western australia

Chilli thrips are devouring my strawberry

Strawberry plant affected by chilli thrip

@JudyEv (376365)

Rockingham, Australia

February 12, 2026 7:30pm CST

There is a pest called a ‘chilli thrip’ (Scirtothrips dorsalis). They are too small to be seen easily but create havoc in a number of plants, especially roses, strawberries, tomatoes and citrus fruits amongst others. They thrive in warm conditions and it’s virtually impossible to eradicate them completely. They suck the sap from young leaves and buds leaving them shrivelled and distorted. I’m sure that is why my strawberry plant is looking so sick. It has a large number of fruit but they’re all dried up and the leaves are shrivelled and look burnt. The plant has sent runners out but it’s pointless leaving it in the ground as it’s not going to get better. So this will be the last strawberry plant I grow. They are tackling the tomato plant too but it doesn’t seem as badly affected. I hope they leave the pumpkins along.

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15 responses

@DaddyEvil (171095)

• United States

13 Feb

We had some type of thrips on the last tomatoes we grew. Pretty washed the leaves and stems with dish soap and water, paying special attention to the underside of the leaves. That discourages them and kills most of them. It looks like it is too late for your strawberry plant but may not be for the tomatoes. (If you take away the strawberry and tomato plants, thrips will also attack the pumpkin leaves, stems and pumpkins. You can wash them off the pumpkin plants the same way.) I hope you can save some of your plants. Good luck!

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@DaddyEvil (171095)

• United States

14 Feb

@JudyEv You're very welcome. Yes, I'd let them have the strawberry plants and watch the pumpkins closely. If you see them moving to it, then use the warm, soapy water to clean them off the pumpkin (especially the underside of the leaves) and vines. Good luck!

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@JudyEv (376365)

• Rockingham, Australia

14 Feb

Thanks for the good wishes. They don't seem to be in the pumpkins yet. Maybe I'll leave the affected plants for them to chew on so they leave the pumpkins alone.

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@velvet53 (24417)

• Palisade, Colorado

13 Feb

That is so sad. I hope you can save everything else.

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@JudyEv (376365)

• Rockingham, Australia

13 Feb

They don't seem to be into my one rose bush but it's near the tomato plant so I'm not getting my hopes up.

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@velvet53 (24417)

• Palisade, Colorado

14 Feb

@JudyEv With luck they will stay away from your rose bush.

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@AmbiePam (116500)

• United States

13 Feb

I’m sorry! That’s disappointing!

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@JudyEv (376365)

• Rockingham, Australia

13 Feb

The plant has such a lot of fruit on it! It is disappointing for sure. Thanks.

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@LadyDuck (497271)

• Italy

13 Feb

What a shame! Spray regularly with water the new leaves. Add mulch around the plants. I used straw around the strawberries and kept well watered.

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@LadyDuck (497271)

• Italy

14 Feb

@JudyEv I also used straw, I thought that there was a reason to call them "straw-berries".

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@JudyEv (376365)

• Rockingham, Australia

14 Feb

@LadyDuck I hadn't made that connection!

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@JudyEv (376365)

• Rockingham, Australia

14 Feb

I've done that with straw. The straw helps keep the berries off the ground. Thanks for the tips.

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@LindaOHio (218016)

• United States

13 Feb

Oh no! I'm so sorry. Can you spray for the blighters?

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@JudyEv (376365)

• Rockingham, Australia

14 Feb

You can only mitigate the damage. You can't get rid of them altogether.

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@JudyEv (376365)

• Rockingham, Australia

15 Feb

@LindaOHio I'm guessing they've been introducted somehow.

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@LindaOHio (218016)

• United States

14 Feb

@JudyEv Are they indigenous or are they invasive pests?

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@Ineeddentures (25782)

•

13 Feb

Aye The strawberry plant is goosed. Burn it, lol

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@JudyEv (376365)

• Rockingham, Australia

13 Feb

Yes, it's going in the bin in a plastic bag. Nowhere to burn anything here.

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@BarBaraPrz (51564)

• St. Catharines, Ontario

13 Feb

Have you tried spraying the plants with soapy water? But, you know, they look sunburnt. You've had some really high temps lately, haven't you?

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@JudyEv (376365)

• Rockingham, Australia

14 Feb

I thought sunburn at first too but the fruit look very dry too although they've had plenty of water. We had about a week of cooler weather and they didn't seem to recover at all.

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@snowy22315 (205490)

• United States

13 Feb

Stupid chili thrips!

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@JudyEv (376365)

• Rockingham, Australia

14 Feb

Indeed. It's very disappointing. It limits what you can grow.

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@toniganzon (75636)

• Philippines

13 Feb

That's terrible. I use neem oil to my plants to prevent and kill pests like that.

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@JudyEv (376365)

• Rockingham, Australia

14 Feb

Every thing you read says these can't be totally eradicated.

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@pahak627 (5346)

• Philippines

13 Feb

That's so sad. Hope they will skip your pumpkins.

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@JudyEv (376365)

• Rockingham, Australia

14 Feb

I might leave the affected plants there so they can eat them and maybe not touch the pumpkins.

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@FourWalls (84558)

• United States

13 Feb

That’s so disappointing, and even worse because you can’t do anything about the insect.

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@JudyEv (376365)

• Rockingham, Australia

14 Feb

Part of their life cycle is in the ground and they also fly so it's seems they have all the cards at the moment.

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@wolfgirl569 (132185)

• Marion, Ohio

13 Feb

Try throwing some dish water on them. The soapy water can help with many pests. I remember my grandmother always did that on her rose bushes

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@JudyEv (376365)

• Rockingham, Australia

14 Feb

I'll try that. It just might help.

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@Fleura (34469)

• United Kingdom

13 Feb

I found information here. Maybe you can try some things to help your other plants.

https://pestsdiseases.com/chilli-thrips-management-symptoms-treatment-chemical-biological-and-organic-control/

pestsdiseases.com

https://pestsdiseases.com/chilli-thrips-management-symptoms-treatment-chemical-biological-and-organic-control/

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@JudyEv (376365)

• Rockingham, Australia

14 Feb

Thanks for the link. I'll try some of those.

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@DianneN (252315)

• United States

13 Feb

What a shame. I have a no chemical recipe that I use in my garden. It’s important to begin spraying immediately and continue throughout the growing season. My recipe is up north and I don’t remember it, otherwise I would send it to you.

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@DianneN (252315)

• United States

14 Feb

@JudyEv Research. No, it’s impossible to rid all insects, which remains a royal pain. And it seems to me that different ones appear from year to year. I met a farmer who told me how difficult was to grow organic tomatoes.

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@JudyEv (376365)

• Rockingham, Australia

14 Feb

I should research some more. There might be a recipe online. They do say you can't get rid of them completely.

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@Fleura (34469)

• United Kingdom

13 Feb

Oh the poor thing is having the life sucked out of it!

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@JudyEv (376365)

• Rockingham, Australia

14 Feb

It has such a lot of fruit but they're not going to get to maturity.

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