Source: NCSU COOPERATIVE EXTENSION SERVICE, 5/24/18


This is the fourteenth thrips flight and TSWV risk assessment report. Read about why we are posting these reports and more in our first report. Read more about tobacco thrips biology and TSWV transmission.

Third generation thrips flights are now underway at all of our report sites, and TSWV symptoms have begun developing in fields. At scouting locations we visited in Franklin County this week, which typically have TSWV incidence below 10%, we observed a few infected plants and incidence right now appeared at about 2%. We did, however, observe high populations of tobacco thrips on plants. This wasn’t unexpected since the third generation thrips flight was predicted to start around now, but we’ll be paying close attention to how disease incidence develops throughout the state.

Once thrips flight have begun, no additional preventative treatments can be made. We’ll continue to post reports through the predicted fourth generation flights, as this may be relevant for some growers who transplanted tobacco later. Growers are reminded to use the most recent information available to make management decisions. Predictions will improve as we get closer to predicted thrips flight dates. The information presented here is intended to supplement, but not replace, farm-specific predictions.

One of our extension agents pointed out that ZIP codes were not generating reports at some locations. If an address or ZIP code produces an error message at the Tobacco Thrips and TSWV Risk Forecasting Tool, please use the map to select your location instead. Using the map has not produced error messages.

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