Onion thrips can cause serious damage to your vegetable garden, especially if you’re growing garlic, leeks, cabbage, cauliflower, or onions. These insects may also spread diseases, such as tomato-spotted wilt and iris yellow spot viruses, to your plants. When onion thrips feed on your onions, affected areas of the plant will appear white or silver and will eventually turn yellow and become dried out. With bad infestations, the leaves of your onion plant will turn brown and die. Luckily, a staple ingredient that you likely already have in your pantry can deter and kill these insects. Cinnamon works well for controlling onion thrip populations and protecting your plants.
These pests can be as small as 1⁄16 of an inch and may be variations of yellow, black, or brown. While adult onion thrips have wings, the younger insects do not. Make sure to inspect the leaves of your plants to see if thrips are the cause of your problems.
Using cinnamon to exterminate onion thrips
When onion thrips consume cinnamon, they will die, making this common spice a great natural pest control against these insects. Ground cinnamon and essential oil are both effective and can be easily applied to your onion plants. If you’d like to use the spice directly from your cabinet, lightly dust the cinnamon over your plants being harmed by onion thrips. Cinnamon is safe to lightly cover the leaves of your plant as well as the soil, and is actually beneficial for plants. Because this spice is anti-fungal and antibacterial, using it in your garden will keep mold from growing and help heal your plant’s wounds.
Another way to apply the cinnamon in your garden is by combining 2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon with 4 cups of warm water, letting it sit overnight, straining out the powder the next day. The water can then be sprayed over your plants. A few drops of cinnamon essential oil can also be added to a spray bottle filled with water and misted over your garden.
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Why cinnamon is effective against thrips
Not only does cinnamon kill onion thrips when the bugs ingest it, but the scent of cinnamon also deters these pesky insects. This makes it a very effective control method, as the spice will exterminate the thrips already living on the plant and discourage more from coming to eat your onions. Since cinnamon is beneficial to plants, you won’t have to worry about your herbicide harming your garden.
Peach and potato aphids, slugs, ants, and mosquitoes are also repelled by cinnamon. Besides insects, cinnamon can deter small rodents, such as squirrels, rabbits, mice, rats, weasels, and moles. This ingredient can be extremely helpful in your garden, even if thrips aren’t currently destroying your onions. The chemical compound cinnamaldehyde occurs naturally in the spice, and is why it functions as an anti-fungal and antibacterial. By using cinnamon in your garden, you can deter and kill onion thrips and keep your plants healthy.
