Monthly Archives: May 2017

Sorghum IPM Update – 5/26/2017

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Sorghum maturity in the Mid-Coast of Texas ranges from flag leaf to soft dough. Insect pests of importance include sugarcane aphids, sorghum midge, stink bugs and headworms. We continue to find occasional fields with economic populations of sugarcane aphids. All fields should be scouted for aphids regardless of the hybrid planted. Scout by checking the underside of leaves, especially lower on the plant. Check 10-20 at each of 5-10 locations per field. Look for honeydew on leaves and check those plants and surrounding plants. When you find small spots of 3-4… Read More →

Cotton IPM Update – 5/26/2017

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Cotton maturity across the Mid-Coast ranges from half-grown square to near cutout. Pest insects to be aware of include cotton fleahopper, bollworms, stink bugs and verde plant bugs. Continue to monitor young cotton for cotton fleahoppers until the first week of bloom.  If you have a decent fruit set at bloom of at least 70% retention, the cotton fleahopper should not be a pest after first bloom. By bloom, the cotton plant should have 80% or more of the harvestable fruit.  Since the fleahopper is not able to cause square loss to squares larger than… Read More →

IPM Field Meeting – May 16, 2017

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Date: Tuesday, May 16 Time: 9 am Location: Henry Barber Way (formerly CR 101) at Southeast end of cotton field along North side of Road in Port Lavaca. Topics: Crop development and pest management will be discussed CEUs: 1 hour CEU in IPM will be provided.

Insects in the Field this Week – 5/12/07

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There are a number of insects to be on the lookout for this week in the Grain Sorghum, Cotton and Soybeans of the Texas Coast. Grain Sorghum Grain sorghum fields vary widely with regard to crop maturity. The older fields are blooming and the youngest fields are 4-6 leaf. All sorghum fields should be monitored weekly for insect pests. The one insect that can cause problems season long is the Sugarcane Aphid. I have found them in low numbers along field margins and expect to see populations rise… Read More →

Reading the Cotton Plant

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The cotton plant can tell us a lot about what has happened and what is coming if we know what to look for.  Some basic notes to take in a cotton field are: total nodes on the plant, node of first square, and the number of squares present and abscised. When the plants first emerge, they tend to grow slowly.  However, once the plant has 4-5 true leaves, it will add new leaves (nodes) every 3 (2-5) days or 50 heat units. When squares are missing on the plant… Read More →