Common Culture Blue Sticky Glue Traps for Thrips Detection
Each pack holds ten blue glue boards measuring 10cm x 25cm, coated with a high-tack adhesive under a peel-off liner. Blue is the colour western flower thrips hunt for, and these boards are tuned to that response. Aphids, whiteflies, fungus gnats, fruit flies and leaf miner flies land on them too. Common Culture describes the boards as UV light stable and clean to the touch, with a non-toxic adhesive. The maker also rates them as unaffected by sprinkler systems and suitable for warm greenhouses. That matters in a room running overhead irrigation or riding out summer heat peaks. For weekly monitoring, the published rate is one board per 200 m², with the catch recorded board by board. Mass trapping takes it to one board per 20 m², adding extra boards in hot spots. Hang them vertically, with the bottom edge about 10 cm above the crop, and lift them as the canopy climbs. Replace each board after 6 to 8 weeks, or earlier once the surface is crowded.
Placing Blue Sticky Traps for Thrips Where They Actually Fly
Thrips are weak fliers that move low and short. Boards at or just under the tops of the canopy catch far more of them than boards hung high in the room. Start along the perimeter, near doors and intake vents, where new adults drift in from outside. Rutgers extension works from a single card per thousand square feet for routine scouting, read at least once a week. It also notes there is no universal action threshold, and programs built on predatory mites act on far lower counts than spray programs. Under mist propagation the catch drops, because wet wings keep thrips from flying, so a quiet board there means less than it seems. Keep blue boards out of rooms using bumblebee pollination, since bees head for this colour too. Pull them for a day or two after releasing winged parasitoids as well. A hand lens at ten to fifteen power separates thrips from the gnats and shore flies stuck beside them. Logging the weekly count per board shows whether a spray or a predator release actually moved the numbers.
Key Features
- Ten blue boards per pack: Enough to run a perimeter line of monitoring stations with spares left for the mid-cycle change.
- Thrips-tuned blue: Western flower thrips home in on this shade, so the first adults in a room tend to show up here.
- High-tack adhesive under a peel-off liner: The glue stays clean in storage and goes live only when the liner comes off.
- UV-stable and sprinkler-proof: The maker rates the board to hold up under greenhouse light and overhead irrigation.
- Non-toxic, clean-touch board: Common Culture lists the adhesive as non-toxic, so boards can hang over a crop for the whole cycle.
- Monitoring or mass trapping: The same board works as a sparse early-warning grid or a dense trap line around a hot spot.
Technical Specifications
| Specification | Value |
|---|---|
| Brand | Common Culture |
| Product type | Blue sticky glue board |
| Board size | 10 cm x 25 cm (about 3.9 x 9.8 in) |
| Pack count | 10 boards |
| Adhesive | High-tack glue under a peel-off liner |
| Primary target | Thrips, including western flower thrips |
| Also catches | Aphids, whiteflies, fungus gnats, fruit flies, leaf miner flies |
| UV stability | UV light stable (maker rating) |
| Water exposure | Unaffected by sprinkler systems (maker rating) |
| Toxicity | Non-toxic (maker rating) |
| Monitoring rate | 1 board per 200 m² (about 2,150 sq ft), checked weekly |
| Mass trapping rate | 1 board per 20 m² (about 215 sq ft), plus extra boards in hot spots |
| Hanging height | Base about 10 cm (4 in) above the crop, raised as it grows |
| Replacement | Every 6 to 8 weeks, or sooner when covered |