The cotton fields have 15-19 nodes and 4-7 nodes above white flower. Many plants are shedding large squares and small bolls. Once the boll is 6-8 days old it will usually stick on the plant through drought stress.

Monday, we started finding more stink bug feeding in cotton bolls. Feeding damage ranges from 5-80% damaged bolls. We found this by examining the inside of 1-inch bolls.

Bolls w/ spots. Photo by S. Biles

Due to the dry conditions, many fields do not have bolls larger than 1-inch. In these fields, you need to look for the bolls that are still soft enough to pop open without needing a knife. The bolls we target are 10-12 days old.

It takes roughly 3 days between first position flowers of consecutive branches and 6 days from first to second position blooms on the same branch. So look for the first position boll 3-4 nodes below the first position white bloom or a second position boll 5-6 branches below a 1st position white bloom.

Photo by S. Biles

Separate the bolls based on external spots and check the bolls with spots first. Not all bolls with external spots will have internal feeding.

Treat based on the week of bloom using this table.

Cotton Scouting Clinic – Monday, June 20,
Time: 8:30 am.
Location: Cotton field on FM 1979, just SW of Sanders Rd.

More Information:
Mid-Season and Late-Season Pests of Cotton
South Texas IPM Audio Updates