General Situation: Daily high temperatures will be swinging between the low 70s and low 90s F over the next 10 days.  These are ideal conditions for thrips development. There are already scattered TSWV infections in crops in Fresno and Kings.  The key objective is to stop these scattered infections from developing into larger patches of infected plants, by preventing thrips from leaving these plants and moving to healthy neighboring plants in the crop.  Remember, once plants flower and set fruit they are much less susceptible to TSWV damage.

Thrips development: Generation 2 adults are peaking right now.  Generation 3 will be developing on plants this month, and reaching peak adult numbers around May 28th.  Generation 4 will be developing on plants during June, reaching peak adults around June 19th.  For most crops these two generations will present the highest risk of TSWV spreading and causing yield loss.  Focusing thrips treatments into the next 8-9 week window will help keep TSWV damage to a minimum.