Cotton Insect Newsletter Vol. 22, No. 14, August 18, 2004

Cotton Situation:  Most cotton farmers were fortunate to dodge the heavy rains generated by hurricanes over the past couple of weeks.   A couple of farmers talked like they were a little sick of dodging rain, as they had been watching showers go around them all through July and August. Close to 80% of this crop has currently produced bolls all the way to the top.  There are a few young cotton fields in the Pee Dee area where plants are just putting on some bottom bolls.  If Jack Frost will stand back until December, those late cotton fields might make a bale.  There are still a few days left for blooms to make bolls, but typically the end of August signifies the last chance for a flower to make an open boll.    Conditions are right for the growth of the complex of microorganisms that produce boll rot.   Warm moist conditions provided by dense plant canopies are ideal, and where sucking or chewing insects have opened the door to a boll, some species of microbes will probably slither through it.  When extremely wet conditions occur at cracking, bolls become hard locked. Insect Situation:  Mike Sullivan said that some farmers below the lakes were putting out their 3rd insecticide application on Bt cotton this week.  Their targets are mostly sucking insects, although there may be a few bollworms still at large.   Above the lakes, the majority of growers are through spraying.  Most cotton fields are just not very attractive to either bollworm moths or adult stink bugs.  Scouts should still keep a close eye out for insects in cotton fields that have 5 or more nodes above white bloom.  The fall armyworm scare seems to have about run its course.  There may still be a few falls on the loose, but I think in most cases the worms are a bit too large to kill, and too few to worry about. Boll Weevil Program:  Last week I tried to alert everyone to the problem of finding cotton plants in RR soybeans.   Please keep an eye out for this, and also for cotton fields without traps.  The phone number to call is not the one given last week.   To report problems, call 1-800-269-9928, you will be glad that you did.     Mitchell Roof  Extension Entomologist

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