| How can I treat glads that are infested with thrips? I'm losing glads right and left and I don't want this to happen again! Is there an organic way to do this? Thanks a lot! |
| There's no organic solution to a current thrips population but you can eliminate them by digging the corms in the fall and soaking them with a Lysol solution prior to storing them. To fight gladiolus thrips, just before planting gladiolus corms, soak them in a solution of 1;1/4 tablespoons Lysol in a gallon of water. Storing corms at 40F to 45F also effectively eliminates remaining thrips. Generally, trouble with gladiolus thrips is much less serious when bulbs are planted early rather than late. Don't leave corms in the ground from one year to the next, particularly in an area where neighbors grow gladiolus. Dig them early in the fall, before they're mature, and cut off the tops, which harbor most of the pests. |
