Ampersand improves control of thrips

Attune Agriculture completed three trials which demonstrate that adding Ampersand to your insecticide can substantially improve its performance for control of thrips.  The trials were conducted on strawberries, lettuce and bell peppers using three different insecticides.

Florida Flower Thrip on Bell Pepper

Glades Crop Care conducted a trial in March 2021 in Jupiter, FL evaluating the tank mix combination of Ampersand at 1 pint per 100 gallons and Entrust at 1.25 oz/A.  Two parameters were used in the evaluation, number of thrips and the percent of the flowers that were infested with thrips.  One day after application, Entrust reduced the number of thrips by over 70% compared to the untreated.  The addition of Ampersand increased the control to 100%.  Four days after application, thrip control by Entrust had dropped to 34% whereas the control when Ampersand was added was 84%.

The pepper flowers infested by adult thrips in the untreated grew substantially, 45% to 80% from one day to four days after application.  Infestation levels with Entrust, went from 30% to 70%.  The addition of Ampersand dramatically enhanced Entrust’s performance, the percent of infested flowers was reduced to zero. 

Western Flower Thrip on Lettuce

RD4Ag conducted a trial in October 2018 in Yuma, AZ evaluating the impact of adding 1 quart of Ampersand per 100 gallons spray volume to Assail 30SG at a use rate of 4 oz/A.  The number of thrips (nymphs and adults) was recorded from 20 lettuce plants per treatment on 1 day and 4 days after application.  Assail is a neonicotinoid with translaminar activity, which means that the active ingredient is absorbed into and moves throughout the leaf.  This allows Assail to have residual activity, capable of controlling insects for several days following application.  As noted in the graph below, thrip control with Assail substantially increased from 1 day after application to 4 days after application.  The addition of Ampersand improved thrip control by 60%.  

Florida Flower Thrip on Strawberry

Glades Crop Care conducted a trial in March 2021 evaluating the tank mix combination of Ampersand at 1 pint per 100 gallons and Radiant at 6 fl oz/A.  The number of thrips and percent of the strawberry flowers infested were recorded one and three days after application.  Compared to the untreated, one day after application Ampersand increased thrip control from 65.8%, Radiant alone, to 77.2%.  Four days after application, Radiant provided 58.4% thrip control, whereas the addition of Ampersand increased control to 71.3%

The percent of strawberry flowers infested with thrips in the untreated one day after application was 95%.  Radiant reduced the infestation levels to 80%, while the addition of Ampersand reduced infestation levels to 50%.  Four days after application, the untreated had 100% infestation, Radiant 85% and Ampersand 65%.