WEST PLAINS IPM UPDATE
Harvest is just around the corner here on the Texas South Plains. We have continued to receive some rain showers since late August which is a relief from the hot, dry summer and did allow us to discontinue irrigation. It has allowed the many thousands of acres of fallow to be planted with a winter cover which will hopefully keep soil tied down until spring.
Unfortunately, some of these rain events contained hail which destroyed some good cotton. The rain has also brought on some regrowth in fields which did not have a sufficient boll load to prevent this. This juvenile regrowth will be difficult and more expensive to deal with when we use a harvest aid to set the plant up for harvest.
I anticipate that we will start applying harvest aids around the fourth week in September. We generally stick with a quart of ethephon for boll opening. On better cotton, I think the plant will respond normally to the defoliants. I would refer you to my last year’s “Cotton Harvest Aid Edition” of the West Plains IPM Update.
I remind producers to pay attention to what the manufacturers recommend as adjuvants with these products, particularly the PPOs ( Aim, ETX, Display, Sharpen, and Reviton). One thing on the PPOs – they are safe on grasses. So, we have used them often near wheat drilled in field margins with no concern. However, Reviton is a newer PPO and is an exception in that it will kill grasses.
As it cools down, be aware that some defoliants can be temperature sensitive. We generally plan on a two-shot harvest aid regime. We will use a paraquat product or, if we have regrowth issues, we will use one of the PPOs in that second follow-up application. I remind producers that paraquat is activated by sunlight. If it is applied early in the day, it will generally result in a rapid burn of the plant tissue and result in typical desiccation (sticking of leaves). In an application applied later in the day, the paraquat will move deeper in the plant tissue (local systemic movement). This can result in both desiccation and additional defoliation.
Have a safe harvest.
West Plains IPM Update is a publication of the Texas A& M AgriLife Extension Service IPM Program in Hockley, Cochran, and Lamb Counties. Editor: Kerry Siders, Extension Agent-IPM Contact information: 1212 Houston St., Suite 2 Levelland, TX 79336 (806) 894-3150 (office), 638-5635 (mobile), or 897-3104 (Fax) ksiders@tamu.edu (E-mail)