We have received varying amounts of rain across the Mid-Coast over the past week. While some fields received over 5 inches, others got less than a 1/2-inch.

Cotton fields range from drought stress to fair. Most fields have 12-15 nodes on the plant and are in the first or second week of bloom and plants have 6 to 9 nodes above white flower. Fruit retention is very good with more than 90% fruit set. Plants are mostly shorter than normal.

In cotton fields, we are looking for stink bug feeding and bollworms.  For stink bugs, check twenty 1-inch bolls from five places in the field for internal feeding. If you find warts or stained lint on the inside of the boll, this counts as internal damage. Treat based on the week of bloom.

Plants should be checked for bollworms by inspecting fruit on the whole plant. This can take a lot of time, but whole plant inspection is the best way to find the bollworms.

While doing the whole plant inspection, you should also determine the percent of squares and bolls damaged by bollworms.

Treat a field when more than 6% damage is found and worms are present in the field. Better control will be achieved with an application to small worms that have not yet entered bolls.

Cotton Scouting Clinic – June 6

Time: 8:30 am.

Location: Cotton field on FM 1979, just SW of Sanders Rd.