General situation for southern counties We're a little later than normal kicking off this season's projections for thrips, but the season is off to a slow start so we're not in too bad a position. After a slightly warmer than usual start to the year, it has been cold and wet . We can expect a slow start for thrips, and soil-borne pupae populations have probably taken a hit with soils being saturated for a long period. Some areas are severely impacted by flooding. With contracts of over $130/t and water for irrigation not likely to be a major issue, we might see crop in some non-typical places. Field access might be an issue in some areas because of water-logging, delaying planting. The current projections for the season, based on ocean surface temperatures, are for a very hot summer so we might ramp up very fast once the wet season storms finally come to an end. Growers in northern counties should remember that there are now Resistance Breaking (RB) strains in the region, so resistant varieties might not stand up to TSWV without protection. As always, we'll be focusing our attention on suppressing the 3rd or 4th generation of thrips depending on whether we see TSWV early.
Thrips population projections Using January 1 as our staring point, generation 1 adults probably peaked around April 3rd. Generation 2 adults are expected to peak around May 11th, but that might change if the weather settles into a warmer, drier pattern soon. At this stage we don't want to project any further into the future than May because of the continuing uncertainty over the weather.