for indoor-grown plants. They do bite though, which is why you should always wear a pair of gloves and long sleeves when handling an infected monstera plant. The bite won’t hurt, but it can cause itchiness, so run the infected under warm water and wash with soap.

Thrips love dry air and away from humidity – so when watering simply spray all over both sides of the foliage. Adding some liquid soap to the water will help prevent fungal infestations.

Conclusion

As summer draws to a close, you might find that your monstera plants are falling victim to thrips. Those tiny pests can wreak havoc on your plant’s leaves and stems by sucking out their sap. This makes them brittle, brownish-yellow in color, and easy for the insects to lay eggs in.

The best defence against thrips is a good offense, so be sure to inspect any new plants for signs of infestation before bringing them indoors and don’t bring any live plant material into your home from outside. To sum up:

  • Inspect new plants for thrips and other pests before bringing them inside.
  • Remove any plant material from outside, or cover it with a tarp when transporting indoors to prevent the introduction of pest eggs into your home.
  • Water plants infested with thrips and fungus by spraying them all over, and then apply an organic soap to help discourage future fungal growth.
  • Use neem oil diluted in water to suffocate the thrips
  • Use a systemic insecticide to prevent the introduction of any new pests.

Thrips love moisture so make sure all potted plants have adequate drainage while those outdoors should always have plenty of sunshine or artificial light nearby.