Check the potted plants in the cage. If they are growing old and brown, or if they are developing fungal growth, they need to be sheared. As a general rule of thumb, the plants should stay in the cages for about two weeks before being sheared.
Be sure to perform this procedure after all other greenhouse tasks are completed to avoid spreading thrips to other houses.
Around 10-20 minutes; exact time depends on state of plants inside cage
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| Before opening the cage, thump lightly on the cage door. This will dislodge any thrips hanging on the outside of the door and decrease the chance of thrips flying out into the greenhouse. | |
| Check the cut plant material lying in the white trays. If it is brown and dry, it is ready to be removed from the cage. | |
| Shake the plant material over the flowers in pots (so that any thrips remaining on the plant material will be shaken off) and place it in a Ziploc bag labeled with the date. | |
| Once a week, pick up the white trays and shake them upside-down over the flowers. This ensures that immature thrips crawling on the bottom of the trays will be able to get onto the potted plants. | |
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Check the potted plants in the cage. If they are growing old and brown, or if they are developing fungal growth, they need to be sheared. As a general rule of thumb, the plants should stay in the cages for about two weeks before being sheared. |
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| Shear the old plants off at soil level and place the plant material in the white trays. Also place the pots in the trays. | |
| Put new plants in the cages to replace the ones you cut off (e.g., if you sheared two plants, put two new ones in). The majority of plants placed in the cages should be in flower, because the thrips feed on the pollen. Once a week, add a budding plant which is just starting to show color; the immature thrips like to crawl around in the buds. | |
| Flag all new plants. Remove flags from any plants which have been in the cage long enough to accumulate a significant number of thrips. When populations are low, this may be as long as a week; if populations are higher, flags can be removed after two or three days. | |
| Remove any sheared pots that have been sitting in the trays for over a week. Empty the soil into one of the soil-only disposal bins, and return the pots to the crosshouse to be washed. | |
| The white trays need to be replaced monthly (or sooner if they start developing fungal growth). New trays can be found in the pot storage room in the PSL crosshouse. When replacing trays, set the new tray in the cage and then transfer any plant material from the old tray to the new one. Shake the old tray over the flowers to knock off any remaining thrips. Old trays should be returned to the crosshouse to be washed. | |
| When finished with thrips care, be sure to close the cage carefully to minimize the number of escaping thrips. Velcro must be evenly attached to ensure a tight fit. | |
| Place the Ziploc bag in the freezer in the lab. Bags need to stay in the freezer for at least a week to ensure that all thrips are dead; then they can be thrown away. | |