GA Extension Peanut Entomologist Dr. Mark Abney publishes information on thrips monitoring that he has across the state. This is from this week. It shows the increased activity of thrips, and recommendations for treating.
Peanuts are being planted, and tobacco thrips are moving in Georgia. Trap captures increased significantly at 4 of our 6 monitoring locations last week. This means that peanuts emerging over the next couple of weeks will be at relatively high risk for infestation.
Using an at-plant insecticide with proven efficacy will usually be sufficient to keep thrips injury low, but growers are still strongly encouraged to scout fields for thrips activity. Growers who are not using an at-plant insecticide should be prepared to make foliar applications (usually acephate) for thrips if they want to avoid injury. Remember that phorate (Thimet) in-furrow is the only insecticide that has been proven to reduce the risk of tomato spotted wilt disease in peanut.
We are in the first two weeks of thrips dispersal, and we do not know how long flights will continue or how large populations will be. We will continue to post weekly updates of trapping data as the planting season progresses.
