The following was received via email: We have gladiolas in our garden and they didn't bloom properly this summer. We have been told that we have thrip, can we save the bulbs? If so, how do we treat them?
Thrips have rasping mouthparts which damage both the leaves and flowers as they suck the juice.. The damage is an elongated stippled effect which is very unsightly. The insects are small and slender. If thrips are your problem, early action in fall is recommended. Cut off all the top part of the plant to keep the thrips from moving down into the corms. Bag and discard all the debris... do not compost! The corms can then be soaked for several hours in a solution to destroy any insects. Rinse and allow to dry thoroghly before storing. Rodale's Orgainic Gardener's Handbook of natural insect and disease control suggests using a solution of Lysol ( 1 1/2 tablespoons to a gallon of water.) prior to planting. In the growing seaon, ladybugs and their larvae are voracious predators of thrips as well as aphids. They are good 'beneficials', well worth encouraging! Hope your glads do well next season!
A further suggestion is to read an earlier reply on thrips from Douglas Justice, Curator of Collections here. You can find his reply by u[sing the search button , second from the right at the top of the page and putting in 'thrips' in the search field!
