thrips on Echinocereus
Quick answer
If your Echinocereus has thrips, the most likely cause is: Thrips feed on the tender growing tips, ribs and flower buds of Echinocereus, leaving a bronze or silver cast of scar tissue on the cactus skin; their damage on succulents is very similar to that of spider mites, scarring the epidermis so badly the plant will survive but takes years to outgrow the marks.
Start here:
- 1. Inspect the growing point and any open flowers of the Echinocereus with a magnifier; thrips are fast-moving tan insects about the size and shape of a grain of rice and the easiest control is catching them early.
- 2. Spray the cactus and the surrounding area with a recommended contact insecticide, repeating applications because new thrips keep drifting in from neighbouring plants through the growing season.
Why Echinocereus gets thrips
Echinocereus
Thrips feed on the tender growing tips, ribs and flower buds of Echinocereus, leaving a bronze or silver cast of scar tissue on the cactus skin; their damage on succulents is very similar to that of spider mites, scarring the epidermis so badly the plant will survive but takes years to outgrow the marks.
How to reverse thrips on Echinocereus
- 1
Inspect the growing point and any open flowers of the Echinocereus with a magnifier; thrips are fast-moving tan insects about the size and shape of a grain of rice and the easiest control is catching them early.
- 2
Spray the cactus and the surrounding area with a recommended contact insecticide, repeating applications because new thrips keep drifting in from neighbouring plants through the growing season.
- 3
Remove badly scarred flower buds before they fall and open, since open flowers act as a reservoir from which thrips spread to neighbouring cacti.
Keep thrips off this Echinocereus
Watch plants upwind and downwind of any thrips infestation and remove weeds or spent flowers nearby, because thrips migrate locally on the breeze and reappear as long as a reservoir of host plants remains close to the Echinocereus.