Thrips, these insects that cause white spots on the leaves of my vegetables

When the gardener sees white or silvery gray spots on his vegetables, he despairs. If it does nothing, then little by little zucchini and other vegetables dry out. The cause of this scourge is sometimes due to tiny insects, thrips. Almost invisible, not exceeding two millimeters, they suck sap from the leaves causing delays in the growth of your plants.

How to spot thrips

When the leaves are spotted with white and deformed, then an invasion of thrips must be considered (not to be confused with the white spots caused by ). The female has a short life (two months) but fertile. She can lay more than 300 eggs. As adults, thrips head towards the least hydrated vegetables. Cabbage, zucchini, tomatoes, onions, leeks, but also fruit trees such as cherry or fig trees are their preferred targets.
If the damaged parts of the leaves are covered with small black balls, which are the excrement of insects, then the problem is clearly identified. They act during the night, preferably on young leaves and buds full of sap, and hide during the day.

First reflexes

When the weather is hot, thrips can multiply quickly in your garden. Be careful, chemical fertilizers that are too rich in nitrogen contribute to the exponential development of these undesirables. Also, you have to act quickly. The first thing to do is to remove the damaged leaves and burn them. The same goes for necrotic fruits. Avoid putting them in compost. If the plant is in a pot, then moving it away avoids over-contamination. These little creatures hate water, so a good shower will help eliminate many of them.

Basic treatments

To permanently eliminate thrips, it is often necessary to treat the vegetables in your garden, preferably with ecological solutions. A biodegradable product, black soap is the enemy of aphids, mealybugs and other thrips. Diluted in water (at the rate of five tablespoons of soap for one liter of water) and sprayed on the plants, it rids the plants in your garden of pests. It is necessary to spread the precious liquid on the underside of the leaves. A monthly treatment with this organic insecticide is more than enough to restore vigor to the vegetables in your vegetable garden. Another tip is to spread diatomaceous earth on diseased leaves.