Blue and white are attractive colors for thrips, and have been used to trap melon thrips. Foliar insecticides are frequently applied for thrips suppression, but at times it has been difficult to attain effective suppression. The eggs, which occur in the foliar tissue, and the pupae, which reside in the soil, are relatively insensitive to insecticide application. Several cultural practices apparently affect melon thrips abundance, but few have been evaluated in the context of North American agriculture. Physical barriers such as fine mesh and row cover material can be used to restrict entry by thrips into greenhouses, and to reduce the rate of thrips settling on plants in the field.
Organic mulch is thought to interfere with the colonization of crops by winged thrips.
Plastic mulch also is reported to limit population growth, but it is uncertain whether this is due to reduced rates of invasion or denial of suitable pupation sites. However, there seems to be no evidence that overhead irrigation is an important factor in survival. The mite density is correlated with thrips density, but within-plant distribution differs among the two species, suggesting that although the mites may increase in numerical abundance they are unlikely to drive the thrips to extinction. They reported that although sweet and jalapeno types were sensitive to foliar injury, cubanelle and cayenne types produced acceptable size and quality fruit. This is the reverse of injury susceptibility to western flower thrips, so in areas with mixed thrips populations growers cannot rely solely on plant selection to avoid damage.