Various thrips species are causing problems for South Florida vegetable producers. According to the South Florida Pest and Disease Hotline, strawberry farmers have dealt with chili thrips all season in the Manatee Ruskin area. They are also showing up in pepper.
In the Miami-Dade County area, melon thrips are increasing in populations in various crops.
Along the east coast, western flower thrips are being found in pepper. From Jupiter, Florida northward, it is mostly Florida flower thrips that are a problem, though they can be controlled with insecticides.
Thrips are moving into some pepper fields around Immokalee, Florida with a few fields having counts of 10 or more thrips per bloom.
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