GENERAL SITUATION

Very hot, dry conditions continue to persist across the Southern Blacklands region. Grain harvest is slowly picking up speed. For the most part, early yields have been at or below what was expected. Cotton ranges from 3-4 nodes above white bloom to open bolls.

COTTON INSECTS

The majority of the cotton has all but bloomed out of the top. Replanted cotton ranges from 2-4 NAWB (nodes above white bloom). For the most part, the cotton crop has set all of the fruit that it will be able to take to maturity and then some; unless some type rainfall is received soon; which is not very likely. Therefore, what green bolls that remain on the plant need to be protected from insects, specifically boll weevils.

Boll weevils are in high enough levels in some fields to justify insecticide applications. Weevil punctured square counts have been down for the most part, but have increased in a few fields. In fields where only bolls or a small number of squares remain, bolls the size of a quarter need to be pulled and inspected for boll weevil egg and feeding punctures. Insecticide treatment decisions will need to be based on amount of boll damage being sustained, the amount of crop that still needs to be protected and the yield potential for the field.

Aphids pressure remains variable, however the greatest pressure is in replanted fields where no soil insecticide was used at the time the cotton was replanted. A number of fields have been recently treated for aphids. In addition, beneficial levels are slowly increasing in fields with aphids.

Cotton bollworm/tobacco budworm (CBW/TBW) pressure has all but fell to nothing. A few lingering worms and an egg or two are being found in some fields. Most fields average 0-2 eggs and 0-4 worms per 100 plants checked. Incidentally, pheromone traps are catching about 5 times as many TBW compared to CBW at this point and that percentage of TBW is increasing.

WEEKLY TURNROW MEETINGS

The week of July17-21 will be the final week for weekly turnrow meetings this season.