I had a discussion with a Private Consultant earlier today. He observed a higher than usual amount of TSW. The peanuts were planted earlier and the disease was on the sand hills. He indicated that soil was dry at planting and the stand was skippy. A higher and more uniform stand was observed in lower areas with greater soil moisture at the time. We have been wet or close to wet since mid May. But we were dry early.

Several factors are contributing to greater TSW. 1) Fewer plants result in more TSW. More thrips land on a single plant in that area and this increases the likelihood of greater levels of TSW in terms of incidence and severity. 2) Planting early results in peanuts emerging when there are higher populations of thrips. More thrips = greater potential for diseased plants. 3) The farmer used Vydate plus imidacloprid and obtained excellent thrips control. However, imidacloprid is not used in southeastern states where TSW is a major issue. This insecticides causes greater problems with TSW. It is possible that the combination of early planting, a skippy stand and imidacloprid increased risk of TSW.