Author Archives: Stephen Biles

Cotton Fleahopper and Crop Progress Meeting

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A field meeting will be held Tuesday to discuss field scouting techniques, economic thresholds and plant growth regulators in squaring cotton. Date: Tuesday, May 18 Time: 9 am Location: Near Port Lavaca Southwest of the Intersection of FM 1679 and Sanders Rd.  HERE Topics: Crop development, cotton fleahopper management, and plant growth regulators will be discussed.   CROP TOUR DATES Refugio County – June 9 Victoria County – June 15 Calhoun County – June 17

Scouting Tactics in Early Season Cotton

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A field meeting will be held Monday to discuss field scouting techniques, economic thresholds and plant growth regulators in squaring cotton. Date: Monday, May 3 Time: 9 am Location: Near Port Lavaca at the Intersection of FM 1679 and Sanders Rd. 28.609097, -96.721086 Topics: Crop development, cotton fleahopper management, and plant growth regulators will be discussed.   CROP TOUR DATES Refugio County – June 9 Victoria County – June 15 Calhoun County – June 17

Early Season Cotton Maturity

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I’ve been asked by a few growers “Why is my cotton growing so slowly?” The answer is primarily cold temperatures. The table below shows how many days are usually required to get from one stage to another. Notice emergence to first square usually takes 27 to 38 days. The difference between these is how warm or cold temperatures are. SOURCE I planted a cotton variety trial in Austwell, TX on March 12, or 47 days ago. Today this test is at 6-7 true leaf and I am finding… Read More →

South Texas audio updates

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We have been recording pest updates in effort to provide a brief audio version of South Texas newsletters and blog posts. The reports include crop production and pest management updated from South Texas, including the Rio Grande Valley, Coastal Bend and Mid-Coast. You can get these by following this link: https://www.texasinsects.org/south-texas.html The latest edition is: 4/16/2021 (audio file) Fall armyworm and corn earworm feeding present in corn and sorghum whorls, but threshold is generally 30% defoliation across most plants. Corn leaf aphids and sugarcane aphids generally being controlled by… Read More →

Fall Armyworms in Sorghum

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Fall armyworms are being found in sorghum fields across the area this week.  While the feeding can be alarming, I have yet to find a field in need of treatment. Insecticide application may be justified if larval feeding reduces leaf area by more than 30 percent or is damaging the developing grain head or growing point within the whorl. The fields where I have found the armyworms had less than 5% infested plants and the feeding damage was below the economic threshold. Often, I was finding two or… Read More →