Harvest On Our Mind

Kerry Siders is Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Agent-IPM for Hockley, Cochran and Lamb Counties. A Texas Tech graduate, he has been with Texas AgriLife Extension since 1990, providing education and applied research for weeds, insects, diseases, nematodes, growth regulators and harvest aids in cotton. He is a member of the High Plains Association of Crop Consultants.

“Harvest is very near here on the Texas South Plains. We are just getting started applying harvest aids. The cold snap a few weeks ago did us no favors. But for some, it did condition the cotton such that it opened the canopy up for better sunlight penetration and now harvest aid application penetration.

“We are seeing good competitive pricing on ethephon products, so producers will be applying ethephon at a 32-42 oz rate, possibly more. The defoliant products all generally work well here. I remind producers to pay attention to what the manufacturers recommend as adjuvants with these products, particularly the PPO’s (Aim, ETX, Display, Sharpen). To deviate can cause poor performance. Also, some defoliants can be temperature sensitive. As it cools, some of the defoliants such as Ginstar may require a bump in rate.

“That leaves us with the desiccants, which are primarily paraquat products. Again, 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). 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.”