Tag Archives: economic threshold

2022 Cotton Scout School

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AgriLife Extension will hold a Cotton Scout School on Thursday, June 2. Time: 8 to 11 am Location: Jackson County Services Building in Edna, TX. Cost: $10 per person 2 TDA IPM CEUs. Let us know if you’ll be able to attend!

Cotton Insect Report

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Cotton plant maturity ranges from 9-14 true leaves. We began seeing blooms in a few fields. The fields with blooms had 6-7 nodes above white flower, which shows the effect of drought stress. The water demand of a crop increases significantly as bloom nears and fruit production begins. If we do not get rainfall soon, expect to see wilting cotton fields in the afternoons. Fortunately, we have not seen insect pressure requiring insecticide applications. Cotton fleahoppers have been difficult to find in most fields. Few fields have more… Read More →

Squaring Cotton and Drought

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Most cotton fields are squaring so the cotton fleahopper is the primary pest of interest in these fields. I use an economic threshold of 15 cotton fleahoppers per 100 plants. Adults and nymphs count the same. The cotton fleahopper will feed on the soft plant parts in the terminal of the plant. They cause injury when they feed on small squares causing the square to be “blasted” and then abscise, or fall off the plant. Once a square is larger than a pin head, it is considered safe… Read More →

Seedling Cotton Pests

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Cotton ranges from emerging to 3-4 leaf plants. Weather forecasts are not optimistic for rainfall so treating for insect pests of seedling cotton is not likely profitable. The pests we can expect to find on young cotton includes thrips, aphids, and mites. I have not seen fields with insect populations requiring management. Seed treatments are typically good for 3 weeks following planting and most fields are were planted more than three weeks ago. The water needs for the plants are not very high right now so the primary… Read More →

Fall Armyworms in Bermudagrass Hay Fields

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All summer we have seen high numbers of fall armyworms in bermudagrass hayfields and pastures. Last week, I sprayed a Fall Armyworm insecticide control trial in a bermudagrass hayfield near Port Lavaca. To further complicate things, the field received rainfall 3 days after applications. This typifies what we have been experiencing this year. When scouting with a sweep net, we found very high numbers of fall armyworms. Pre-treatment  counts averaged around 250 worms per 5 sweeps. The economic threshold I use is 25 per 5 sweeps. In this… Read More →