Plant-washing and visual whole-plant search procedures were evaluated for their effectiveness in monitoring populations of thrips (primarily Frankliniela fusca (Hinds) and aphids (Aphis gossypii Glover) in seedling cotton. Comparisons were made within four early season pest management strategies consisting of (1) aldicarb + Terraclor Super-X (TSX = a mixture of terraclor and terrazole), (2) acephate seed treatment without TSX, (3) acephate seed treatment + TSX, and (4) TSX (control). These four pest management strategies were selected for the purpose of artificially creating varying levels of pest populations. In the control plots, detection of immature thrips was approximately one week earlier with the plant-washing procedure than with whole-plant visual search. Significantly, more immature thrips were found with plant-washing versus the visual search procedure on five of six observations. At peak infestation 56% more immature thrips were observed using the plant-washing procedure. Population estimates of adult thrips as sampled with the two procedures were not significantly different. Both procedures were capable of detecting the cyclic nature of pests. As a complex on seedling cotton, peak numbers of aphids occurred 12 days after planting (DAP), adult thrips peaked 20 DAP while immature thrips peaked 28 DAP. The data for each procedure were similar when populations were light or moderate. Significant differences in pest populations due to management strategies were observed with both procedures.