Buds wrap up the keys to trees' survival. Garden planning and a Blairsville seminar. But thousands of thrips can invade an onion field and prevent the bulbs from reaching large or jumbo size. Georgia onion growers don't usually think of insects as a major problem. But thrips can take a bite out of the sweet onion crop, said a University of Georgia scientist.
Thrips damage the leaves.
Without healthy leaves, the bulbs can't develop to their potential. Riley said he's seen thrips populations increase during the past three years of his research at the Tifton campus of the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences . But they definitely can reduce yields. Treatment needed and effective Riley said this year one-third of Georgia's 17,000 acres of onions may need thrips treatments they're not getting. In 1998, Riley's research revealed that fields with effective thrips control produced more and larger Vidalia-type onions.