Thrips are predictable and consistent pest of cotton and require management to preserve yield. Cotton seedling injury is influenced by thrips abundance and seedling growth rate. Planting dates affect both thrips abundance and seedling growth. Imidacloprid seed treatment consistently reduced thrips infestations and associated plant injury and significantly increased yield. However supplemental application of acephate was needed when thrips abundances were high and seedling growth was slow. Peaks in thrips abundance and seedling growth rate varies by year but in general risk of thrips injury is greatest on early planted cotton. Nozzle type did not influence the efficacy of thrips insecticides evaluated in this study. Application of insecticide using nozzles which deliver coarse droplets provided acceptable control of thrips on seedling cotton. Although seedling vigor can vary among variety, differences in varietal response to thrips management were not observed in this study.